Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Hidratación y microestructura del cemento en reparaciones de concreto con

materiales de reparación cementosos
Jian Zhou a,⇑ , Guang Ye b,c, Klaas van Breugel b
a
Sinoma Research Institute, Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
b
Section of Materials and Environment, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
c
Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Department of Structural Engineering, Ghent University, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 904, Ghent (Zwijnaarde), Belgium

highlights

● The moisture exchange has significant influence on the cement hydration and microstructure of interfaces in concrete repairs.
● The interface is of higher porosity than the repair material.
● The microstructure has a significant influence on the bond strength of the interfaces.

articleinfo Resumen
Article history: Uno de los parámetros clave para la realización de reparaciones de hormigón es la calidad de la interfaz entre
Received 28 August 2014 el material de reparación y el sustrato de hormigón. Para comprender las propiedades de la interfaz en
Received in revised form 15 February 2016 reparaciones de concreto con materiales de reparación cementosos, la hidratación del cemento y la
Accepted 25 February 2016 microestructura se estudiaron experimentalmente mediante prueba de agua no evaporable, porosimetría de
intrusión de mercurio y técnicas de microscopía electrónica de barrido. Los resultados experimentales revelan
que el intercambio de humedad entre el material de reparación y el sustrato de concreto da como resultado un
Keywords: cambio del contenido de humedad en el material de reparación y, por lo tanto, afecta el proceso de hidratac ión
Concrete repairs del cemento y el desarrollo de la estructura de poro. Las imágenes de electrones retrodispersados demuestran
Interface la existencia de una zona de transición interfacial de alta porosidad, ya que las partículas de cemento del
Cement hydration material de reparación tienen un empaque pobre en la superficie del sustrato de concreto.© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
Microstructure All rights reserved.

