scholarly journals Self-Healing Concrete and Cementitious Materials

Author(s):  
Tanvir Qureshi ◽  
Abir Al-Tabbaa

Concrete is one of the most used materials in the world with robust applications and increasing demand. Despite considerable advancement in concrete and cementitious materials over last centuries, infrastructure built in the present world with these materials, such as dams, roads, bridges, tunnels and buildings requires intensive repair and maintenance throughout its design life. Self-healing concrete and cementitious materials, which have the ability to recover after initial damage, have the potential to address these challenges. Self-healing technology in concrete and cementitious materials can mitigate the unnecessary repair and maintenance of built infrastructure as well as overall CO2 emission due to cement production. This chapter provides the state-of-the-art of self-healing concrete and cementitious materials, mainly focusing on autogenic or intrinsic self-healing using fibre, shrinkable polymers, minerals and supplementary cementitious materials, and autonomic self-healing using non-traditional concrete materials such as microscale to macroscale capsule as well as vascular systems with polymeric, mineral and bacterial agents.

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2291
Author(s):  
Alessandro P. Fantilli ◽  
Daria Jóźwiak-Niedźwiedzka

The environmental impact of the Portland cement production and the large use of cement-based building materials is a growing problem [...]


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3511
Author(s):  
Abdul Qudoos ◽  
Ehsanullah Kakar ◽  
Atta ur Rehman ◽  
In Kyu Jeon ◽  
Hong Gi Kim

The worldwide production of cement is growing every year due to its increased use in the construction. Cement production is affiliated with an environmental concern as it contributes to the CO2 emissions. It is imperative to reduce the cement production by incorporating supplementary cementitious materials in the cement composites. In this research study, wheat straw ash (WSA) was used as an alternate of ordinary Portland cement. The ash was ground separately with a ball mill and a disintegrator mill as well as with a combination of both to enhance its pozzolanic efficiency. Mortar and paste specimens were made by substituting cement with WSA (20% by weight). Ash specimens were examined in terms of particle size distribution, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence analyses. The performance of the ash specimens in cement composites was examined via compressive and flexural strengths, and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests. Isothermal calorimetric, thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also employed on the specimens. The results revealed that the particle size of the wheat straw ash specimens significantly reduced and specific surface area enhanced when ground with a combination of both milling techniques. Cement composites made with this type of ash demonstrated improved mechanical and physical properties, accelerated hydration reaction at the early ages, reduce calcium hydroxide content at the later ages, and densified microstructure.


1992 ◽  
Vol 00 (8) ◽  
pp. 4-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A. Draper ◽  
Jan Skalny

The need for continued rehabilitation of our concrete infrastructure has lead to the adaptation of modern “state-of-the-art” analytical methods for the characterization of concrete and other cementitious materials. Some of these techniques have not, until relatively recently, been commonly associated with the evaluation of concrete but are very useful both as tools for quality assurance and in the determination of the extent of existing damage. The technique of interest here is the coordinated electron-optical microscopic evaluation of concrete.Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. Contrary to popular belief, concrete is not inert but chemically very complex and dynamic. While it is true that, pound for pound, concrete and its raw materials (cement, aggregate and water} are the most inexpensive building materials available for construction, it is also true that it responds to its environment in numerous and sometimes very subtle ways. These responses may sometimes result in a loss of durability and tremendous amounts of time and money being expended while searching for the cause(s) of the problem and providing a cost-effect solution A quick survey of any large metropolitan area and the on-going construction repairs to highways and bridge decks there will quickly confirm this.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (24) ◽  
pp. 8291
Author(s):  
Mays A. Hamad ◽  
Mohammed Nasr ◽  
Ali Shubbar ◽  
Zainab Al-Khafaji ◽  
Zainab Al Masoodi ◽  
...  

