An MRI-SPI and NMR relaxation study of drying-hydration coupling effect on microstructure of cement-based materials at early age.

Hydration and drying coupling effect monitoring with single point imaging profiles allowed us to evaluate "free" pore and "bounded" chemical water quantity. White cement pastes inverse Laplace analysis of T1 measurements shown original results with two components during setting. After hardening, we found three components. Single point imaging measures were also used to study the evolution of transition zone in repaired concrete. MRI results demonstrated its interest compared with destructive method for longitudinal study and phenomena kinetic monitoring.