Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Application of microbial self-healing concrete: Case study

Chunxiang Qian a,b,c,d,⇑, Tianwen Zheng a,b,c,d, Xuan Zhang a,b,c,d, Yilin Su a,b,c,d
a
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, PR China
b
Research Center of Green Building & Construction Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing, PR China
c
China Building Industry Key Laboratory for Microbial Mineralization Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
d
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Construction Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China

h i g h l i g h t s

MICP was used to repair concrete cracks with the width of 0.3–0.5 mm.

Studied the basic and self-healing properties of two kinds of self-healing concrete.

Used sensors to monitor the generation of cracks through strain and temperature.

The concrete cracks in the engineering application site have been well repaired.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: It has become a green and environmentally friendly method to repair concrete cracks by microbial
Received 8 January 2021 induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP). However, most studies were concentrated in the labo-
Received in revised form 30 March 2021 ratory, and practical engineering applications are rarely conducted. Hence, in order to promote the appli-
Accepted 31 March 2021
cation of microbial self-healing concrete, the researches of microbial healing agents and self-healing
Available online 17 April 2021
concrete were carried out. Then, the construction technologies of microbial self-healing concrete were
explored through engineering practice. Results showed that the spray-dried fermented bacteria method
Keywords:
has great potential for the production of powder-based and capsule-based microbial healing agents of
Powder-based healing agent
Capsule-based healing agent
concrete. Compared with the liquid-based healing agents, it was more convenient in terms of production,
Microbial self-healing concrete transportation, storage, and use. For the existing concrete production line, the feeding of microbial heal-
Engineering application ing agents draws on the production experience of fiber concrete. To guarantee the self-healing effects,
Industrialization research necessary curing measures should be taken to keep the cracks wet and supply nutrients for bacteria.
The degree of self-healing can be evaluated by observing the changes in ultrasonic wave speed and wave-
form, which is an effective non-destructive method to quantitatively characterize the self-healing effi-
ciency in construction sites. The production and construction experience provided a good reference for
the commercialization of microbial self-healing concrete.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction components in the concrete, the cracks can be repaired without

Cracking is one of the biggest bottlenecks hindering the
development of modern concrete technologies [1]. Hazards caused
by cracks [2–4] severely limit the performances of cement-based
materials and the function of concrete structures. The cost of crack
detection and repair is huge [5,6], which makes the concrete struc-
tures face huge maintenance costs during service [7]. To solve the
limitations of cracks on concrete durability and service life,
researchers around the world have developed a variety of crack
self-healing technology [8]. By adding various healing agents or
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: cxqian@seu.edu.cn (C. Qian).
human intervention [9]. Self-healing technology seems the most
likely way to address the challenge of concrete cracks. Among
the numerous approaches, the microbial method is considered
the most promising to be commercialized in the coming years
[10–12]. As an eco-friendly method, the biggest advantage of
microbial self-healing technology is that it can repair cracks
through bacteria metabolic activities in places where it is difficult
to access it [13]. This greatly reduces the cost of crack detection
and the difficulty of repair and increases the service time of the
concrete structure. In the majority of cases, the presence of bacte-
ria has a positive effect even on the compressive strength and den-
sity of concrete before cracking [14]. This also results in reduction
of corrosion of steel reinforcement and low maintenance cost [15].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123226
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al. Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226

