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Nanoindentation as a tool to measure and map mechanical properties of hardened cement pastes

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Abstract

Regarding the significance of cement paste in construction materials, the present paper aims to use nanoindentation to measure and map mechanical properties of hardened cement pastes. The mechanical properties of involved phases were extracted from grid nanoindentation on the cement paste. The results suggested that nanoindentation can be used as a tool to measure and map mechanical properties of hardened cement pastes, and can identify the phases, including outer product, inner product, calcium hydroxide (or interface of residual cement clinker), and residual cement clinker.

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Acknowledgments

The financial supports from Hong Kong Research Grant Council under Grant 615412 and China Ministry of Science and Technology under Grant 2015CB655100 are gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Chuanlin Hu

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  1. Chuanlin Hu
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Correspondence to Chuanlin Hu.

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Hu, C. Nanoindentation as a tool to measure and map mechanical properties of hardened cement pastes. MRS Communications 5, 83–87 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.3

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