Self Healing Concrete In

rigid pavements

Prepared by: Madhav Lakhnotra (15BCL058)

Vivek Makhecha (15BCL061)
Hitarthi Mistry (15BCL064)
Introduction
(Requirement of self healing concrete)
 Concrete is a most common construction material that is used world-wide
because of its properties.
 However, the drawback of this material is that it easily cracks due to its low
tensile strength.
 Due to cracking chemicals and water enters and degrade the concrete,
reducing the performance of the structure and also requires expensive
maintenance in the form of repairs.
 For crack repair, a variety of traditional repair systems are available which
possess a number of disadvantageous aspects such as different thermal
expansion coefficients, environmental and hazards of health.
Self healing concrete and it’s working.
 Self healing agents such as epoxy resin, bacteria, fiber, etc., are used to
heal cracks in concrete.
 Among these bacteria is used commonly and is found to be effective.
 When the bacteria is mixed with concrete the calcium carbonate precipitates
forms and these precipitates fills the cracks and makes the concrete free
from cracks.
 Self-healing concrete is a product which biologically produces limestone by
which cracks on the surface of concrete surface heal.
 The self-healing agents can lie dormant within the concrete for up to two
hundred years.
 Selected types of the bacteria genus Bacillus, along with calcium-based nutrient
known as calcium lactate, and nitrogen and phosphorous are added to the
concrete when it is being mixed.
 When a concrete structure damages and water starts to penetrate in the cracks
present in it, the bacteria becomes active and starts to feed on the calcium
lactate consuming oxygen and converts the soluble calcium lactate into
insoluble limestone.
 The limestone formed thus seals the cracks present.
 Consumption of oxygen in the bacterial conversion has an additional advantage.
 Oxygen which becomes an essential element for the corrosion of steel to take
place is being used in the bacterial conversion. Hence the durability of steel in
construction becomes higher.
 Reactions involved:
CaO + H2O → Ca(OH)2
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O
Literature Review
 Three Approaches to Self-Healing
1. Autogenous Self-Healing
2. Vascular Self-Healing
3. Capsule-Based Self-Healing

1. Autogenous Self-Healing
 Autogenous self-healing relies on the composition of concrete and is
accomplished by hydration reaction of cementitious products within the
matrix, or by reaction of polymeric substances in the matrix.
 One of the weaknesses of this approach is it can be used effectively for very
narrow cracks.
 a constant supply of water must be present to support the hydration process
so that cracks can be completely sealed. In order to accommodate more
water for further hydration superabsorbent polymers (SAP) is added in the
concrete mixture.
2. Vascular Self-Healing
 The vascular approach of self-healing closely mimics the vascular
network system in the human body. here, healing agents are confined in
hollow tubes or network of tubes and supplied by an external source.
 it is not self-healing, since it requires external intervention. Moreover,
although feasible at laboratory scale, it is difficult to cast concrete with a
network of pipes for vascular self-healing on actual construction sites.
3. Capsule-Based Self-Healing
 the capsules provide mechanical protection to the healing agents and only
release them after being triggered by cracks (by capsule rupture or diffusion),
moisture, air, or a change in pH of the pore solution in the matrix.
 Microcapsules can encapsulate limited amounts of repair agent and therefore
most of the healing agent is exhausted under a single loading cycle and hence
repeated healing over the long term is questionable.
 Capsule-based healing can be broadly categorized into healing induced by
(1) Encapsulation of bacteria
(2) encapsulated chemical healing agents.
1. Encapsulation of bacteria
 reducing calcium carbonate as the healing agent.
 There are calcium lactate, bacteria and hydrogel (its capability to absorb
and retain moisture over a long period of time) is to be used.
 Bacteria are used to self heal the concrete Bacillus pasteurii, Bacillus
sphaericus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cohnii etc.
 The encapsulated spores could grow into active cells and precipitate calcium
carbonate by urea decomposition when there were sufficient water and
nutrients in the hydrogels.
2. encapsulated chemical healing agents
 A variety of encapsulating materials, such as glass tubes, ceramic tubes, and
polymers have been used in developing self-healing action in concrete.
 Polymeric microcapsules are very frequently used and they are prepared by
an oil-in-water dispersion mechanism of the polymer material.
 Introduction of many glass capsules can weaken concrete structure.
Applications
 In the United States, it is estimated that an annual investment of $21 billion
is needed to repair and maintain highway bridge infrastructure, which marks
an extra $8 billion from what is currently budgeted (ASCE 2013).
 Furthermore, it is estimated that half of all repaired concrete structures fail
to perform at satisfactory engineering standards and thus require additional
repairs (Li and Herbert 2012).
 For this reason, researchers have focused on engineering self-healing
concrete as an alternative, long-term solution to address this problem.
Advantages
 Remediates cracks quickly so Lower repair & maintenance cost
 Reduction in corrosion of reinforcement.
 Improvement in the compressive strength at later stage and hence increases
the durability of concrete.
 Better resistance towards Freeze thaw attack
 Reduction in permeability of concrete
 Aesthetic appearance are not harmed through this
 It is pollution free, eco-friendly and natural
 Decreased production of concrete
 Applicable to existing buildings in form of spray
Disadvantages
 Cost of bacterial concrete is higher (Cost of bacterial concrete is double than
conventional concrete, but it can be reduced by the growth of the technique)
 Growth of bacteria is not good in any atmosphere and media.
 Non-availability of codal provisions. It is difficult to estimate the doses of
bacteria to be used in concrete to get the optimum performance.
Conclusion
 By the application of bacteria in concrete it was found that the compressive
strength and tensile strength of concrete increased with a decrease in
permeability, water absorption and corrosion of reinforcement compared to
that of conventional concrete.
 Bacterial concrete also significantly influenced the durability characteristics
of the structure by healing of cracks in the structure.
References
 Gupta et al. “Encapsulation Technology and Techniques in Self-Healing
Concrete”, (ASCE-2016)
 Mian et al. “Performance of Two Bacteria-Based Additives Used for Self-
Healing Concrete” (ASCE-2016)
 Ehsan et al. “Evaluation of Self-Healing Mechanisms in Concrete with
Double-Walled Sodium Silicate Microcapsules” (ASCE-2015)
 Soundharya et al. , “Study on the Effect of Calcite-Precipitating Bacteria on
Self-Healing Mechanism of Concrete”, (International Journal of Engineering
Research & Management Technology, July-2014, vol-1, Issue-4)