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Analytical and experimental study on thermal conductivity of hardened cement pastes

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Abstract

Thermal conductivity of hardened cement pastes (hcps) in a wide range of water–cement ratio (w/c) is quantitatively investigated using a transient plane source measurement technique. Alkyl alkoxysilane and rapeseed oil were also added to determine the effect of internal hydrophobation on thermal conductivity of solid structure of hcps. The measurements were performed after drying at 50 and 105 °C as well as water submersion. A nonlinear relation was observed between thermal conductivity and w/c which is in alignment with Powers’ model. Samples dried at 50 °C still contained some moisture which increased thermal conductivity up to 11 % compared to samples dried at 105 °C. Furthermore, hydrophobic agents reduced thermal conductivity of dried samples up to 9 % which indicates the reduction in thermal conductivity of solid structure and is in line with observations by scanning electron microscope. A three phase model which can predict thermal conductivity of plain and hydrophobed hcps at different moisture states is presented by exploiting composite models and Hashin–Shtrikman bounds.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully appreciate the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Furthermore, the access to the laboratory facilities of Technical Research Institute of Sweden (SP) where the thermal conductivity tests were done is greatly appreciated. Special thanks to Robert Jansson at SP for the support given during thermal conductivity measurements. In addition, the authors gratefully acknowledge the help given by engineer Bengt Bogren at SP during thermal conductivity measurements, engineer Ove Edvard Loraas at NTNU during sample preparation, PhD candidate Kien Hoang and Julian Tolchard at NTNU during working with SEM and adjunct professor Roar Myrdal at NTNU for the scientific support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Transport Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban & Per Jostein Hovde

  2. Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Stefan Jacobsen

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  1. Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban
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  2. Per Jostein Hovde
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  3. Stefan Jacobsen
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Correspondence to Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban.

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Hajmohammadian Baghban, M., Hovde, P.J. & Jacobsen, S. Analytical and experimental study on thermal conductivity of hardened cement pastes. Mater Struct 46, 1537–1546 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-012-9995-y

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