Smart and Multifunctional Concrete Toward Sustainable Infrastructures PDF

Baoguo Han · Liqing Zhang
Jinping Ou
Smart and
Multifunctional
Concrete Toward
Sustainable
Infrastructures
Smart and Multifunctional Concrete Toward
Sustainable Infrastructures
Baoguo Han Liqing Zhang
•
Jinping Ou
Smart and Multifunctional

Concrete Toward Sustainable
Infrastructures
123
Baoguo Han Jinping Ou
School of Civil Engineering School of Civil Engineering
Dalian University of Technology Dalian University of Technology
Dalian Dalian
China China
Liqing Zhang and

School of Civil Engineering
Dalian University of Technology School of Civil Engineering
Dalian Harbin Institute of Technology
China Harbin
China
ISBN 978-981-10-4348-2 ISBN 978-981-10-4349-9 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4349-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017937727
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To the families!
—Baoguo Han, Liqing Zhang, Jinping Ou
Preface
With the rapid consumption of more and more resources, the quality of energy
stored in resources decreases to cause the relentless increase in entropy on the earth.
Due to material performance, degeneration and external action failures are inevi-
table during the service of structures. Material and structure system sinks into a
crisis of entropy increment, i.e., availability loss. With the advance of science and
technology and the upgrading of social demand, materials have been driven to
further develop toward material/structure integration, structure/function integration,
and multifunctionality/intelligence integration for defusing this crisis. Smart and
multifunctional material is an area of technology that is integrated with sensing and
actuation functionality, and those functions are combined with control elements. It
usually has one or more properties which can be changed in a controlled fashion by
external stimuli, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, electric or magnetic
fields. Depending on the changes in external conditions, smart and multifunctional
materials can change either their properties (mechanical, electrical, appearance),
structure, composition, or their functions. They therefore possess strong and
effective capability to control entropy for adapting external environment and
avoiding availability reduction. Many new applications of smart and multifunc-
tional material technology have been found in civil infrastructures, and they rep-
resent an emerging research field. These applications include condition/health
monitoring, damage assessment, structural control, structural repair and mainte-
nance, integrity assessment and more recently asset management, preservation, and
operation of civil infrastructures. The relative technologies possess many potential
benefits such as improved infrastructure reliability and longevity, enhanced struc-
tural performance and durability, improved safety against natural hazards and
vibrations, and reduced life cycle costs in operating and managing civil
infrastructures.
Concrete is the most widely used material for infrastructures because it has
excellent mechanical strength and is resistant to water, easily formed into various
shapes and sizes, and cheap and readily available everywhere. Twice as much
concrete is used in infrastructures around the world as the total of all other building
materials, including wood, steel, plastic, and aluminum. Production and application
vii
viii Preface
of concrete have significant impact on resources, energy, and environment.

Although the production of concrete binder (e.g., cement, asphalt) needs intensive
energy, concrete has more excellent ecological profile than other construction
materials such as metal, glass, and polymers. Compared with other construction
materials, the production of concrete consumes the least amount of materials and
energy, produces the least amount of harmful by-products, and causes the least
amount of damage to environment. Concrete is a responsible choice for sustainable
development. In the foreseeable future, concrete will continue to play an important
role in infrastructure construction. However, the development of concrete is
encountering enormous problems and challenges. (1) Binder manufacturing has a
direct and visible negative impact on the world’s resources, energy consumption,
and environment. For example, making 1 ton of cement requires about 2 tons of raw
material (limestone and shale); consumes about 4 GJ of energy in electricity,
process heat, and transport (energy equivalent to 131 cubic meters of natural gas);
and produces approximately 1 ton of CO2, about 3 kg of NOX (an air contaminant
that contributes to ground-level smog), and about 0.4 kg of PM10 (an airborne
particulate matter harmful to respiratory tract when inhaled). (2) Increasing atten-
tion has been paid to security of infrastructures since concrete is a brittle material
and it usually works with cracks. (3) The durability of infrastructures becomes an
increasingly important issue. Due to the degeneration of concrete materials, com-
plex interaction between concrete materials and their service environment, absence
of advanced design and condition assessment tools, and timely maintenance, many
concrete structures are in a state of utter disrepair. It is therefore needed to render
the failing infrastructures back to a serviceable and safe state. (4) Concrete belongs
to a primary and complex composite in nature. The behaviors of concrete during the
life cycle should be able to be controlled through mass, energy, or information
exchange with external environment. (5) Multifunctional and smart concrete is
required since traditional concrete just serving as structural materials cannot meet
the upgrading requirement in terms of safety, longevity, and function of advanced
engineering infrastructures. (6) The complex composition and structure of concrete
has not been completely understood yet, which limits the utility and predictability
of concrete in critical applications, but offers opportunities for formulation of
additional control. Smart and multifunctional concrete provides a suite of capa-
bilities to address these unmet needs in the infrastructure field, by developing
materials with improved performance, better durability, and reduced environmental
impact.
Smart and multifunctional concrete is an intelligent system with properties dif-
ferent from those of conventional concrete, such as self-sensing, self-healing,
electrically conductive, thermal, and electromagnetic properties, or the ability to
react upon an external stimulus, such as stress and temperature. The “smartness and
multifunction” of concrete is achieved through material composition design, special
processing, introduction of other functional components, or modification of
microstructure. The basic principle of smart and multifunctional concrete is based
on biomimetic design, and multiscale and multicomponent compositization. The
concept of smart and multifunctional concrete was developed in the late 1980s.
Preface ix
In the past nearly four decades, much work has been done on the development and
deployment of smart and multifunctional concrete. This book provide a summary
report on current researches on smart and multifunctional concrete to help people
working on this particular aspect to their job better.
This book covers theory, techniques, and applications of smart and multifunc-
tional concrete containing its design, fabrication and processing, test and charac-
terization, properties and their control method, mechanisms and models, application
in infrastructures, and future development. This book is organized as shown below.
The first part provides a general introduction to the smart and multifunctional
concrete (Chap. 1). The second part presents some specific smart or multifunctional
concrete involving self-compacting concrete (Chap. 2), self-expanding concrete
(Chap. 3), self-curing concrete (Chap. 4), self-shaping concrete (Chap. 5), self-
sensing concrete (Chap. 6), self-healing concrete (Chap. 7), self-adjusting concrete
(Chap. 8), damping concrete (Chap. 9), anti-spalling concrete (Chap. 10), wear
resisting concrete (Chap. 11), aircraft arresting concrete (Chap. 12), electrically
conductive concrete (Chap. 13), electrothermal concrete (Chap. 14), light-
transmitting concrete (Chap. 15), light-emitting concrete (Chap. 16), photocat-
alytic concrete (Chap. 17), electromagnetic wave shielding/absorbing concrete
(Chap. 18), radiation shielding concrete (Chap. 19), hydrophobic/superhydrophobic
concrete (Chap. 20), permeable concrete (Chap. 21), nondispersible underwater
concrete (Chap. 22), and energy harvesting concrete (Chap. 23). Finally, the third
part discusses the future challenges for continued development and deployment of
smart and multifunctional concrete (Chap. 24).
Dalian, China Baoguo Han

Dalian, China Liqing Zhang
Dalian/Harbin, China Jinping Ou
Acknowledgements
Many professional colleagues and friends have contributed directly or indirectly to

this book, and we thank all these people. This book is funded by National Science
Foundation of China (grant Nos. 51578110, 51428801, 51178148 and 50808055),
Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of China (grant
No. NCET-11-0798), and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant
No. 2011BAK02B01). We also thank Springer for his enthusiastic and hard work to
make the publication possible.
xi
Contents
1 General Introduction of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . 1

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Definition of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Classification of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Origin of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 Philosophical Foundation of Smart and Multifunctional
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 5
1.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 7
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 8
2 Self-Compacting Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Compacting Concrete . . . . . 12
2.3 Principles of Self-Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.1 Raw Material Selection Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.2 Mix Design Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Current Progress of Self-Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.4.1 Test Methods of Self-Compacting Property . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4.2 Property of Fresh Self-Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4.3 Properties of Hardened Self-Compacting Concrete . . . . 31
2.5 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3 Self-Expanding Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . 37
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . 37
3.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Expanding Concrete . . . . . . 38
3.3 Principles of Self-Expanding Concrete . . . . . . . ......... . . . . 38
3.4 Current Progress of Self-Expanding Concrete . . ......... . . . . 42
xiii
xiv Contents
3.5 Applications of Self-Expanding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.5.1 Applications of Self-Compensating Concrete . . . . . . . . . 46
3.5.2 Applications of Self-Stressing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4 Self-Curing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.2 Definition and Mechanism of Self-Curing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.3 Current Progress of Self-Curing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.3.1 Absorption and Desorption of Self-Curing Water . . . . . 58
4.3.2 Workability and Durability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.3.3 Mechanical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.4 Application of Self-Curing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5 Self-Shaping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.2 Definition and Principles of Self-Shaping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.3 Current Progress of Self-Shaping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.3.1 Material and Mix Proportion Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.3.2 Mechanical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.3.3 Building Plan Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.4 Applications of Self-Shaping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.4.1 Self-Shaping Concrete in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.4.2 Self-Shaping Concrete in Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.4.3 Market Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6 Self-Sensing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.2 Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.2.1 Definition and Sensing Mechanism of Intrinsic
Self-Sensing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.2.2 Current Progress of Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete . . . 90
6.2.3 Applications of Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete . . . . . . . 92
6.3 Non-Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.3.1 Non-Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete Integrated
with Electric Resistance Strain Gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
with Optical Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
with Piezoelectric Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Contents xv