The increase in cement production as a result of growing demand in the construction sector means an increase in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. These emissions are estimated at 7% of the global production of CO2. Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has excellent mechanical and durability characteristics. Nevertheless, it is costly and affects the environment due to its high amount of cement, which may reach 800–1000 kg/m3. In order to reduce the cement content, silica fume (SF) was utilized as a partial alternative to cement in the production of UHPC. Nevertheless, SF is very expensive. Therefore, the researchers investigated the use of supplementary cementitious materials cheaper than SF. Very limited review investigates addressed the impact of such materials on different properties of UHPC in comparison to that of SF. Thus, this study aims to summarize the effectiveness of using some common supplementary cementitious materials, including fly ashes (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), metakaolin (MK) and rice husk ashes (RHA) in the manufacturing of UHPC, and comparing the performance of each material with that of SF. The comparison among these substances was also discussed. It has been found that RHA is considered a successful alternative to SF to produce UHPC with similar or even higher properties than SF. Moreover, FA, GGBS and MK can be utilized in combination with SF (as a partial substitute of SF) as a result of having less pozzolanic activity than SF.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4437
Author(s):  
Shashank Gupta ◽  
Salam Al-Obaidi ◽  
Liberato Ferrara

Concrete and cement-based materials inherently possess an autogenous self-healing capacity. Despite the huge amount of literature on the topic, self-healing concepts still fail to consistently enter design strategies able to effectively quantify their benefits on structural performance. This study aims to develop quantitative relationships through statistical models and artificial neural network (ANN) by establishing a correlation between the mix proportions, exposure type and time, and width of the initial crack against suitably defined self-healing indices (SHI), quantifying the recovery of material performance. Furthermore, it is intended to pave the way towards consistent incorporation of self-healing concepts into durability-based design approaches for reinforced concrete structures, aimed at quantifying, with reliable confidence, the benefits in terms of slower degradation of the structural performance and extension of the service lifespan. It has been observed that the exposure type, crack width and presence of healing stimulators such as crystalline admixtures has the most significant effect on enhancing SHI and hence self-healing efficiency. However, other parameters, such as the amount of fibers and Supplementary Cementitious Materials have less impact on the autogenous self-healing. The study proposes, through suitably built design charts and ANN analysis, a straightforward input–output model to quickly predict and evaluate, and hence “design”, the self-healing efficiency of cement-based materials.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4211
Author(s):  
Kamil Tomczak ◽  
Jacek Jakubowski ◽  
Łukasz Kotwica

This paper reveals the relationships between key factors that determine the ability of cementitious composites to self-heal autogenously and specific measures for quantifying the effects of this process. The following material factors: water-to-binder ratio (w/b), uniaxial compressive strength and age of the composite at the time of defect formation were considered, as well as the method and degree of damage to the tested material. The subjects of this study were mortars and concretes in which Portland cement was partially replaced, to varying degrees, with mechanically activated fluidized bed combustion fly ash (MAFBC fly ash) and siliceous fly ash. The samples were subjected to three-point bending or cyclic compression tests after 14 or 28 days of aging, in order to induce defects and then cured in water for 122 days. Microscopic (MO) and high-resolution scanning (HRS) observations along with computer image processing techniques were used to visualize and quantify the changes occurring in the macro-crack region near the outer surface of the material during the self-sealing process. Techniques based on the measurement of the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) allowed the quantification of the changes occurring inside the damaged materials. Mechanical testing of the composites allowed quantification of the effects of the activity of the binder-supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) systems. The analysis of the results indicates a significant influence of the initial crack width on the ability to completely close the cracks; however, there are repeated deviations from this rule and local variability of the self-sealing process. It has been shown that the compressive strength of a material is an important indicator of binder activity concerning crack width reduction due to self-sealing. Regardless of the crack induction method, the internal material changes caused by self-sealing are dependent on the degree of material damage.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Milena Marroccoli ◽  
Antonio Telesca

The manufacture of Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) generates around 8% of the global CO2 emissions related to human activities. The last 20 years have seen considerable efforts in the research and development of methods to lower the carbon footprint associated with cement production. Specific focus has been on limiting the use of OPC and employing alternative binders, such as calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cements, namely special hydraulic binders obtained from non-Portland clinkers. CSA cements could be considered a valuable OPC alternative thanks to their distinctive composition and technical performance and the reduced environmental impact of their manufacturing process. To additionally reduce CO2 emissions, CSA cements can also be blended with supplementary cementitious materials. This paper investigates the influence of two separately added chemical activators (NaOH or Na2CO3) on the technical properties and hydration behavior of four CSA blended cements obtained by adding to a plain CSA cement two different ground granulated blast furnace slags. Differential thermal-thermogravimetric, X-ray diffraction and mercury intrusion porosimetry analyses were done, along with shrinkage/expansion and compressive strength measurements.


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