A highly porous material, cement tends to absorb water from precipitation and even ambient humidity. And just as the shape of a sponge changes depending on water saturation, so too does that of cement, according to recent work conducted at MIT.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Aix-Marseille University discuss just how the material’s porous network absorbs water and propose how drying permanently rearranges the material and leads to potential structural damage.
Cement paste begins as a dry powder composed of carefully blended ingredients including calcium, iron, aluminum, and silicon. From here, this powder is mixed with a certain proportion of water to form cement paste. This is where the pore network begins to form.
During cement hydration, the cement hydrate's nanograins aggregate with each other, forming a network...
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