with Shape Memory Alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 105
with Self-Diagnosing Polymer Composites . . . . . . .... 106
6.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 109
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 109
7 Self-Healing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Healing Concrete . . . . . . . . 118
7.3 Autogenous Self-Healing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.3.1 Self-Healing High-Strength/High-Performance
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.3.2 Self-Healing Concrete with Mineral Admixtures . . . . . . 120
7.3.3 Self-Healing Concrete with Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.3.4 Self-Healing Asphalt Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
7.4 Autonomous Self-Healing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7.4.1 Self-Healing Based on Vascular Method . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
7.4.2 Self-Healing Based Microcapsule Method . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.4.3 Self-Healing Based on Electrodeposition Method . . . . . 136
7.4.4 Self-Healing Based on Bacterial Method . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
7.4.5 Self-Healing Based on Shape Memory
Alloy Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.4.6 Self-Healing Based on Induction Energy/Microwave
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
7.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8 Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . 158
8.3 Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
8.3.1 Definition, Classification, and Test of Moisture
Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 159
8.3.2 Principles of Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . .... 159
8.3.3 Current Progress of Moisture Self-Adjusting
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 160
8.3.4 Application of Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete . .... 161
8.4 Thermal Parameter Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 161
8.4.1 Definition and Principles of Thermal Parameter
8.4.2 Current Progress of Thermal Parameter
8.4.3 Applications of Thermal Parameter Self-Adjusting
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 166
xvi Contents
8.5 Hydration Heat Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

8.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
9 Damping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.2 Definition and Principles of Damping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
9.3 Current Progress of Damping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.3.1 Damping Concrete with Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.3.2 Damping Concrete with Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
9.3.3 Damping Concrete with Silica Fume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
9.3.4 Damping Concrete with Graphite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
9.3.5 Damping Concrete with Emulsified Asphalt . . . . . . . . . 184
9.3.6 Damping Concrete with Graphene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
9.4 Application of Damping Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
10 Anti-Spalling Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
10.2 Definition and Principles of Anti-Spalling Concrete . . . . . . . . . . 192
10.2.1 Definition and Occurrence Mechanism of Concrete
Spalling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
10.2.2 Principles of Anti-Spalling Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
10.3 Current Progress of Anti-Spalling Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
10.3.1 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Polypropylene Fibers . . . . 198
10.3.2 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Hybrid Fibers . . . . . . . . . . 202
10.3.3 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Air Entraining Agent . . . . 212
10.3.4 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Mineral Admixtures . . . . . 215
10.4 Applications of Anti-Spalling Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
10.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
11 Wear-Resisting Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
11.2 Definition and Principles of Wear-Resisting Concrete . . . . . . . . 224
11.3 Current Progress and Applications of Abrasion Resisting
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
11.4 Current Progress and Applications of Erosion and Cavitation
Resisting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
11.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Contents xvii
12 Aircraft Arresting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
12.2 Definition and Principles of Aircraft Arresting Concrete. . . . . . . 237
12.3 Current Progress of Aircraft Arresting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
12.4 Application of Aircraft Arresting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
12.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
13 Electrically Conductive Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 247
13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 247
13.2 Definition and Principles of Electrically Conductive
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 248
13.3 Current Progress of Electrically Conductive Concrete. . . . . .... 250
13.4 Applications of Electrically Conductive Concrete . . . . . . . . .... 250
13.4.1 Electrically Conductive Concrete Used in
Electromagnetic Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 251
13.4.2 Electrically Conductive Concrete Used
in Cathodic Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 252
13.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 257
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 258
14 Electrothermal Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 261
14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 261
14.2 Definition and Principles of Electrothermal Concrete . . . . . .... 262
14.3 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Metal Particles
and Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 264
14.4 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Carbon Particles
and Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 266
14.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 270
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 270
15 Light-Transmitting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
15.2 Definition and Classification of Light-Transmitting
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
15.3 Principles and Manufacture of Light-Transmitting Concrete . . . . 275
15.4 Current Progress of Light-Transmitting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
15.5 Applications of Light-Transmitting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
15.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
16 Light-Emitting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
16.2 Definition and Classification of Light-Emitting Concrete . . . . . . 286
xviii Contents
16.3 Mechanisms and Properties of Light-Emitting Concrete . . . .... 286

16.3.1 Mixing Luminous Components into Concrete . . . . .... 286
16.3.2 Modifying the Microstructure of Concrete . . . . . . . .... 288
16.3.3 Covering the Concrete Surface
with Luminous Coat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
16.4 Current Progress of Light-Emitting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
16.5 Applications of Light-Emitting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
16.5.1 Building Environment Decoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
16.5.2 Road and Lane Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
16.5.3 Highway Signs and Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
16.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
17 Photocatalytic Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
17.2 Definition and Principles of Photocatalytic Concrete . . . . . . . . . 300
17.3 Current Progress of Photocatalytic Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
17.4 Applications of Photocatalytic Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
17.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
18 Electromagnetic Wave Shielding/Absorbing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . 313
18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
18.2 Electromagnetic Wave Shielding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
18.2.1 Definition, Mechanism, and Test of Electromagnetic
Wave Shielding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
18.2.2 Current Progress and Applications of Electromagnetic
Wave Shielding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
18.3 Electromagnetic Wave Absorbing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Wave Absorbing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
18.3.2 Current Progress and Applications of Electromagnetic
Wave Absorbing Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
18.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
19 Radiation Shielding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 329
19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 329
19.2 Definition and Classification of Radiation Shielding
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
19.3 Current Progress of Radiation Shielding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . 331
19.3.1 Binding Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
19.3.2 Aggregates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
19.3.3 Admixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Contents xix
19.4 Applications of Radiation Shielding Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

19.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
20 Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
20.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
20.2 Definition and Preparation of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
20.3 Test Methods of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete . . . . 342
20.4 Current Progress of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
20.5 Applications of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete . . . . . 353
20.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
21 Permeable Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
21.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
21.2 Definition and Principles of Permeable Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
21.3 Components of Permeable Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
21.3.1 Coarse Aggregates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
21.3.2 Binders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
21.4 Current Progress of Permeable Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
21.5 Applications of Permeable Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
21.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
22 Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
22.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
22.2 Definition and Classification of Non-Dispersible Underwater
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
22.3 Principles of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete . . . . . . . . . . 371
22.4 Current Progress of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete. . . . . 371
22.5 Applications of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete . . . . . . . . 376
22.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
23 Energy-Harvesting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
23.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
23.2 Definition and Principles of Energy-Harvesting Concrete . . . . . . 380
23.3 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Piezoelectric Effect . . . . . 382
23.4 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Pyroelectric Effect . . . . . 384
23.5 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Thermoelectric
Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 386
xx Contents
23.6 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Photovoltaic Effect . . . . . 387

23.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
24 Future Developments and Challenges of Smart
and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
24.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
24.2 Design of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
24.3 Fabrication of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . 394
24.4 Test and Characterization of Smart and Multifunctional
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 394
24.5 Properties of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . . . .... 394
24.6 Mechanisms and Models of Smart and Multifunctional
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 396
24.7 Applications of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . .... 396
24.8 General Evolution Principles of Smart and Multifunctional
Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 397
24.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 398
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 399
About the Authors
Baoguo Han received his Ph.D. degree in the field of smart materials and struc-
tures from the Harbin Institute of Technology, China, in 2005. He is currently a
Professor of civil engineering in the Dalian University of Technology, China. His
main research interests include smart materials and structures, cement and concrete
materials, multifunctional composites, nanotechnology, structural health monitor-
ing, and traffic detection. He is a member of the editorial board of three international
journals and has published 1 book, 10 chapters, and more than 100 technical papers.
He was invited to the University of Minnesota and has worked as a Visiting
Research Scholar there for 3 years. He was also awarded the New Century
Excellent Talents in University by the Ministry of Education of China and the First
Prize of Natural Science by the Ministry of Education of China. E-mail:
hithanbaoguo@163.com, hanbaoguo@dlut.edu.cn.
Liqing Zhang received her M.S. degree in materials science from the Dalian
University of Technology, China, in 2015. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D.
degree at Dalian University of Technology, China. Her current research interests
include cement and concrete composites, smart materials and structures, and nan-
otechnology. She has published 4 chapters and 10 published journal papers. E-mail:
zhangliqingdagong@163.com.
Jinping Ou received his Ph.D. degree from the Harbin Institute of Technology,
China, in 1987. He is a Professor at both Harbin Institute of Technology and Dalian
University of Technology, China. His main research interests include structural
damage, reliability and health monitoring, structural vibration and control, and
smart materials and structures. He has published more than 300 technical
papers/reports and 4 books. He has been awarded the second-level National Awards
of Science and Technology Progress twice and the first-level provincial and min-
isterial Awards of Science and Technology Progress five times. He has been an
Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering since 2003 and was the President
xxi
xxii About the Authors
of the Chinese Society for Vibration Engineering, the Vice-President of the

