TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, K. A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram T1 - Effect of agitation during the early‑age hydration on thixotropy and morphology of cement paste N2 - The effect of agitation during the earlyage hydration on thixotropy and morphology of cement paste prepared with and without superplasticizers (SP) is investigated by applying penetration test, small amplitude oscillatory shear sweep test (SAOS), isothermal calorimetric test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analyses (EDX). The results show that the agitation of cement paste during the induction period increases the heat flow rate and destroys existing structures of samples without changing the mineral composition of samples. Yet, if the agitation is applied during the acceleration period, the heat flow rate is significantly lowered and the morphology and mineral composition of samples undergo irreversible change, freshly formed syngenite is destroyed and no longer restored. The penetration force and the static yield stress grow linearly during the induction period and exponentially during the acceleration period. Agitation during the induction period destroys the structure, which causes the static yield stress and the penetration force values becoming nearly equal to zero. However, during the acceleration period, even after agitation the static yield stress and the penetration force exhibit high residual values, which indicates the impact of hydration to the structural build-up. KW - Hydration · Thixotropy KW - Agitation KW - Morphology KW - Structural build-up PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-621189 DO - https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-024-02504-w VL - 57 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Nature Switzerland AG CY - Schweiz AN - OPUS4-62118 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Robens-Radermacher, Annika A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Unger, Jörg F. A1 - Mezhov, Alexander T1 - Characterization of temperature influence on the structural build-up of 3D printed concrete N2 - 3D concrete printing technologies enhance design freedom while reducing material use and costs without the need for formwork. Thereby, structural build-up is the key property governing stability and early strength evolution of 3D printed concrete after placement. Structural build-up is influenced by various factors, i.e., environmental conditions such as temperature. In this paper, the influence of ambient temperature on structural build-up was investigated through experimental and numerical approaches. Three experimental setups (small amplitude oscillatory shear, constant shear rate, and small amplitude oscillatory extensional tests) were applied to materials of increasing complexity under varying temperature conditions. A common modeling framework based on the maturity approach was developed to capture the time and temperature evolution. A stochastic framework was employed to estimate the unknown model parameters using experimental data. Experimental results demonstrate a significant temperature influence on structural build-up, consistent across all test setups and materials. The calibrated models successfully predict the structural build-up under different temperatures, confirming the applicability of the maturity approach to rheological parameters at early age. Furthermore, the stochastic parameter estimation allows a correct quantification of the uncertainties, enhancing model reliability. The comparison of two time evolution formulations indicates that a model with an additional linear stage is required for predicting the increase of the storage moduli ( $${G}{\prime}$$ G ′ , $${E}{\prime}$$ E ′ ). In conclusion, the study demonstrates that temperature significantly affects the structural build-up, and that the proposed modeling approach allows to predict this behavior. KW - Structural build-up KW - 3D concrete printing KW - Rheology KW - Temperature influence KW - Modeling KW - Green intelligent building PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-654138 DO - https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-025-02931-3 SN - 1359-5997 VL - 59 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-65413 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Robens-Radermacher, Annika T1 - Dataset for publication: Characterization of temperature influence on the structural built-up of 3D concrete N2 - Implementation, data, and results for the generation of the study "Characterization of temperature influence on the structural built-up of 3D concrete". In this study, the influence of temperature on structural build-up is investigated. A significant temperature influence is demonstrated for three experimental setups (small amplitude oscillatory shear, constant shear rate, and small amplitude oscillatory extensional tests) using different materials. A common modeling framework capturing the time- and temperature evolution is derived based on the maturity approach. Two alternative formulations for the time evolution were proposed. Both models were calibrated using a probabilistic approach, allowing for uncertainty quantification. The calibrated models successfully predict the structural build-up under different ambient temperature conditions. KW - Structural build-up KW - 3D concrete printing KW - Modeling KW - Parameter identification KW - Temperature influence PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15845818 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-64982 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Kun A1 - Kong, Deyu A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Mezhov, Alexander T1 - Influence of hydroxypropylation of starch on rheological properties of cement paste modified by superplasticizers N2 - Starch is often used as a viscosity modifying agent (VMA) in self-compacting concrete (SCC) and highly flowable concrete. In this paper, starches possessing different degrees of hydroxypropyl substitution (DS) were used to study the shear rheological properties and hydration kinetics of cement paste in the presence of and without polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE). The starch with the highest DS increases the yield stress and the plastic viscosity stronger than others. Regardless of the dosage and DS of starch the structural build-up is not affected specifically by the starch during the induction period. During the acceleration period starches reduce the structural build-up, but with the highest DS this effect was less prominent