Quantifying the influence of temperature and water-to-cement ratio on cement paste rheological properties

The rheological behavior of cement pastes is highly affected by temperature and water content, which hinders our capacity to build effectively in extreme conditions. We herein employ a recently proposed constitutive rheological model (Ioannou and Stephanou, J Rheol 67:849–861, 2023), to model the rheological behavior of cement pastes over an extensive temperature and water-to-cement ratio (w/c) range. We thoroughly parametrize the model for both fresh and aged cement pastes to accommodate quantitative predictions against available literature rheological data. Our work is the first to provide reliable rheological predictions for cement pastes at various w/c ratios and temperatures. Furthermore, it employs one of very few models that can predict normal stresses, whose importance in pumping and extrusion is today only partially understood. The model is expected to be utilized in the future for modeling mortar and concrete, as well as to simulate actual flowing processes occurring in construction sites.