Simple Three-Step Analytical Scheme for Prediction of Elastic Moduli of Hardened Cement Paste

Abstract

Owing to their importance to the structural analysis and evaluation of cement-based materials, it is essential to determine the mechanical properties of cement paste. This paper presents a simple three-step analytical scheme for predicting the elastic moduli of hardened cement paste. In this scheme, hardened cement paste is modeled as a multiphase composite material, composed of unhydrated cement, C-S-H, CH, and capillary pores and further represented by five two-phase composite spheres. The elastic moduli of hardened cement paste are obtained in terms of the volume fractions and elastic moduli of unhydrated cement, C-S-H, CH, and capillary pores by the three-step scheme. Finally, the validity of the three-step scheme is verified with three independent sets of experimental data. The paper concludes that, when the water-cement ratio is in the range of 0.4–0.6, the simple three-step analytical scheme presented in the paper can predict the elastic moduli of hardened cement paste with an average relative error smaller than 8%.