Abstract
With the advent of instrumented nanoindentation, mechanical properties of cement paste composites such as elastic modulus, hardness, creep have been explored at micro- and nano- level. However, fracture toughness studies on hydrating cementitious composites at these levels, though very crucial in characterizing the material at the macro scales, are rarely reported. First, simulated nanoindentation method is used to determine the fracture toughness of three different phases of cement paste, i.e., Tri-calcium Silicate (C3S), Di-calcium Silicate (C2S) and Calcium – Silicate – Hydrate (CSH) individually. Subsequently, a discretized multi-phase microstructural model of cement paste is used to represent the multi-phase characteristics of cement hydration. To evaluate the fracture toughness properties of hydrating cement paste, a novel grid indentation technique for simulated nanoindentation is established and the values obtained are presented. Experimental grid nanoindentation has been conducted on hydrated cement paste to obtain fracture toughness property and compared with those obtained through numerical studies. These obtained phase fracture toughness values will help in understanding the evolution and distribution of fracture toughness in cementitious composites. This study establishes a validated procedure to evaluate fracture toughness of the microstructural phases present in cement paste by simulated grid nanoindentation.
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