Influence of Moisture Content and Wet Environment on the Fatigue Behaviour of High-Strength Concrete.

The influence of a wet environment on the fatigue behaviour of high-strength concrete has become more important in recent years with the expansion of offshore wind energy systems. According to the few investigations documented in the literature, the fatigue resistance of specimens submerged in water is significantly lower compared to that of specimens in dry conditions. However, it is still not clear how the wet environment and the moisture content in concrete influence its fatigue behaviour and which damage mechanisms are involved in the deterioration process. Here the results of a joint project are reported, in which the impact of moisture content in concrete on fatigue deterioration are investigated experimentally and numerically. Aside from the number of cycles to failure, the development of stiffness and acoustic emission (AE) hits are analysed as damage inductors and discussed along with results of microstructural investigations to provide insights into the degradation mechanisms. Subsequently, an efficient numeric modelling approach to water-induced fatigue damage is presented. The results of the fatigue tests show an accelerated degradation behaviour with increasing moisture content of the concrete. Further, it was found that the AE hits of specimens submerged in water occur exclusively close to the minimum stress level in contrast to specimens subjected to dry conditions, which means that additional damage mechanisms are acting with increasing moisture content in the concrete.

Fatigue-Induced Damage in High-Strength Concrete Microstructure.

A high-strength concrete subjected to compressive fatigue loading with two maximum stress levels was investigated and the behaviour was evaluated using the macroscopic damage indicators, strain and acoustic emission hits (AE-hits), combined with microstructural analyses utilising light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A clustering technique using Gaussian mixture modelling combined with a posterior probability of 0.80 was firstly applied to the AE-hits caused by compressive fatigue loading, leading to two clusters depending on the maximum stress level. Only a few cracks were visible in the microstructure using light microscopy and SEM, even in phase III of the strain development, which is shortly before failure. However, bluish impregnated areas in the mortar matrix of higher porosity or defects, changing due to the fatigue loading, were analysed. Indications were found that the fatigue damage process is continuously ongoing on a micro- or sub-microscale throughout the mortar matrix, which is difficult to observe on a mesoscale by imaging. Furthermore, the results indicate that two different damage mechanisms take place, which are pronounced depending on the maximum stress level. This might be due to diffuse and widespread compressive damage and localised tensile damage, as the findings documented in the literature suggest.

Influence of Low-Pressure Treatment on the Morphological and Compositional Stability of Microscopic Ettringite.

The impact of low-pressure treatment on the crystal structure, morphology, and chemical composition of ettringite, due to their major importance with respect to processability (i.a., drying conditions) and to the analysis of ettringite-containing samples, is examined utilizing X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and environmental scanning electron microscopy. Synthetic ettringite was treated for various durations (5 min up to 72 h) and at two different levels of low-pressure (4.0 mbar and 60 µbar). Evaluation showed a correlation between the procedural parameters (time and pressure), the chemical composition, and the morphology of ettringite. The experiments reveal that, when exposed to 4 mbar pressure, nearly no changes occur in the ettringite's morphology, whereas the crystals undergo swelling and slight deformations at very low pressures (60 µbar and 35.3 nbar), which is attributed to the loss of bound water and the partial transformation from ettringite to quicklime, anhydrite, and calcium aluminate. Furthermore, the strongly dehydrated ettringite shows the same morphology.

The Influences of Cement Hydration and Temperature on the Thixotropy of Cement Paste.

