Multiscale Method for Hydro-Chemo-Thermo-Mechanics Coupling due to Alkali Silica Reaction in Concrete

Alkli Silica Reaction(ASR) is one of critical reason to cause the durability problem of concrete constructions, which can be attributed the formation of a hydrophilic gel from silica in aggregates and alkalies in the pore solution. The gel can swell when meeting the water, and then create an increasing internal pressure in localized regions of the cementitious matrix. At the meanwhile, concretet is a exceedingly complex material and has specific structures at different length-scales. In this contribution, 3D micro-CT scan of hardened cement paste(HCP) and aggregates with a random distribution embedded in a homogenized cement paste matrix are used to represent the microscale and the mesoscale of concrete respectively. 

Damage in the hardened cement paste(HCP) due to the expansion of gel

 The damage of  microscale is upscaled to the mesoscale, where 3D hydro-chemo-thermal-mechanical based on staggered approach is implemented.