With the continuous development of microbial self-healing Therefore, the design institution had higher requirements for the
technology, some researchers gradually apply bacteria-based con- waterproof performance of the main concrete structure, and the
crete to engineering practice. From 2015 to 2020, the Netherlands impervious grade reached P10 (withstand 1 MPa water pressure,
[10,16], the United Kingdom [6,17,18], Belgium [19], China [20], according to China standard GB/T 50082-2009 Standard for test
and some other countries have successively conducted more than methods of long-term performance and durability of ordinary
ten demonstration projects. The main products used were micro- concrete).
bial self-healing concrete [16,20] and microbial self-healing mortar
[10]. The main application environments were tunnels [20], base-
2. Materials and methods
ments [19], water channels [17], etc. These activities have accumu-
lated incipient construction experience of microbial self-healing
2.1. Materials and equipment
cement-based materials. The feasibility of self-healing concrete
has been also verified several times. However, these practices are
A kind of spore-forming bacteria species was used in this paper,
far from sufficient forwarding self-healing concrete into the market
which had been studied in previous work [21-24]. The raw materi-
[7]. The commercialization of microbial self-healing technology is
als used by the concrete manufacturer supplying Maqun Station
still facing many challenges, the most important of which are the
and Qilinmen Station were as follows. Ordinary Portland cement
industrial production technologies and cost reduction methods of
with a strength grade of PO 42.5 was used and the chemical com-
microbial healing agents [7].
position is shown in Table 1. The fly ash can be divided into Class F
To popularize microbial self-healing concrete, an industrializa-
(low calcium ash), Class C (high calcium ash) and composite ash
tion study of microbial self-healing concrete was carried out.
according to the content of f-CaO, and according to the fineness,
Firstly, the industrialized preparation method of microbial healing
it could also be divided into Grade I, II and III. Hence, the fly ash
agents were proposed. Then, the basic performance and self-
(chemical composition is shown in Table 2) we used was the Class
healing performance of microbial self-healing concrete were car-
F Grade I produced by Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park Thermal
ried out in laboratory. Finally, the feeding position of the microbial
Power Co., Ltd. According to the activity index of blast furnace slag,
healing agent in an existing concrete production line was pre-
which can be divided into three grades: S105, S95 and S75. Mean-
sented. According to the practical experiences, the key points of
while, the ground granulated blast furnace slag we used was Grade
crack curing and a method to test the self-healing degree were rec-
S95 produced by Jiangsu Meibao New Building Materials Co., Ltd
ommended. The application experiences of Maqun and Qilinzhen
and the chemical composition is shown in Table 3. The water-
metro stations provide a reference for the industrialization of
reducer was high-performance NOF-AS polycarboxylic acid pro-
self-healing concrete.
duced by Shandong Huawei Yinkai Building Material Technology
The supported project of this engineering practice was the
Co., Ltd. The mixing water and the curing water were both tap
Nanjing-Jurong Intercity Rail Transit Project, which was located
water. The sand used was yellow produced in Ganjiang, Jiangxi
in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P. R. China. The traffic line started at
province. The gravel was from Wuxue, Hubei province. It was
Maqun Station and ended at Jurong High-speed Railway Station.
worth noting that the self-healing agents were self-developed,
The total length was 43.70 km, of which the underground section
and the powder-based microbial healing agents were used in the
was 16.26 km. Maqun Station was the departure station of this
previous studies [25,26], while the capsule-based microbial heal-
traffic line and also the intersection station of Nanjing Metro Line
ing agents were prepared according to the literature [23].
2, 12, and S6. It would be built as a comprehensive transportation
The monitoring equipment for temperature and deformation of
hub in the future. Qilinmen Station was the third station of this
concrete was JMZX-300X/300XL provided by Kingmach Measure-
transportation line. As shown in Fig. 1, the red wireframe area is
ment & Monitoring Technology Co., Ltd. The model of ultrasonic
the construction site of Maqun and Qilinmen Station. Self-healing
testing equipment was KON-NM-4A provided by Beijing Koncrete
concrete mixed with powder-based microbial healing agent was
Engineering Testing Technology Co., Ltd.
used in the construction of Maqun Station, and concrete mixed
with capsule-based healing agents was mainly used in Qilinmen
Station. 2.2. Mix proportion of concrete
The Maqun and Qilinmen Station adopted a two-layer under-
ground structure, and the application position of the microbial Based on the designed mix proportion of concrete (Table 4 NC),
self-healing concrete was located at the first layer. Geotechnical the microbial self-healing concrete was obtained by addition of
investigation showed that the groundwater of Station mainly microbial healing agents (Table 4 PSC and CSC). Three kinds of con-
pored phreatic water and bedrock fissure water. Pored phreatic crete were prepared using the raw materials used in actual con-
water was mainly distributed in the fill layer, and bedrock fissure crete production, and the microbial healing agents replaced the
water was mainly stored in joints and fissures of bedrock, bedrock same weight of mineral admixture or sand. It was worth noting
weathering zone, and fault fracture zone. In other words, the sta- that the particle size of powder-based healing agent was 65–
tion would face severe groundwater erosion during its service. 120 lm, and the capsule size of capsule-based healing agent was

Fig. 1. The overview of maqun station and qilinmen station.

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C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al. Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226

Table 1
Chemical composition of PO 42.5 cement.

Chemical composition SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO K2O Na2O SO3 LOI
wt (%) 22.27 6.86 3.12 62.11 1.53 0.62 0.19 2.01 1.29

Table 2
Chemical composition of Grade I fly ash.

Chemical composition SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO f-CaO SO3 LOI
wt(%) 60.98 24.21 6.70 4.90 0.68 0.58 0.52 1.86

Table 3
Chemical composition of Grade S95 blast furnace slag.

Chemical composition SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO TiO2 LOI

wt(%) 36.23 9.76 1.99 39.40 10.5 0.70 1.42

Table 4
Mix proportion of normal concrete and self-healing concrete (kg/m3).

