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Autogenous Healing PDF
Autogenous Healing PDF
Autogenous Healing
A Concrete Miracle?
76
NOVEMBER 2002
WHAT IS MEANT BY
AUTOGENOUS?
The word autogenous entered
the English language from Greek in
the mid-nineteenth century; it means
self-produced. According to the
New Shorter Oxford Dictionary, an
especial meaning with respect to
welding is formed by or involving
the melting of the joined ends,
without added filler.
The word is, therefore, entirely
appropriate to what happens in
concrete when healing takes place
by restoring continuity between two
sides of a crack without a deliberate
external intervention of repair.
PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
OF AUTOGENOUS HEALING
Situations where autogenous
healing may be beneficial were given
/ Concrete international
Is it continued hydration?
Opening of cracks, regardless of
whether due to shrinkage or to
excessive tensile strain, exposes the
interior of cement paste, including
cement hydrates as well as the
hitherto unhydrated remnants of
cement powder. As long as they are
exposed to air, no autogenous
healing takes place. However, when
the air becomes replaced by water,
hydration restarts and calcium
hydroxide, as well as calcium silicate
hydrate, are formed. The presence of
carbon dioxide is not necessary, and
carbon is not involved in the new
Is it formation of calcium
carbonate?
We can see thus that the formation
of calcium carbonate, alone or
together with calcium hydroxide, is
the second possible mechanism of
autogenous healing. A condition for
this is that the water in the crack
contains a large amount of dissolved
carbon dioxide.6
Clear found the formation of
calcium carbonate to be significant
in later stages of exposure of cracks
to water, but this mechanism is not
predominant in the first few days.1
In his experiments, early reduction
in the flow of water through a crack
(which indicates progress of
autogenous healing) was caused by
blocking with loose particles already
present in the crack.1
On the other hand, Edvardsen
found that blocking and swelling of
hydrated cement paste had minimal
influence.7 According to her, in the
initial phase, there is a reaction
between calcium ions and carbon
dioxide at the surface of the crack.7
Once the calcium ions at the surface
have been used up, further calcium
ions are transported from the
hydrated cement paste deeper in the
mortar or concrete, the process
being diffusion-controlled.7
Edvardsen found that calcium
carbonate is almost the sole
cause of autogenous healing.7
She expressed the view that the
availability of carbonate ions is not
the controlling factor in the formation
of calcium carbonate.7
In any case, calcium hydrogen
carbonate, which is one source of
carbonate ions, is present in many
waters. Carbon dioxide is also
present in solution in water. Calcium
carbonate is, of course, almost
insoluble. In this connection, we
should note Edvardsens finding that
water hardness seems not to influence
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/ NOVEMBER 2002
77
78
NOVEMBER 2002
MAXIMUM WIDTH OF
CRACKS THAT HEAL
An important practical question
is: what is the maximum width
of cracks that will be closed by
autogenous healing?
/ Concrete international
Concrete international
/ NOVEMBER 2002
79
RECOVERY OF STRENGTH
ON HEALING
In the majority of published studies,
the parameter investigated was the
extent of autogenous healing as
evidenced by the filling of cracks or by
the reduction of flow of water through
the cracks. The strength of the healed
concrete is rarely of interest and has
not often been determined.
It is arguable that full healing of a
crack makes the concrete or mortar
monolithic, and therefore as good as
new, or nearly so. Strictly speaking,
the development of strength is a
function of the extent of complete
bridging of the crack and of the
proportion of the volume of the
crack that has become filled by the
new compounds.4 Laboratory tests
have provided detailed quantitative
data on the relation between the
extent of filling of cracks by autogenous
80
NOVEMBER 2002
ROLE OF AUTOGENOUS
HEALING IN CORROSION
PROTECTION
The main function of mortar or
concrete lining of a metal pipe is to
provide corrosion protection of the
metal, especially when the pipe
/ Concrete international
CONCLUSIONS
To a large extent, this article is a
review of published information
about autogenous healing. This
includes: the nature of the filler
material in the cracks; the maximum
width of cracks that will close fully
in consequence of autogenous
healing; some mechanical properties
of the material in the filler; the
requirements for the water that will
effect the healing; and the role of
autogenous healing in the corrosion
of embedded or underlying metal.