Architectural Society of China, an Executive Board Member at the International
Association for Structural Control and Monitoring, as well as the Vice-President
and Fellow of the International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of
Intelligent Infrastructure. E-mail: oujinping@dlut.edu.cn, oujinping@hit.edu.cn.
Abbreviations
3DP Three-dimensional printing

AEA Air entraining agent
AGT Ambient Glow Technology
AWA Anti-washout admixture
CAM Cement asphalt mortar
CB Carbon black
CC Contour Crafting
CF Carbon fiber
CFRC CF-reinforced concrete
CFRCC Carbon fiber-reinforced cement composites
CL Cellulose
CNT Carbon nanotube
CP Cathodic protection
CRT Cathode ray tubes
CRTS China Rail Track System
CSBL Carboxylic styrene butadiene latex
DC Direct current
EAFSAs Furnace slag aggregates
ECC Engineered cementitious composites
EIT Electrical impedance tomography
EM Electromagnetic
EMAS Engineered Material Arresting System
EMW EM wave
ESEM Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope
FBG Fiber Bragg Grating
FRP Fiber-reinforced polymer
GF Glass fiber
GITD Glow-in-the-dark
HCFRP Hybrid CF-reinforced polymer
HFDS Perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane
xxiii
xxiv Abbreviations
HFRCC Hybrid fiber-reinforced self-healing concrete

HPC High-performance concrete
HSC High-strength concrete
ICCP Impressed current CP
IR Infrared Spectroscopy
ISSC Intrinsic self-sensing concrete
ITZ Interfacial transition zone
LWA Lightweight aggregate
MEA MgO expansion agent
MK Metakaolin
MWCNT Multiwalled CNT
NCB Nano-CB
NISSC Non-intrinsic self-sensing concrete
NP Nickel powder
NSC Normal-strength concrete
NVC Normally vibrated concrete
NWA Normal weight aggregate
NY Nylon
OHA Organosilicon hydrophobic agent
P(St-co-HEMA) Poly (styrene-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)
PC-baded SPs Polycarboxylate-based SPs
PCMs Phase change materials
PDMS Polydimethylsiloxane
PE Polyethylene
PEG Polyethylene glycol
PFA Pulverized fly ash
PMHS Polymethyl-hydrosiloxane
POF Plastic optical fiber
PP Polypropylene
PSA Wastepaper sludge ash
PVA Polyvinyl alcohol
PVDF Piezoelectric polymer film
PZT Piezoelectric ceramics
RH Relative humidity
SAP Super absorbing polymer
SCC Self-compacting concrete
SE Shielding effectiveness
SEM Scanning Electron Microscope
SF Steel fiber
SMA Shape memory alloy
SP Superplasticizer
SRA Shrinkage reducing admixture
SWCNT Single-walled CNT
UHPC Ultra-high-performance concrete
UV Ultraviolet
Abbreviations xxv
VM Vitrified microspheres
w/b Water-to-binder ratio
WSPVA Water-soluble PVA
XCT X-ray Computed Tomography
XEDS X-ray Energy-dispersive Spectroscopy
Chapter 1
General Introduction of Smart
and Multifunctional Concrete
Abstract Smart and multifunctional concrete refers to the structural material

accompanied with one or more types of intelligent or functional behaviors. Its
“smartness and function” properties are achieved mainly through composition
design, special processing, introduction of other functional components, or modi-
fication of microstructure of conventional concrete, thus leading to the concrete
possessing bionic features. Smart and multifunctional concrete is a very broad
category of materials. More than 20 types of smart and multifunctional concrete
have been developed in the recent 30 years, and more new types of smart and
multifunctional concrete are still emerging one after another. As a dissipative
structure system, smart and multifunctional concrete can maintain energy quality to
protect entropy increment, thus matching sustainable development trend of mate-
rials and infrastructures.
Keywords Concrete
Smart Multifunctional Dissipative structure
Philosophical foundation
1.1 Introduction
Concrete is a composite composed of aggregate bonded together with fluid binder

which hardens over time. Commonly used concrete can be categorized into
lime-based concrete, asphalt concrete, and polymer concrete according to its dif-
ferent types of binder used. Most used concrete is lime-based concrete including
Portland cement concrete or concretes made with other hydraulic cements, for
example, high alumina cement, supersulphated cement, and geopolymer cement.
Another type of very frequently used concrete is asphalt concrete for road surfaces,
and the binder used is bitumen. In addition, polymer concretes are sometimes used
with polymer as the binding material for new construction or repairing of old
concrete. However, in this book, smart and multifunctional concrete refers to
Portland cement concrete unless otherwise stated, because previous research and
application focused mainly on smart and multifunctional concrete fabricated with
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 1

B. Han et al., Smart and Multifunctional Concrete Toward Sustainable
Infrastructures, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4349-9_1
2 1 General Introduction of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
Portland cement. In addition, it should be noted that concrete here is a generalized

concept which means it can be concrete (containing coarse and fine aggregates),
cement mortar (containing fine aggregates), or cement paste (containing no
aggregate, whether coarse or fine) [1–9].
As shown in Fig. 1.1, concrete is a multicomponent, multiphase, and multiscale
composite in nature. Its components include cement, water, aggregates, chemical
additives, and mineral additives. The proportion of these components can vary
within a flexible and wide range. Hardened concrete contains solid, liquid, and gas
phases. Its structure covers over ten orders of magnitude in size, ranging from
nanometers (e.g., hydration product) to micrometers (e.g., binder), and then from
millimeters (e.g., mortar and concrete) to tens of meters (final structures). In
addition, the concrete features time-variant characteristic because cement hydration
is a long-term evolutionary progress and hydration products feature thermodynamic
instability. Furthermore, since concrete is an open composite system, a lot of
Fig. 1.1 Multicomponent, multiphase, and multiscale nature of concrete

1.1 Introduction 3
modification materials (e.g., fiber filler, powder filler, polymer) or components (e.g.,
sensors and actuators) can be easily integrated with it. Therefore, it is potentially
possible to make concrete smart and multifunctional [10–15].
This chapter will first give an overall introduction to smart and multifunctional
concrete including its definition and classification, and then, the origin of smart and
multifunctional concrete is also briefly summarized. Finally, the philosophical
foundation of smart and multifunctional concrete is discussed based on a dissipative
structure theory.
1.2 Definition of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
Smart and multifunctional concrete is an intelligent system. It has properties dif-

ferent from those of conventional concrete, such as self-sensing, self-healing,
electrically conductive, thermal, and electromagnetic properties, or has the ability to
react upon an external stimulus, such as stress and temperature. Smart and multi-
functional concrete is usually designed to meet specific requirements by tailoring its
properties to improve safety, longevity, and function of infrastructures and to
reduce life cycle costs, resource consumption, and environment pollution. The
“smartness and multifunction” of concrete is achieved through composition design,
special processing, introduction of other functional components, or modification of
microstructure of conventional concrete. The basic principle of smart and multi-
functional concrete is based on biomimetic design, and multiscale and multicom-
ponent compositization [16–18].
Conventional concrete serves as a structural material and has no or poor smart
and multifunctional abilities. However, smart and multifunctional concrete pos-
sesses not only basic structural function, but also one or more types of intelligent or
functional behaviors (e.g., self-sensing, self-healing, self-adjusting, electrically
conductive, thermal, and electromagnetic behaviors). As shown in Fig. 1.2, com-
position, processing, structure, and property of materials are closely related to each
other. Because the smart and multifunctional concrete is a composite system in
nature, it is expected that the specific smartness and function of smart and multi-
functional concrete can be designed and achieved according to processing and
application requirements.
1.3 Classification of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
In the past few decades, considerable effort has been put toward the research of
smart and multifunctional concrete and many innovative achievements have been
gained in the development and application of smart and multifunctional concrete.
More than 20 types of smart and multifunctional concrete with different behaviors
and matrix materials have been developed [19–31]. Their classification, together
with the chapter distribution of this book, is summed up in Table 1.1.
Composite
Structure system
Processing Experiment
and theory
Property
Individual
material
component Interface design
Composition and optimization
Fig. 1.2 Element model of materials
Table 1.1 Classification of smart and multifunctional concrete in different criteria

Criteria Classification
Matrix Cement concrete-based
materials Asphalt concrete-based
Polymer concrete-based
Smartness Smartness Self-compacting (Chap. 2)
or function Self-expanding (Chap. 3)
Self-curing (Chap. 4)
Self-shaping (Chap. 5)
Self-sensing (Chap. 6)
Self-healing (Chap. 7)
Self-adjusting (Chap. 8)
Self-cleaning (achieved through
photocatalytic function (Chap. 17) and
hydrophobic/superhydrophobic function
(Chap. 20))
Self-damping (i.e., damping (Chap. 9))
Self-heating (i.e., electrothermal
(Chap. 14))
Self-light-emitting (i.e., light-emitting
(Chap. 16))
Mechanical function Damping (Chap. 9)
Anti-spalling (belongs to self-adjusting
property) (Chap. 10)
Wear-resisting (Chap. 11)
Aircraft arresting (Chap. 12)
Electrical function Electrically conductive (Chap. 13)
Electrothermal (Chap. 14)
(continued)
1.4 Origin of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete 5
Table 1.1 (continued)

