Mechanical Properties of Cement Mortar: Development of Structure-Property Relationships

Theoretical models for prediction of the mechanical properties of cement mortar are developed based on the morphology and interactions of cement hydration products, capillary pores and microcracks. The models account for intermolecular interactions involving the nano-scale calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) constituents of hydration products, and consider the effects of capillary pores as well as the microcracks within the hydrated cement paste and at the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). Cement mortar was modeled as a three-phase material composed of hydrated cement paste, fine aggregates and ITZ. The Hashin's bound model was used to predict the elastic modulus of mortar as a three-phase composite. Theoretical evaluation of fracture toughness indicated that the frictional pullout of fine aggregates makes major contribution to the fracture energy of cement mortar. Linear fracture mechanics principles were used to model the tensile strength of mortar. The predictions of theoretical models compared reasonably with empirical values.