Types Cement Fly ash Slag powder Water Water reducer Sand Gravel Microbial healing agent
NC 261 56 56 164 5.22 776 1072 0
PSC 261 56 43 164 5.22 776 1072 13
CSC 261 56 56 164 5.22 752.5 1072 23.5

Note: NC representing normal concrete. PSC representing self-healing concrete with powder-based healing agent. CSC representing microbial self-healing concrete with
capsule-based healing agent.

3.2–4.0 mm. The cost of self-healing concrete mixed with powder-
based healing agents increased by about 70 RMB ($10.8 or 9.0
Euro) per cubic meter of concrete. The cost of CSC concrete
increased by about 85 RMB ($13.1 or 10.9 Euro) per cubic meter
of concrete.
after repair was read. The ratio of the number of pixels reduced
by repair to the total number of pixels of the pre-repair crack area
was considered as the area repair rate (R). The larger the R was, the
better the self-healing performance was. The calculation formula of
crack area repair rate R is as follows:

2.3. Laboratory test methods for performance of microbial self-healing
concrete
The addition of healing agents will alter the chemical compo-
nents of concrete, possiblly affecting the performance of concrete.
In order to ensure that the mix proportion of microbial self-healing
concrete can still meet the construction requirements, the adapt-
ability of the microbial healing agents to the design mix should
be tested.
(1) General properties of concrete
The workability of fresh concrete was tested following the
China Standard [27]. And the compressive strength of hardened
concrete was tested following the China Standard [28].
(2) Methods for measuring repair rate of crack surface area
According to the reference [23], experiments were conducted
with a u100 mm  100 mm cylindrical sample. The samples were
cured at a temperature of 20 ± 2 ℃ and the RH  95%. After 28 d,
the specimens were cracked by splitting method [24], and the
crack width was 0.3–0.5 mm. Then the cracked specimens were
cured under dry-wet cycles for 28 d at a temperature of
20 ± 2 °C. In particular, in each dry-wet cycle, the specimens were
placed in the water for 12 h and were then exposed to the air for
12 h. The images of the surface of cracks before and after repair
were collected with a high-definition camera. The collected images
were imported into the software Image J for binary processing, and
then the number of pixels occupied by the crack area before and
3
A0  A1
R¼  100% ð1Þ
A0
A0 representing the number of pixels occupied by the pre-repair
crack area, A1 representing the number of pixels occupied by the
post-repair crack area.
(3) Methods for measuring water permeability
The specimens prepared were the same as the crack area repair
rate. Then, the test method for water permeability was based on
the previous report [24]. During the test, the concrete specimens
were connected to the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe with u100
mm  1200 mm, and kept the water inside the PVC pipe at a con-
stant height of 1000 mm. Before the test, the joint between the
specimen and PVC pipe was sealed tightly with epoxy resin to
avoid leakage. Subsequently, the experiment lasted 5 min and
the quantity of water passed through the specimens was measured
by an electronic scale (MAX-C6002, China). Afterwards, the perme-
ability coefficient (K) could be calculated according to Darcy’s law:
Q L
K¼ ð2Þ
A  Dh
Where K is the water permeability coefficient with unit (m/s). Q is
water flow with unit (m3/s). L is the length of the specimen with
unit (m). A is the permeability area of the specimen with units
(m2). Dh is water head difference with unit (m).
The water permeability coefficient of the crack was transformed
into a relative permeability coefficient (k) to enable effective com-
parison between different samples. The permeability coefficient of
the pre-repair and post-repair crack was marked as K0 and K1,
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al.
respectively. The relative permeability coefficient k was the ratio of
K1 to K0. The smaller the k was, the better the self-healing ability of
crack was. The calculation formula of relative permeability coeffi-
cient is as follows:
K1
k¼ ð3Þ
K0
Where k is the relative permeability coefficient. K0 is the permeabil-
ity coefficient of pre-repair crack with unit (m/s). K1 is the perme-
ability coefficient of post-repair crack with unit (m/s).
2.4. Field test methods for performance of microbial self-healing
concrete
(1) Monitoring methods for microbial self-healing concrete
In the practice of Maqun Station, the sensors were embedded to
monitor the temperature and deformation development of con-
crete. Sensors were arranged in three directions, as shown in
Fig. 2. It was worth noting that the Maqun station was an L-
shaped side wall, with 8 sensors distributed on each side wall,
and the interval between the sensors in the horizontal direction
was 5 m. However, Qilinmen Station was a straight wall, 12 sensors
were distributed on the self-healing concrete and normal concrete,
respectively. And the horizontal direction of each sensor was
3.71 m. The stirrups were used to connect the steel cage, and the
sensors were placed on the side or under the stirrup to prevent
the impact during the concrete pouring process. Sensor 1 was used
to test the strain and temperature in the vertical direction of the
sidewall concrete, while sensor 2 in the perpendicular direction
and sensor 3 along the sidewall. However, for the distribution of
sensors in Qilinmen Station, only that with the same layout as sen-
sor 3 was retained to monitor the strain and temperature of the
concrete.
(2) Non-destructive testing for crack self-healing effect
At present, there are no related technical regulations for the
field testing of the self-repair effect. It is usually evaluated by
observing the water seepage of the crack surface and the repair
traces. The judgment is not quite accurate, and the filling degree
of crack mouth can’t be diagnosed. In the engineering practice of
Maqun Station, the ultrasonic method was used to quantitatively
evaluate the self-repair degree of cracks.
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the sensor layout.
4
Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226
When defects were present, in the process of ultrasonic waves,
which would undergo the process of reflection, refraction, trans-
mission and diffraction at the defects, and the sound wave energy