Criteria Classification
Optical function Light-transmitting (Chap. 15)
Light-emitting (Chap. 16)
Photocatalytic (Chap. 17)
Electromagnetic wave/radiation Electromagnetic wave shielding
shielding/absorbing function (Chap. 18)
Electromagnetic wave absorbing
(Chap. 18)
Radiation shielding (Chap. 19)
Function related to water Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic
(Chap. 20)
Permeable (Chap. 21)
Non-dispersible underwater (Chap. 22)
Energy-harvesting function (Chap. 23)
1.4 Origin of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
Although some specific types of smart and multifunctional concrete (e.g., electri-
cally conductive concrete, light-transmitting concrete, and self-expanding concrete)
were proposed 40 years ago, the true concept of smart and multifunctional concrete
was firstly proposed by Japanese researchers in the late 1980s. Since then, Yanagida
developed “self-test concrete” by involving glass and carbon fibers into concrete in
1992. Dry embedded polypropylene fibers that contained calcium nitrite into
concrete for anti-corrosion of steel reinforcement bars in 1992. So far, more than 20
types of smart and multifunctional concrete as listed in Table 1.1 have constantly
emerged. Researchers have carried out extensive investigations on design, fabri-
cation, test and characterization, and performances and mechanisms of smart and
multifunctional concrete. Some types of smart and multifunctional concrete have
been successfully applied in practical engineering [16]. The concept and the
research and application status of each type of smart and multifunctional concrete
will be, respectively, introduced in the following chapters as listed in Table 1.1.
1.5 Philosophical Foundation of Smart

Materials have defects and exist in a metastable state because various factors
compete with each other during their forming process. As a result, the structures of
material feature metastability and non-homogeneity. In addition, the materials are in
an open system during their use. Therefore, the performances of materials will
degenerate with time until reaching life span under complex action of external
environment (including mechanical, chemical, and thermal actions). For example,

according to the model of failure stress and strength of materials as shown in
Fig. 1.3, there is enough safety margin at the beginning of material use if stress and
strength are accorded with normal distribution. As time goes by, the strength
decreases because of the deterioration of material performance and the destruction
of the environment. As a result, two normal distribution curves intersect. Therefore,
a failure occurs in an overlapping area as shown in Fig. 1.3. The failure mode of
other performances of materials is similar to this. Materials feature instability in
nature, which trends random equilibrium state. This is a spontaneous process of
entropy increment. In addition, external environment tries to break order for
achieving entropy increment, thus reaching a low-level equilibrium state.
As shown in Fig. 1.4, according to the dissipative structure theory, conventional
concrete has no negative entropy input through matter, energy, or information
exchange with external stimuli during its service period. However, smart and
multifunctional concrete is a dissipative structure. It can be provided with matter,
energy, and/or information through various channels such as chemical, physical, or
biological approaches. This means that there is a negative entropy input caused by
matter, energy, or information exchange between smart and multifunctional con-
crete and external stimuli. The negative entropy imported into the system of smart
and multifunctional concrete has two benefits: (1) The entropy increment caused by
external disturbance and damage can be counteracted so that concrete performances
can be maintained or even enhanced during the service period; (2) some new
functions of concrete can be produced. Therefore, smart and multifunctional con-
crete acts in similar biological behaviors. It is a new generation of concrete
Performance evolution curve

Stress or strength
Strength distribution
Performance degeneration curve
Safety margin
Failure
Stress distribution
Time
Fig. 1.3 Model of stress–strength of materials

1.5 Philosophical Foundation of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete 7
Fig. 1.4 Comparison between conventional concrete and smart and multifunctional concrete
materials with inherent intelligence/function that feature self-organization and

adaptive capabilities to external stimuli (e.g., loads or environment) while main-
taining or even improving mechanical properties and durability [31, 32].
1.6 Summary
Smart and multifunctional concrete integrates smartness or function with their

excellent mechanical properties and durability. It can actively undertake and adapt
environmental changes and consciously resist external damage. Smart and multi-
functional concrete represents the development trend of concrete materials and
infrastructures because it can maintain energy quality to protect entropy increment.
The combination of science and technology promotion, social demands driving, and
inherent characteristics of concrete makes it possible to develop various types of
smart and multifunctional concrete with different behaviors. Compared with con-
ventional concrete, a properly designed smart and multifunctional concrete can be
used to optimize safety, longevity, and function of infrastructures and to reduce life
cycle costs, resource consumption, and environment pollution.
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Chapter 2
Self-Compacting Concrete
Abstract Self-compacting concrete is the highly flowable, non-segregating con-

crete that can spread into place, fill formwork, and encapsulate even the most
congested reinforcement by means of its own weight, with little or no vibration. It
delivers these attractive benefits while maintaining or enhancing all of customary
mechanical and durability characteristics of concrete. Adjustments to traditional
mix designs and the use of superplasticizers create this concrete that can meet flow
performance requirements. The self-compacting concrete is ideal to be used for
casting heavily reinforced sections or be placed where there can be no access to
vibrators for compaction and in complex shapes of formwork which may otherwise
be impossible to cast, giving a far superior surface to conventional concrete.
Keywords Concrete Self-compacting Mix-design Test methods
2.1 Introduction
Compaction of concrete is often seen as the Achilles’ heel of traditional concrete.

No matter what type of building structure it is, the concrete used should be sturdy
enough and well compacted. The principal objectives for compacting concrete are
as follows: (1) to ensure attaining maximum density by removal of any entrapped
air and (2) to ensure that the concrete used is in full contact with both the steel
reinforcement and the formwork. Ensuring the above two points not only provides
additional strength to the structure, but also does benefit to the appearance of final
product. The compacting of conventional concrete is performed through external
force of vibrators. However, the vibrators are incapable in reinforced intensive
engineering, deep structural members, and wall element, where the concrete block,
segregation, bleeding, and settlement will take place. As a result, mechanical
properties, durability, and quality of surface finish of the concrete are reduced.
Furthermore, if the workability is poor, high quality of infrastructure construction
depends more on the skilled workers and the more energy is needed to form

12 2 Self-Compacting Concrete
concrete shapes. Therefore, it is important to develop a concrete with good

workability, especially self-compactability.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to the self-compacting
concrete (SCC) with attentions to its definition, classification, principles, research
progress, and applications.
2.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Compacting

Concrete
SCC is also named as self-consolidating concrete, self-leveling concrete, or

vibration-free concrete. It has low yield stress, high deformability, and moderate
viscosity. These are necessary to ensure uniform suspension of solid particles
during transportation and placement until the concrete sets with little or no vibra-
tion. SCC can densely fill into every corner of a formwork, totally by means of its
own weight without the need for vibrating compaction. The prototype of SCC was
completed by Okamura for the first time in 1986 and was used for settling the
durability problems due to the reduction in the numbers of skilled workers available
in Japan’s construction industry. SCC has the advantages of high liquidity, no
segregation, and bleeding phenomenon compared with normally vibrated concrete
(NVC). Besides, the application of SCC in a large amount will accelerate the
construction and shorten the duration of construction because of the elimination of
time-consuming mechanical vibrating procedure. The advantages of SCC over
NVC are illustrated in Fig. 2.1 [1]. According to the raw materials used to fabricate
SCC, the classification of SCC is summarized in Table 2.1.
Fig. 2.1 Advantages of SCC over NVC

2.3 Principles of Self-Compacting Concrete 13
Table 2.1 Classification of SCC

Criteria Categories
Type of mineral mixtures SCC incorporated with fly ash
SCC incorporated with silica fume
SCC incorporated with limestone powder
SCC incorporated with marble dust
SCC incorporated with blast powder
SCC incorporated with metakaolin
SCC incorporated with palm oil fuel ash
SCC incorporated with rice husk ash
SCC incorporated with sawdust ash
SCC incorporated with bagasse ash
Type of fibers SCC incorporated with steel fiber
SCC incorporated with polypropylene fiber
SCC incorporated with hybrid fiber
Type of aggregates SCC with normal aggregate
SCC with lightweight aggregate
Size of minimum particle Normal SCC
SCC incorporated with nanomaterial
2.3 Principles of Self-Compacting Concrete
2.3.1 Raw Material Selection Principles
The raw materials used for fabricating SCC include cement, water, sand, gravel,
and chemical admixtures, and they are almost the same as those of NVC. The use of
chemical admixtures is essential to increase workability and reduce segregation
during the production of SCC. As shown in Fig. 2.2, superplasticizer (SP) is always
necessary to get high flowability with little change in viscosity. If needed, low
dosages of viscosity-modifying admixtures can be used to eliminate the unwanted
bleeding and segregation phenomenon. The quality and type of cement used to
fabricate SCC are similar to those used in NVC. The maximum size of aggregates
in SCC is always limited to 20 mm to decrease segregation. For example, the
maximum size of the aggregates depends on the particular application and is usually
limited to 20 mm in the European standard, whereas in the Chinese standard, it is
defined that the maximum size of the aggregates should not exceed 20 mm and
even not more than 16 mm for complex shape structures, vertical compact struc-
tures, and other particular applications. In addition, the Chinese standard also
provides some requirements about the content of aggregate shape, silt, and clay (as
listed in Table 2.2) [2].
Many types of fillers may be used to increase the viscosity of SCC such as fly
ash, glass filler, silica fume, stone powder, quartzite filler, and ground blast furnace
slag. It should be noted that the particle sizes of the used fillers should be less than
Fig. 2.2 Role of SP

