Dr. Zhidong Zhang
Dept. Civil & Env. Eng.
Eng. Quad. E-226
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544 USA
Project: Early Hydration of Cement
Research interests:
• Mass transport (moisture, ions, etc) in porous media (cementitious materials)
• Modeling of hysteresis effect
• Development of microstructure during hydration
Current projects:
Mechanisms of Hydration and Setting of Ordinary Portland Cement
This research project focuses on the development of microstructure during the hydration process. Experimental methods related to supercritical drying and chemical shrinkage are used to quantify microstructure. The data aree used to feed a hydration model. The purpose of this project is to develop the necessary mechanistic understanding of field-adaptable models.
Fundamental Understanding of Non-Aqueous Drilling Fluids and Cementing Fluids Leads to Optimizing Seal Integrity
In this project, fluorescent dye is used to measure the residual mud thickness on the surface of oil-well casing and the Brazilian disk test is employed to investigate whether the amount of mud retained on the surface can alter the bonding between cement and steel pipe.
Biography
Zhidong worked as a postdoctoral research associate in Prof. Scherer’s group from July 2014. He received his PhD in Structure and Materials in May 2014 from Paris-Est University/IFSTTAR. The doctoral research is one part of TRANSCEND project, supported by Marie Curie Action, EC. The title of the PhD thesis is “Modeling of sorption hysteresis and its effect on moisture transport in cementitious materials”.