Microestructura y propiedades mecánicas de las fases fundamentales del Clinker

Abstract

Due to the high importance of the cement between the construction material, in the present work the micromechanical properties of the main clinker phases was determined. There was an initial investigation of the history and fabrication of the Clinker, the function of each of its phases, and its hydration process, concluding that the alite and the belite are the phases that provides the mechanical resistance to the hydrated cement therefore the phases to which their resistance was analyzed. For a reference the hardness of previous research works was sought for both phases. For the experimental part the samples of clinker rock were prepared, were embedded in epoxy and polished carefully, different attack chemicals were searched for the phase differentiation, once the identification was achieved, the Vickers hardness test was performed with a micro-hardness tester, with a pyramid-shaped diamond indenter with a square base, it is explained how to obtain the ideal load at which this material should be indented. Once the indentations were completed, a data analysis was performed by means of a onefactor analysis of variance, where the hardness values obtained were concluded to be valid, which additionally are in accordance with those found in the literature and are the following: HvAlita=9.26GPa y HvBelita=7.03GPa. In addition to the hardness, apparent fracture toughness was analyzed, for which very scattered data were obtained, especially in belite where fractures did not occur in the corners.