1. Introducción Después de colocar un material de reparación en el sustrato de

La infraestructura civil en los países desarrollados está
experimentando varios problemas de envejecimiento, lo que impulsa un
rápido crecimiento de la industria de reparación, rehabilitación y
modernización. En los Estados Unidos, el costo anual de reparación,
mantenimiento y fortalecimiento de los puentes de hormigón existentes
se estimó en 18-21 mil millones de USD [1]. Un análisis estadístico
estimó que alrededor de la mitad del presupuesto de construcción
europeo se gastó en mantenimiento, rehabilitación y reparación [2].
Debido al rápido crecimiento de la producción de concreto desde la
década de 1950, la demanda de reparaciones y los costos asociados
pueden continuar creciendo [3]. Sin embargo, la calidad de las
reparaciones de hormigón no es satisfactoria, y existe una necesidad
urgente de mejorar el rendimiento de las reparaciones concretas [4].
Uno de los parámetros clave para la realización de reparaciones de
hormigón es la calidad de la interfaz entre el material de reparación y el
sustrato de hormigón [5].
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhoujian@sinoma.com.cn (J. Zhou).
hormigón, la contracción restringida del material de reparación por el
sustrato de hormigón a menudo induce tensiones de cizalladura y
tracción elevadas en los sistemas de reparación, lo que puede provocar
el desacoplamiento de las interfaces [6]. Por lo tanto, se requiere una
fuerza de adherencia suficiente para resistir las tensiones en las
interfaces inducidas por cargas ambientales y / o mecánicas. Sin
embargo, la interfaz suele ser una zona inherentemente débil en los
sistemas de reparación, debido a la incompatibilidad en las propiedades
físicas, químicas y electroquímicas entre dos materiales [7].
La mayoría de los estudios previos se centraron en la caracterización
de la fuerza de unión entre dos materiales utilizando varios métodos de
prueba [8-14]. Estos estudios revelaron que la fuerza de la unión es
principalmente influenciada por la rugosidad y el método de
tratamiento de la superficie del sustrato [8-11], el contenido de agua del
sustrato de concreto [12] y la composición de la mezcla de los materiales
de reparación [13,14]. Los métodos de prueba utilizados en los estudios
anteriores tienen una limitación para proporcionar información sobre la
zona de falla y la fuerza de unión real de las interfaces. Como la falla a
menudo ocurre en el material de reparación o el sustrato de concreto, la
resistencia de unión medida es en realidad la resistencia del punto más
débil en los sistemas de reparación, que a menudo no está en las
interfaces.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.02.203
0950-0618/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 766 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772
Para investigar las propiedades mecánicas de la interfaz en sí, Lukovic et al.
[15] han llevado a cabo un estudio experimental para caracterizar las
propiedades micromecánicas locales dentro de la zona de interfaz mediante
el uso de la técnica de nanoindentación. Los resultados experimentales de la
dureza y el módulo elástico obtenidos a partir de pruebas de
nanoindentación se utilizaron como entrada para simular el
comportamiento de fractura de la interfaz por el modelo Delft Lattice [16].
Los resultados de la simulación proporcionan información sobre el proceso
de fractura y la respuesta micromecánica de la zona de interfaz. Este estudio
reveló que la interfaz no puede considerarse como una capa con
propiedades mecánicas uniformes y consta de zonas discretas con diferentes
propiedades.
Para materiales de reparación cementosos, la hidratación del cemento y la
microestructura juegan un papel importante en las propiedades mecánicas
de las interfaces [17]. Courard [18,19] observó que el contenido de agua del
sustrato de hormigón influye en la resistencia de las interfaces y atribuyó
este fenómeno al cambio en la hidratación del cemento y el desarrollo de la
microestructura en los sistemas de reparación debido al intercambio de
humedad entre el material de reparación y el sustrato de hormigón. Para el
concreto, las partículas de cemento tienen un empaque pobre en la
superficie de los agregados, lo que resulta en una zona de transición
interfacial de alta porosidad [20]. Pigeon y Saucier [21] informaron que la
interfaz entre el material de reparación y el sustrato de concreto es muy
similar a la interfaz entre la matriz de cemento y los agregados, y la zona
porosa también puede existir en la interfaz entre el material de reparación y
el sustrato de concreto, lo que hace porosidad que el material de reparación.
Sin embargo, los fenómenos y su efecto sobre la calidad de la interfaz entre
el material de reparación y el sustrato de concreto no han sido probados
todavía.
Comprender la hidratación del cemento y la microestructura de las
interfaces es fundamental para modificar la resistencia de la unión y para
hacer reparaciones de concreto duraderas. Sin embargo, falta el
conocimiento de la hidratación del cemento y la microestructura de las
interfaces, lo que puede atribuirse a las limitaciones de los métodos de
prueba adecuados y las dificultades para caracterizar los parámetros
constitutivos en microescala. Este artículo presenta un estudio experimental
sobre la investigación de la hidratación del cemento y la microestructura en
reparaciones de concreto con materiales de reparación cementosos. Aunque
se han desarrollado muchos materiales de reparación modificados con