The rheological properties of fresh cement paste are highly influenced by a large number of parameters, among which the most important factors are the applied shear stress, and the shear history, the age of the sample and the temperature. The effects of these parameters on the yield stress (designated as structural limit stress in this work), the viscosity and the structural recovery rate (i.e., the change in dynamic viscosity with time at rest) were studied. In parallel, the changes in ion composition of the carrier liquid, mineral phase content and granulometry were investigated. The results reveal that all investigated rheological parameters exhibit an approximated bi-linear trend with respect to the degree of hydration, with a period of quasi-constant properties until a degree of hydration of approximately 0.07, followed by a non-linear increase. This increase could be attributed to the formation of calcium hydroxide (CH) and calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) via calorimetry results. With regard to the effect of the shear history of the sample on the rheological properties, the structural limit stress showed a minor dependency on the shear history immediately after the end of shearing, which, however, vanished within the first minute at rest. The same is true for the structural recovery rate. The presented results give detailed insights into the influences of hydration and shear on the rheological properties-especially the thixotropy-of fresh cement pastes.

The Influence of Bleeding of Cement Suspensions on Their Rheological Properties.

Flowable concretes tend to segregate. The risk of segregation is particularly high when the concrete is vibrated during the compaction process. A well-known segregation phenomenon is the so-called "bleeding". This is a rise of water to the surface of the freshly poured concrete due to the difference in density between the mixing water and the concrete's denser solid components (aggregates, cement and additives). This type of segregation occurs particularly within the paste. The focus of this paper is, therefore, on the sedimentation behavior at the microscale of concrete and especially on the influence of this process on rheological properties of the cement paste. In addition to common bleeding tests of cement suspensions using standing cylinders, rheometric measurements were performed on the suspensions during the bleeding process. A measuring procedure was developed for the rheometric measurements of the sedimenting cement suspensions. The rheological properties of the investigated cement suspensions were determined at four specific measuring times and at four specific measuring heights (i.e., positions) each. With this method it could be shown that the cement suspensions are not homogeneous over their height and that bleeding has a great influence on the rheological properties of cement suspension.

Regularized inversion of the Laplace transform for series of experiments.

Not only in low-field nuclear magnetic resonance, Laplace inversion is a relevant and challenging topic. Considerable conceptual and technical progress has been made, especially for the inversion of data encoding two decay dimensions. Distortion of spectra by overfitting of even moderate noise is counteracted requiring a priori smooth spectra. In this contribution, we treat the case of simple and fast one-dimensional decay experiments that are repeated many times in a series in order to study the evolution of a sample or process. Incorporating the a priori knowledge that also in the series dimension evolution should be smooth, peak position can be stabilized and resolution improved in the decay dimension. It is explained how the standard one-dimensional regularized Laplace inversion can be extended quite simply in order to include regularization in the series dimension. Obvious improvements compared with series of one-dimensional inversions are presented for simulated as well as experimental data. For the latter, comparison with multiexponential fitting is performed.

Improving the practicality and safety of artificial corneas: Pre-assembly and gamma-rays sterilization of the Boston Keratoprosthesis.

PURPOSE: To make the Boston keratoprosthesis (B-KPro), together with its carrier corneal graft, more easily procured, transported and stored, as well as less expensive, easier for the surgeon to implant and safer for the patient, it is proposed that the B-KPro-graft combination be pre-assembled by an expert technician, followed by sterilization with gamma ray irradiation (GI) allowing long-term storage at room temperature. For this to be possible, it must be shown that the B-KPro itself (not only the graft) remains unharmed by the irradiation. METHODS: Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) discs and B-KPros were submitted to either ethylene oxide sterilization or different doses of GI. Cell biocompatibility, mechanical strength and optical quality were evaluated. The feasibility of assembling the B-KPro to a corneal graft, and gamma-radiate afterwards, was also assessed. RESULTS: There were no differences in cell biocompatibility between the samples. The optical evaluation showed high levels of transparency for all the groups. The absorbance of ultraviolet was higher for the groups treated with GI. The mechanical evaluation by nanoindentation showed no alterations of the PMMA discs after GI. The flexure test revealed a similar mechanical behavior. Technically, pre-assembly and GI of the B-KPro revealed no problems. CONCLUSIONS: Sterilization of B-KPro using GI has no detrimental influence on the device. The pre-assembly of B-KPro to a donor cornea, followed by gamma sterilization, emerges as an efficient and safe procedure.