Simulation Concrete Hydration - Thermal Analysis

If you want to perform a thermal analysis of concrete hydration using simulation, our meshless CFD software NOGRID points is a great choice. Based on the geometrical model - which can either be imported from your CAD or created using our CAD preprocessor COMPASS - you can quickly generate a computational model of a specific geometry. Compared to mesh-based methods, this process is significantly faster and allows you to evaluate the thermal characteristics in advance.

NOGRID points shows how the heat is transferred either through heat conduction, heat radiation or convection by means the flow of a fluid. It also allows for the coupling of all types of heat transfer mechanisms. The example below shows the temperature development during a concrete hydration process. The reaction with water is referred to as "hydration" and involves multiple chemical reactions often occurring simultaneously. As the reactions proceed, the hydration products gradually bond the individual sand, gravel particles, and other components of the concrete together, forming a solid mass.

In this thermal modeling/thermal simulation we used a time dependent heat source, and the resulting temperature evolution is shown in Figure 4. The initial and ambient temperatures were set to 15 °C.

This model provides valuable insight into the concrete hydration process and can help improve your design in terms of efficiency efficiency and cost. If anything is missing for your specific needs, please let us know -  we can easily implement additional requirements.

NOGRID points can perfectly be used for design and problem solving for all kinds of thermal processes. It allows for accurate prediction of thermal homogenizing, temperature gradients, and the cooling or heating rates. NOGRID points helps to understand the flow by visualizing mass, momentum, and heat transfer in both single-phase and multi-phase systems. You receive integral quantities which you can use to analyze the efficiency of heat fluxes.

Capabilities of NOGRID points CFD software

NOGRID combines capabilities to handle free surface flow and moving parts in the domain and allows the simulation of any conceivable geometry and operating modes such as

• computation is in full 3D solving complete Navier-Stokes-Equations
• easy and intuitive setup for thermal analysis cases
• free definable material properties by equations or curves
• evaluation of chemical reactions and corresponding heat source terms
• open or closed domains including inflow and outflow areas (non-batch mode)
• moving of parts within the concrete for homogenization purposes