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New insights into autogenous self-healing in cement paste based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of water migration from cracks into the bulk paste on autogenous self-healing. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique was utilized to monitor water migration from cracks into the bulk paste during the process of autogenous self-healing. NMR results show that initially the water in the crack migrates into the bulk paste and the water content of the bulk paste increases significantly. However, after 5-h autogenous self-healing, the amount of non-chemically bound water in the bulk paste (adjacent to the crack surfaces) determined by NMR decreased instead. It indicates that some of the water coming from the crack was used for additional hydration of unhydrated cement particles in the bulk paste (during the process of autogenous self-healing). Before this study, in term of autogenous self-healing only the recoveries that related to the filling of cracks were concerned. The observation and quantification of densification of cement paste adjacent to the crack surfaces provides a new insight into autogenous self-healing.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program: 2011CB013800), National Nature Science Fund (51178104) and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for the financial support. Mrs Jingping Han’s help on the NMR experiments is also appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211198, China

    Haoliang Huang

  2. Department of Civil Engineering and Geoscience, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CN, Delft, The Netherlands

    Haoliang Huang & Guang Ye

  3. Department of Structural Engineering, Ghent University, 9052, Ghent, Belguim

    Guang Ye

  4. Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Leo Pel

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  1. Haoliang Huang
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  2. Guang Ye
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Correspondence to Haoliang Huang.

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Huang, H., Ye, G. & Pel, L. New insights into autogenous self-healing in cement paste based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests. Mater Struct 49, 2509–2524 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-015-0664-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-015-0664-9

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