Phase transition induced deformation in porous media

Capillary condensation-evaporation and freeze-thaw processes are the most familiar examples of first-order phase transitions in equilibrium thermodynamics. Porous, amorphous materials are widely used in everyday life, yet their complex spatial structures lead to unresolved questions for statistical mechanics, both in- and out-of equilibrium. In this thesis I examine the mechanical consequences of capillary force and freezing transition in porous media, using cement, a construction material of pivotal importance, as an example of practical concern. During changes in relative humidity, the amount of water absorbed in a porous material varies and typically displays hysteresis, i.e differences between adsorption and desorption at the same relative humidity. This process is accompanied by mechanical deformations, such as drying shrinkage in cement. A parallel computing library is developed to simulate the adsorption/desorption processes using a lattice gas model.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Zhou, Tingtao(Edmond Tingtao)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Martin Z. Bazant, Mehran Kardar, and Roland J.M. Pellenq.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124278

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/124278