than for the other modifications. In the presence of PCE the addition of starch notably increases the yield stress, whereas the influence on the plastic viscosity is limited. Yet, the combined application of PCE and starch allows to control rheological properties and maintain the structural build-up rate. KW - Modified starch KW - PCE KW - Structural build-up KW - Rheological properties KW - Cement hydration PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.143646 SN - 1879-0526 VL - 495 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-64168 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, K. A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram T1 - Chemical and thixotropic contribution to the structural build-up of cementitious materials N2 - The structural build-up of fresh cement paste is often considered as a purely thixotropic phenomenon in literature even though cementitious materials undergo a non-reversible hydration process that can have an influence on the structuration process. In the current paper a method is proposed to validate the impact of the non-reversible structural build-up. It is shown that fresh cement paste samples lose their structural gain almost completely due to thixotropy while the structural build-up due to hydration can be observed but occurs in a significantly lower order of magnitude over the course of the first hours of hydration. In addition, it is shown, that the chemical component of the structural build-up accelerates with the onset of the acceleration period of hydration, while its contribution in the entire structural build-up remains constant. KW - Thixotropy KW - Structural build-up KW - Penetration test KW - Rheological properties PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.128307 SN - 0950-0618 VL - 345 IS - 128307 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-58248 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zhang, K. A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram T1 - Thixotropic and chemical structural build-up of cement pastes with superplasticizer under different storage conditions N2 - Synopsis: The paper presents the results of a study on the influence of agitation on the structural build-up of fresh cement pastes using a penetration test. It first presents results about the influence of the penetrating shape’s geometry on the influence on the cement paste specimen. Then, results are shown for the load-deflection curves depending upon time and agitation before testing. Based on the observation of the force required to penetrate the sample, conclusions on the structural build-up can be made. The observations were made over the course of time with samples that were left at rest and partly agitated before testing at different time steps. The setup allows to identify the contribution of the chemical reaction to the structural build-up process. The presence of superplasticizer obviously reduces the load that cement paste can withstand, while the loss of thixotropy is found notably lower than that of neat cement pates T2 - 13th International Conference on Superplasticizers and Other Chemical Admixtures in Concrete CY - Milan, Italy DA - 10.07.2022 KW - Thixotropy KW - Superplasticizer KW - Structural build-up KW - Texture analyzer KW - Penetration test PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.14359/51736058 VL - 354 SP - 13 EP - 24 PB - ACI Special Publications AN - OPUS4-58324 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Zhang, H. A1 - Diesendruck, Ch. E. T1 - The effect of the charge density of a comb polyphosphate superplasticizer on the structural build-up of cement paste N2 - Synopsis: Lately, there has been rising attention to superplasticizers (SP) based on polyphosphate esters. However, the influence of the molecular structure of the polyphosphate polymers on time-dependent properties such as structural build-up has not been examined yet intensively. To investigate this effect, three comb polyphosphate superplasticizers with different charge densities were synthesised by free radical polymerisation. Our findings indicate that SP with the lowest and medium charge densities extend the induction period more strongly than the SP with the highest charge density. The reduction of the structural build-up rate is linearly dependent on the dosage and concentration of the functional group of polyphosphate SP in the cementitious system. This study proposes a mathematical equation expressing the relationship between the structural build-up rate during the induction period and the molecular structure of the polyphosphate SP. T2 - 13th International Conference on Superplasticizers and Other Chemical Admixtures in Concrete CY - Milan, Italien DA - 10.07.2022 KW - Admixture KW - Superplasticizer KW - Polyphosphate KW - Structural build-up PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.14359/51736079 VL - 354 SP - 255 EP - 262 PB - ACI Special Publications AN - OPUS4-58321 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Robens-Radermacher, Annika T1 - Temperature dependent modelling approach for early age behavior of printable mortars N2 - For extrusion-based 3D concrete printing, the early age mechanical behavior is influenced by various time dependent phenomena: structural build-up, plasticity as well as viscosity. The structural build-up is governing the stability and early-age strength development of the fresh printable cementitious materials and with that influencing the printability, buildability, and open time of the printing process. Generally, it is influenced by a number of factors, i.e. composition of the printable material, printing regime, and ambient conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.). There are several approaches to model the structural build-up of cementitious materials. All models are based on a time-dependent internal structural parameter describing the flocculation state, which is assumed to be zero after mixing and increases with time. The approaches differ in the definition of the time dependency (linear, exponential, bi-linear). Usually, the parameters are defined for a specific material composition without considering the influence of ambient conditions. In this contribution, the bi-linear structural build-up model [Kruger et al., Construction and Building Materials 224, 2019] is extended by the temperature influence. Temperature changes will occur in real life printing processes due to changing ambient conditions (summer, winter, day, night) as well as the printing process (pressure changes etc.) and have a significant impact on the structural