CODICE

COmputationally Driven design of Innovative CEment-based materials

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Albeit the C-S-H gel constitutes the main ingredient of cementitious skeletons and their life-service depends crucially on it, the possibility of tuning the intrinsic nature and properties of the C-S-H gel has been simply out of reach. Fortunately this long-standing impossibility can be currently overcome by the complementary action of new experimental capacities and stronger simulations schemes which explicitly pay attention to the nanoscale. Recent nanoindentation experiments have revealed that the C-S-H gel can present itself either in a low stiffness and low density variety (called LD C-S-H gel) or in a variety with a high stiffness and high density (called HD C-S-H gel). This dissimilar bearing capacity is indeed much more pronounced in their resistance to osteoporosis-like degradation processes (aging!). The question that arises is straightforward: Could the formation of the stronger and more durable HD C-S-H varieties be promoted against the LD- ones? CODICE aims to answer to this question by means of on-top-of-the-art simulations. In fact CODICE project aims to develop a serial parameter-passing multi-scale modelling scheme to predict the structural evolution and the mechanical performance of non-degraded and degraded cementitious matrices as a function of macroscopical processing variables to guide the design of cementitious materials in which the HD-C-S-H forms are promoted against the LD- C-S-H ones. Improvements of the mechanical properties about the 50 % and 600 % are envisaged for non-degraded and degraded cementitious scaffolds respectively, when compared to conventional designs. Thus, CODICE largely impacts on the competitiveness of the Construction sector, since the simulations 1) will offer an unbeatable and cheap solution to the cement sector to assess and improve the efficiency of cheaper cement formulations and 2) will computationally drive the design of cementitious materials with drastically lower maintenance costs.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Nanoscale technology is being used to manipulate the properties of cement in order to create more advanced and cost-effective varieties that could offer important advantages to the construction sector.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Improving the properties of cement will streamline processing and yield stronger varieties that can improve the way we construct our buildings. Cement depends on an important main ingredient to harden, technically known as C-S-H gel. Generally, the properties of this gel have been difficult to manipulate and fine-tune in order to create more robust varieties. Yet scientific advances and laboratory simulations investigating its nanoscale properties have helped overcome this barrier. Recent nano experiments have revealed that the C-S-H gel can present itself either in a variety that is of low stiffness and low density (LD C-S-H gel) or in a variety that is of high stiffness and high density (HD C-S-H gel). These varieties are very different in how they resist 'osteoporosis-like' degradation, as reflected in the ageing of the cement structures.

The EU-funded project 'Computationally driven design of innovative cement-based materials' (Codice) is investigating whether the development of stronger and more durable HD C-S-H varieties can perform better than LD ones. The project is conducting advanced simulations to find the answer by measuring different parameters and using a multi-scale modelling scheme. This helps identify the structural evolution and mechanical performance of different types of cement, or more accurately cement matrices, using macroscopic processing variables to guide design of new varieties.

These computational toolkits developed by Codice are expected to boost the competitiveness of the European construction sector by providing valuable and cost-effective tools to optimise cement processing, and cutting down on the time and costs of quality control assessments. Equally importantly, the toolkits will also optimise the design of the constituents of cement itself in terms of mechanical performance and life-cycle analysis. Such advances could change the way structures are built across the EU and reinvigorate the construction sector, bringing with them countless benefits.