Introduction to concrete: A resilient material system
bookPart
The strength of concrete is its heterogeneous composition. It is a system that is formed by the chemical process of hydration, producing crystalline and amorphous reaction products interlocking and binding the aggregates together. The material grows in time, resulting in a resilient system that is sufficiently strong to carry loads but can also respond to environmental conditions. Crack initiation and crack growth at the various scale levels govern the mechanical tensile response of the heterogeneous concrete material. Therefore, the fracture mechanics principles of strength and energy criteria help in understanding and modelling the response mechanisms. The internal stress conditions and defect distributions are at (i) meso-level, governed by the aggregate grading, mortar and bonding (ITZ) properties, and at (ii) micro-level, defining the mortar properties (aggregates-cement matrix, ITZ and capillary pore system). The structure at micro/nano-level (cement matrix and micro-pore system) gives the sub-scale condition for the mortar. In this chapter we will describe the concrete system and the material structure from the material science point of view at the microscopic and mesoscopic levels, respectively. It provides general background information for the chapters that follow. © 2013 Woodhead Publishing Limited All rights reserved.
Topics
TNO Identifier
513302
ISBN
978-085709-045-4
Source title
Understanding the tensile properties of concrete5
Editor(s)
Weerheijm, J.
Pages
1-15 (Chapter 1)
Files
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