Self-Healing Concrete

Fact of the matter is, concrete is used in almost every structure in the United States. It is regarded as stable, is easily accessible, and has an “acceptable“ appearance. But of many things, its most major flaw is its risk of cracking.

What can start from a small crack can lead to major damage in a slab of concrete, which can jeopardize the integrity of a structure.

Along with this, with many large-scale structures utilizing concrete, it is difficult to keep track of concrete cracking over millions of square feet of development.

So, self-healing concrete hopes to solve these major problems. With capsules embedded into this concrete, liquid is released from these capsules when they become exposed via crack. This liquid fills the crack, and repairs it.

There are two major forms of self-healing concrete. Bacteria-activated concrete helps fill these cracks (by creating calcium) when it is exposed to moisture. The other form is polymer-based concrete, which expands when interacting with water.

Such concrete is only developed to heal small scale cracks. So, it is only effective in preventing large-scale damage if all of these small cracks are entirely addressed. However, this is incredibly difficult at this moment, so the effectiveness of self-healing concrete is still underdeveloped.

Also, the cost is much higher than regular concrete. This concrete costs 15-30% more than regular concrete, which may not seem like a lot. However, when applied to a large scale, the surplus cost may be way outside the development of a developer.

But self-healing concrete is not a distant invention. Romans and other ancient societies have utilized lime mortar construction for their structures. When mixed with water, this material binds together, even after cracking. And after many years, many of these lime mortar structures still retain their structural integrity.

It has been proven that self-concrete has many benefits, and has a track record of retaining strong structures. But, it is up to civil engineers and researchers alike to prioritize the development of this material so that it is cheap and effectively addresses cracks.