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Organisationseinheit der BAM
Chemical admixtures like superplasticisers or stabilising agents are of ever increasing importance for modern concrete technology. They liberate the workability of concrete from its dependency on water content, and thus, open the gate towards innovative and future oriented concrete technologies such as selfcompacting concrete. Meanwhile admixtures have become common practice in concrete technology, but the understanding of these highly complex polymers in the entire concrete system lags far behind their application. Due to its complex time-dependent, multi-phase and multi-scale behaviour, flowable concrete systems are highly complicated and cannot be described comprehensively by simple models. It is therefore extremely challenging to identify the relevant parameters that predominantly control flow phenomena on different size scales, since these may occur on any scale between the nano scale (e.g. superplasticizer adsorption) and macro scale (e.g. grading of the aggregates). The present study discusses fundamental mechanisms at the interface between particle or hydrate surfaces and the fluid phase at a very early stage of concrete formation, and links these effects to macroscopic flow phenomena. Methods are discussed that appear promising interdisciplinary tools for enhancement of the understanding of the relevant interactions that are responsible for the macroscopic flow of flowable concrete.
Organic/inorganic mixtures were prepared from ordinary Portland cement (OPC), water (w/c 0.22), a fluorescent dye in aqueous solution (stable at alkaline pH; BAM-I), and two different comb shape polycarboxylates (PCEs), i.e., high charge (PCE-HC) and low charge (PCE-LC), respectively. Rheological and calorimetric measurements were performed prior to optical studies in order to select PCE concentrations. Absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy of the system OPC + BAM-I (CBAM-I) revealed maxima of dye BAM-I located at 645 nm and 663 nm, respectively. In presence of PCE-HC and PCE-LC, these mixtures displayed a small red shift in reflectance and a faster decrease in intensity compared to studies with CBAM-I; however, only slight differences were observed between the different PCEs. With time, all systems exhibited a decrease in intensity of BAM-I in absorption/reflectance and emission. This could be caused by dye adsorption and possibly decomposition when in contact with cement particles or hydration products.
Tricalcium aluminate (C3A) is found with less than 10% wt. of the total composition; however, during hydration, C3A plays an important role in the early hydration of cement in the presence of gypsum as a set retarder.
The aim of this investigation is to assess the suitability of optical spectroscopy and a dye-based optical probe to monitor early hydration of C3A in the presence of gypsum and hemihydrate. Optical evaluation was performed using steady-state fluorescence and diffuses reflectance spectroscopy (UV-VisDR). Phase characterization during hydration was done with in-situ X-ray diffraction. UV-VisDR with a cyanine dye probe was used to monitor the formation of metastable phases and was employed together with fluorescence spectroscopy, to follow the Aggregation and disaggregation of the dye during hydration. In conclusion, for the first time, a cyanine dye was identified as a feasible and stable probe to monitor C3A hydration changes in the presence of calcium sulfate.