Characterization of

Construction Materials
An Introduction
 Instructors
• Dr Piyush Chaunsali
– [email protected]
• Dr Manu Santhanam
– [email protected]

IIT Madras – Department of Civil Engineering

 Course Objective
• To introduce students to the characterization of
construction materials and their behaviour, with a view of
developing their understanding of the mechanisms that
govern the performance of these materials
 Content
The course will be focused primarily on cement and concrete, and include the following
techniques; the physics of the techniques and their application to cement science,
including lab demonstrations and experiments will be covered.
• Calorimetry
• X-ray diffraction
• Thermal analysis
• Surface area measurement
• Microscopy (Optical and SEM)
• Image analysis
• Spectroscopy techniques: Atomic Absorption / Emission, Infra-Red, UV-Vis and NMR
• Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry
• Impedance analysis
 Primary references
• Karen Scrivener, Ruben Snellings, Barbara Lothenbach, A Practical Guide to Microstructural
Analysis of Cementitious Materials, CRC Press, 2015.
• V. S. Ramachandran and James J. Beaudoin, Eds., Handbook of Analytical Techniques in
Concrete Science and Technology, William Andrew Publishing, New York, 2001.
• D A St. John, A. W. Poole, and I. Sims, Concrete Petrography – A Handbook of Investigative
Techniques, Arnold Publishing. London, 1998.
• William D. Callister, Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction, Sixth Edition, John Wiley
and Sons, 2003.
• Jan Skalny, Editor, Materials Science of Concrete, Volumes I – VII, American Ceramic Society,
1989 – 2005.
• J. M. Illston and P. L. J. Domone, Construction Materials – Their Nature and Behaviour, Third
Edition, Spon Press, 2001.
• J.F. Young, S. Mindess, R.J. Gray and A. Bentur, The Science and Technology of Civil
Engineering Materials, Prentice Hall, 1998.
 Good web sources
• https://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/
• http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu
• Wikipedia
 What is characterization
• Character: all those qualities that make a thing
different from others.
• Characterize: to investigate and show the
character of a material.
• Characterization: the activities of
characterizing.
 Study of Construction Materials
• Interdisciplinary science

Chemistry Materials Science CE

• Macro, Meso, Micro, and Nano scales
The concept of SCALE

Macro Meso

Nano Micro
Scale
More on scales!

http://precast.org/2014/01/next-big-thing-concrete-big/
Characterization at the CORE

The Materials Science Tetrahedron – from Wikipedia

 Need for Characterization
• Understand structure-performance
relationship of materials

• Investigate materials failure

Sherlock Holmes working with chemical apparatus, 1892

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs/galleries/exhibition/wave_image_2.html
Characterization techniques
A Few Case Studies on the Application of
Characterization Techniques
 Shelf Life of Foods
• The effect of temperature on
shelf life of foods such as
milk can be understood by
using calorimetry.
• The heat signal indicates
delay in microbial spoilage at
lower temperatures.

M. Riva et al., 2001

 Cause of Damage in Concrete
E – Ettringite
• XRD pattern A (from T – Thaumasite
surface) showed formation
of Thaumasite which led to
surface degradation of
concrete.

• XRD pattern B (from core)

did not indicate Thaumasite
formation.
Zhou et al., 2006
 Durable Ancient Roman Concrete

• Electron microscopy of 2000-year old roman concrete

revealed many interesting features.
M. D. Jackson et al., 2013
 Food Quality Control
Near-IR spectra of processed cheese Mid-IR spectra of Cheddar cheese

Woodcock et al., 2008

 Phase Change Materials

Heat storage/release during phase

transformation was monitored using
Differential Scanning Calorimeter.

T. Kadoono and M. Ogura, 2014

 Multi-Pronged Approach

• Use of multiple techniques is essential to

corroborate the findings of a technique
due to its limitations.
 Characterization of Concrete

St. John et al., 1998

 Challenges in sampling concrete

• How to collect few mm3 from several m3?

• Purpose – needs to be worked out
• General idea about internal structure – sample
from interior (such as removal of a chunk after
compression test)
• Study of externally induced deterioration –
multiple samples across depth
 References / Resources
• Wikipedia
• MECH343 Lecture Notes from Hong Kong
University Dept of Mech Engg
• D A St. John et al. (1998)
• http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/in
frastructure/pavements/pccp/04150/index.cfm
 References
• Riva, M., Fessas, D. and Schiraldi, A., 2001. Isothermal calorimetry approach to evaluate shelf life
of foods. Thermochimica Acta, 370(1-2), pp.73-81.
• Zhou, Q., Hill, J., Byars, E.A., Cripps, J.C., Lynsdale, C.J. and Sharp, J.H., 2006. The role of pH in
thaumasite sulfate attack. Cement and Concrete Research, 36(1), pp.160-170.
• Jackson, M.D., Chae, S.R., Mulcahy, S.R., Meral, C., Taylor, R., Li, P., Emwas, A.H., Moon, J.,
Yoon, S., Vola, G. and Wenk, H.R., 2013. Unlocking the secrets of Al-tobermorite in Roman
seawater concrete. American Mineralogist, 98(10), pp.1669-1687.
• Woodcock, T., Fagan, C.C., O’Donnell, C.P. and Downey, G., 2008. Application of near and mid-
infrared spectroscopy to determine cheese quality and authenticity. Food and Bioprocess
Technology, 1(2), pp.117-129.
• Kadoono, T. and Ogura, M., 2014. Heat storage properties of organic phase-change materials
confined in the nanospace of mesoporous SBA-15 and CMK-3. Physical Chemistry Chemical
Physics, 16(12), pp.5495-5498.