Direct Measurements of 3D Structure, Chemistry, and Mass Density During the Induction Period of C3S Hydration

Published

July 27, 2016

Author(s)

Qinang Hu, Mohammed Aboustait, Taehwan Kim, Tyler Ley, Jeffrey W. Bullard, Jay C. Hanan, Volker Rose, Robert Winarski

Abstract

The reasons for the start and end of the induction period remain a mystery in cement hydration. One long-standing hypothesis is the importance of early hydration products on the surface of cement particles. However, because this material is not widely observed in experiments, its importance has been questioned. In this work, a combined analysis of nano-tomography and nano-X-ray fluorescence makes the direct imaging of early hydration products possible. These novel X-ray imaging techniques provide quantitative measurements of 3D structure, chemical composition, and mass density of the hydration products during the induction period. This work does not observe a low density product on the surface of the particle, but does provide insights into the formation of etch pits and the subsequent hydration products that fill them.

Citation

Cement and Concrete Research

Volume

89

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2016.07.008

Local Download

Keywords

cement hydration, C-S-H, microstructure

Citation

Hu, Q. , Aboustait, M. , Kim, T. , Ley, T. , Bullard, J. , Hanan, J. , Rose, V. and Winarski, R. (2016), Direct Measurements of 3D Structure, Chemistry, and Mass Density During the Induction Period of C3S Hydration, Cement and Concrete Research, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2016.07.008, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=920188 (Accessed October 28, 2025)