Application of micromechanics to the characterization of mortar by ultrasound

Mechanical properties of concrete and mortar structures can be estimated by ultrasonic non-destructive testing. When the ultrasonic velocity is known, there are standardized methods based on considering the concrete a homogeneous material. Cement composites, however, are heterogeneous and porous, and have a negative effect on the mechanical properties of structures. This work studies the impact of porosity on mechanical properties by considering concrete a multiphase material. A micromechanical model is applied in which the material is considered to consist of two phases: a solid matrix and pores. From this method, a set of expressions is obtained that relates the acoustic velocity and Young's modulus of mortar. Experimental work is based on non-destructive and destructive procedures over mortar samples whose porosity is varied. A comparison is drawn between micromechanical and standard methods, showing positive results for the method here proposed.     

流体/准饱和多孔介质中伪Scholte波的传播特性

研究流体/多孔介质界面Scholte波的传播特性对于水下勘探、地震工程等领域具有重要意义.本文基于Biot理论和等效流体模型,采用势函数方法,推导了描述有限厚度流体/准饱和多孔半空间远场界面波的特征方程和位移、孔压计算公式.在此基础上,分别以砂岩和松散沉积土为例,研究了流体/硬多孔介质和流体/软多孔介质两种情况下,可压缩流体层厚度和多孔介质饱和度对伪Scholte波传播特性的影响.结果表明：多孔介质软硬程度显著影响界面波的种类、相速度、位移和水压力分布;有限厚度流体/饱和多孔半空间界面处伪Scholte波相速度与界面波波长和流体厚度的比值有关;孔隙水中溶解的少量气体对剪切波的相速度的影响不大,对压缩波相速度、伪Scholte波相速度和孔隙水压力分布影响显著.     

Convective heat transfer flow of nanofluid in a porous medium over wavy surface

In this letter, water base nanofluid flow over wavy surface in a porous medium of spherical packing beds is investigated. The copper oxides particles are taken into account. These properties are rehabilitated when fluid interacts with porous walls. For porous medium, Dupuit–Forchheimer model; an extension of Darcy's law model is utilized. The natures of velocity and temperature profiles of nanofluid are discussed graphically whereas the values of convection heat transfer coefficient in the presence of different nanoparticles concentrations in porous medium is presented in tabular form. The obtained results illustrate that convection heat transfer is improved by nanoparticles concentration but reduces when fluid attract to pores structured medium. On the other hand, when particles are added in fluid, convection heat transfer rate is improved but flow velocity is declined.     

Cracks and pores – Their roles in the transmission of water confined in cementitious materials

Cement paste is formed through a process called hydration by combining water with a cementitious material. Concrete, the worlds most versatile and most widely used material, can then be obtained when aggregates (sand, gravel, crushed stone) are added to the paste. The quality of hardened concrete is greatly influenced by the water confined in the cementitious materials and how it is transmitted through cracks and pores. Here we demonstrate that the water transport in cracks and capillary pores of hardened cement pastes can be approximately modeled by simple equations. Our findings highlight the significance of arresting the development of cracks in cementitious materials used in repository barriers. We also show that neutron scattering is an advantageous technique for understanding how water transmission is effected by gel pore structures. Defining measurable differences in gel pores may hold a key to prediction of the reduction of water transport through cement barriers.     

NMR T1–T2 correlation analysis of molecular absorption inside a hardened cement paste containing silanised silica fume

ABSTRACT

The influence of silanised silica fume addition on the pore size distribution and wettability of white cement paste was investigated using T₁–T₂ correlation nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. Surface silanisation of silica fume particles was achieved by the hydrolysis reaction of APTES (3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane) and condensation of the silanol functional groups on the surface. The methods used for characterisation of the silanised silica fume particles were scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). By adding silanised silica fume to the cement paste, the accessibility of water molecules to the porous system becomes restricted, leading to a lower permeability in comparison with the unmodified cement paste. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements on the cement pastes saturated with Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane confirm also that the size of inter-C–S–H and capillary pores is not influenced by the addition of silica fume in a detectable manner.     

