Abstract
Knowledge about the early age compressive strength development of cementitious materials is an important factor for the progress and safety of many construction projects. This paper uses cylindrical mortar specimens produced with a ram extruder to investigate the transition of the mortar from plastic and deformable to hardened state. In addition, wave transmission and reflection measurements with P- and S-waves were conducted to obtain further information about the microstructural changes during the setting and hardening process. The experiments have shown that uniaxial compression tests conducted on extruded mortar cylinders are a useful tool to evaluate the green strength as well as the initiation and further development of the compressive strength of the tested material. The propagation of P-waves was found to be indicative of the internal structure of the tested mortars as influenced, for example, by the addition of fine clay particles. S-waves used in transmission and reflection mode proved to be sensitive to the inter-particle bonding caused by the cement hydration and expressed by an increase in compressive strength.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 858-867 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Cement and Concrete Research |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2006 |
Funding
The research presented in this paper was funded by the Institute of Technology and Infrastructure of Northwestern University, the Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials and the National Science Foundation (CMS-0408427). The financial support received from these institutions is gratefully acknowledged.
Keywords
- Compressive strength
- Extrusion
- Hydration
- Mortar
- Ultrasonic testing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Building and Construction
- General Materials Science