Title: Numerical assessment of concrete's self-healing potential for promoting durability

Authors: Huan He, Zhanqi Guo, Piet Stroeven, Martijn Stroeven

Addresses: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract: Transport of harmful substances through pore space of concrete can give rise to the deterioration of concrete structure or to the corrosion of steel reinforcement. Internal and external influences will additionally lead to the formation of myriads of tiny cracks in the virgin state. These cracks can have detrimental impact on concrete durability. Cement particle nuclei left unhydrated in concrete after complete maturation can provide under favourable conditions self-healing capability to microcracked concrete. Basically, the self-healing capability can be expected depending on the amount of unhydrated cement, however, also on the number and spacing of the nuclei of unhydrated particles. Therefore, the concurrent algorithm-based computer simulation system with the acronym SPACE has been employed. The impact of principal design parameters of concrete (cement fineness, water to cement ratio) on maximum healable microcrack opening is emphasised in this paper.

Keywords: concrete self-healing; numerical evaluation; concrete durability; self-healing capacity; unhydrated cement; bulk concrete; fineness of cement; water to cement ratio; maximum healable crack opening; concrete structures; corrosion; steel reinforcement; reinforced concrete; cracks; microcracks; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIC.2009.027067

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, 2009 Vol.7 No.2, pp.142 - 147

Published online: 14 Jul 2009 *

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