polímeros, este grupo de materiales de reparación está fuera del alcance de
esta investigación. En lo sucesivo, "material de reparación" se refiere a
materiales de reparación cementosos, y "interfaz" se refiere a la interfaz
entre el material de reparación cementoso y el sustrato de hormigón.
2. Materiales y métodos
En el programa experimental, se usaron análisis de agua no evaporable y
porosimetría de intrusión de mercurio (MIP) para medir el grado de
hidratación y porosidad, respectivamente. El estudio de microscopía
electrónica de barrido (SEM) se utilizó para caracterizar la microestructura
en la interfaz. El análisis de imágenes de electrones retrodispersados (BSE)
también se realizó para evaluar el grado de hidratación y la porosidad en la
interfaz y en el material de reparación.
2.1. Material de reparación
La pasta de cemento es el ingrediente esencial de los materiales de
reparación cementosos, y sus propiedades rigen la hidratación y
microestructura del cemento en la interfaz y el material de reparación y
también la resistencia de la unión. Para simplificar las pruebas y evitar las
incertidumbres y dificultades en el análisis de resultados experimentales
debido a la presencia de agregados, se usó pasta de cemento Portland con
una relación w / c de 0,40 como material de reparación. La composición
química del cemento Portland CEM I 42.5N se da en la Tabla 1.
2.2. Sustrato de hormigón
El sustrato de hormigón era un hormigón de 3 años, y su composición de
mezcla se da en la Tabla 2. La muestra de sustrato de hormigón era un
cilindro de 60 mm de diámetro y 60 mm de espesor, con una superficie
plana para fundir el material de reparación. Para obtener un sustrato de
hormigón con diferente contenido de humedad, antes de moldear el
material de reparación se colocaron dos grupos de muestras de sustrato en
habitaciones con 50% de humedad relativa (HR) y 99.9% de HR durante 7
días, respectivamente.
Se determinó el grado de saturación de las muestras de sustrato. El peso de
las muestras se midió primero y se registró como Wi [g]. Las muestras se
saturaron al vacío durante 6 horas y se midió el peso de la muestra saturada
Ws [g]. Las muestras se secaron en un horno con una temperatura de 105 °
C durante 24 h. El peso de las muestras secas se registró como Wd [g]. El
grado de saturación Sw [-] se calculó de la siguiente manera:
𝑊𝑖 − 𝑊𝑑
𝑆𝑤 =
𝑊𝑠 − 𝑊𝑑
Las muestras de sustrato colocadas en una habitación con 99.9% de HR se
saturaron casi por completo y tuvieron un grado de saturación de 99.0%,
mientras que las muestras de sustrato ubicadas en una habitación con 50%
de HR tuvieron un grado de saturación de 14.4%.
2.3. Fundición y curado del material de reparación
Antes de moldear el material de reparación, el perímetro superior del
sustrato de hormigón se cercó con cinta adhesiva como se muestra en la
figura 1 (a) y (b), para evitar la fuga del material de reparación del espacio
entre el sustrato y el molde.
Los especímenes fueron encerrados con dos piezas de tubos de PVC como se
muestra en la Fig. 1 (c), y las tuberías de PVC se ajustaron como se muestra
en la Fig. 1 (d).
¿El material de reparación se mezcló con un HOBART? mezclador a baja
velocidad durante 2 minutos y a alta velocidad durante otros 2 minutos. El
material de reparación reciente se vertió sobre las muestras de sustrato
preparadas, alcanzando un grosor de 60 mm. Las muestras se hicieron
vibrar para eliminar las burbujas de aire del material de reparación. Se
utilizó una pasta de cemento Portland simple con un espesor de 60 mm
como referencia para la prueba de agua no evaporable y MIP. Todos los
especímenes se curaron a una temperatura de 20 ° C y en una condición
sellada durante 28 días.
2.4. Preparación de muestras para prueba de agua no evaporable, MIP y
SEM
El muestreo para la prueba de agua no evaporable, MIP y SEM se muestra
en la Fig. 2.
Las muestras para MIP y SEM se cortaron en un tamaño de
aproximadamente 5 x 10x 10 mm3 y 10 x 10 x 50 mm3, respectivamente. Se
liofilizó para secar las muestras.
Las muestras se congelaron rápidamente por inmersión en nitrógeno
líquido durante 5 min y se colocaron en un liofilizador con una temperatura
de -24 ° C y una presión de 0.1 Pa. Hasta que la pérdida de agua disminuyó a
0.01% por día, las muestras fueron considerado completamente seco. Para
la prueba de agua no evaporable, las muestras se molieron en polvo.
Para SEM, las muestras liofilizadas se prepararon adicionalmente en los
siguientes procedimientos:
impregnación, pulido y pulido de epoxy. Las muestras secas se colocaron en
una cámara, se evacuaron durante 4 h. Manteniendo el vacío, la resina
epoxídica recién mezclada se vertió sobre las muestras. La cámara fue
evacuada por otros 5 minutos.
Entonces se liberó lentamente aire en la cámara para obligar a la resina
epoxi a impregnar las muestras. Después de que la resina epoxi se
endureció, las muestras se molieron finamente en una máquina
rectificadora, que puede controlar el espesor del suelo en 7 lm. Cada
muestra se molió durante aproximadamente 5 minutos hasta que se eliminó
una superficie de 50 lm de espesor. La última molienda se realizó en una
rueda de vuelta de velocidad media con un papel de lija p4000 durante 2
minutos. Luego, las muestras se pulieron en ruedas de solapado con pastas
de diamante de 6, 3, 1 y 0,25 lm durante 8 minutos (2 minutos por cada
paso). Por último, las muestras se limpiaron con un paño de pulido de bajo
relieve.
 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772 767

