Intrinsic Elastic Properties of Calcium Silicate Hydrates by Nanoindentation

2007

International audience; To understand the mechanical properties of cement materials is obviously one of the main purposes of the material science. But the mechanical properties measures of a cement piece by conventional methods (vibration, compression, etc.) are largely dependent on the sample porosity. Hence, the result gives information about the sample density rather than on the intrinsic mechanical properties of the material itself. This work aims to present results on cement materials (alite and C-S-H) mechanical properties obtained by nanoindentation using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The material Young modulus in the z-direction is obtained by applying a force perpendicular to t…