Engineered Concrete through Tailored Cementitious Materials by Tribochemistry, Surface Treatment and Activation

水泥是世界上使用最广泛的建筑材料，其生产产生的二氧化碳约占人类活动产生的二氧化碳总量的5%。水泥/混凝土行业已承诺通过减少混凝土中的水泥熟料量来减少温室气体排放。其中一种方法是使用来自工业副产品（硅灰、矿渣、粉煤灰）的辅助胶凝材料（SCM）和替代性SCM（ASCM：玻璃粉、偏高岭土、煅烧粘土），其可以部分或全部替代混凝土中的水泥。尽管具有SCM的混凝土可以产生与普通混凝土相当或更高的性能，但其潜力尚未得到充分开发。在任何情况下，早期强度低，凝结时间长，分散性差，反应慢，化学收缩和混凝土开裂的报告。该研究计划的重点是优化SCM性能与摩擦化学，表面化学活化，分散和包装密度的工具，以设计耐用，可持续的混凝土结构。* 固体状水泥和SCM的研磨会产生复杂的转化。机械能破坏材料的原子和分子结构，产生裂纹，微缺陷和新的表面。晶体结构的微缺陷中的能量可以改变和复杂化固体颗粒的反应性和流变性。当不同的材料（熟料、SCM、ASCM）被相互研磨时，这种影响更加复杂。化学活化也可用于增加SCM和ASCM水合。在该计划中，SCM将通过研磨和表面处理来定制，以设计具有高颗粒堆积密度的混凝土。将用显微镜和光谱技术分析研磨过的表面处理过的混合物。通过量热法、纳米压痕法和电子显微镜测量，研究了SCM的摩擦化学效应对波特兰水泥无粘结剂的粘结剂水化和活化的影响。* 了解材料研磨对颗粒表面的影响（摩擦化学）和表面处理以及优化的粘合剂堆积密度将更好地掌握水合过程。这些协同效应将被调节，以定制具有优化流变性、机械性能和耐久性的混凝土。* 从该模型中获得的结果将在中试规模和现场实验混凝土上进行验证。* 除了为加拿大建筑业提供现成的HQP培训外，其成果将是一个可供混凝土行业使用的主要数据库和模型，用于在加拿大建造耐用和可持续的基础设施。********

The production of cement—the world's most widely used construction material—causes about 5% of the total CO2 caused by human activity. The cement/concrete industries have committed to reduce their greenhouse emissions by reducing the amount of cement clinker in concrete. One such means is using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) from industrial by-products (silica fume, slag, fly ash) and alternative SCMs (ASCMs: glass powder, metakaolin, calcined clays) that can partially or totally replace cement in concrete. Although concretes with SCMs can yield equivalent or higher properties than plain concrete, their potential has yet to be fully be exploited. In any cases, low early strength, long setting time, poor dispersion, slow reactivity, chemical shrinkage, and concrete cracking are reported. This research program focuses on optimizing SCM properties with tribochemistry, surface chemical activation, dispersion, and packing-density tools to design durable, sustainable concrete structures. ***The grinding of solid-like cement and SCMs generates complex transformations. The mechanical energy disrupts the materials' atomic and molecular structures, producing cracks, micro-defects and new surfaces. The energy in the micro-defects of the crystalline structure can modify and complexify solid-particle reactivity and rheology. This effect is more complex when different materials (clinker, SCMs, ASCMs) are interground. Chemical activation can also be used to increase SCM and ASCM hydration. In this program, SCMs will be tailored through grinding and surface treatment to engineer concretes with high particle-packing densities. The milled surface-treated mixtures will be analyzed with microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Tribochemical effects of SCMs will be investigated on binder hydration and activation of portland cement-free binders through calorimetry, nano-indentation, and electron-microscopic measurements. ***Understanding the effect of material grinding on particle surfaces (tribochemistry) and surface treatment coupled with an optimized packing density of the binder will provide better mastery over the hydration process. These synergetic effects will be modulated to tailor a concrete with optimized rheology, mechanical performances, and durability. ***Results obtained from this modeling will be validated on pilot-scale and in situ experimental concretes. ***In addition to train HQP readily available for the Canadian construction industry, the outcome will be a major database and model accessible to the concrete industry for building durable and sustainable infrastructures in Canada. ********