Title:
New Strength Model Based on Water-Cement Ratio and Capillary Porosity
Author(s):
K. S. Pann, Tsong Yen, Chao-Wei Tang, and T. D. Lin
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
100
Issue:
4
Appears on pages(s):
311-318
Keywords:
capillary; compressive strength; hydration; water-cement ratio.
DOI:
10.14359/12669
Date:
7/1/2003
Abstract:
This paper presents a new mathematical model that includes the effects of water-cement ratios (w/c) and capillary porosity that was left out in the Abrams’ formula. Basically, the capillary pores are remnants of water-filled space in between the partially hydrated cement grains, and the gel pores are formed within C-S-H gels, the primary products of hydration. This physiochemical behavior enables one to develop a mathematical strength model to include the effect of capillary porosities and w/c. Nonlinear regression analysis has been applied to solve the equation. To check the adequacy of the proposed model, 34 mixed-batch data taken from published literatures were used as inputs in the analyses. The calculated results reflect a greater accuracy than that obtained from Abrams’ Law. A back-propagation neural network was also applied to assess the compressive strengths of the same 34 data sets. The results verify the validity of the proposed model.