Adding superplasticizer
Viscosity
Adding water
Flowability
Table 2.2 Performance indicators of aggregates of SCC in Chinese standard [2]

Items Flat-elongated particles content Silt content Clay content
Indicators 8% 1.0% 0.5%
0.1 mm, while their specific surface area should be more than 2500 cm2/g. Small
particle size may cause alkali–silica reaction. In addition, some nanomaterials, such
as nanosilica, are also introduced into SCC to increase the viscosity.
2.3.2 Mix Design Principles
Mix design plays a very important role in preparing SCC. Under the precondition of
guaranteeing sufficient strength, a proper mix design can not only obtain mortar or
paste with high compacting property, but also enhance the resistance of concrete to
segregation between coarse aggregate and mortar when the concrete flows through
the confined zone between the reinforced bars.
More water, higher ratio of paste to aggregates, and more content of
water-reducing agent are necessary to get higher flowability. However, these factors
will increase the possibility of segregation of fresh mixture. An increase in
water/cement ratio can improve the flowability of fresh concrete, but does harm to
the strength of harden concrete. Therefore, an effective mix design of SCC is
needed to balance the properties of fresh and hardened concrete.
The frequency of contact and stacking of coarse aggregates will increase when
the concrete with high flowability is deformed, particularly near steel bars or other
obstacles. In the mortar with low viscosity, sand will be blocked by coarse
aggregates and only paste and water can pass through the interspace among
aggregates. Therefore, the SCC with high flowability should have two character-
istics, i.e., limited content of coarse aggregate and enough viscosity. The volume
2.3 Principles of Self-Compacting Concrete 15
content of coarse aggregates is an important parameter to control segregation of

SCC. The mortar of SCC is mainly composed of sand and cement paste. Previous
research results have shown that the probability of blocking increases sharply with
the volume content of sand when the volume content of sand in mortar exceeds
42%. Moreover, the probability of blocking has reached up to 100% when the
volume content of sand in mortar more is more than 44% (as shown in Fig. 2.3) [3].
Therefore, the volume content of sand in mortar should not exceed 42%. In general,
the mechanism for achieving self-compacting ability is shown in Fig. 2.4.
In 1995, Okamura and Ozawa first came up with the method for SCC design as
shown in Fig. 2.5. The principles mainly include three aspects, i.e., the limited
aggregate content, the low water-to-powder ratio, and the use of SP. A comparison
between the mix proportion of SCC and that of conventional concrete is shown in
Fig. 2.6 [4]. The ‘‘Standardized mix design method of SCC’’ in China starts with
the packing of all aggregates (sand and gravel together) and then fills the gaps
between aggregates with paste. This method is easier to be carried out, and the
adopted paste dosage is relatively low. The ‘‘Specification and Guidelines for
Self-compacting Concrete’’ in European gives typical ranges for proportions and
Fig. 2.3 Relationship

between the volume content
of sand in mortar and the
probability of blocking
Fig. 2.4 Mechanism for

achieving self-compacting
ability. Reprinted from Ref.
[4], with permission from
ACT
Limited Gravel Content 50% of solid volume
Appropriate Mortar
Limited Sand Content 40% of mortar in volume
Higher Deformability
Higher dosage of SP
Lower W/C
Moderate Viscosity
Fig. 2.5 Methods for achieving self-compactability
Fig. 2.6 Comparison between the mix proportion of SCC and that of conventional concrete.
Reprinted from Ref. [4], with permission from ACT
quantities of raw materials in order to obtain the self-compactability and provides a

sand content to balance the volume of other components.
2.4 Current Progress of Self-Compacting Concrete
SCC has been described as “the most revolutionary development in concrete

construction for several decades.” The research and application of SCC has grown
tremendously since its inception in the 1980s. It is mainly focused on three aspects:
test methods of self-compacting property, property of fresh self-compacting con-
crete, and properties of hardened self-compacting concrete.
2.4 Current Progress of Self-Compacting Concrete 17
2.4.1 Test Methods of Self-Compacting Property
Workability is a key performance of SCC, which indicates the self-compacting

property of SCC and is the index for mixture design adjusting in SCC preparation.
The workability of SCC is also called the self-compacting ability, and it includes
filling ability, passing ability, and segregation resistance. The filling ability is that
SCC can densely pack itself in the formwork by its own weight. The passing ability
means that SCC can smoothly flow though narrow openings without blocking and
packing. The segregation resistance refers to that SCC has enough cohesive force to
keep aggregates and mortar together, remaining homogeneous during the process of
transporting and pouring.
Because most of the test methods for the workability of NVC are not available
for SCC, some specialized methods have been successively developed to test the
self-compacting ability of SCC. These specialized test methods are summarized in
Table 2.3 and will be detailed as follows.
(1) Slump flow test method
Slump flow is used to assess the horizontal free flow of SCC in the absence of
obstructions. It was first developed in Japan for assessment of underwater concrete
[5]. Slump flow is an average value of the maximum diameter and the diameter
perpendicular to the maximum diameter when the flow stops. The diameter of the
concrete circle is a direct test index for characterizing the filling ability of the
concrete. Besides slump flow, the slump flow time is also an acquired index to be
tested when slump flow gets 500 mm (remarked as T500). The detailed test process
of the slump flow and the slump flow time is illustrated in Fig. 2.7. The bigger the
slump flow value, the greater its ability to fill formwork under its own weight.
A value of at least 650 mm is required for SCC. The T500 time is a secondary
indicator for characterizing SCC. A shorter time indicates greater flowability. Brite
Table 2.3 Test methods for self-compactability of SCC

Properties Methods Eurocode Chinese code
Filling ability Slump flow Abrams 650–800 mm 550–850 mm
cone
T50 cm slump flow 2–5 s 2–5 s
V-funnel 8–12 s –
Orimet 0–5 s –
U-box H2–H1 = 30 mm –
max
Passing ability J-ring 0–10 mm 25–50 or 0–
25 mm
L-box H2/H1 = 0.8–1.0 –
Segregation GTM screen stability 15% 20%
resistance or 15%
Fig. 2.7 Slump flow test method. Reprinted from Ref. [7], Copyright 2009, with permission from
Elsevier
Fig. 2.8 V-funnel apparatus
EuRam’s research suggested that a time of 3–7 s is acceptable for civil engineering
applications and 2–5 s for housing applications [6].
(2) V-funnel test method
V-funnel test method was developed in Japan by Ozawa et al. [8]. The test
equipment is a V-funnel as shown in Fig. 2.8. This method can be used to char-
acterize the filling ability (flowability) of the concrete with the maximum aggregate
size of 20 mm. The V-funnel is filled with about 12 L of concrete, and the time
taken for it to flow through the apparatus is measured. Later, the funnel can be
refilled with concrete and left for 5 min to settle, and the flow time is measured
again. The shorter flow time indicates the greater flowability. The concrete with a
flow time below 10 s can be considered as SCC. After 5 min of settling, segre-
gation of concrete will show a less continuous flow with an increase in flow time.
Therefore, the longer the flow time, the more serious the segregation.
(3) Orimet test method
Orimet test method, put forward by Bartos, also has been used to test the
workability of SCC [9]. The apparatus is shown in Fig. 2.9. The principle of test is
that the Orimet flow rate under deadweight in standpipe is mainly affected by the
viscosity coefficient of mixture. The test condition is that the concrete with high
flowability does not segregate during the test process. The mixture flow rate is
marked as V0 and can be calculated by using Eq. (2.1). The higher the V0, the
smaller the viscosity coefficient. The concrete with a flow time of 5 s or less can be
considered as SCC.
V0 ¼ Vm =t ð2:1Þ
where V0 is the mixture flow rate, Vm is the total volume of concrete in standpipe,
and t is the time of concrete in standpipe.
(4) U-box test method
U-box test method was developed by the Technology Research Centre of the
Taisei Corporation in Japan for characterizing the filling ability of SCC [9]. The
Fig. 2.9 Orimet test method