would also be continuously lost, which eventually led to abnormal-
ities of the received acoustic parameters. Abnormalities mainly
include two aspects. On the one hand, the impedance of cracks
was greater than the concrete matrix, and the interface permeabil-
ity was quite low. The sound wave would bypass the defect or
propagate in the low-speed medium, which would cause the wave
speed to decrease. On the other hand, ultrasonic waves would be
reflected and refracted at the defect interface, so that various
waves such as direct waves, diffracted waves, and reflected waves
were successively accepted by the receiver. The phases of these
waves were different, and the phases would be superimposed,
resulting in the deformation of the signal waveform received.
It can be seen from Fig. 3 that when the crack mouth was filled
with repair products, the impedance of wave propagation would
decrease and the propagation path would also become shorter.
Then, the ultrasonic speed would recover, and the degree of wave-
form distortion would also be corrected, gradually tending to sine
wave characteristics. The test method used was to arrange the
transmitter and receiver vertically on both sides of the crack with
a spacing of 50 mm, and petroleum jelly was applied as a coupling
agent.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Powder-based healing system
3.1.1. Workability and mechanical performance of concrete in
laboratory
When the powder-based healing agent was added to prepare
the microbial self-healing concrete, the workability and mechani-
cal performance of concrete are shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen that
with the addition of microbial healing agent, the slump and expan-
sion increased, and the setting time was shortened. It could be
attributed to that the calcium source component in the healing
agent was dissolved in water to add the concrete, which would
increase the volume of water and enhance the fluidity. The calcium
resource accelerated the rate of cement hydration, and the setting
time was slightly reduced [29–31]. But it can be seen that the alter-
ation extent of the healing agent to the workability of the fresh
concrete was relatively little, within the acceptable range.
The mechanical properties of hardened concrete were also
affected by microbial healing agents (Fig. 5). For microbial self-
healing concrete, the compressive strength was higher than nor-
mal concrete, especially the early strength. This was because the
calcium resource changed the strength development process of
concrete. The early hydration rate of cement was accelerated,
which correspondingly led to higher strength. But in general, the
addition of microbial remediation agent had little effect on the
working performance and mechanical properties of concrete.
3.1.2. Self-healing effects of cracks in laboratory
As shown in Fig. 6, as the curing time increased, the crack area
repair rate of microbial self-healing concrete gradually increased to
a relatively high level. At the same time, the water seepage slowed
down, and the relative permeability coefficient of the cracks grad-
ually decreased to almost zero. The self-repair of cracks mainly
occurred in the early stage of curing. At this time, the area repair
rate and relative water permeability coefficient were greatly chan-
ged, and the cracks were repaired within a short time. For normal
concrete, the crack area repair rate and relative water permeability
coefficient also changed to a certain extent. The reason was that
the exfoliated particles on the crack surface blocked the crack
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of ultrasonic detection of crack self-healing effect.
Fig. 4. Comparison of workability.
Fig. 5. Comparison of compressive strength.
and the unhydrated cement continued to hydrate. It can be seen
from Fig. 7 that the cracks of the self-healing concrete specimens
were completely repaired after 28 d of curing. No obvious repair
effects were seen in the cracks of normal concrete.
3.1.3. Industrial production of microbial healing agents
The microorganisms were proliferated and cultured by creating
suitable fermentation conditions in the factory to obtain high-
concentration microbial liquid. Then through spray drying, the
bacterial liquid was transformed into spore powder [21]. Finally,
it was compounded with calcium sources required for self-
healing of cracks to realize the batch preparation of microbial heal-
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Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226
ing agents. This batch preparation method could fully meet the
demands for raw materials for self-healing concrete production.
The cost of the produced microbial spores powder was controlled
within RMB40 ¥/kg.
3.1.4. Industrial production of microbial self-healing concrete
As a biological admixture, the microbial healing agent should be
stored to avoid environmental conditions that affect microbial
activity. It is best to establish a dedicated storage site, especially
to avoid humid environments, because humid conditions can cause
the germination of spores, leading to the failure of the healing
agent.
Generally speaking, the commonly used raw materials for con-
crete production are mainly gravel, sand, fly ash, cement, water
reducer, etc. Special feeding equipments are used to store these
raw materials separately, and reasonable discharge ports are set
up in the production line. Therefore, it is difficult for microbial
healing agents to share positions in mature production lines.
Therefore, in the existing production line, the feeding position of
the microbial healing agent needs to be considered. When the con-
crete manufacturer produces fiber concrete, to ensure the disper-
sion of the fibers in the concrete, the fibers are usually added
manually at the sand and gravel feeding port. In the production
process of self-healing concrete, this feeding method was used
for reference. The microbial healing agent was manually added
under the feeding port of sand and sent to the mixer via a belt con-
veyor (Fig. 8). This was a more reasonable method for the existing
production line, and it had the least interference to the production
process. The raw materials and microbial healing agent were trans-
ported to the mixer through the conveyor belt for mixing. The mix-
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al. Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226

