Abstract
Strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) under cracked condition exhibit distinct behaviour of capillary absorption because of multiple fine cracks and complicated crack patterns. Past studies for estimating capillary absorption of cracked SHCC mainly focused on evaluating the results by total gravimetric weight. In addition, the average values of crack width and crack spacing were often used to characterize crack patterns. In this study, a multi-scale approach for numerical simulation of the capillary absorption of cracked SHCC is proposed by considering the detailed crack patterns such as the width and location of each crack. Water flows in bulk matrix and multiple cracks are simulated using two individual transport equations. Water absorbed from a crack to its adjacent matrix is treated as the mass exchange of the two equations, taking into account pore structure and water status in the bulk matrix as well as the damage level of the crack surfaces. Analysis is firstly carried out for SHCC with uniform crack width and crack spacing, showing consistent results with test data of previous studies in which the total absorption increased with decreasing crack spacing. Analysis for SHCC with non-uniform crack widths and locations, furthermore, exhibit significant water penetration at crack zones. Other factors, such as relative humidity for pre-drying, specimen height, water-to-binder ratio, and fibre content, are also discussed in the analysis. This approach enables the estimation of water profile of cracked SHCC, so can be used for further crack-linked process, for example, chloride penetration or self-healing.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mechtcherine V (2012) Towards a durability framework for structural elements and structures made of or strengthened with high-performance fibre-reinforced composites. Constr Build Mater 31:94–104
Paul SC, van Zijl GP (2014) Crack formation and chloride induced corrosion in reinforced strain hardening cement-based composite (R/SHCC). J Adv Concr Technol 12:340–351
Wang KJ, Jansen DC, Shah SP, Karr AF (1997) Permeability study of cracked concrete. Cem Concr Res 27:381–393
Lepech MD, Li VC (2009) Water permeability of engineered cementitious composites. Cement Concr Compos 31:744–753
Şahmaran M, Li VC (2008) Influence of microcracking on water absorption and sorptivity of ECC. Mater Struct 42:593–603
Şahmaran M, Li VC (2009) Durability properties of micro-cracked ECC containing high volumes fly ash. Cem Concr Res 39:1033–1043
Schröfl C, Mechtcherine V, Kaestner A, Vontobel P, Hovind J, Lehmann E (2015) Transport of water through strain-hardening cement-based composite (SHCC) applied on top of cracked reinforced concrete slabs with and without hydrophobization of cracks – Investigation by neutron radiography. Constr Build Mater 76:70–86
Wittmann F, Zhao T, Tian L, Wang F, Wang L (2009) Aspects of durability of strain hardening cement-based composites under imposed strain. In: van Zijl G, Boshoff B (eds) Advances in cement-based materials. CRC Press, pp 173–179
Zhang P, Wang P, Hou D, Liu Z, Haist M, Zhao T (2017) Application of neutron radiography in observing and quantifying the time-dependent moisture distributions in multi-cracked cement-based composites. Cement Concr Compos 78:13–20
Zhang P, Wittmann FH, Zhao TJ, Lehmann EH, Tian L, Vontobel P (2010) Observation and quantification of water penetration into strain hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) with multiple cracks by means of neutron radiography. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res, Sect A 620:414–420
Van Belleghem B, Montoya R, Dewanckele J, Van den Steen N, De Graeve I, Deconinck J, Cnudde V, Van Tittelboom K, De Belie N (2016) Capillary water absorption in cracked and uncracked mortar–a comparison between experimental study and finite element analysis. Constr Build Mater 110:154–162
Huang H, Ye G, Pel L (2016) New insights into autogenous self-healing in cement paste based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests. Mater Struct 49:2509–2524
Wagner C, Villmann B, Slowik V, Mechtcherine V (2019) Capillary absorption of cracked strain-hardening cement-based composites. Cement Concr Compos 97:239–247
van Zijl GPAG, Slowik V, Toledo Filho RD, Wittmann FH, Mihashi H (2015) Comparative testing of crack formation in strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC). Mater Struct 49:1175–1189
