Multi-Phase Micromechanical Homogenization Approach for Predicting the Elastic Modulus of Gypsum–Fly Ash Ternary Blend Concrete

Abstract

This study presents a calibration-oriented multi-phase micromechanical homogenization framework for estimating the elastic modulus of sustainable concrete containing fly ash and recycled gypsum. In the absence of direct experimental measurements, a computational framework was developed to simulate the interactions among coarse aggregate, mortar, and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). A two-phase homogenization model was first calibrated against the ACI 318-19 elastic modulus relationship through a sensitivity analysis, achieving relative errors below 3% with respect to the ACI-based empirical reference. Subsequently, a three-phase model incorporating a 30 μm ITZ was developed to explicitly account for the influence of the interfacial transition zone on the effective elastic modulus within the adopted modelling assumptions. While the inclusion of the ITZ slightly increased the prediction error for the control mix, it consistently improved agreement with the ACI-based reference for all fly ash–gypsum blends. In addition, comparison with experimentally reported elastic modulus values for similar SCM-modified concretes demonstrated that the predicted values were physically reasonable and generally consistent with published data. Overall, the proposed framework reproduced stiffness trends predicted by the ACI empirical relationship and provides a physically informed computational baseline for future experimental validation and parametric investigations of sustainable concrete systems.