build-up process: an increase of the temperature leads to a faster dissolution of cement phases, accelerates hydration and boosts the Brownian motion. For that reason, the model parameters are simulated as temperature dependent using an Arrhenius function. Furthermore, the proposed extended model is calibrated based on measurement data using Bayesian inference. A very good agreement of the predicted model data with the measured control data was reached. Additionally, the structural build-up model is integrated into a viscoelastic and elastoplastic mechanical model, simulating the whole mechanical behavior during layer deposition. T2 - Eighth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE 2023) CY - Milan, Italy DA - 03.07.2023 KW - 3D concrete printing KW - Material characterization KW - Structural build-up KW - Thixotropy KW - Model calibration PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58218 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Robens-Radermacher, Annika T1 - Temperature Impact on the Structural Build-Up of Cementitious Materials - Experimental and Modelling Study N2 - With increasing focus on industrialized processing, investigating, understanding, and modelling the structural build-up of cementitious materials becomes more important. The structural build-up governs the key property of fresh printable materials -- buildability -- and it influences the mechanical properties after the deposition. The structural build-up rate can be adjusted by optimization of the mixture composition and the use of concrete admixtures. Additionally, it is known, that the environmental conditions, i.e. humidity and temperature have a significant impact on the kinetic of cement hydration and the resulting hardened properties, such as shrinkage, cracking resistance etc. In this study, small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) tests are applied to examine the structural build-up rate of cement paste subject to different temperatures under controlled humidity. The results indicate significant influences of the ambient temperature on the intensity of the re-flocculation (Rthix) rate, while the structuration rate (Athix) is almost not affected. A bi-linear thixotropy model extended by temperature dependent parameters coupled with a linear viscoelastic material model is proposed to simulate the mechanical behaviour considering the structural build-up during the SAOS test. T2 - Third RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication (Digital Concrete 2022) CY - Loughborough, UK DA - 27.06.2022 KW - Structural build-up KW - Rheological properties KW - Modelling PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55581 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Robens-Radermacher, Annika ED - Mezhov, Alexander ED - Robens-Radermacher, Annika ED - Zhang, Kun ED - Kühne, Hans-Carsten ED - Unger, Jörg F. ED - Schmidt, Wolfram T1 - Temperature Impact on the Structural Build-Up of Cementitious Materials - Experimental and Modelling Study N2 - With increasing focus on industrialized processing, investigating, understanding, and modelling the structural build-up of cementitious materials becomes more important. The structural build-up governs the key property of fresh printable materials -- buildability -- and it influences the mechanical properties after the deposition. The structural build-up rate can be adjusted by optimization of the mixture composition and the use of concrete admixtures. Additionally, it is known, that the environmental conditions, i.e. humidity and temperature have a significant impact on the kinetic of cement hydration and the resulting hardened properties, such as shrinkage, cracking resistance etc. In this study, small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) tests are applied to examine the structural build-up rate of cement paste subject to different temperatures under controlled humidity. The results indicate significant influences of the ambient temperature on the intensity of the re-flocculation (Rthix) rate, while the structuration rate (Athix) is almost not affected. A bi-linear thixotropy model extended by temperature dependent parameters coupled with a linear viscoelastic material model is proposed to simulate the mechanical behaviour considering the structural build-up during the SAOS test T2 - Third RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication (Digital Concrete 2022) CY - Loughborough, UK DA - 27.06.2022 KW - Structural build-up KW - Rheological properties KW - Modelling PY - 2022 SN - 978-3-031-06116-5 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06116-5_49 VL - 37 SP - 330 EP - 336 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham AN - OPUS4-55580 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Robens-Radermacher, Annika A1 - Unger, Jörg F. A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram ED - Biondini, F. ED - Frangopo, D. M. T1 - Temperature dependent modelling approach for early age behavior of printable mortars N2 - Structural build-up describes the stability and early-age strength development of fresh mortar used in 3D printing. lt is influenced by several factors, i.e. the composition of the print­ able material, the printing regime, and the ambient conditions. The existing modelling approaches for structural build-up usually define the model parameters for a specific material composition with­ out considering the influence of the ambient conditions. The goal of this contribution is to explicitly include the temperature dependency in the modelling approach. Temperature changes have signifi­ cant impact on the structural build-up process: an increase of the temperature leads to a faster dissol­ ution of cement phases and accelerates hydration. The proposed extended model includes temperature dependency using the Arrhenius theory. The new model parameters are successfully calibrated based on Viskomat measurement data using Bayesian inference. Furthermore, a higher impact of the temperature in the re-flocculation as in the structuration stage is observed. T2 - The Eighth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE 2023) CY - Milano, Italien DA - 02.07.2023 KW - 3D concrete printing KW - Material characterization KW - Structural build-up KW - Thixotropy KW - Model calibration PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-582175 SN - 978-1-003-32302-0 DO - https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003323020-146 SN - 978-1-003-32302-0 VL - 1st Edition SP - 1193 EP - 1200 PB - CRC Press AN - OPUS4-58217 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -