A Game Changer for Concrete?? - Nano Scale Observations of Cement Hydration

Sometimes looking at something in a new way allows us to learn a lot about it. This video uses X-ray nano computed tomography and X-ray nano fluorescence to examine the structure and chemical composition of early age hydration at the nano length scale. This video examines the variability of hydration of individual particles. Next, the experiments look at the pore structure within the hydrated cement paste and finally, the work tracks how individual particles change over the first few hours of hydration and makes important insights into how the hydration products change.
More details can be found in:
Hu, Q., Aboustait, M., Kim, T., Ley, M.T., Bullard, J., Scherer, G., Hanan, J.C., Rose, V., Winarski, R., Gelb, J., “Direct Measurements of Structure, Chemistry and Mass Density During the Induction Period of C3S Hydration”, Cement and Concrete Research, 2016, doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2016.07.008.
Hu, Q., Aboustait, M., Kim, T., Ley, M.T., Hanan, J.C., Bullard, J., Winarski, R., Rose, V., “Direct three-dimensional observation of the microstructure and chemistry of C3S hydration”, Cement and Concrete Research, 2016, doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2016.07.006.
Bullard, J.W., Hagedorn, J.H., Ley, M.T., Hu, Q., Griffin, W., Terrill, J.E., Jeffrey W., A critical comparison of 3D experiments and simulations of tricalcium silicate hydration, Journal of the American Ceramic Society 101 (4), 1453-1470, 2018.
A big thanks to Dr. Hu and Bret Robertson for their help on this work.
Thanks to Hailey Goodale! She edited this video and is my Director of Awesome.
My website is:
www.tylerley.com
If you would like to donate to my channel please visit
www.tylerley.com/giving

[@nitinkumar3378]

A great channel, I was searching here and there on KZbin. But this is my final destination.

[@dannysmyl677]

Top notch cement research here, ladies and gentlemen. Really great to have access to the content in non-paper form. Well done and keep it up!

[@trisst9370]

You are my hero. I wish I could help more. Concrete research is very important. Thanks for your work.

[@ganglixtube]

That is smoking hot concrete research! Totally respected. I took my undergrad in cemetitious material(yes it is major) and now I am doing research on the durability of RC structures. What you did is phenomenal. This is the first time I see the possibility to do the real time pore structure imaging. I’m gonna read your paper.

[@TylerLey]

Thanks!

[@trog.lodyte]

Tyler you are turning me into a concrete nerd! Help! lol

[@alejandroochoahernandez338]

you are so pumped!! now Im pumped!!

[@gtmaction]

Awesome Channel Tyler, thanks for putting so much effort in and making the subject much more understandable.. Would like to hear your thoughts on how nano materials such as graphene impact hydration.

[@muskokagrind7396]

So love this channel

[@lucasorelli4868]

Congratulation for your impressive work, so inspiring. we also love nanoTACO!

[@TylerLey]

Thank you Luca!!!

[@busterbiloxi3833]

Great video. Thank you, Sir!

[@TylerLey]

Thanks!

[@TaponChakrabarti]

You're videos are really awesome(Informative & knowledgeable). Will you bring some videos on "Time History Analysis " ? Thanks.

[@larryrowland8578]

Great research that will help improve our planet!

[@TylerLey]

Thanks so much Larry!!! Let's talk soon.

[@kiranrampp19]

Good one sir...!!

[@sinclairconstructiongroup4844]

We love change, Tyler!!

[@TylerLey]

I do to! Thanks!

[@nz1229]

Major thumbs up for this video Tyler and your research. I have used microtomography of frozen soils to find ice lenses before but must admit that didn't see things at the nano scale that you did - in order to keep the sample frozen we had a huge brine water contraption which meant a dramatic decrease in runtime and therefore resolution. We did not correlate this with other tomographic results like you did which was awesome. I totally would not have expected that the grains would decompose (do you have a model for what is happening?). The only idea that I have always held onto is that as products are formed it would hinder the migration of water to active sites. My hypothesis as to why some areas are reacting versus others that are not is related to the pressure of water in those areas. In frozen soil for instance, the water pressure is dependent on the curvature of the ice-water interface as it penetrates voids and the solute concentration gradient between the ice and water penetrates the ice in-between the soil particles. Do you think you could find a correlation between these active/non-active areas and the local curvature of the particles? My other less-informed hypothesis is that it could be related to a solute concentration in those areas that might also be related to curvature. Let me know what you think about this hypothesis as well as the future of this type of research two years on.

[@gristlevonraben]

What about bubbles in the mix? I suspect, though, besides gas pockets, it might be regions of positive and negative charge, where two of the same charge is repelling.

[@mojo7753]

Great video!!! I am a guy from computer science but I chose cement hydration for my Ph.D. study. Your video gave me new inspiration. I totally agree with you. If we can understand the whole hydration process then we can build the strongest cement. I hope i will find more usefull videos in future. Best of luck!

[@Blatt.online]

The strongest cement, or the strongest concrete??

[@wearemilesfromnowhere4630]

Eating this up. I was introduced to the engineering aspects of concrete formulations from one of the Parker dam engineers. He introduced me to fly ash uses, explained creep on concrete spans, etc. I went on to build my own peristaltic pump modeled after a couple of brothers who built one in the 1930's. I was especially curious about lubricity and water balance in pumping. What always amazed me is the break in the transference of knowledge from the engineering to the applicators. When it's all done, what good is the product if it doesn't get optimally placed? Thanks

[@TylerLey]

totally agree!!! Thanks so much for the comment and story!!!

[@trog.lodyte]

are there plans for that pump available online? Would love to build my own as well.

[@wearemilesfromnowhere4630]

@@trog.lodyte Not that I'm aware of. I designed built my own version before the internet took over. It does not pump any heavy aggregate which means grout/stucco etc. The original design had a 7 foot diameter wheel where mine has a 26" wheel pushing a 2" primary line with a 1 1/4" whip for spraying. I've heard this style of rig called a stinger.

[@huntera123]

Tacos...lol. Ingenious, Dr. Ley

[@mirsidorov5112]

Tyler, my man, if you had some marketing knowledge, you couldve been a millionaire by now with your own concrete institute, maybe a concrete business, and a lot more.

[@patmat.]

I had heard that the physico-chemistry of concrete was a world on its own. Now I see why, thank you ... We've only scratched the surface ;

[@taith2]

I think a lot more of on depth research is coming to master concrete production and reliability. Since for long time concrete production is sort of dark art. Discrepancies between concrete batches is often comical. Despite doing exactly same thing day before.

[@christiankrippenstapel4336]

Great! Are there already any results about the secondary puzzolan-reaction e.g. with microsilca inside the pores?

[@MrRickyw01]

I wish that Tyler would get to the results/test facts sooner. Good info.....

[@correocarlosgarcia]

Can you please make a video on the effects of magnetic fields on concrete strength? There are studies that show that magnetic fields during curing and using magnetized water improve concrete strength.

[@learnmore5247]

These pockets appears to be formed by the heat. Similar to pancake mix as it solidify. Would a cooling period prevent them from forming? Or to much oxygen in the mix?

[@lazywhale7364]

Do you have any idea what the reaction would have looked like if the concrete mixture had all the air removed prior to hydration? - that is exposed to a vacuum. This may not be practical under real world conditions but I have always wondered what effect entrained air has on the cement product.

[@uruiamnot]

Has pores most concrete. A game changer this is. Concrete strong hydration makes, but it pores weaken.

[@gristlevonraben]

Have you done a video on sugar, Sir? I read that oil companies use it in well cement to retard setting time but also to add strength because it reduces water surface tension making the water wetter. However you can only use up to 0.2% 0.1 to 0.15% being safer, because if you go over 0.2% the concrete doesn't set, or takes weeks before you can take the forms and molds away.

[@blainekunkel7891]

Awesome technology!! We are in the business of developing cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as a strength enhancing concrete additive. This technology may be the window we need to see how and why small amounts of CNC are so effective at increasing compressive and tensile strength in concrete mixtures...How do we make that happen?

[@TylerLey]

Contact me offline.

[@jimwagoner6988]

Have you tested or done any video's of any Colloidal Nano Silica or amorphous SiO2 core with hydroxylated surface? We are have a tremendous success rate in Architectural concrete or indoors with floor coverings. Thank You for what your doing for the concrete industry!

[@TylerLey]

Jim, I have not but I may get a chance to soon. I think the technology has some real potential. Thank you for your kind words and support.

[@sealpiercing8476]

Sounds like the chemistry is likely about as interesting and diverse as that encountered in fancy brazing or casting metallurgy or sintering of ceramics. Those are well-researched because they have applications to turbomachinery, which is another one of those big businesses. Concrete is surely of comparable or greater importance, I agree with you on that. Is the basic research on its chemistry really so poor? There are so many powerful tools and theories for understanding chemical processes these days... Such as synchrotron light sources! This work is going into my five-minute speech about why such machines are so useful.

[@TylerLey]

Thanks Pelagic! There is a lot that we know about cement chemistry but there is a ton of things that don't. I agree that synchrotrons can provide incredible insights that we need to make these materials better.

[@wesrurede]

Is this with or without aggregate? I was told that concrete without aggregate is weak, and its not just about a filler to fluff out the costs.

[@trex283]

What effect if any does electricity have on curing concrete?

[@bigscience171]

Thanks for the info, does anyone know if the pH changes over this period and if so does this affect the hydration process?

[@TylerLey]

Big, The pH starts increasing immediately and it stays about 13.5 pH as long as the concrete is not being attacked.

[@brianlehmkuhl8162]

I stayed home today to watch videos about concrete? I need to reevaluate my life.. (at least I learned something, thanks!)

[@TylerLey]

Thanks for watching!

[@rehoboth_farm]

9:13 While there was no correlation between particle size and hydration there does in fact seem to be a particle size sweet spot. 87.98% of particles 6.27 um^3 were changed. Is this repeatable? Perhaps by getting grain size down to this level would assure very high hydration rates.

[@TylerLey]

Rehoboth - check out my new video for some more updated information. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJbYgaibrdF3n7c

[@EngineerPEretired]

Tyler, where does the mass displace? Where does it go once the voids are made? Thank you very much for this data...

[@TylerLey]

Voids are places in between the solids that form. A good analogy for hydration product is like coral. Think of the voids in coral. They are the spaces between solids that grow. This means they don't displace mass but they are the absence of mass!

[@EngineerPEretired]

@@TylerLey , thank you... I am attempting to understand... the voids are created during the hydration process? That being so, where does the mass that is ''removed'' from the aggregate? That is the displaced part I am referencing... I can see it is ''eaten up" but what happens to that ''food"? Where did it go? I like the coral thinking and oddly I was thinking this would explain your air being placed back into the pump system video, but it takes hours to get these voids? I am guessing the air-entrained concrete in the pump would not correlate that quickly...

[@TylerLey]

Let's say there are no aggregates and we are just watching the cement paste go from particles to hydration product. This is a complicated process but the material dissolves from the cement grains and then reforms on the surface. When it reforms it doesn't do so perfectly and it leaves voids or holes. Check out these videos - www.hydrationtheater.com kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKm2i6l5acl1hqc

[@EngineerPEretired]

@@TylerLey , watching now... Thank you for sharing... I am working on sharing a ''bolt failure'' video... Showing that the bolts are designed to fail first in the ''clamping process'' and NOT the bolts... My first video is showing the thread failure in a cheap, harbor freight bolt and nut... Even they respect that the bolt must fail first. --- LOL I just heard ''water!'' , come into the mix (your video is playing in the background)... PRICELESS.

[@dougwright4542]

@@TylerLey So you're isolating the cement particles in this experiment, but in real concrete the cement particles react with the water then the hydration product is what sticks to the sand and stone? The hydration product is "sticky" but if it has voids (over-reacted zones?) there's less surface area to make contact with the sand and stone?

[@excitedbox5705]

What? No video of the particle progression. I feel jipped :D You should ask around some universities about old TEM equipment. Sometimes they literally throw them out. If you can get your hands on one of them you could take all the images you want in your garage. There are quite a few people doing that these days.

[@CREDirect]

What companies are out in the market place creating Nano concrete products? Can you provide links to these companies?

[@SashaXXY]

Is it possible that air molecules are sticking to the particles at this scale and preventing hydration? Would it make a difference if the sample was hydrated in a vacuum chamber before observation?

[@TylerLey]

Good question! We have done studies on individual particles surrounded by solution and we see this non-uniform reaction. Other researchers see it as well. I think it is real!

[@SashaXXY]

@@TylerLey Ok! Thanks!

[@jatinghori4245]

In low w/c ratio like 0.25 cement particle get hydrated only 4micron from their surface remaining particle get unhidrated Nd act as a fine aggregate.. question is it decreases our efficiency of cement? Coz our aim is whole pastyicle get hydrated nd in this case only partially hydration occurs...

[@jatinghori4245]

???? Can I get yr email address?? I m from india

[@mullboll33]

X Seed 55 is the future

[@jimmyjohn8008]

I've been to fermi labs...

[@HergerTheJoyous]

I like the thumb nails! But I'm a simple guy. I wonder what would happen to the reaction if you added graphene?

[@TylerLey]

Great question and thanks for the thumbnail comment! I would like to try graphene. I am not sure what it would do.

[@HergerTheJoyous]

@@TylerLey you could make your own graphene with the blender method.

[@TylerLey]

Wroger, Very cool idea. Let me see what we can do. We could use isothermal calorimetry to look at the heat evolution of the mixture. That would give us some idea of the structure and then strength that is being formed.

[@PeaceMarauder]

Pressure. Your gas of choice/study. Done.

[@oddjobbob8742]

Say to yourself every day, If it is to be it is up to me. Then get to work.

[@Steve_Mazza]

You might want to turn your radio off next time before recording. ;)

[@theyuha]

Excellent video. I built with concrete, I built Necedah Tower, see it on Facebook. Fascinating discussion.

[@robertf1720]

Hope you can find a concrete solution.

[@georgechoquette5735]

I think he's heard all the concrete puns by now.

[@robertf1720]

@@georgechoquette5735 I'm sure he could aggregate some more.

[@larslover6559]

@@georgechoquette5735 yes I don't think any more puns will crack him up now

[@juliussiador7515]

I think we can plug those cracks by using colloidal nano-silica. Problem solved.

[@georgehare2915]

NEVER MIND CON CRETE HOW ABOUT WASTE PLAASTIC INSTEAD ALA INDIA HOLLAND ETC

[@thetishbite5582]

Dude, you might be over thinking things! Did the Roman's know all of this?

[@sean7221]

I'm sure the romans thought about this alot.

[@Alan_Stinchcombe]

Very interesting. To use this in school to inspire students, one would need less gendered language ("Concrete Man") and more diverse images of people in construction.

[@patrickmclaughlin6013]

dunno how, but I think need to go to Washington DC not Las Vegas if you want money for research, and then just start every proposal with "Climate Change Reducing Emissions .... blah blah fill in the blank ..."

[@abdishakour]

Can you please change those annoying thumbnails

[@TylerLey]

Thanks, What would you like to be different?

[@abdishakour]

@@TylerLeyno offense but that face you make ...

[@TylerLey]

They are supposed to be fun. =)

[@TylerLey]

Wroger, What you are describing is Ultra High Performance concrete. They design all the particles to pack together very tightly. The compression and tension strength of concrete is 10x typical concrete. It also has very low permeability. The problem is the cost is very high. It can be 20x to 100x more expensive than normal concrete. But, as you pointed out for certain applications then it may be worth it. I am working on a video about it but it may be a little while until it is done.

[@amirtech2005]

@@TylerLey 10 times is more accurate. 100 vs 1000 dollars per cy as far as I know