Mechanical and fracture properties of calcium silicate hydrate and calcium hydroxide composite from reactive molecular dynamics simulations

YZ Liang, CHEMICAL PHYSICS LETTERS, 761, 138117 (2020).

DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2020.138117

This paper firstly investigated the mechanical and fracture properties of calcium silicate hydrate and calcium hydroxide composite by reactive molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the calcium hydroxide has the highest tensile strength and Young's modulus, just followed by calcium silicate hydrate and CSH-CH composite. The obtained fracture toughness of CSH, CH and CSH-CH composite are consistent with experimental results, showing the fracture toughness is independent of size. The failure mechanisms of CSH-CH composite under tensile loading are revealed in terms of bond-breakage. The results can provide necessary parameter inputs for multi-scale mechanical and fracture study of cement paste.

Return to Publications page