Tape

Substrate

(a) (b)

PVC

(c) (d)
Fig. 1. Preparation of the concrete substrate for casting the repair material.

25 25

5 Sampling of non- 5 Sampling of non-

20 evaporable water evaporable water
20
and MIP tests and MIP tests
5 5
5 Sampling of
5 5
SEM test

55 Concrete
substrate

(a) Repair system (b) Reference

Fig. 2. Sampling for non-evaporable water test, MIP and SEM (dimension in mm).
768 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772
2.1. Non-evaporable water test
Powers and Brownyard [22] suggested that the degree of hydration of cement
paste is proportional to the non-evaporable water content. Consequently, the
degree of hydration was often studied by measuring the non-evaporable water con-
tent [23,24]. In this study, this method was used to investigate the cement hydra-
tion of the repair material.
The powder sample was further dried at a temperature of 105 °C for 24 h to
remove the evaporable water. Simultaneously, the crucibles were dried in a furnace
at a temperature of 1000 °C for 2 h, and the weight of the crucibles W1 was mea-
sured. Around 1.1 g powder (W2 ) was added into the crucibles. The crucibles were
then placed in a furnace at a temperature of 1000 °C for 3 h to remove the non-
evaporable water. The weight of the crucibles with the sample was measured and
recorded as W3. Three parallel measurements were done. The non-evaporable water
content wn per gram of the cement can be calculated as:
W1 þ W2 — W3
wn¼
W 3 — W1
The degree of hydration a can be calculated by dividing the measured non-
evaporable water content by the maximum non-evaporable water content at com-
plete hydration wn,max:
wn
a¼
wn;max
The maximum non-evaporable water content at complete hydration is a cement
composition dependent parameter. According to Copeland et al. [25], this value can
be calculated as follows:
wn;max ¼ wC 3 S × ðC 3 SÞ þ wC 2 S × ðC 2 SÞ þ wC 3 A × ðC 3 AÞ þ wC 4 AF × ðC 4 AFÞ
where wC3S, wC2S, wC3A and wC4AF are the non-evaporable water contents of the four
major mineral phases of Portland cement given in Table 3. (C3 S) (C2S) (C3 A) and
(C4 AF) are the contents of the four major mineral phases in Portland cement CEM I
42.5N, which is given in Table 3. The calculated non-evaporable water content of
the Portland cement CEM I 42.5 at complete hydration is 0.225 g/g.
2.6. MIP
MIP is one of the most popular methods used to investigate the pore structure
of cementitious materials, which can provide a valid measurement of total porosity.
The test procedure is described as follows. The weight of the freeze-dried samples
was measured and recorded as Wsample . The freeze-dried samples were put into a
penetrometer closed with a steel cap. After the weight of the penetrometer with
the samples Wsample + Wpen was measured, it was placed in the low-pressure cham-
ber. The chamber was evacuated to a pressure of 50 lmHg, and mercury filled the
penetrometer. Pressure was gradually increased from 0.004 MPa to 0.15 MPa. The
penetrometer was removed from the low-pressure chamber, and its weight
Wsample + Wpen + Wmercury was measured. The penetrometer was then placed in the
high-pressure chamber, and pressure was gradually increased to the maximum
Table 3
Non-evaporable water contents of the four major mineral phases of Portland cement
[8] and the contents of the four major mineral phases in the Portland cement CEM I
42.5N.
Mineral phase Non-evaporable water content [g/g] Weight [%]
C3S 0.187 65.8
C2S 0.158 14.8
C3A 0.665 8.3
C4AF 0.213 11.1
Pore
HP
UC
(a) Typical BSE image
Fig. 3. Porosity, hydration products (HP) and unhydrated cement (UC) in (a) a typical BSE image and (b) the corresponding gray level histogram.
value of 200 MPa. The mercury intrusion volume at every pressure step was
recorded. The measurement was carried out with 125 pressure steps ranging from
0.004 MPa to 200 MPa in logarithmic distribution. The equilibrating time for every
step was 30 s.
Assuming that all pores in samples can be filled by mercury at the maximum
pressure, the pore volume Vpore is equal to the total mercury intrusion volume
Vintrusion. The porosity / can be calculated by dividing the total mercury intrusion
volume by the bulk volume of the sample Vsample:
Vintrusion
/¼ ð5Þ
V sample
The bulk volume of the sample can be calculated:
Wmercury
Vsample ¼ Vpen — ð6Þ
qmercury
ð2Þ where Vpen is the volume of penetrometer and qmercury is the density of mercury.
2.7. SEM and BSE image analysis
BSE mode was selected for SEM study, since it allows to quantitatively deter-
mine by image analysis the major phases in hardened Portland cement paste,
i.e. pore, hydration products and unhydrated cement. The BSE image acquisition
ð3Þ
was conducted using an environmental-SEM. The acceleration voltage of 20 kV
was used. The spot size was 4.0 nm and the magnification was 500×. The working
distance was 10 mm. The pressure inside the chamber was set at 0.5 Torr.
A typical BSE image of hardened Portland cement paste is given in Fig. 3(a).
Pores, hydration products and unhydrated cement can be distinguished by their
ð4Þ gray levels as shown in Fig. 3(b). The hydration products appear gray, and the unhy-
drated cement particles appear light gray. Since the pores are filled with epoxy,
which has a low backscattering contrast, porosity appears black. Air voids, which
appear large black dots, were present in very few images, and they were eliminated
in image analysis. Area fraction of each phase can be determined by counting the
number of the pixels of the corresponding area. According to the stereology theory
[26,27], the three-dimensional information of microstructure can be derived from
BSE images, by assuming that the volume fraction of each phase is equal to their
area fraction in the BSE images. Consequently, porosity and degree of hydration
can be calculated, which is described in details in the following paragraphs. In order
to ensure 95% accuracy, more than 12 images taken in each specimen were used in
the BSE image analysis [28].
Since pores and unhydrated cement can easily be distinguished from the other
phases, their pixels were first counted. The number of the pixels of hydration
products nhp [–] was calculated by subtracting the number of the pixels of porosity
npore [–] and unhydrated cement nuc [–] from the total number of the pixels of the
BSE image ntotal [–].
nhp ¼ ntotal — npore — nuc ð7Þ
The porosity / can be calculated by dividing the pixels of the pores by the total
pixels:
npore
/¼ ð8Þ
ntotal
According to Powers’ model [22], the hydration products have a volume
2.1 times larger than that of the hydrated cement particles. Therefore, the equiva-
lent pixels of the hydrated cement nhc [–] holds:
nhp
nhc ¼ ð9Þ
2:1
The degree of hydration a can be calculated by dividing the pixel of the
hydrated cement particles by the total pixels of the cement particles before
hydration:
Pore HP UC
(b) Grey level histogram
 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772 769

