Concrete Early-Age Crack Closing by Autogenous Healing

Marta Roig-Flores and Pedro Serna
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Marta Roig-Flores: Institute of Concrete Science and Technology (ICITECH), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Pedro Serna: Institute of Concrete Science and Technology (ICITECH), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Autogenous healing is mainly produced by continuing hydration or carbonation. The aim of this research is to quantify the crack closing produced by autogenous healing for early-age concrete. This healing was evaluated for two crack size levels, 0.1 mm and 0.4 mm, under three healing conditions: water immersion, a humidity chamber, and wet/dry cycles. Crack closing was evaluated after 7, 14, 28 and 42 days under healing conditions. The internal status of the cracks was verified visually and using phenolphthalein. The results show that specimens stored in the humidity chamber did not experience healing, while specimens under wet/dry cycles and water immersion achieved the complete closing of small-sized cracks (under 0.15 mm). Autogenous healing showed higher speed under wet/dry cycles but higher final efficiency under water immersion. However, the inspection of the interior of the specimens showed that self-closing occurred mostly on the surface, and carbonation in the crack faces was only noticed very near the specimen’s surface. Additionally, this study proposes a preliminary strategy to model autogenous healing in concrete in terms of crack closing.

Keywords: autogenous healing; carbonation; crack closing; self-healing concrete (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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