equipment (as shown in Fig. 2.10) consists of a vessel that is divided by a middle
wall into two compartments. The left-hand section is filled with about 20 L of
concrete, and then, the gate lifts and concrete flows upward into the other section.
The height of the concrete in both sections can be measured. If the concrete can
flow through a height over 320 mm, the concrete can be judged as SCC.
(5) J-ring test method
J-ring (as shown in Fig. 2.11) is composed of a steel ring with sixteen evenly
spaced steel bars and used to check the passing ability of SCC. The test parameters
are the maximum diameter and the diameter perpendicular to the maximum diameter
Fig. 2.10 U-box test method. Reprinted from Ref. [4], with permission from ACT
Fig. 2.11 J-ring test method. Reprinted from Ref. [10], Copyright 2015, with permission from
Elsevier
when SCC stops flowing. The J-ring test method can also be used in conjunction with
the slump flow test method. The difference value between the slump flow and the
average value of the two diameters is called the passing ability indicator. In Chinese
standard, the passing ability indicator of SCC is less than 50 mm. In addition,
obvious blocking of coarse aggregates around the reinforcing bars can be detected
visually by using this method.
(6) L-box test method
L-box (as shown in Fig. 2.12) consists of a rectangular-section box in the shape
of an “L,” with a vertical and horizontal section, separated by a moveable gate, in
front of which vertical lengths of reinforcement bar are fitted. The test procedures
are as follows: (1) Fill the vertical section with concrete; (2) lift the gate to let the
concrete flow into the horizontal section; (3) measure the time taken to reach 200
and 400 mm at horizontal section, and mark the time as T200 and T400, respec-
tively; and (4) record the height (H1 and H2 in Fig. 2.12) of the concrete at the end
of the horizontal section when the flow stops. The T200 and T400 are taken as
indicators to characterize the filling ability of SCC, while the proportion of H2/H1 is
an indication of the passing ability or the degree to which the passage of concrete
through the bars is restricted.
The L-box test is a widely used test method, suitable for laboratory and perhaps
site use. It can assess the filling and passing ability of SCC and can visually detect
serious lack of stability (segregation). Moreover, obvious blocking of coarse
aggregates behind the reinforcing bars can also be detected visually. However, it is
unfortunate that the dimension and arrangement of L-box is unified. The minimum
acceptable value of H2/H1 is 0.8 for SCC [6].
Fig. 2.12 L-box. Reprinted from Ref. [7], Copyright 2009, with permission from Elsevier
(a) Shape and size of concrete (b) Standard sieve ( diameter of square hole:
container 5mm, diameter of the sieve: 350mm)
Fig. 2.13 Test instruments of GTM screen stability
(7) GTM screen stability test method

GTM screen stability can be used to check the segregation resistance of SCC. Its
test procedures are as follows: (1) Put 10 ± 0.5 L concrete into the container which
is shown in Fig. 2.13a, must be installed in a horizontal position, and stands for
15 ± 0.5 min; (2) put the stand sieve shown in Fig. 2.13b on a scale together with
a pallet; (3) take 4.8 ± 0.2 kg concrete from the upside of the container into the
stander sieve, and mark the mass of the taken concrete as m0; (4) remove the stand
sieve and the concrete in the stand sieve after a standing of 120 ± 5 s; (5) weigh
the slurry in the pallet and mark its mass as m1; and (6) use m1 and m0 to assess
segregation resistance of SCC.
The static segregation percent (SR) of the concrete can be calculated from
Eq. (2.2), and it is suggested to be less than 20% [2].
SR ¼ ðm1 =m0 Þ 100% ð2:2Þ
where m1 is the mass of the slurry thought the stand sieve and m0 is the initial mass
of concrete in the stander sieve.
2.4.2 Property of Fresh Self-Compacting Concrete
The property of fresh SCC, i.e., self-compactability, is very important to adjust mix
proportion and to assess the self-compacting degree of SCC. The self-compactability
is affected by many factors, such as water/cement ratio, types and amount of
aggregates, types and dosage of chemical admixtures, types and amount of mineral
mixtures, fibers, nanomaterials, and rubber. The detailed effect of the

above-mentioned factors on the self-compactability of SCC will be subsequently
introduced as follows.
(1) Effect of water/cement ratio on self-compactability
Water/cement ratio is a key factor in the design and proportioning of SCC
mixture and should be set in a proper range. Sonebi et al. investigated the fresh
properties of SCC with limestone powder, including the filling ability measured by
the slump flow test method, the flow time measured by the Orimet test method, and
the plastic fresh settlement measured in a column [11]. They found that the slump
flow of all SCC specimens with limestone powder and ground granulated blast
furnace slag is greater than 580 mm, and the time in which the slumping concrete
reaches 500 mm is less than 3 s. In addition, the settlement of the fresh SCC
increases with the increase in water/powder ratio and slump. Felekoglu et al. also
explored the effect of water/cement ratio on the fresh properties of SCC. All the
slump flow, V-funnel, and L-box test methods were used in this study. It was found
that the optimum water/cement ratio for producing SCC is in the range of 0.84–
1.07, with which the SCC mixture would not cause blocking or segregation [12].
(2) Effect of aggregates on self-compactability
Different types of aggregates have been used to fabricate SCC, and their proper
or optimum amount has been investigated. Su et al. determined the amount of the
required aggregates and then filled the voids of aggregates with the paste of binders
to ensure that the concrete thus obtained has targeted flowability [13]. Zhu et al.
made SCC with 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 vol% of coarse aggregates and studied the
effect of the coarse aggregate content on the fresh properties of SCC by measuring
such parameters as slump flow, T500 time, V-funnel flowing time, and U-box
filling height. It was found that both the T500 time and the V-funnel flowing time
decrease, while the U-box filling height increases, with the reducing content of
coarse aggregates. The optimal content of coarse aggregates is 33% regarding the
workability and drying shrinkage of SCC [14]. Kou et al. evaluated the fresh
properties of SCC with 100% recycled coarse aggregates and different levels of
recycled fine aggregates. Recycled fine aggregates are used to replace rive sand by
weight of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%. The slump flow of the SCC fabricated with
recycled aggregates increases with the content of fine recycled aggregates as shown
in Fig. 2.14. This is because the actual water/binder ratio increases with the content
of recycle fine aggregates in SCC due to the recycled fine aggregates in the air-dried
condition, and the higher water/binder ratio results in the increase in slump flow of
SCC [15].
Kou et al. fabricated SCC with recycled glass (RG) aggregates and studied the
fresh properties of the recycled glass-SCC (RG-SCC) [16]. The replacement ratio of
conventional aggregates by the RG aggregates is 10, 20, and 30%, respectively. The
experimental results show that the slump flow, blocking ratio, and air content of the
RG-SCC mixtures all increase with the recycled glass content. The feasibility of
Fig. 2.14 Effect of fine recycled aggregates on slump flow diameter of SCC with recycle
aggregate in Series I and II (water/binder ratios (W/B) were 0.53 and 0.44 for SCC mixtures in
Series I and II). Reprinted from Ref. [15], with permission from Elsevier
fabricating RG-SCC gets good supports from the test results of fresh and hardened
properties of the concrete. Choi et al. studied the fluidity properties of high-strength
lightweight SCC, which include flowability, segregation resistance ability, and
filling ability of fresh concrete. It is found that the high-strength lightweight SCC
can satisfy the second-class standard of Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE)
when the mix ratio of lightweight fine aggregates to lightweight coarse aggregates
is less than 50 and 75%, respectively [17]. Bignozzi et al. fabricated SCC with
different contents of untreated tire waste and studied its fresh properties. The
rubberized SCC mixed with 22.2 and 33.3 vol% of tire waste has the same
water/cement ratio and water/(cement + filler) ratio. The slump flow test results are
all more than 600 mm, and the J-ring test results also show that the mixtures all
have high flowability in the presence of obstacles. It is also should be noted that the
rubberized SCC needs more SP than the control SCC when both the water/cement
ratio and the water/(cement + filler) ratio keep constant [18]. Topçu et al. also
investigated the usage of ground elastic wastes such as rubber in SCC. Rubber
replaced aggregates at the contents of 60, 120, and 180 kg/m3 by weight. The
results show that the optimum content of rubber is 180 kg/m3 in order to obtain
sufficient fresh and hardened properties [19].
It can be concluded from the above research results that an optimum amount of
aggregates can endow SCC with favorite self-compactability. Moreover, some
recycled aggregates, including recycled coarse aggregates, recycled glass, and
untreated tire waste, can used to fabricate eco-friendly SCC. However, the addition
of recycled aggregates makes it necessary to increase the dosage of SP to ensure the
targeted self-compactability of SCC, and the dosage of the recycled aggregates also
should be limited in a proper amount to reduce their negative effects on fresh and
hardened performances of SCC.
(3) Effect of chemical admixtures on self-compactability