Fig. 6. Comparison of self-healing performance.

Fig. 7. Comparison of self-healing effect.

Fig. 8. Production of microbial self-healing concrete.

ing volume of each plate of the mixer was 2 m3, and the mixing
time was 90 s.

3.1.5. Casting and curing of microbial self-healing concrete

For uncracked microbial self-healing concrete, its pouring and
curing process can be carried out referring to normal concrete.
When pouring the sidewall, both sides were poured symmetrically
at the same time, with layered casting and layered vibrating. The
layer was controlled within 30–50 cm in thickness, and the height
difference between the two sides was not more than 50 cm (Fig. 9).
In particular, microbial self-healing concrete and ordinary concrete
should be strictly implemented in accordance with the Standard
[32] during the production process, and the two kinds of concrete
produced were alternately transported to the construction site.
When concrete cracks were observed, maintenance measures Fig. 9. Pouring process of microbial self-healing concrete.

6
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al.
should be taken in time, and the cracks should always be wetted to
provide the necessary water environment for the germination and
mineralization of the spores. The maintenance measures adopted
on-site were water spraying maintenance with an interval of 4 h.
3.1.6. Monitoring and testing of crack self-repair performance in the
field
(1) Monitoring results of temperature and strain
The monitoring results are shown in Fig. 10, and it can be seen
that the strain tested by the No. 2 sensor was significantly higher
than the other two directions. This showed that the strain along
the side wall was relatively large, which was the reason why ver-
tical cracks in the continuous long side walls would be observed
in actual engineering applications. From the temperature monitor-
ing results, the addition of the healing agent would cause the inter-
nal temperature of the concrete to rise in the early stage, which
revealed that the hydration process of cement was accelerated by
the healing agents. The early hydration rate of cement was acceler-
ated and more heat was released. This phenomenon was caused by
the calcium source contained in the healing agent.
(2) Crack self-healing effect in the field
After the concrete was poured, natural curing should be
adopted. Measures such as wrapping with formworks, watering,
and sprinkling should be taken for moisturizing and moist curing
to ensure that the joints of the formworks would not lose water
and dry. After the formworks were removed, data collection and
crack observation should be carried out on site every day. 10 d
later, two cracks were observed in the microbial self-healing con-
crete sidewall. The main reason could be attributed to the strain
along the side wall was relatively large, so vertical cracks would
be observed in actual engineering applications. The width of one
crack was about 0.2 mm, and another one was about 0.5 mm. As
shown in Fig. 11, for the crack with a width of 0.2 mm, after 41
d of pouring, it can be observed that the cracks had no more water
seepage, and a large amount of white precipitated materials were
observed at the lower edge of the cracks. This was caused by the
minerals induced by bacteria pre-added to concrete in the early
healing age. This phenomenon could be observed more clearly in
the crack with a width of 0.5 mm, because the larger the width
of the crack, the more mineralized products that could not to be
intercepted in the early repair. Larger cracks required more time
to repair. 60 d after the pouring, the cracks were completely closed,
and a large number of white mineralization products at the lower
Fig. 10. Monitoring results of temperature and strain a. Crack width = 0.2 mm b. Crack width = 0.5 mm.
7
Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226
edge of the cracks were observed, which caused a lot of waste of
mineralization products.
(3) Ultrasonic testing results of self-healing performance of
cracks in the field
The ultrasonic method was used to test the concrete before and
after the crack repair, and the results are shown in Fig. 12. It can be
seen that the continuity of the concrete was broken by cracks, so
the sound waves in the concrete needed to bypass the cracks to
reach the receiver. The propagation distance was greatly extended,
and the wave speed was significantly reduced. Besides, the non-
uniformity of the propagation medium also caused serious distor-
tion of the waveform. For microbial self-healing concrete, cracks
would gradually be blocked by mineralization products in the pro-
cess of water leakage. The repair products accumulated in the crack
connected the two side surfaces of the crack to build a bridge for
the transmission of sound waves. The propagation distance
became shorter and the wave speed gradually increased. Therefore,
after healing for 41 d, from the perspective of the change of the
acoustic wave velocity, the first arrival wave velocity increased
from 1.43 km/s and 1.49 km/s to 2.55 km/s and 2.36 km/s, respec-
tively. It can be considered that the crack had been repaired to a
certain extent. From the waveform point of view, the distorted
waveform had been corrected, and the waveform became full,
approaching a sine wave. This shows that the destructive effect
of cracks on concrete had been repaired.
3.2. Capsule-based healing system
3.2.1. Workability and mechanical performance of concrete in
laboratary
As can be seen from Fig. 13, the slump of normal concrete and
self-healing concrete were 175 mm and 185 mm, respectively. This
was because the capsule was spherical and had a smooth appear-
ance, which needed less slurry to be wrapped than complex-
shaped aggregate. With a lower flow friction resistance, the fluidity
of the mixture was improved. On the other hand, the addition of
capsules caused the increase of fineness modulus, which would
lead to a decrease of the specific surface area of fine aggregate.
Therefore, less cement paste was used to wrap the surface of fine
aggregate, more cement paste was available to lubricate aggregate.
This eventually led to the increase of the fluidity of concrete. The
slump loss at 1 h was slightly higher for self-healing concrete than
for normal concrete. This might be due to the failure of capsules in
the mixing process of concrete. Then the active ingredients loaded
in capsules were released into fresh concrete, which accelerates
the hydration of cement.
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al. Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226

