Interpreting the setting time of cement pastes for modelling mechanical properties

The formulation of a quick, economical and trustworthy method for predicting the mechanical performance of cement pastes in time is rather helpful when developing new materials. In this effort, two different cement types with increasing water/cement (w/c) ratios were evaluated in terms of consistency, setting times (ST) and their compressive elastic moduli (E). A new model has been proposed for the first time to correlate the setting times behaviour with their compressive moduli values at 28, 90 and 180 days. A contact mechanics approach was used to model the Vicat test and, thus a predictive model was formulated. The model utilised ST data and was calibrated using compressive strength and E values at 28 days. After the comparison of theoretical (Epred) and experimental data (E), the model proved to be accurate for specific cement types and five different w/c ratios respectively. Finally, the model was used for predicting compressive moduli values for 90 and 180 days