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The compositions and contents of phases in cement paste soaked in sodium sulfate solution changing with time were investigated in this study. First of all, the porosities in cement paste specimens over time were measured by an in situ X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) test. Cement hydration and sulfate erosion occur simultaneously during the soaking process of cement paste specimens in sodium sulfate solution. Therefore, the hydration behaviour and the erosion of sulfates in cement paste were combined in a new way to establish an X-CT–hydration–deterioration model, which was used to calculate the variations of the volume fractions of the phases in cement paste. Subsequently, the volume fractions of each phase were used to calculate the elastic moduli of cement paste specimens with the bulk modulus, shear modulus of each phase and a self-consistent (SC) method. Afterward, the calculated elastic moduli were compared with the experimental results obtained by uniaxial compression test and the error values were 1% for 28 d, 2·5% for 88 d and 5% for 148 d, which were all within 5%, indicating that the advanced X-CT–hydration–deterioration model combined with the SC method can successfully predict the elastic modulus of cement paste eroded in sodium sulfate solution.

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