Fig. 11. Self-healing effect of cracks in the field.

Fig. 12. Ultrasonic test results before and after the crack repair.

Fig. 14. Comparison of concrete apparent density.

Fig. 13. Comparison of slump and 1 h slump loss.

The apparent density of different kinds of concrete is shown in
Fig. 14. It can be seen that the addition of microbial healing agent
could slightly decrease the apparent density of the concrete, the
reason might be due to the microbial healing agent replaced part
of the fine aggregate, and the density of the microbial healing agent
(1950 kg/m3) was lower than that of the fine aggregate (2700 kg/
m3). Therefore, the apparent density of microbial group could be
decreased slightly.
It is evident from Fig. 15 that the compressive strength of self-
healing concrete was slightly lower than that of normal concrete
at different curing times. After 28 d curing time, the compressive
strength of microbial self-healing concrete (CSC) and normal con-
crete (NC) was 43.8 MPa and 45.6 MPa, respectively. The reason
could be attributed to the strength of capsule particle was lower
than that of the sand particle. However, compared with the normal
concrete, the compressive strength of self-healing concrete

8
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 15. Concrete compressive strength.
decreased slightly after 28 d, which would not affect the engineer-
ing application of microbial self-healing concrete.
3.2.2. Self-healing efficiency of concrete cracks in laboratory
Because the capsules could protect bacteria from the influence
of high alkali environment and continuously dense pore structure,
which could enhance the self-healing effect of cracks. Previous
studies [23,24] had shown that when the cracking age was 56 d,
the bacteria could still survive and grow well. Fig. 16 shows the
images of cracks with a width of 0.35–0.50 mm at different healing
time (7 d, 14 d, 21 d and 28 d). With the passage of healing time,
the amount of white precipitates at the crack mouth of the refer-
ence group and the microbial group increased gradually. Mean-
while, after 28 d of healing, the crack of the reference group was
not repaired, and only a few white precipitates were generated
in the crack zone. Moreover, the area repair rate of reference group
after 28 d healing time was less than 10% (Fig. 17). However, for
the microbial group, the surface of the crack had been filled with
a large amount of white precipitates after 7 d of healing, and the
area repair rate reached 52.2%. When the healing time reached
28 d, the crack had been completely repaired, and the area repair
rate was up to 98.5%.
In the process of crack repairing, the relative permeability coef-
ficient of the concrete decreased gradually. However, for the nor-
mal concrete, the relative permeability coefficient of the concrete
specimens decreased slowly, the main reason might be due to
the fact that the secondary hydration of unhydrated cement parti-
Fig. 16. Images of cracks at different healing time.
9
Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226
Fig. 17. Area repair ratio of cracks.
cles [24,33–37]. However, the relative permeability coefficient of
the self-healing concrete decreased greatly. When the healing time
reached 21 d, the coefficient of the self-healing concrete specimen
almost dropped by an order of magnitude. The reason could be
attributed to the surface of the crack filled with white precipitates
(Fig. 18), which effectively blocked the pore structure of the crack
and hindered the penetration of water to a certain extent. Thus, the
impermeability of the concrete specimen could be improved
greatly after repair.
3.2.3. Industrial production of capsule-based healing agents
The capsule-based healing agents used were particles with a
core–shell structure (Fig. 19). The active components were loaded
in the inner layer, and the outlayer was prepared with a kind of low
alkali cement. Capsule-based healing agents were prepared in
batches for the application in Qilinmen Station. It was worth not-
ing thay the cost of CSC concrete increased by about 85 RMB
($13.1 or 10.9 Euro) per cubic meter of concrete.
3.2.4. Production and application of concrete mixed with capsule-
based healing agents
The capsule-based healing agents replaced fine aggregates of
