Hydrated cement systems are quasi-brittle porous materials which can be saturated (fully or par- tially). In service, these materials are often exposed to freezing temperatures. The formation of ice in these systems is known to generate significant internal pressures that…
Hydrated cement systems are quasi-brittle porous materials which can be saturated (fully or par- tially). In service, these materials are often exposed to freezing temperatures. The formation of ice in these systems is known to generate significant internal pressures that may damage the material. Pressures are induced either directly by the formation of an ice crystal or by mass transfers in the weakly permeable medium. In this contribution, a numerical model which predicts the internal micro-cracking of hydrated cement systems sub- jected to frost action, ice formation and the induced fluid flow motion is presented. Temperature-induced phase transitions of the interstitial fluid are followed using a thermodynamic analysis. The classical Biot's analysis of saturated porous media is used to model the hydro-mechanical behavior of the freezing saturated porous solid and the induced stress state in the solid skeleton. Damage due to microcracking is introduced in the mechanical model. A simple case study aimed at analysing the influence of the relative distance of spherical macropores due to air entrainment is shown as an example of implementation.