A Modelling Framework of Portland Cement Hydration

Abstract

Modelling the hydration process of Portland cement is a critical stage for predicting the mechanical properties of cement-based materials, since the modelling results are actually the initial data for prediction models. Incorrect modelling at this stage is high likely to lead to inadequate values of mechanical properties. The main difficulty of modelling is that cement hydration is an extremely complex process, the features of which are still not clearly understood. This determines the fact that hydration modelling is currently based on a phenomenological approach including a sufficient number of coefficients depending on experimental results. This paper presents basic principles of hydration modelling and analyses the most widely used models to estimate the degree of cement hydration to identify their assumptions and limitations.