The chemical admixtures used in SCC mainly include SP and
viscosity-modifying admixtures. In recent years, much research efforts have been
devoted to exploring the effect of the main parameters of SP and
viscosity-modifying admixtures on the self-compacting property of SCC. The
investigated parameters include the type of viscosity-modifying admixtures, the
interactions between SP and viscosity-modifying admixtures, and the type of
SP. For example, Rols et al. studied the influence of different types of
viscosity-modifying admixtures (starch, precipitated silica, and a waste from the
starch industry) on such main properties of SCC as workability, segregation, and
bleeding. They found that the precipitated silica and starch present good perfor-
mances and can act as good alternatives for welan gum as the viscosity-modifying
admixtures for SCC. This provides an effective way to reduce the cost of SCC [20].
Schwartzentruber et al. investigated the interaction between SP and
viscosity-modifying admixtures in SCC and explored the relationship between the
spread and flow time and the rheological behavior of cement pastes. It is found that
the viscosity-modifying admixtures can affect both viscosity and shear yield stress
of SCC, but have no effect on the saturation dosage of SP. In addition, the
viscosity-modifying admixtures do not modify the rheological behavior of paste
when the SP dosage is close to the saturation point, whereas they can enhance the
stability of SCC [21]. Felekoglu et al. investigated the action of the chemical
structure of polycarboxylate-based SPs (PC-based SPs) on the workability retention
of SCC. It is found that the workability retention performance of PC-based SPs will
change when the bond structure between main backbone and side chain of
copolymer is modified. The PC-based SPs with ester bonding cannot maintain the
workability of fresh concrete due to the alkali attack vulnerability of the bond
structure, whereas the PC-based SPs with polyoxyethylene side chain can effec-
tively maintain the workability of fresh SCC for a period of 2 h at least.
Furthermore, the SP dosage and the water/powder ratios were also responsible for
the long-term workability retention performance of SCC [22]. Le et al. studied the
effect of SP on the self-compactability of SCC. It was observed that the SP against
the SP saturation dosage has no influence on the flowability and plastic viscosity of
SCC, but will induce bleeding [10]. Feys et al. used Bingham model and the
modified Bingham model to investigate the rheological properties of SCC in steady
status and found SCC presenting a lower yield stress than NVC. The type of fillers
and the type of SP are two main influence factors of the shear-thickening behavior
of SCC. An increase in shear-thickening behavior will bring a decrease in
water/paste ratio, while an increase in slump flow. Other parameters also have a
little effect on the shear-thickening behavior of SCC [23].
(4) Effect of mineral mixtures on self-compactability
Proper addition of mineral mixtures can endow SCC with enough filling ability,
passing ability, and segregation resistance. Up to now, many types of mineral mixtures
have been used for fabricating SCC, such as fly ash, slag, silica fume, limestone
powder, marble dust, blast powder, metakaolin, palm oil fuel ash, rice husk ash,
sawdust ash, and bagasse ash. Among these mineral mixtures, fly ash is the most
commonly used. Many researches indicated that fly ash can improve viscosity and
reduce water requirement of SCC. For example, Xie et al. fabricated high-strength
SCC with ultrapulverized fly ash and investigated the fresh properties by using a
combination of the slump flow and L-box test methods. It was observed that the
ultrapulverized fly ash can improve the viscosity of fresh concrete without decreasing
its flowability [24]. Sahmaran et al. studied the fresh properties of fiber-reinforced SCC
incorporating with high-volume fly ash. The research results show that adding high
volume of fly ash into SCC can reduce the water requirement of the mixture [25].
Dinakar et al. manufactured different types of SCC by adding 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 85
vol% of fly ash, respectively. The developed SCC is highly segregation resistant and
presents good flowability and passing ability [26]. Khatib et al. also investigated the
influence of fly ash on the fresh properties of SCC. Portland cement was partially
replaced with 0–80% fly ash. The research results show that the SCC with fly ash
possesses high workability with flow spread of over 700 mm, while the flow spread of
the control SCC is only 635 mm. It indicates that the fly ash can reduce the water
requirement of SCC and increase the workability at constant water/binder ratio.
However, Khatib found that the addition of fly ash increases the time recorded for
500 mm diameter, the final spread diameter, and the time in V-funnel [27]. Liu et al.
explored the fresh properties of SCC with different levels of pulverized fuel ash. The
pulverized fuel ash was used to replace cement by volume level of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80,
and 100%, respectively. To keep the slump flow values and the V-funnel time of SCC
with pulverized fuel ash constant, an increase in water/powder ratio and a reduction in
SP dosage are needed [28]. Alsubari et al. manufactured SCC by using 0, 50, 60, and
70%, respectively, of mass replacement of ordinary Portland cement with treated palm
oil fuel ash at a constant water/binder ratio of 0.35 and studied the fresh properties of
SCC. The results show that the substitution of ordinary Portland cement with
high-volume treated palm oil fuel ash can improve the filing ability and passing ability
of fresh SCC (as shown in Fig. 2.15) and bring good visual appearance for the slump
flow and J-ring flow tests (as shown in Fig. 2.16). It should also be noted that the
segregation index of high-volume treated palm oil fuel ash is increased, but it remains
in the range specified by the EFNARC (2002) guidelines. Therefore, the treated palm
oil fuel ash can act as a new material to produce economical and eco-friendly SCC
[29]. Le et al. studied the effects of SP and mineral admixtures (i.e., fly ash, silica fume,
and macro-mesoporous rice husk ash) on the self-compactability of SCC. Unlike fly
ash/silica fume, the rice husk ash increases the SP saturation dosage of mortar, slightly
decreases the filling and passing abilities, and significantly improves the plastic vis-
cosity, bleeding resistance, and segregation resistance of SCC [10]. Therefore, the rice
husk ash can be used as a viscosity-modifying admixture in fabricating SCC. Elinwa
et al. assessed the fresh properties of SCC containing sawdust ash. The slump flow test
values lie between 665 and 680 mm, and the flow time measured with the V-funnel
test method is in the range from 8.2 to 8.4 s. These values indicate that the fresh
mixture achieves adequate stability and self-segregation. Moreover, the values mea-
sured with the U- and L-box test methods are both within the targets and tolerance
Fig. 2.15 Slump flow and J-ring flow for SCC mixtures. Reprinted from Ref. [29], Copyright
2016, with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 2.16 Visual appearance for slump flow (a and b) and J-ring flow (c and d). Reprinted from
Ref. [29], Copyright 2016, with permission from Elsevier
values stipulated by EFNAC (2002). All the results show that the SCC mixture has
suitable self-compactability, and the sawdust ash can be used as powder material
together with cement and superplasticizers to produce SCC [30]. Akram et al. used
bagasse ash as viscosity-modifying admixture in fabricating SCC to decrease the cost
of SCC. The content of bagasse ash used here varies from 5 to 20% by the weight of
cement. They found that the slump flow and the H2/H1 both decrease with the
increasing content of bagasse ash [31].
Cassagnabere et al. designed two kinds of SCC incorporating either ordinary
Portland cement or slag cement and kept the slump flow values constant by
adjusting the dosage of water or SP. Unlike the self-compacting performance of the
SCC with the ordinary Portland cement/limestone filler combination, the SCC with
the slag cement/limestone filler combination requires no extra addition of water or
SP to maintain the self-compacting ability when the mix temperature increases from
20 to 50°C [32]. Bosiljkov studied the influence of finely ground limestone and
crushed limestone dust on the properties of SCC in fresh state. The results indicate
that the finer and better graded limestone dust significantly increases the
deformability of the paste due to filler effect and improved fine-particle packing
[33]. Zhu et al. investigated different types and finenesses of limestone and chalk
powders as fillers in SCC and explored their effects on the SP demand of SCC.
They found that the required dosages of SP in the SCC with chalk powder are
higher than that in the SCC with limestone powder, but the fineness of the powders
has little effect on the SP demand [34]. Topçu et al. fabricated SCC with high
volume of marble dust and investigated the fresh properties of the SCC [35].
Marble dust was used to replace binder of SCC at the contents of 0, 50, 100, 150,
200, 250, and 300 kg/m3, respectively. From the test results of workability, it can
be found that all the usage amounts below 200 kg/m3 are suitable for the marble
dust. This indicates that the use of marble dust in SCC is an effective way to reduce
pollution and produce green concrete. Uysal et al. fabricated SCC with limestone
powder, basalt powder, and marble powder, respectively. The three types of
powders are used to partially replace Portland cement individually. They found that
all the mixtures show good self-compacting properties, and the addition of lime-
stone powder, basalt powder, and marble powder all improves the workability of
fresh SCC. Among the three mineral admixtures, the marble powder presents the
best modification effect on the fresh SCC [36]. Melo et al. studied the effect of
metakaolin’s finesses and content and paste’s volume on the fresh properties of
SCC [37]. They found that increased metakaolin’s finesses and content both
increase the requirement of SP in SCC, while the increased paste volume can
improve the fluidity of the mixtures, thus reducing the demand of SP. Madandoust
et al. used different contents (0–20% by the weight of cement) of metakaolin to
manufacture SCC with three water/binder ratios of 0.32, 0.38, and 0.45 and
investigated the fresh properties of the fabricated SCC [38]. The slump flow values
of SCC with metakaolin vary between 660 and 715 mm and can be adjusted by
changing the dosage of SP. However, metakaolin is harmful to the slump flow
retention. At different water/binder ratios, the SCC with metakaolin can achieve
proper stability and passing ability with no other viscosity-modifying admixtures.
In general, 10% is a proper replacement ratio for the metakaolin regarding to the
economic efficiency and the fresh and hardened properties of SCC. Vejmelková
et al. explored the rheological properties of SCC with the blended binders con-
taining metakaolin and blast furnace slag [39]. It is found that the SCC with
metakaolin requires more water and SP than the SCC with blast furnace slag to
meet the requirement on the parameters of fresh SCC mixtures. In addition, due to
the higher surface area and higher reactivity of metakaolin, the SCC with meta-
kaolin has higher loss of flowability with time and presents a significant yield stress
and a relatively low viscosity like typical non-Newtonian fluids. However, the SCC
with blast furnace slag exhibits zero yield stress and higher viscosity characteristic
like Newtonian fluids.
Apart from the fresh property of SCC with single mineral mixtures, that of SCC
with binary, ternary, and quaternary mineral mixtures also has been explored.
Mohamed fabricated three types of SCC: fly ash alone, silica fume alone, and fly
ash and silica fume together [40]. The research results show that all the SCC
mixtures have good filling and passing abilities as well as favorite segregation
resistance. It should also be noted that the time recorded for 500 mm diameter, the
final concrete diameter, and the time in the V-funnel test method all increase with
the percentage of fly ash and silica fume. Gesoglu et al. fabricated SCC incorpo-
rating binary, ternary, and quaternary blends of Portland cement, fly ash, ground
granulated blast furnace slag, and silica fume with a constant water/binder ratio of
0.44 and a total binder content of 450 kg/m3, and studied the fresh properties of the
SCC. They observed that the addition of the mineral admixtures can improve the
filling and passing abilities of SCC. In addition, mineral admixtures, especially
silica fume, can be used to slightly increase the T500 slump flow time. However,
criteria of the EFNARC in terms of the V-funnel flow time can be satisfied only
when the ternary of Portland cement, fly ash, and ground granulated blast furnace
slag is used [41].
(5) Effect of fibers on self-compactability
Fibers also have been added into SCC to make fiber-reinforced SCC. In general,
the workability of SCC will significantly decrease when the content of fibers exceeds
a specific value. However, it is also possible to make SCC with proper amount of
fibers by adjusting the mix proportion. Sahmaran et al. studied the workability of
hybrid fiber-reinforced SCC (HFR-SCC). The effect of the fiber properties (in-
cluding fiber volume, fiber length, and fiber aspect ratio) on the workability of SCC
was quantified with the slump flow and V-funnel test methods. They found that it is
possible to achieve good self-compaction with considerable fiber inclusion
(60 kg/m3) [42]. Ferrara et al. also studied the fiber-reinforced SCC and put forward
a mix design method for steel fiber-reinforced SCC based on the influence of fibers
on the grading of solid skeleton, minimum content, and rheological properties of the
paste required to achieve the targeted self-compactability and rheological stability
[43]. El-Dieb used steel fiber to make ultrahigh-strength SCC and evaluated the
effect of the volume fractions of steel fibers on the flowability of SCC. As shown in
Fig. 2.17 Slump flow of fresh concrete with different steel fiber volume fractions. Reprinted from
Fig. 2.17, the slump flow value decreases with the increase in steel fiber volume
fraction. The reduction in slump flow reaches up to about 12% for the SCC with the
highest steel fiber dosage (0.52%). Although the steel fibers reduced the slump flow
values, the slump flow values are still larger than the minimum value required for
SCC. If the slump value is required to remain unaffected, the admixture dosage
should be adjusted [44]. Mazaheripour et al. manufactured fiber-reinforced light-
weight SCC and explored the effect of polypropylene fiber on the workability of
SCC. It is found that the slump flow of the fiber-reinforced lightweight SCC sig-
nificantly decreases with the increasing content of polypropylene fibers. The
flowability of SCC with 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 vol% decreases from 720 to 680, 560, and
430 mm, respectively [45]. Aydin et al. explored the fresh properties of the SCC
with hybrid steel fibers and carbon fibers of high-volume content [46]. It was found
that the fibers is uniformly distributed in SCC and the SCC with 2 vol% steel fibers
and carbon fibers has no loss of flow and workability. The amount of paste in the
mixture of SCC should be increased to ensure the good dispersion of fibers and the
high-level workability of SCC with fibers.
(6) Effect of nanomaterials on self-compactability
Since nanomaterials have huge specific surface area, larger amount of SP is
needed to make nanomaterials reinforced SCC. However, excessive addition of SP
may lead to bleeding and segregation. Therefore, Sari et al. used a nanometric,
amorphous, silica SiO2 combined with a specific polysaccharide (for its suspending
ability) to manufacture SCC without bleeding or segregation at a reasonable cost
[47]. The tested flow slump at t0 (the time of departure from the concrete plant) can
reach 615 mm, and the concrete mixture can be placed without any vibration.
Table 2.4 Comparison of Properties SCC NVC