unsaturated concrete substrate the repair material close to the

Loading device concrete substrate shows a slightly lower degree of hydration than
the one further away from the concrete substrate. On the contrary,
the repair material close to the saturated concrete substrate shows
a slightly higher degree of hydration than the one further away
from the concrete substrate.

Steel dollies Specimen

3.2. Porosity obtained from MIP

The measured total porosity of the reference and the repair

material is illustrated in Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 6(a), in the refer-
ence specimen the middle and bottom layers have no difference
in porosity. Compared with the reference, the repair material on
Fig. 4. Test set-up for direct tension test.
the unsaturated concrete substrate shows a considerably lower
porosity, while the repair material on the saturated concrete sub-
strate shows a slightly lower porosity. On the unsaturated concrete
a ¼nhp=2:1 ð10Þ
substrate the repair material close to the concrete substrate shows
nhp=2:1 þ nuc a slightly higher porosity than the one further away from the con-
As the initial weight of water Ww,in [g] and the initial weight of cement Wc,in [g] crete substrate. On the contrary, on the saturated concrete sub-
was determined, the w/c ratio x can be calculated as follows: strate the repair material close to the concrete substrate shows a
slightly lower porosity than the one further away from the con-
crete substrate.
x ¼ WWw;in ðntotal — nhp=2:1 — nucÞqw ð11Þ
c;in
¼ ðnhp =2:1 þ nucÞqc

where qw is the density of water (1 g/cm3) and qce is the density of Portland cement
(3.15 g/cm3). 3.3. Microstructure of the interface

