The focus of this paper is a brief summary of (1) the multi-scale structure of cementitious materials in the light of microporomechanics theory; and (2) to present estimates of the poroelastic properties of cementitious materials (cement paste and mortar) by…
The focus of this paper is a brief summary of (1) the multi-scale structure of cementitious materials in the light of microporomechanics theory; and (2) to present estimates of the poroelastic properties of cementitious materials (cement paste and mortar) by means of advanced homogenization techniques of microporomechanics. This microporomechanics approach allows us to deliver a blueprint of the elementary poroelastic properties of all cementitious materials, which do not change from one cementitious material to another, but which are intrinsic properties. These properties result from the intrinsic gel porosity of low density and high density C-S-H, which yield a base Biot coefficient of 0.61<b≤0.71 and a Skempton coefficient of B=0.20-0.25. While the base Biot coefficient decreases gradually at larger scales, because of the addition of non-porous solid phases (Portlandite,...,aggregates), it is shown that the Skempton coefficient is almost constant over 3-5 orders of magnitude.