This study investigates the internal-frost damage due to ice crystallization pressure in capillary pores of concrete. The pore structures have significant impact on freeze-thaw durability of cement/concrete samples. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques were applied to characterize freeze-thaw damage within pore structure. The digital sample was generated from SEM imaging processing. In the microscale pore system, the crystallization pressures at subcooling temperatures were calculated using interface energy balance with thermodynamic analysis. The largest crystallization pressure on the pore wall was used for the fracture simulation with the developed Extended Finite Element Model (XFEM). The largest crystallization pressure on the pore wall was used for the fracture simulation with the developed Extended Finite Element Model (XFEM). One comparison study between model simulation and test results indicates that internalfrost damage model can reasonably predict the crack nucleation and propagation within multiphase cement microstructure.

Date Published: 16 April 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8694, Nondestructive Characterization for Composite Materials, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Infrastructure, and Homeland Security 2013, 86941P (16 April 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2013957

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8694:
Nondestructive Characterization for Composite Materials, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Infrastructure, and Homeland Security 2013
Tzu Yang Yu, Editor(s)