The dissolution kinetics of Portland cement is a critical factor in controlling the hydration reaction and improving the performance of concrete. Tricalcium silicate (C
3S), the primary phase in Portland cement, is known to have complex dissolution mechanisms that involve multiple reactions
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The dissolution kinetics of Portland cement is a critical factor in controlling the hydration reaction and improving the performance of concrete. Tricalcium silicate (C
3S), the primary phase in Portland cement, is known to have complex dissolution mechanisms that involve multiple reactions and changes to particle surfaces. As a result, current analytical models are unable to accurately predict the dissolution kinetics of C
3S in various solvents when it is undersaturated with respect to the solvent. This paper employs the deep forest (DF) model to predict the dissolution rate of C
3S in the undersaturated solvent. The DF model takes into account several variables, including the measurement method (i.e.,
reactor connected to inductive coupled plasma spectrometer and
flow chamber with vertical scanning interferometry), temperature, and physicochemical properties of solvents. Next, the DF model evaluates the influence of each variable on the dissolution rate of C
3S, and this information is used to develop a closed-form analytical model that can predict the dissolution rate of C
3S. The coefficients and constant of the analytical model are optimized in two scenarios:
generic and
alkaline solvents. The results show that both the DF and analytical models are able to produce reliable predictions of the dissolution rate of C
3S when it is undersaturated and far from equilibrium.
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