2.8. Direct tension test

Direct tension test was carried out according to European standard EN 14488-4
[29]. The top and bottom surfaces of the cylinder specimens were sanded and
cleaned with acetone. The specimens were then glued on the steel dollies, which
were fixed on the loading device as shown in Fig. 4. After the glue hardened, an
increasing tensile load with a speed of 0.05 MPa/s was applied on the specimens.
The tensile bond strength was calculated as the maximum load divided by the
cross-sectional area.
3. Experimental results
3.1. Degree of hydration obtained from non-evaporation water test
The standard deviations of the non-evaporation water test
results are all lower than 0.2%. The degree of hydration of the ref-
erence and the repair material at the age of 28 days obtained from
non-evaporation water test is given in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 5(a),
in the reference specimen the middle and bottom layers have no
difference in degree of hydration. Compared with the reference,
the repair material cast on the unsaturated concrete shows a lower
degree of hydration, while the repair material cast on the saturated
concrete substrate shows a higher degree of hydration. On the
Fig. 7 shows the BSE images of the interface between the repair
material and the concrete substrate. On the BSE images the repair
material contains more unhydrated cement (appearing light gray)
and more porosity (appearing black) than the concrete substrate.
In all images a high-porosity zone of the repair material adjacent
to the concrete substrate was observed. The high porosity is
because cement particles of the repair material have a poor pack-
ing on the surface of the concrete substrates. This zone was defined
as interfacial transition zone in this paper. The method developed
by Nguyen et al. [30] was used to characterize the width of the
interfacial transition zone, which is about 20 lm wide.
3.4. BSE image analysis
Table 4 gives the degree of hydration, the porosity and the w/c
ratio in the interfacial transition zone and in the middle layer of the
repair material obtained from BSE image analysis. There is no sig-
nificant difference between the degree of hydration of the repair
material obtained from the non-evaporable water test and the
BSE image analysis. In the two specimens, the degree of hydration,
porosity and w/c ratio in the interfacial transition zone are all
higher than those in the repair material. The w/c ratio in the

25 25

5 70.4% 5 67.6% 70.5%

20 20

5 70.3% 5 67.1% 70.9%

5 5

Unsaturated Saturated
60 concrete concrete
substrate substrate

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 5. Degree of hydration of the reference and the repair material at the age of 28 days obtained from non -evaporable water test (dimension in mm).
770 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772

25 25

5 22.5% 5 20.0% 22.3%

20 20

5 22.4% 5 20.6% 22.0%

5 5

Unsaturated Saturated
60 concrete concrete
substrate substrate

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 6. Porosity of the reference and the repair material at the age of 28 days obtained from MIP (dimension in mm).

R S R S

(a) Unsaturated substrate (b) Saturated substrate

Fig. 7. BSE images of the interface between the repair material (R) and the concrete substrate (S) at the age of 28 days.

Table 4
Degree of hydration a, porosity / and w/c ratio x in the interfacial transition zone and in the middle layer of the repair material at 28 days obtained from the BSE image analysis.

Concrete substrate Interfacial transition zone Repair material

a [%] / [%] x [–] a [%] / [%] x [–]

