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Mechanical Properties of Micro-regions in Cement-based Material based on the PeakForce QNM Mode of AFM

  • Cementitious materials
  • Published:
Journal of Wuhan University of Technology-Mater. Sci. Ed. Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, the cement paste and the mortar were tested using the PF-QNM technique. It is shown that the PF-QNM technique is very powerful to characterize the mechanical properties of micro- and nanostructures in the cement-based materials. It does not have strict requirements for test environment and it does not damage the surface of the material. High-resolution images can be obtained very easily, and they can be analyzed statistically. The test results show that PF-QNM analysis can test not only the mechanical properties of the cement paste, but also investigate the interfacial regions in the cement-based material, including the variation in the mechanical properties of interface regions and the extension of the interfacial regions. During the test, care must be taken to choose the size of test area; indeed, a test area too small is not representative but too large leads to lack of stability. The recommended side is a square with a length of in the range 10–30 μm.

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Acknowledgements

This work made use of the EPIC and SPID facilities of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205); the MRSEC Program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51778582 & 51879235) and National Key R & D Plan (2017YFC0804809).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Mei Ren  (任梅)

  2. College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Tao Shi  (施韬)

  3. Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Structures & Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Technology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Tao Shi  (施韬)

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    David J. Corr & Surendra P. Shah

Authors
  1. Mei Ren  (任梅)
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  2. Tao Shi  (施韬)
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  3. David J. Corr
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  4. Surendra P. Shah
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tao Shi  (施韬).

Additional information

Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51778582 & 51879235) and the National Key R & D Plan (2017YFC0804809)

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Ren, M., Shi, T., Corr, D.J. et al. Mechanical Properties of Micro-regions in Cement-based Material based on the PeakForce QNM Mode of AFM. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 34, 893–899 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-019-2134-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-019-2134-7

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