Title:
Monte-Carlo Based Thermodynamic Analysis on the Performance of Calcined Clays in Cementitious Systems
Author(s):
Keshav Bharadwaj Ravi
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
10/17/2021
Abstract:
Calcined clays (CCs) show a high degree of variability in chemical composition and reactivity. Their high-alumina content also results in additional reactions in systems that contain limestone; therefore, the performance of CC-incorporated mixtures also depends highly on the chemical composition of the base ordinary portland cement (OPC). Considering the wide range of replacement levels that are used, experimental studies alone cannot capture the performance of all possible variations of CCs in cementitious mixtures because virtually an infinite number of these combinations exist. A Monte Carlo analysis framework is developed to randomly generate input data (chemical composition and reactivity of materials) for thermodynamic calculations. Thermodynamic modeling is a proven tool to predict reaction products, pore solution chemistry, and other performance indicators such as porosity. The randomly generated input for each case is created from available statistical data on CCs and OPC. With this approach, millions of realistic simulations can be conducted. The presentation will begin with a brief description of the Monte-Carlo-based thermodynamic modeling framework. This will be followed by the statistical distribution of the composition and reactivity of CCs that will be used to generate the input data for thermodynamic calculations. The impact of the range of compositions and reactivities on cementitious systems' performance will be studied by comparing several indicators such as type and amount of different reaction products, pore solution chemistry, and porosity. The statistical distribution of these properties at various replacement levels of OPC with CC and will be shown. Furthermore, the interplay between CC composition/reactivity and limestone content in the cementitious systems will be discussed.