3D experimental investigation of the microstructure of cement pastes using synchrotron X-ray microtomography ({mu}CT)
- Laboratory of Construction Materials, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, CH-1015 (Switzerland)
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Sherrer Institute, CH-5232-Villigen (Switzerland)
- Laboratoire de Spectroscopie Electronique, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, CH-1015 (Switzerland)
Cement pastes aged from 1 to 60 days were studied using synchrotron microtomography on the MS-X04SA beam line at the Swiss Light Source. This allowed three dimensional images to be obtained with a resolution approaching that of backscattered electron images in the SEM. From these images, several features can be extracted and studied, both quantitatively and morphologically. In this study, attention was focused on the reacting anhydrous cement grains and porosity. Three dimensional imaging of capillary porosity allowed the connectivity and tortuosity of the pore network to be studied. It is shown that the degree of connectivity of the pore network is very sensitive to both the spatial resolution of the images and the evolution of contrast resolution during ageing of the cement.
- OSTI ID:
- 20995372
- Journal Information:
- Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 37, Issue 3; Conference: International Conference on cementitious materials as model porous media: Nanostructure and transport processes, Centro Monte Verita (Switzerland), 17-22 Jul 2005; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.cemconres.2006.10.012; PII: S0008-8846(06)00263-8; Copyright (c) 2006 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0008-8846
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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