the same volume when the concrete mix was designed. In particu-
lar, all construction operations of microbial self-healing concrete
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 18. Comparison of water permeability at different healing time.
Fig. 19. Capsule-based healing agents manufactured in batches.
were the same as those of normal concrete, and all were conducted
in accordance with relevant national or industry standards. After 1
d casting, the formwork of microbial self-healing concrete was
removed.
3.2.5. Monitoring results of microbial self-healing concrete
As can be seen from Fig. 20, between 0 and 40 h after the concrete
pouring, the strain of the concrete decreased sharply. Then, with the
increase of pouring age, the strain fluctuated up and down with little
change. It is worth noting that the strain of microbial self-healing
concrete changed more drastically in the time of 40–200 h than nor-
mal concrete, which was due to the cracks appeared on the self-
healing concrete wall, near the ordinary concrete. It can be seen that
the temperature of the concrete firstly rose to about 60 °C, which
Fig. 20. Monitoring results of the concrete.
10
Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226
was attributed to the hydration heat generated by cement hydra-
tion. Then, with the increase of pouring age, the internal tempera-
ture gradually decreased to ambient temperature at about 240 h.
Meanwhile, according to the daily observation of the application
site, the cracks appeared at about 192 h on the self-healing concrete
wall.
3.2.6. Self-healing process of concrete cracks
Three cracks on the self-healing concrete were observed
(Fig. 21), the length of crack No.1 was 0.26 m and the width was
0.40–0.50 mm. The length of crack No.2 and crack No.3 were
0.16 m and 0.35 m, and the width was 0.35–0.45 mm and 0.20–
0.35 mm, respectively. Different healing methods were adopted
for the three cracks. For the crack No.1, water spray healing with a
time interval of 24 h was used. The crack No.2 and No.3 were cured
by covering with wet burlap containing nutrient solution and water,
respectively. In particular, the wet burlaps were also replaced every
24 h. The specific healing schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 21. In
addition, in order to compare the self-healing effect of different con-
crete cracks, the crack with the width of 0.30–0.45 mm of normal
concrete was chosen to repair, and the healing method was the
wet burlap with nutrient solution. The images of different cracks
before and after 28 d healing time are shown in Fig. 22. It can be seen
that the reference crack was hardly repaired after 28 d, while the
cracks of microbial self-healing concrete were all repaired to a cer-
tain extent. However, the self-healing effect of the crack No.2 was
the best, and a large amount of white precipitates were generated
at the crack mouth. Then, followed by the crack No.3, which was
basically filled with white precipitates. And the self-healing effect
of the crack No.1 was the worst. Only part of white precipitates were
formed on the surface of the crack.
Meanwhile, the ultrasonic pulse velocity of different cracks
before and after 28 d of healing is shown in Fig. 23. The ultrasonic
pulse velocity of the reference crack before and after 28 d of heal-
ing almost changed little, while the ultrasonic pulse velocity of
self-healing concrete cracks increased obviously after 28 d of heal-
ing. Among them, the ultrasonic pulse velocity of crack No.2 was
the highest, then followed by the crack No.3 and the crack No.1.
Generally, the results indicate that the crack could be repaired well
when the wet burlap with nutrient solution healing was used, and
the self-healing effect of the crack using water spray was bad. The
reason could be attributed to the bacteria needed water for growth,
reproduction and mineralization reaction. Meanwhile, the addition
of nutrients could promote the growth and mineralization effi-
ciency of bacteria and increase the production of healing products.
Therefore, the self-healing effect of concrete cracks could be
improved.
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al. Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226

Fig. 21. The healing method of microbial self-healing concrete cracks.

