Phase-field predictive model for setting of fresh self-compacting concrete

The initial setting of fresh concrete is mainly caused by the dissolution of cement grains and the precipitation of calcium-silicate-hydrates during cement hydration. Progressing hydration drives the transition from a dense suspension to a porous solid phase. Fresh mixture of self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be considered as a phase-changing multi-component material and can be described as a continuum at the macro scale, interacting with a set of transport-reaction-diffusion processes which in turn are driven by phenomena at the level of the microstructure. This contribution focuses on a predictive model for the setting of fresh SCC where the liquid-solid phase transition is captured by a phase-field variable using the Ginzburg-Landau type free energy function. Hydration-related chemical reactions together with heat and mass transfer are volume coupled with the mechanical behaviour and determined by the environmental conditions. The weak form of the predictive model is discretised using the finite element method and implemented with the FEniCS computational framework.