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CONCRETE Advice

Licensed copy: rvraghwani, Screwfast Foundations Limited, 13/08/2010, Uncontrolled Copy, The Concrete Society

CONCRETE ADVICE No. 09

Autogenous healing:
the self sealing
of fine cracks
Dick Roberts BSc CEng MICE FCS

Autogenous healing is the natural process of crack repair that can occur in
concrete in the presence of moisture and absence of tensile stress. It has practical
applications for closing dormant cracks in a moist environment, such as may be
found in mass structures and water retaining or watertight structures.

Background

In the 1990s, the Cement and Concrete

Association's Technical Report No. 559(1)
reported on site measurements and associated laboratory work of water leaking
through cracks. The site work consisted of
monitoring the leakage through two
cracks in the walls of a service reservoir.
The results showed that the flow
measured through the cracks had reduced
considerably during the monitoring
period (about 18 days). However,
although the flow had reduced to a small
amount it was still measurable and the
surrounding concrete surface remained
wet.
Conclusions drawn from the site and laboratory research were as follows:
Autogenous healing reduces the
leakage of water through cracks at
rates primarily dependent upon the
initial effective width of the crack. The
smaller the initial effective width the

faster the crack will seal.

The effect of other factors such as the
type of water and the cementitious
material in the concrete are only
minimal.
The rate of healing is slightly
increased by reducing the differential
pressure across the crack.
Ensuring that the concrete structure
under test is filled slowly can significantly reduce the total loss of water.
Part of the work involved breaking open
the cracks to see how they were sealed. It
was found to be by a combination of
mechanical blocking by particles, either
carried into the crack with the water or
loose material produced during the
cracking process, and the deposition of
calcium carbonate from the cementitious
material.
No reference is made in the report to the
possible hydration of unhydrated cement
particles on the face of the crack, although
this is often mentioned in other publi-

Licensed copy: rvraghwani, Screwfast Foundations Limited, 13/08/2010, Uncontrolled Copy, The Concrete Society

cations as one of the reasons why

cracks autogenously heal. Neither is
there any indication given as to the
amount of particles larger than
0.01mm that were filtered out of the
water before it was passed through
the crack. It is logical to assume that
if these particles had not been
removed they would have aided and
speeded up autogenous healing.
The work carried out by The
Cement and Concrete Association
was relatively short term and does
not give any indication of how long
it takes various width cracks to completely seal. Work carried out
elsewhere has suggested that:
The lower the pH value of the
water the greater the amount of
leakage. In cases where the pH
value is less than 6, the acidic
nature of the water may inhibit
autogenous healing. This risk
may be reduced by the use of fly
ash or ground granulated blastfurnace slag (ggbs) in the mix.
Placing a pozzolanic powder,
e.g. fly ash, in the water
improves the autogenous healing
of the concrete. It is likely that
the addition of a fine material
into the water increases mechanical blocking of the cracks. In
addition there may be some
chemical action.
2

Code requirements

Both BS 8007(2) and the Water

Services Association's Specification(3)
imply that cracks up to 0.2 mm wide
will autogenously seal within 28
days; cracks up to 0.1 mm wide will
seal within 14 days.

Both publications require a water

retaining structure to be tested to
check that it is watertight. The test
procedures are identical and
basically consist of cleaning the
structure then filling it with the
specified liquid (usually water) at a
uniform rate. After filling, the liquid
level is maintained by the addition
of further liquid for a stabilising
period while absorption and autogenous healing takes place. The
publications suggest that a stabilising period for a maximum
design crack width of 0.1mm may
be 7 days, or 21 days for a crack
width of 0.2mm or greater. After this
stabilising period the test is continued for a further 7 days with no
further liquid added to the structure;
the permissible drop in level during
this period, after allowing for evaporation and rainfall, should not
exceed a specified amount.
BS 8007 states that even though the
test may have been completed satisfactorily, any evidence of seepage
on the outside faces of the structure
should be assessed against the
requirement of the Specification. If
any necessary remedial treatment of
the concrete is required it should,
wherever possible, be carried out
from the liquid face. The Water
Services Association's Specification
is even more onerous; even though
the test is completed satisfactorily,
any leakage visible on the outside
face of the structure must be
stopped, and wherever possible this
sealing shall be carried out from the
inside face.
This poses a question; why, if the
leak test proves that the loss of water
is less than the allowed amount, is it
necessary to seal any visible

seepage or leakage? Until this

problem is clarified, contractors tendering for structures designed to
these codes or specifications should
assess the cost implications of such
remedial works and the possibility
of having to retest the structures.
Autogenous healing will take place
on cracks caused by any phenomena, not just early thermal contraction as is implied in BS 8007.
Healing will not have stopped at the
end of the testing period but will
probably continue until a full seal is
obtained. The only rider is that such
cracks must be 'dead', that is, no
further movement is taking place.
'Live' cracks, such as those caused
by loads applied to the structure,
will open and close, so destroying
the healing effect. 'Dead' cracks
must be in a moist condition or submerged to enable the autogenous
healing process to take place.
In structures where the aesthetic
appearance of the structure is
important, such as elevated water
tanks where the white staining along
even fine cracks may not be permissible, it will be necessary to
specify the use of a suitable flexible
inner liner.
3

Conclusions

From the evidence available it

would appear that cracks do autogenously heal. It appears that cracks as
large as 0.3mm wide are likely to
seal themselves, but that the time for
this sealing may be much longer
than the 21 to 28 days inferred by
BS 8007 and the Water Services
Association Specification.

Licensed copy: rvraghwani, Screwfast Foundations Limited, 13/08/2010, Uncontrolled Copy, The Concrete Society

FURTHER READING AND ADVICE

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1. CEMENT AND CONCRETE ASSOCIATION, The effects of autogenous healing upon the leakage of water through cracks in concrete,
Technical Report No. 559, The Association (now British Cement Association), Camberley.
2. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 8007, The design of concrete structures for retaining aqueous liquids, BSI, London.
3. WATER SERVICES ASSOCIATION, Civil engineering specification for the water industry, Fourth Edition, The Association, London.

Issued: July 2003

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