A peridynamic approach for the simulation of calcium silicate hydrate nanoindentation

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) plays a dominant role in determining the properties of Portland cement. Establishing a numerical model to predict cement properties is therefore becoming increasingly important when considering the effect of C-S-H on the concrete's cohesion and durability. This manuscript presents a novel numerical model of high-density and low-density C-S-H gel phases to simulate the nanoindentation procedure. During the simulation, the C-S-H gel is considered as discrete particles with certain mechanical properties on the nanoscale. Combining the van der Waals force function and the peridynamic force function, some key parameters of the properties of the materials can be obtained by controlling the C-S-H bulk packing fractions and keeping particle-level material properties constant in the simulation. The results show good agreement with experimental and theoretical results for cases involving linear and non-linear self-consistent conditions reported in the literature.