Simulations of Bingham plastic flows with the multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model

Fresh cement mortar is a type of workable paste,which can be well approximated as a Bingham plastic and whose flow behavior is of major concern in engineering.In this paper,Papanastasiou’s model for Bingham fluids is solved by using the multiplerelaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model(MRT-LB).Analysis of the stress growth exponent m in Bingham fluid flow simulations shows that Papanastasiou’s model provides a good approximation of realistic Bingham plastics for values of m108.For lower values of m,Papanastasiou’s model is valid for fluids between Bingham and Newtonian fluids.The MRT-LB model is validated by two benchmark problems:2D steady Poiseuille flows and lid-driven cavity flows.Comparing the numerical results of the velocity distributions with corresponding analytical solutions shows that the MRT-LB model is appropriate for studying Bingham fluids while also providing better numerical stability.We further apply the MRT-LB model to simulate flow through a sudden expansion channel and the flow surrounding a round particle.Besides the rich flow structures obtained in this work,the dynamics fluid force on the round particle is calculated.Results show that both the Reynolds number Re and the Bingham number Bn afect the drag coefcients CD,and a drag coefcient with Re and Bn being taken into account is proposed.The relationship of Bn and the ratio of unyielded zone thickness to particle diameter is also analyzed.Finally,the Bingham fluid flowing around a set of randomly dispersed particles is simulated to obtain the apparent viscosity and velocity fields.These results help simulation of fresh concrete flowing in porous media.     

Acoustical properties of coal

A model has been proposed for bituminous coal which takes into consideration the transverse isotropic properties of coal and the effects of the nature of fluid in the pores on its acoustical properties. The predicted values were then compared with the experimental results performed on a bituminous coal slab, and good agreement was found between the predicted and experimental values, thus verifying the proposed model. The sound velocity through coal increases and the attenuation decreases as the pores become saturated with water.     

基于相场方法的孔隙尺度油水两相流体流动模拟

基于真实岩心颗粒粒径分布,利用过程法构建疏松砂岩油藏的三维孔隙结构模型,利用相场方法建立两相流体流动数学模型并利用有限元方法进行求解,研究驱替速度、流体性质、润湿性对剩余油分布以及采出程度的影响.结果表明：驱替速度的增大和油水粘度比的减小会导致较大的毛管数,进而有利于采出程度的提高;就润湿性而言,水湿条件下毛管力是水驱油的动力,而在油湿条件下是阻力,因此水湿岩心采出程度更高.同时,从孔隙尺度对油水渗流机理及剩余油分布机理进行揭示,结果表明：由于多孔介质的复杂孔隙结构,流体在流经不同孔隙时呈现不同的流动特征,进而对油水两相流整体的压力分布、流速分布造成重要影响.     

多孔硅光致发光峰半峰全宽的压缩

硅发光对于在单一硅片上实现光电集成是至关重要的.目前已有的使硅产生发光的方法有:掺杂深能级杂质、掺稀土离子、多孔硅、纳米硅以及Si/SiO₂超晶格.声空化所引发的特殊的物理、化学环境为制备光致发光多孔硅薄膜提供了一条重要的途径.实验表明,声化学处理对于改善多孔硅的微结构,提高发光效率和发光稳定性都是一项非常有效的技术.超声波加强阳极电化学腐蚀制备发光多孔硅薄膜,比目前通用的常规方法制备的样品显示出更优良的性质.这种超声波的化学效应源于声空化,即腐蚀液中气泡的形成、生长和急剧崩溃.在多孔硅的腐蚀过程中,由于超声波的作用增加了孔中氢气泡的逸出比率和塌缩,有利于孔沿垂直方向的腐蚀,使多孔硅光致发光峰的半峰全宽压缩到了3.8nm.     

Ultrasonic measurement of viscoelastic shear modulus development in hydrating cement paste

A test procedure for measuring changes in amplitude and phase of SH ultrasonic waves from the interface between fused-quartz and cement paste samples is presented. The phase change is determined from the temporal shift in the reflected signal relative to the incident signal. The sensitivity of the measured parameters to changes in acoustic impedance of the materials in contact with fused-quartz is evaluated for different angles of incidence. It is shown that a reflection measurement at normal incidence at nano-second temporal resolution does not provide sufficient sensitivity to measure the viscous component of shear modulus of low viscosity fluids and cannot be applied to cement paste while it is in a fluid state. Monitoring the measured amplitude and phase at oblique angle of incidence allows for measuring fluids with acoustic impedance comparable to cement paste. The reflection measurements are used to determine the evolution of elastic and viscous components of shear modulus cement paste with time. Influence of sampling rate and temperature effects on the phase measurements are evaluated and shown to be significant. It is shown that the initial loss of workability of cement paste through setting process is associated with a larger relative increase in the viscous component of shear modulus. Following the initial rapid rise of the viscous component of shear modulus, there is a larger relative increase in the elastic component, which can be related to the emergence of a solid structure capable of retaining an imprint.     