Fig. 22. The images of different concrete cracks before and after healing 28 d.

3.3. Comparison of different healing system
According to the actual production practices, the preparation
process of the capsule-based healing agent was more complicated
than that of the powder-based healing agent. The corresponding
cost also increased slightly. But what is not shown is the protective
ability of the capsules on spores [24,35,37]. The capsule could pro-
vide protection for the loaded spores, which greatly prolonged the
self-repairing effect on the later age cracks of the concrete
[23,24,35,36]. The application of healing agents in concrete with
different repair requirements should be considered
comprehensively.
11
For the capsule-based healing system, the capsule hindered the
influence of the biological and chemical components in the healing
agent on the performance of the concrete. It could be seen through
on-site monitoring that the strain and temperature of the concrete
were smaller than powder-based healing system. The powder-
based repairing agent was evenly dispersed in the concrete matrix.
When the concrete cracked, only those on the crack surface could
enter the crack area. During the process of self-repair of cracks, it
needed to be supplemented by the migration and diffusion of
chemical components in the nearby matrix. For the concrete mixed
with the capsules, when the capsule was unpacked by cracking
stress, all the active ingredients loaded would enter the crack
C. Qian, T. Zheng, X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 23. The ultrasonic pulse velocity of cracks before and after healing for 28 d.
mouth immediately to repair the crack, and the release of the heal-
ing components was more concentrated. This is consistent with the
actual observed phenomenon. As the curing time increased, more
and more white precipitates were observed on the crack surface
of the powder-based healing system concrete. The white precipi-
tates on the crack surface of the concrete in the capsule system
was less, because more mineralization products were trapped in
the cracks.
3.4. Towards commercialization
Engineering practice showed that the microbial method can
effectively repair concrete cracks in real engineering environ-
ment. But there is still a lot of work to be done to bring the
microbial self-healing concrete from the laboratory to the market.
For example, how to reduce the production cost of microbial
healing agents, improve the self-healing effect of cracks, reduce
the dependence of microbial self-healing concrete on water, and
establish corresponding technical specification of microbial self-
healing concrete. Moreover, in the development process of the
healing agents, powder-based and capsule-based healing systems
are more suitable for the current commercial concrete production
and sales, and can minimize the transformation of the production
equipment and production lines. In addition, for construction,
there is no additional burden. It is worth noting that the most
important factor that pushes the microbial self-healing concrete
to commercialization is still to reduce the production cost of
the healing agents.
4. Conclusions
To promote the application of microbial self-healing technology
in the concrete field, a demonstration project on the production
technologies of powder-based and capsule-based microbial healing
agents and the construction technologies of self-healing concrete
was carried out. The technical path from the production of spore
powder to repair performance field testing was initially estab-
lished. This provides technical experiences for advancing the com-
mercialization of microbial self-healing concrete.
(1) The spore powder can be industrially prepared through effi-
cient fermentation and spray drying technology. The
powder-based microbial healing agent is more suitable for
the existed concrete production line because its production,
transportation, and use are more convenient. Moreover, no
negative impact on the mix proportion and performances
of concrete was observed.
12
Construction and Building Materials 290 (2021) 123226
(2) The position and way of feeding the microbial healing agent
in the concrete production line need to be considered. For
temporary microbial self-healing concrete production, the
production process of fiber concrete can be drawn on. When
designing a new production line, special storage tanks
should be placed around the mixer to realize the automatic
and quantitative delivery of the healing agent.
(3) For the microbial self-healing concrete in the engineering
application site, water spray healing, wet burlap with nutri-
ent solution healing and wet burlap with water healing were
adopted to repair cracks. The results showed that the self-
healing effect of the crack using wet burlap with nutrient
solution healing was the best, then followed by wet burlap
with water healing and water spray healing, respectively.
(4) The embedded sensors can be used to monitor the internal
strain and temperature of microbial self-healing concrete.
The degree of crack self-repair can be quantitatively mea-
sured by ultrasonic detection. The filling degree of the cracks
can be judged by observing the changes in the ultrasonic
wave velocity and wave pattern. The actual application
results proved that this is an effective on-site inspection
method.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Chunxiang Qian: Investigation, Methodology, Conceptualiza-
tion, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Funding
acquisition. : . Tianwen Zheng: Investigation, Methodology, Data
curation, Writing - review & editing. Xuan Zhang: Investigation,
Methodology, Data curation, Writing - review & editing. Yilin Su:
Data curation, Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (51738003).
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