Quasielastic neutron scattering study of the effect of water-to-cement ratio on the hydration kinetics of tricalcium silicate
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States). Research Reactor Center
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science
Quasielastic neutron scattering (QNS) measurements of the hydration kinetics of tricalcium silicate (C{sub 3}S) have been made with 60 {micro}eV energy resolution at a momentum transfer q = 1 {angstrom}{sup {minus}1}. Monitoring the fraction of neutrons elastically scattered from C{sub 3}S paste specimens follows the progress of the C{sub 3}S hydration reactions. Three different water/cement ratios (w/c = 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7) were studied in this experiment. Analysis of the rate of reaction over the first approximately 15 h was by an Avrami model. After this time, the rate of hydration no longer follows nucleation and growth kinetics but enters a diffusion controlled regime. At this point, the rate of hydration depends strongly on the w/c, with more reaction at higher w/c ratios. A shrinking core model was used to analyze the diffusion-limited portion of the reaction at later times. The values of the apparent diffusion constant obtained from these data indicate a log-linear relationship between the diffusion constants and the w/c ratio.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-96ER45599
- OSTI ID:
- 605724
- Journal Information:
- Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 28, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Feb 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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