Relationship between mesostructure, mechanical behaviour and damage of cement composites under high-pressure confinement

Abstract

This work seeks to determine how the mesostructure of seven types of cement composites containing alumina particles or not controls their deviatoric strength, compaction law, and damage under high-pressure of confinement. First, the method of analysis of quasi-oedometric compression tests is presented. Accuracy of the method for concrete is discussed by means of numerical simulations. The confined compression tests performed show the effects of adding ceramic aggregates. Furthermore, an application of post-mortem analysis by infiltration technique of each specimen is presented, revealing a highly micro-cracked pattern depending of the mesostructure of these materials. From these observations, a discussion is presented on the influence that the addition of ceramic aggregates exerts on the confined behaviour of these composites. The tests showed a highly beneficial effect of the presence of particles, on both the deviatoric strength and the compaction law of the concretes considered.