Unfortunately, from all these data
it is not possible to deduce rules
about what to do in order to achieve
autogenous healing of concrete or
mortar in a specific situation. The
reason for this is that the vast
majority of published data were
obtained on specimens that were
cracked deliberately so that the
crack properties were well known.
Concrete international
/ NOVEMBER 2002
81
16. Sandberg, P., and Tang, L., A Field Study of the Penetration of
Chlorides and Other Ions into a High Quality Concrete Marine Bridge
Column, Durability of Concrete, Proceedings of the Third International
Conference, SP-145, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI,
1994, pp. 557-571.
Selected for reader interest by the editors.
References
1. Clear, C. A., The Effects of Autogenous Healing upon the
Leakage of Water Through Cracks in Concrete, Cement and
Concrete Association, Technical Report No. 559, May 1985, 28 pp.
2. Turner, L., The Autogenous Healing of Cement and Concrete:
Its Relation to Vibrated Concrete and Cracked Concrete, International Association for Testing Materials, London Congress, April 19-24,
1937, p. 344.
3. Hearn, N., Self-Sealing, Autogenous Healing and Continued
Hydration: What is the Difference?, Materials and Structures, V. 31,
Oct. 1998, pp. 563-567.
4. Lauer, K. R., and Slate, F. O., Autogenous Healing of Cement
Paste, ACI JOURNAL, Proceedings, V. 52, June 1956, pp. 1083-1097.
5. Wagner, E. F., Autogenous Healing of Cracks in Cement-Mortar
Linings for Grey-Iron and Ductile-Iron Water Pipes, Journal of the
American Water Works Association, V. 66, June 1974, pp. 358-360.
6. Hearn, N., and Morely, C. T., Self-Sealing Property of Concrete
Experimental Evidence, Materials and Structures, V. 30, Aug.-Sept.
1997, pp. 404-411.
7. Edvardsen, C., Water Permeability and Autogenous Healing of
Cracks in Concrete, ACI Materials Journal, V. 96, No. 4, July-Aug.
1999, pp. 448-454.
8. Gautefall, O., and Vennesland, ., Effect of Cracks in the
Corrosion of Embedded Steel in Silica-Concrete Compared to
Ordinary Concrete, Nordic Concrete Research, No. 2, Dec. 1983,
pp. 17-28.
9. Neville, A. M., Properties of Concrete, Fourth Edition, Addison
Wesley Longman and John Wiley, 1995, 844 pp.
10. Loving, M. W., Autogenous Healing of Concrete, Bulletin 13,
American Concrete Pipe Association, 1936, Revised 1938, 6 pp.
11. Lea, F. M., The Chemistry of Cement and Concrete, Third
Edition, Edward Arnold, 1970, 727 pp.
12. Jacobsen, S.; Marchand, J.; and Boisvert, L., Effect of
Cracking and Healing on Chloride Transport in OPC Concrete,
Cement and Concrete Research, V. 26, No. 6, 1996, pp. 869-881.
13. Ngab, A. S.; Nilson, A. H.; and Slate, F. O., Shrinkage and
Creep of High-Strength Concrete, ACI JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 78,
July-Aug., 1981, pp. 255-261.
14. Dhir, R. K.; Sangha, C. M.; and Munday, J. G., Strength and
Deformation Properties of Autogenously Healed Mortars, ACI
JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 70, Mar. 1973, pp. 231-236.
15. Vennesland, ., and Gjrv, O., Effect of Cracks in Submerged
Concrete Sea Structures on Steel Corrosion, in Corrosion 81,
Toronto, Ontario, Aug. 1981, pp. 49-51.
82
NOVEMBER 2002
/ Concrete international
am Nev
ACI Honorary Member Ad
Adam
Neviil l e has been contributing to
CI articles on various topics, all aimed at facilitating the use of
scientific knowledge to make better concrete in practice. His
book, Properties of Concrete, first published in 1963 and now
in its fourth edition, and translated into 13 languages, has
similar objectives. He is a recipient of several awards from ACI
and other organizations, as well as Commander of the Order of
the British Empire awarded by the Queen for his contribution to
science and technology.
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