Microstructure and strength of hydrated cement

Abstract Several hydrated portland cement systems have been studied at DBR in a wide range of porosities. These systems include room-temperature hydrated paste, autoclaved paste, autoclaved with addition of sulfur and silica, hot-pressed samples and compacts of synthetic 14A tobermorite. Measurements included compressive strength, Young's modulus, product density, porosity and helium inflow, by which the various systems were characterized. It was concluded that, at a given porosity, an optimum proportion of higher density crystalline material and poorly aligned and ill-crystallized material yields the best strength but the quantity of poorly-crystallized material required decreases with porosity.