Characterizing the nano and micro structure of concrete to improve its durability

P.J.M. Monteiro, A.P. Kirchheim, S. Chae, P. Fischer, A.A. MacDowell, E. Schaible, H.R. Wenk

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

92 Scopus citations

Abstract

New and advanced methodologies have been developed to characterize the nano and microstructure of cement paste and concrete exposed to aggressive environments. High resolution full-field soft X-ray imaging in the water window is providing new insight on the nano scale of the cement hydration process, which leads to a nano-optimization of cement-based systems. Hard X-ray microtomography images of ice inside cement paste and cracking caused by the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) enables three-dimensional structural identification. The potential of neutron diffraction to determine reactive aggregates by measuring their residual strains and preferred orientation is studied. Results of experiments using these tools are shown on this paper. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)577-584
Number of pages8
JournalCement and Concrete Composites
Volume31
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2009
Externally publishedYes

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