About this Abstract |
Meeting |
MS&T22: Materials Science & Technology
|
Symposium
|
Advanced Materials for Harsh Environments
|
Presentation Title |
Understanding Hydration-induced Cracking, Corrosion and Self-healing Mechanisms in Advanced Concrete Using Electron Microscopy and Quantitative Non-destructive 3D Mineral Characterization |
Author(s) |
Andy Holwell, Maadhav Kothari, Edward Hill, Tanvir Qureshi |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Andy Holwell |
Abstract Scope |
Almost all civil engineering infrastructure requires concrete. Cracks in concrete due to hydration, corrosion and chemical changes are a major source of reduced durability and financial loss. One such degradation mechanism is hydration-induced cracking that can result in devastating effects.
Here we demonstrate hydration of self-healing concrete in situ within the chamber of a scanning electron microscope under variable pressure. Mechanistic effects of cracking and self-healing are studied via electron imaging and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, to visualise the re-crystallisation of calcium carbonate in effectively healing the material.
We further employ 3D X-ray microscopy alongside 3D mineralogy to determine structure and composition within a concrete core non-destructively, understanding particles, mineral relationships, and structure of concrete, even deeply buried features. We use a ground-breaking technique that can quantitatively assess mineral composition in a bulk using characteristic X-ray back projection energies and deep learning-based reconstruction of 3D X-ray data. |