The effects of capsules on self-healing efficiency in cementitious materials

Author(s): Haoliang Huang, Guang Ye
Paper category: Conference
Book title: 2nd International conference on Microstructural-related Durability of Cementitious Composites
Editor(s): Guang Ye, K. Van Breugel, Wei Sun, Changwen Miao
Print ISBN: 978-2-35158-129-2
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-123-0
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Pages: 1090 - 1100
Total Pages: 10
Language: English

Abstract: 
Because self-healing of cracks is able to prolong the service life of concrete structures, it has attracted plenty of attention in these years. In this research, self-healing of cracks by further hydration of unhydrated cement particles was proposed. Encapsulated water was embedded in the cement paste to promote the further hydration. When the cement matrix cracks, the capsules are broken and the water stored in the capsules is released. The further hydration is promoted when the released water accesses to the unhydrated cement particles. The cracks are expected to be healed by the hydration products. Therefore, self-healing efficiency directly depends on the amount of released water, thus on the amount of capsules hit by the cracks.

However, it is obvious that only some parts of capsules are hit by the crack when the matrix fractures. Because the amount of capsules hit by the cracks is related to the dosage of capsules mixed in the cement matrix, thus self-healing efficiency is regulated by the dosage and the size of capsules in the mixture. In order to realize the capacity of self-healing in practice, the effects of capsules on self-healing efficiency were investigated. The probability of a crack hitting capsules with a certain diameter was calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. Based on numerical studies, the self-healing efficiency as the function of the dosage of capsules was determined, taking into account the effects of the size of capsules.

Online publication: 2013
Publication Type: full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00