Unsaturated 76.4 ± 2.3 24.0 ± 3.7 0.45 ± 0.03 65.4 ± 3.2 13.2 ± 2.6 0.31 ± 0.02
Saturated 80.8 ± 3.3 30.6 ± 2.3 0.55 ± 0.04 70.6 ± 2.4 16.9 ± 2.1 0.36 ± 0.02

interfacial transition zone is 46%–53% higher than that in the repair
material. The porosity in the interfacial transition zone is 81%
higher than that in the repair material. The experimental results
also revealed that the high moisture content in the concrete sub-
strates results in higher porosity, higher degree of hydration and
higher w/c ratio in both the repair material and the interfacial tran-
sition zone. This is in a good agreement with the experimental
results of non-evaporable water test and MIP.
Since the saturated substrate does not absorb water from the
repair material, the w/c ratio of the repair material should be about
0.4, and the BSE image analysis, however, gives a value of 0.36. This
reveals that the BSE image analysis underestimates the w/c ratio of
the repair material. This is because the resolution of the BSE
images was 0.25 lm and the pores with a size smaller than this
value were not detectable. As a result, the number of the pixels
of porosity was underestimated, and the porosity was, therefore,
underestimated. Since the number of pixels of the hydration prod-
ucts was calculated by subtracting the numbers of pixels of the
pores and the unhydrated cement particles from the number of
total pixels, the underestimation of the porosity causes an overes-
timation of the hydration products. According to Eq. (11), the over-
estimation of the hydration products results in an underestimation
of w/c ratio.
Since MIP can provide a valid measurement on total porosity,
the porosities obtained from MIP were used, by replacing the
porosities obtained from accounting the pixels in Eqs. (7)–(11),
to correct the estimation of the w/c ratio in BSE image analysis.
The w/c ratio of the repair material on the saturated concrete sub-
strate becomes 0.398, which agrees the expected value of 0.4. The
w/c ratio of the repair material on the unsaturated substrate
becomes 0.359. This reveals that the water absorption of the unsat-
urated substrate causes a 10% reduction of the w/c ratio of the
repair material in this study.
3.5. Bond strength
Table 5 gives the results of the bond strength between repair
material and concrete substrate. The unsaturated concrete sub-
strate results in a higher bond strength than the saturated concrete
substrate. Under uniaxial tensile load, the specimens with the flat
substrates all failed in the interface. It implies that the interface is
the weakest plane in the specimens with the flat concrete
substrate.
Table 5
Bond strength between repair material and concrete substrate.
Concrete substrate Bond strength [MPa]
Unsaturated 1.13 ± 0.27
Saturated 0.92 ± 0.23
 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772 771