Boshoff WP, Altmann F, Adendorff CJ, Mechtcherine V (2015) A new approach for modelling the ingress of deleterious materials in cracked strain hardening cement-based composites. Mater Struct 49:2285–2295
Wagner C, Villmann B, Slowik V, Mechtcherine V (2017) Water permeability of cracked strain-hardening cement-based composites. Cement Concr Compos 82:234–241
Maekawa K, Ishida T, Kishi T (2003) Multi-scale modeling of concrete performance. J Adv Concr Technol 1:91–126
Ishida T, Maekawa K, Kishi T (2007) Enhanced modeling of moisture equilibrium and transport in cementitious materials under arbitrary temperature and relative humidity history. Cem Concr Res 37:565–578
Maekawa K, Ishida T, Kishi T (2008) Multi-scale modeling of structural concrete. Taylor and Francis, London
Lucas R (1918) Ueber das zeitgesetz des kapillaren aufstiegs von flüssigkeiten. Kolloid-Zeitschrift 23:15–22
Washburn EW (1921) The dynamics of capillary flow. Phys Rev 17:273–283
Witherspoon PA, Wang JSY, Iwai K, Gale JE (1980) Validity of Cubic Law for fluid flow in a deformable rock fracture. Water Resour Res 16:1016–1024
Meschke G, Grasberger S (2003) Numerical modeling of coupled hygromechanical degradation of cementitious materials. J Eng Mech 129:383–392
Wang L, Bao J, Ueda T (2016) Prediction of mass transport in cracked-unsaturated concrete by mesoscale lattice model. Ocean Eng 127:144–157
van Genuchten MT (1980) A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44:892–898
Baroghel-Bouny V, Mainguy M, Lassabatere T, Coussy O (1999) Characterization and identification of equilibrium and transfer moisture properties for ordinary and high-performance cementitious materials. Cem Concr Res 29:1225–1238
Wang Y, Li JH, Zhang LM, Li X, Cai CZ (2013) Measuring water retention curves for rough joints with random apertures. Geotech Test J 36:929–938
Shimomura T, Onoya K, Thynn HT (2014) Modelling of environmental action for simulation of long term variation of moisture content in concrete structures. In: van Breugel K, Koenders EAB (eds) Proceedings of the 1st Ageing of Materials & Structures 2014 Conference. pp 416–423
Boshoff WP, Adendorff CJ (2013) Effect of sustained tensile loading on SHCC crack widths. Cement Concr Compos 37:119–125
Li J, Weng J, Yang E-H (2019) Stochastic model of tensile behavior of strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCCs). Cem Concr Res 124:105856
Wang P, Wittmann F, Zhao T, Huang W (2011) Evolution of crack patterns on SHCC as function of imposed strain. In: Toledo Filho R, Silva F, Koenders E, Fairbairn E (eds) Proceedings 2nd int. RILEM conference on strain hardening cementitious composites. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp 217-224
Ranade R, Zhang J, Lynch JP, Li VC (2014) Influence of micro-cracking on the composite resistivity of engineered cementitious composites. Cem Concr Res 58:1–12
Grassl P (2009) A lattice approach to model flow in cracked concrete. Cement Concr Compos 31:454–460
Grassl P, Fahy C, Gallipoli D, Wheeler SJ (2015) On a 2D hydro-mechanical lattice approach for modelling hydraulic fracture. J Mech Phys Solids 75:104–118
Li X, Chen S, Xu Q, Xu Y (2018) Modeling capillary water absorption in concrete with discrete crack network. J Mater Civ Eng 30:04017263
Kan L-l, Shi H-s (2012) Investigation of self-healing behavior of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) materials. Constr Build Mater 29:348–356
Zhang P, Dai Y, Ding X, Zhou C, Xue X, Zhao T (2018) Self-healing behaviour of multiple microcracks of strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCC). Constr Build Mater 169:705–715
Kunieda M, Choonghyun K, Ueda N, Nakamura H (2012) Recovery of protective performance of cracked ultra high performance-strain hardening cementitious composites (UHP-SHCC) due to autogenous healing. J Adv Concr Technol 10:313–322
Durability of strain-hardening fibre-reinforced cement-based composites (SHCC) (2010). RILEM State-of-the-Art Reports. Springer
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 19K04547.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Luan, Y., Ishida, T. A multi-scale approach for simulation of capillary absorption of cracked SHCC based on crack pattern and water status in micropores. Mater Struct 54, 71 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01664-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01664-3