Theoretical and experimental study of the ultrasonic attenuation in bovine cancellous bone

In this study a theoretical approach for the estimation of ultrasonic attenuation is proposed. The approach combines two models which take into account both absorption and scattering. Attenuation due to absorption is studied by using the Biot’s analytical model whereas that due to scattering is described by means of a generalized weak scattering model which is formulated for binary mixtures. The scattering model takes account of the density fluctuation of the porous medium in addition to the propagation velocity fluctuation. For the calculation of the attenuation coefficient due to absorption, experimental values have been used to link size of pores to porosity. The theoretical results have been compared with experimental data obtained on bovine cancellous bone samples filled with water. Using an immersion acoustic transmission method, the ultrasonic attenuation has been measured at a frequency range between 0.1 and 1.0 MHz for 12 bovine cancellous bone samples with a porosity range between 40% and 70%. The prediction of attenuation with this model appears to correspond more closely to its experimentally observed behavior. This study indicates that scattering is the predominant mechanism which is responsible for attenuation in trabecular bone. Furthermore, it shows that the density fluctuations contribute significantly to the phenomenon of attenuation and cannot thus be neglected.     

水泥老化过程中水动态的准弹性中子散射(QENS)谱分析

准弹性中子散射(quasi-elastic neutron scattering, QENS)实验是研究水泥老化过程中水动态的一种新颖的实验方法.本文利用老化时间分别为7, 14和30 d水泥样品的QENS谱实验数据, 通过应用四个高斯项的和的能量分辨函数R(Q, E)代替一个高斯项的能量分辨函数来改进经验扩散模型(empirical diffusion model, EDM), 再进行非线性最小二乘拟合.由此导出水泥样品中水动态的相关物理参数: 不动水数密度A, 自由水指数FWI=B₁/(A+B₁+B₂), 洛伦兹函数的半高宽Γ, 移动水跳跃之间的平均停留时间τ ₀及自扩散系数D_t, 而且可得出更为精准的QENS谱拟合曲线.拟合得到的物理参数可定量描述水泥老化过程中水动态过程, 从而为QENS实验在水泥老化过程中水动态研究的应用提供一种合理实用的谱分析方法.     

Porosity estimation of aged mortar using a micromechanical model

Degradation of concrete structures located in high humidity atmospheres or under flowing water is a very important problem. In this study, a method for ultrasonic non-destructive characterization in aged mortar is presented. The proposed method makes a prediction of the behaviour of aged mortar accomplished with a three phase micromechanical model using ultrasonic measurements. Aging mortar was accelerated by immersing the probes in ammonium nitrate solution. Both destructive and non-destructive characterization of mortar was performed. Destructive tests of porosity were performed using a vacuum saturation method and non-destructive characterization was carried out using ultrasonic velocities. Aging experiments show that mortar degradation not only involves a porosity increase, but also microstructural changes in the cement matrix. Experimental results show that the estimated porosity using the proposed non-destructive methodology had a comparable performance to classical destructive techniques.     

Shear zones and wall slip in the capillary flow of concentrated colloidal suspensions

We image the flow of a nearly random close packed, hard-sphere colloidal suspension (a "paste") in a square capillary using confocal microscopy. The flow consists of a "plug" in the center while shear occurs localized adjacent to the channel walls, reminiscent of yield-stress fluid behavior. However, the observed scaling of the velocity profiles with the flow rate strongly contrasts yield-stress fluid predictions. Instead, the velocity profiles can be captured by a theory of stress fluctuations originally developed for chute flow of dry granular media. We verified this both for smooth and rough walls.     

Effect of porous surface layer on wave propagation in elastic cylinder immersed in fluid

To study the damage to an elastic cylinder immersed in fluid, a model of an elastic cylinder wrapped with a porous medium immersed in fluid is designed. This structure can both identify the properties of guided waves in a more practical model and address the relationship between the cylinder damage degree and the surface and surrounding medium. The principal motivation is to perform a detailed quantitative analysis of the longitudinal mode and flexural mode in an elastic cylinder wrapped with a porous medium immersed in fluid. The frequency equations for the propagation of waves are derived each for a pervious surface and an impervious surface by employing Biot theory. The influences of the various parameters of the porous medium wrapping layer on the phase velocity and attenuation are discussed. The results show that the influences of porosity on the dispersion curves of guided waves are much more significant than those of thickness, whereas the phase velocity is independent of the static permeability. There is an apparent "mode switching" between the two low-order modes. The characteristics of attenuation are in good agreement with the results from the dispersion curves. This work can support future studies for optimizing the theory on detecting the damage to cylinder or pipeline.     

