BFRL Building and Fire Research Laboratory

HCSSMODEL

A Hard Core/Soft Shell Microstructural Model for Studying Percolation and Transport in Three-Dimensional Composite Media

Background

HCSSMODEL is a set of computer programs written in C to simulate the microstructure and assess the percolation and diffusion/conduction properties of a three-phase composite system consisting of inpenetrable spherical particles (hard cores), each surrounded by a penetrable soft shell. A typical application would be the microstructure of concrete where the hard cores would represent the aggregates and the soft shells would be representative of the interfacial transition zones surrounding each aggregate particle.

System Requirements

HCSSMODEL is written in C and will compile using any standard C compiler. A minimum of 32 MB of RAM is typically required. Memory requirements will depend very much on the number of particles employed in the simulations and the model cube system size.

Copying the Software

Copy the software from this directory to a clear directory and compile the program concrete.c. If you have a problem with HCSSMODEL, please report it to dale.bentz@nist.gov

On the PC, a pre-compiled version of HCSS may be installed by opening and running the setup program hcss_setup.exe.

Users Manual

The user's manual contains an overview of the of the algorithms employed in HCSSMODEL, descriptions of the programs, the inputs and outputs for HCSSMODEL, example applications, and projected potential modifications to the codes.

Supporting Publications

Publications which support HCSSMODEL include:

  1. Bentz, D.P., Garboczi, E.J., and Snyder, K.A., A Hard Core/Soft Shell Microstructural Model for Studying Percolation and Transport in Three-Dimensional Composite Media NISTIR 6265, U.S. Department of Commerce, Jan. 1999.

  2. Bentz, D.P., Fibers, Percolation, and Spalling of High Performance Concrete, accepted by ACI Materials Journal, 2000.

  3. Bentz, D.P., Garboczi, E.J., and Lagergren, E.S., Multi-Scale Microstructural Modelling of Concrete Diffusivity: Identification of Significant Variables, Cement, Concrete, and Aggregates, 20 (1), 129-139, 1998.

  4. Garboczi, E.J., Schwartz, L.M., and Bentz, D.P., Modelling the Influence of the Interfacial Zone on the D.C. Electrical Conductivity of Mortar, Advanced Cement-Based Materials, 2, 169-181, 1995.

  5. Desai, P., Lewis, J.A., and Bentz, D.P., Unreacted Cement Content in Macro-Defect-Free Composities: Impact on Processing-Structure-Property Relations, Journal of Materials Science, 29 (4), 6445-6452, 1994.

Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899