4. Discussion has a more pronounced influence on the cement hydration of the

repair material closer to the interface. For example, as observed
4.1. Moisture exchange and cement hydration in this study, the unsaturated concrete substrate absorbs more
water from the repair material close to the interface and results
The experimental results reveal that the moisture exchange in lower degree of hydration and higher porosity than the one fur-
between repair material and concrete substrate has a significant ther away from the interface.
influence on the cement hydration and microstructure of cementi-
tious repair materials. After placing a repair material on a concrete
substrate, the moisture exchange takes place between two materi-
– 5. Conclusiones
als. The moisture exchange results in a change of the moisture con-
– Este artículo presenta un estudio experimental sobre la
tent in the repair material, which affects cement hydration process
investigación de la hidratación del cemento y la microestructura
and microstructure development. On the other hand, the cement
en reparaciones de concreto con materiales de reparación
hydration process and microstructure development in the repair
cementosos. Los resultados experimentales revelan que el
material results in a change of RH and thus affects the moisture
intercambio de humedad entre el material de reparación y el
exchange.
sustrato de concreto tiene una influencia significativa en la
When the concrete substrate is unsaturated, it absorbs water
hidratación del cemento y la porosidad de los materiales de
from the repair material, and the amount of water absorption
reparación cementosos. Las imágenes de BSE demuestran la
depends on the moisture content and porosity of the concrete sub-
existencia de una zona de transición interfacial de alta
strate. The water loss in the repair material before setting results in
porosidad, ya que las partículas de cemento del material de
a decrease in the w/c ratio. The BSE image analysis in this study
reparación tienen un empaque pobre en la superficie del
reveals that the water absorption of the unsaturated substrate
sustrato de concreto. Con base en los resultados experimentales
caused an about 10% decrease in the w/c ratio of the repair mate-
y la discusión, se pueden extraer las siguientes conclusiones:
rial. The reduced w/c ratio has two effects on properties of the
– - Cuando el sustrato de hormigón no está saturado, absorbe
repair material and the interface. Firstly, it decelerates the cement
agua del material de reparación. La pérdida de agua en el
hydration and lowers the degree of hydration. Secondly, it leads to
material de reparación antes del fraguado produce una
a low porosity and a dense pore structure. Since low w/c ratio and
disminución en la relación w / c, lo que resulta en una
low porosity are normally associated with good mechanical prop-
disminución en el grado de hidratación y una disminución en la
erties, the repair material and the interface may have high ten-
porosidad.
sile/bond strength. However, when the concrete substrate is very
– Después de que se establece el material de reparación, a medida
dry and has high porosity, the substrate will absorb a large amount
que el agua se consume por la hidratación del cemento y los
of water from the repair material. The left water may not be
tamaños de poro se vuelven más pequeños, el agua regresa
enough for the cement hydration, particularly in the case that
gradualmente al material de reparación de los sustratos de
the initial water content of the repair material is low and the vol-
hormigón. Luego, el sustrato de concreto funciona como un
ume of the repair material is small. As a result, many large pores
"depósito de agua" para avanzar en la hidratación del cemento
are formed in the repair material and in the interface. This is
de materiales de reparación cementosos.
destructive to the mechanical properties of the repair material
– - Cuando el sustrato de concreto está saturado, suministra agua
and the interface and might result in low bond strength.
adicional para la hidratación del cemento del material de
After the repair material sets, the moisture exchange is driven
reparación. El suministro de agua adicional acelera la
by the capillary pressure gradient between two materials, and
hidratación del cemento y conduce a una estructura de poros
moisture moves from the place of high capillary pressure to the
más densa.
place of low capillary pressure. The capillary pressure is a function
– - El intercambio de humedad entre el material de reparación y el
of moisture content and pore size. At the early age of the repair
sustrato de hormigón tiene lugar a través de la interfaz y se
material, the repair material normally has high moisture content
extiende más allá en el material de reparación. Como resultado,
and large pore sizes, and moisture often moves from the repair
el intercambio de humedad tiene una influencia más
material to the concrete substrate. As water is consumed by the
pronunciada sobre la hidratación del cemento del
cement hydration and the pore sizes become smaller, the capillary
– reparar el material más cerca de la interfaz.
pressure in the repair material gradually decreases. Once the cap-
– - Las imágenes de BSE demuestran que un embalaje pobre de
illary pressure in the concrete substrate exceeds that in the repair
partículas de cemento en la superficie de los sustratos de
material, water will move back to the repair material from the con-
hormigón da como resultado una zona de transición interfacial
crete substrate. Therefore, in the later stage concrete substrates
de alta porosidad. El análisis de imágenes de BSE revela que la
often work as a ‘‘water reservoir” for advancing the cement hydra-
zona de transición interfacial tiene una relación w / c más alta,
tion of cementitious repair materials.
más alta
When the concrete substrate is saturated, it does not absorb any
– porosidad y mayor grado de hidratación que el material de
water from the repair material and the w/c ratio of the repair mate-
reparación.
rial remains unchanged. As the water in the repair material is con-
– - La hidratación y microestructura del cemento tiene una
sumed by cement hydration, the concrete substrate gradually
influencia significativa en la resistencia de las interfaces. Hasta
supplies additional water for the cement hydration of the repair
cierto punto, la pérdida de agua en el material de reparación,
material. The supply of the additional water accelerates the cement
debido a la absorción del sustrato, da como resultado una menor
hydration and leads to a denser pore structure. Therefore, satu-
porosidad y una mayor fuerza de unión de las interfaces..
rated concrete substrates work as a ‘‘water reservoir” from the
beginning of the cement hydration of repair materials.
The moisture exchange between repair material and concrete
substrate takes place through the interface and spreads further
into the repair material. Therefore, the amount water gain or loss
in the repair material close to the interface is larger than the one
further away from the interface. As a result, the moisture exchange
772 J. Zhou et al. / Construction and Building Materials 112 (2016) 765–772

J. Qian, C. You, Q. Wang, H. Wang, X. Jia, A method for assessing bond

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