无限流体中孔隙介质圆柱周向导波的传播特性

为研究无限大流体约束的孔隙圆柱中周向导波的传播规律,分析孔隙参数对导波传播特性的影响,建立了无限流体中孔隙介质圆柱的理论模型,利用孔隙介质弹性波动理论,建立了周向导波频散方程,通过数值模拟计算得到无限流体中孔隙介质圆柱的频散曲线,探讨了圆柱半径和孔隙参数对导波传播特性的影响,并对导波的衰减特性进行了分析;通过数值计算,得到了周向导波的时域波形,讨论了孔隙参数对波形的影响.结果表明,孔隙介质圆柱半径的改变影响圆柱尺度,孔隙度的改变影响孔隙介质中体声波的波速,都对周向导波频散曲线产生一定的影响,所得到的频散曲线特征及衰减曲线与时域波形吻合.研究结果对开展无限流体中孔隙介质圆柱的超声无损评价提供了一定的理论参考.     

制备条件对含铜阳极氧化铝复合薄膜偏振特性的影响

利用多孔阳极氧化铝(PAA)的纳米列阵结构,将金属铜电镀到氧化铝的孔中,得到含有金属铜纳米列阵阳极氧化铝(Cu/PAA)膜。实验中发现,Cu/PAA膜的偏振特性与电镀条件有关。在一定的范围内,随着电镀时间和电流密度的增加,消光比增大。电镀溶液的温度也是影响Cu/PAA膜消光比的一个很重要的因素,在电镀溶液温度相对较高的情况下,电流密度相对较小时也可以获得相对较高的消光比。通过优化电镀条件可获得高效率的Cu/PAA膜微偏振器。这种电化学方法制备的微偏振器,制备工艺简单,尺寸可控,便于实现产业化,有广泛的应用前景。     

Investigation of an anisotropic tortuosity in a biot model of ultrasonic propagation in cancellous bone

The modeling of ultrasonic propagation in cancellous bone is relevant to the study of clinical bone assessment. Historical experiments revealed the importance of both the viscous effects of bone marrow and the anisotropy of the porous microstructure. Of those propagation models previously applied to cancellous bone, Biot's theory incorporates viscosity, but has only been applied in isotropic form, while Schoenberg's anisotropic model does not include viscosity. In this paper we present an approach that incorporates the merits of both models, by utilizing the tortuosity, a key parameter describing pore architecture. An angle-dependent tortuosity for a layered structure is used in Biot's theory to generate the "Stratified Biot Model" for cancellous bone, which is compared with published bone data. While the Stratified Biot model was inferior to Schoenberg's model for slow wave velocity prediction, the proposed model improved agreement fast wave velocity at high propagation angles, particularly when sorted for porosity. An attempt was made to improve the fast wave agreement at low angles by introducing an angle-dependent Young's Modulus, which, while improving the agreement of predicted fast wave velocity at low angles, degraded agreement at high angles. In this paper the utility of the tortuosity in characterizing the architecture of cancellous bone is highlighted.     

An application of the Peano series expansion to predict sound propagation in materials with continuous pore stratification

This work reports on an application of the state vector (Stroh) formalism and Peano series expansion to solve the problem of sound propagation in a material with continuous pore stratification. An alternative Biot formulation is used to link the equivalent velocity in the oscillatory flow in the material pores with the acoustic pressure gradient. In this formulation, the complex dynamic density and bulk modulus are predicted using the equivalent fluid flow model developed by Horoshenkov and Swift [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110(5), 2371-2378 (2001)] under the rigid frame approximation. This model is validated against experimental data obtained for a 140 mm thick material specimen with continuous pore size stratification and relatively constant porosity. This material has been produced from polyurethane binder solution placed in a container with a vented top and sealed bottom to achieve a gradient in the reaction time which caused a pore size stratification to develop as a function of depth [Mahasaranon et al., J. Appl. Phys. 111, 084901 (2012)]. It is shown that the acoustical properties of this class of materials can be accurately predicted with the adopted theoretical model.     

Propagation of ultrasonic waves in porous ceramics

Theoretical problems concerning the propagation of ultrasonic waves in a porous medium are outlined. The propagation velocity of longitudinal ultrasonic waves in an elastic medium with spherical gaseous inclusions is considered in detail. The calculation method adopted consists of determining equivalent elasticity moduli of the porous medium. The calculation of these moduli is based on the work of H. Mackenzie on media containing spherical gaseous inclusions of various diameters. The theoretical results obtained for the propagation velocity of ultrasonic waves, are compared with those measured on electrical porcelain, the latter constituting a model of a porous medium. Also a method allowing for the effect of composition of the porcelain mass to be taken into account, is described. The results of measurements of the propagation velocity of a longitudinal wave are found to be in good agreement with theoretical data. This conformity allows for non-destructive tests of products containing spherical gaseous inclusions.