Experimental Observing Damage Evolution in Cement Pastes Exposed to External Sulfate Attack by in situ X-ray Computed Tomography

Abstract

The paper presents experimental investigation results of crack pattern change in cement pastes caused by external sulfate attack (ESA). To visualize the formation and development of cracks in cement pastes under ESA, an X-ray computed tomography ( X-ray CT) was used, i e, the tomography system of Zeiss Xradia 510 versa. The results indicate that X-CT can monitor the development process and distribution characteristics of the internal cracks of cement pastes under ESA with attack time. In addition, the C₃A content in the cement significantly affects the damage mode of cement paste specimens during sulfate erosion. The damage of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes subjected to sulfate attack with high C₃A content are severe, while the damage of sulfate resistant Portland cement (SRPC) pastes is much smaller than that of OPC pastes. Furthermore, a quadratic function describes the correlation between the crack volume fraction and development depth for two cement pastes immermed in sulfate solution.

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