SANTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS IT ME

RECENT ADVANCEMENT #

SELF-HEALING CONCRETE

I.

Cracks that are formed in concrete are usually because of inadequate water for its
hydration and also mainly because of the low tensile strength (Snoeck et al., 2017). This
could affect the durability of the concrete since it would give a path for the passageway of
certain liquids or gases that contains hazardous chemicals. Self-Healing Concrete used
certain bacteria that contains chemicals or substances that makes it work.

ABSTRACT:

Self-Healing Concrete, also known as “Bacterial Concrete” in other researches, are concrete
that would heal naturally because of certain chemicals or bacteria that can generate this
phenomenon. Not only would it the life span of a concrete structure would prolong, but also
would be more durable and sustainable that ordinary concrete.

OBJECTIVE:

This study aims to produce a concrete that would naturally heal by itself and reduce the
maintenance and repair of a concrete.

METHODOLOGY:

The researchers used several bacterias, like Subabsorbent Polymers (SAP), Calcium
Carbonate Microorganisms, the autogenous healing capacity of unhydrated cement, etc., that all
contributes on how this study works. After several tests using different bacterias, the
researchers came up with the Self-Healing Concrete.

CONCLUSION:
 The researchers concluded that using bacterias that has the capacity to heal concretes, can
develop Self-Healing Concretes. They used the unhydrated cement by healing only small cracks
and the Subabsorbent Polymers (SAP) that would swell once it is exposed in our environment
which fills up the concrete crack. Though its materials are costly, it would still be cost-effective
on the long run since it would no longer require a building or structure to be maintained
regularly like in ordinary concretes.

II. FUTURE STUDIES

The researchers suggest to develop a Self-Healing Concrete that uses bacterias which are safe
once exposed to the environment since not all bacterias are safe to let out or use naturally in an
exposed area or public environment like work places, schools, and even our houses.

III. CHALLENGES

The challenge in this study is the safety of the building with this kind of bacterias since it would
definitely be exposed to public areas with a lot of people. Another challenge is financially since a
cement or concrete company should have enough funds and facilities to be able to produce
successfully a concrete that heals by itself.

IV. ETHICAL ISSUES

This research would benefit the society since it would no longer consume a lot of time and effort
on maintaining a concrete structure since Self-Healing Concretes heal naturally.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Department of Structural Engineering. (2017, November 7). Retrieved from

https://www.ugent.be/ea/structural-engineering/en/research/magnel/research/research3/selfh
ealing [Accessed 18 Nov. 2019].