The first MOOC to learn the basics on cement chemistry and the good practices in laboratory to assess its properties.
Course Details
| Language | English |
| Duration | 6 weeks |
| Effort | 4-5 hours / week |
Description
We all know the concrete used to build our houses, offices, schools, or bridges, but do you know why concrete resists?
The aim of this course is to offer solid knowledge on cement chemistry to practioners or to new student in the field. It is therefore not necessary to have a cement background, however basic concepts in chemistry, physics and crystallography can help. This course lasts 6 weeks during which you can take theoretical courses and tutorials to test the cement in the laboratory. You will learn how environmentally and economically the cement is positioned, what it is made of and how it hydrates. You can learn how to test your samples in isocalorimetry in order to follow the hydration and to prepare and observe samples by scanning electron microscopy. You will also learn in the last two weeks how X-ray diffraction works and how to apply it to cements.
What you will learn
- Understand the hydration of cement
- How and Why using Supplementary Cementitious Materials in concrete technology
- Good tips via tutorials to test your sample by X-Rays diffractometry, Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Isocalorimentry
Prerequisites
- Basics chemistry and physics concepts (1st /2nd year bachelor)
- Bachelor in Materials Science or knowledge in crystallography can really help but not mandatory
Plan
The course is structured into 6 weeks of about one to two-hour lectures:
Week 1: Research context on sustainable cementitious materials:
Set up the context of sustainability in the research about cementitious materials.
Week 2: Hydration of cement:
Introduction to cement chemistry and hydration mechanism.
Week 3: SEM-EDX:
How to use SEM-EDX to characterize cement. Learn the good practices and LMC tips.
Week 4: Cement and kinetics:
Go deeper in cement hydration and kinetics of the reaction. Learn how to use isocalorimetry to follow the reaction : good practices and LMC tips.
Week 5: XRD 1:
Learn the basics on XRD and how to prepare samples for XRD.
Week 6: XRD 2:
Apply XRD to cementitious materials and go deeper on analyzing the XRD results.