hardened properties of SCC
and NVC Compressive strength No obvious difference
Tensile strength No obvious difference
Shrinkage High Low
Bond to steel High Low
Modules of elasticity Low High
Creep High Low
Sulfate resistance Better Good
Permeation properties Better Good
2.4.3 Properties of Hardened Self-Compacting Concrete
In the meanwhile of concerning the property of fresh SCC, much research efforts
also have been devoted to exploring the properties of hardened SCC, such as
compressive strength [48–50], tensile strength [12, 44, 45, 51], modules of elas-
ticity [36, 52–55], bond to steel [56–59], shrinkage [16, 53, 60–62], and durability
[26, 63, 64]. In general, the compaction and harden properties of infrastructures are
more guaranteed through the use of SCC [65]. A comparison of harden properties
of SCC and NVC is summarized in Table 2.4.
2.5 Applications
Up to now, significant amount of work has been carried out on SCC all over the
world. In several countries including Japan, Sweden, Thailand, and UK, the
knowledge of SCC has moved from domain of research to application.
Non-requirement of vibration in laying SCC is one of the key factors driving the
fast growth of the global SCC market. According to the report released by the
market research company Markets and Markets, the global market of SCC is
projected to reach USD 15.18 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate of
5.7% between 2016 and 2026.
SCC can be used for ready-mixed concrete (cast-in-place) and prefabricated
products (precast members) as detailed as follows: (1) cast-in-place application (as
shown in Fig. 2.18 [65]), such as construction of bridge, tank, high building, and
nuclear power plant. A typical application example of SCC is the two anchorages of
Akashi-Kaikyo (Straits) Bridge. The volume of cast SCC amounted to 290,000 m3.
In this project, the SCC was mixed on-site and pumped through a piping system to the
specified point, located 200 m away. In the final analysis, the use of SCC shortened
the anchorage construction period by 20%, from 2.5 to 2 years. SCC was also used in
the construction of the wall of a large LNG tank belonging to the Osaka Gas
Company, Double Square in Seattle, and Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant; (2) precast
application (as shown in Fig. 2.19, [65]), such as fabrication of super span
Fig. 2.18 Placement of SCC

by pump tremie on site,
demonstrating the flowable
nature of the material (Mott
MacDonald Ltd). Reprinted
from Ref. [65], with
permission from ICE
Publishing
prestressed beam, ecological revetment member, and prefabricated square columns.

SCC has made it possible to precast quality concrete structures. The use of SCC in the
precast market of the UK, Europe, and Asia-Pacific region is continuing to increase
with the development of module buildings, especially in Asia-Pacific region.
In addition, the application of SCC is also benefit for making eco-friendly
concrete and promoting the development of other types of ultrahigh-/
high-performance, ultrahigh-/high-strength, multifunctional, and smart concrete.
Self-compacting technology, needing high volume of powder fillers, seems to be
promising to use recycling materials or by-product, such as rubber waster, fly ash,
coarse recycled concrete aggregate [7], waste marble dust [35], recycled glass
aggregate [16], bagasse ash [31], chalk powders [34], treated palm oil fuel ash [29],
and rice husk ash [10]. Modern application of SCC is focused on combining SCC
matrix with advanced fillers, such as high-performance fibers, nanomaterials [66–
68], and self-healing capsules. These fillers may take advantage of superior per-
formance of SCC in the fresh state to obtain a more uniform dispersion, which is
2.5 Applications 33
(a) A precast unit being cast in SCC (b) A precast column cast in SCC
(Tarmac Precast Concrete Ltd) (Tarmac Precast Concrete Ltd)
Fig. 2.19 SCC is used in precast application. Reprinted from Ref. [65], with permission from ICE
Publishing
critical for incorporating these fillers into concrete matrix to achieve favorite
reinforcing or modifying effect [43].
2.6 Summary
SCC is a kind of highly flowable concrete that can spread into the mold without the
need of mechanical vibration. It can solve the problems brought by poorly com-
pacted concrete, including unsatisfying physical appearance, strength, or durability
issues. SCC can also bring the benefit of eliminating operative exposure to
potentially harmful levels of noise, vibration, and physical strain. Moreover, SCC
includes a diverse range of mix types with both fresh and hardened properties. It has
higher filling rate, better deformability, and higher segregation resistance compared
with NVC. Up to now, the application of self-compacting concrete has achieved
good technical, economic, and social benefits. However, there are still some issues
needed to be addressed. For example, the early-age shrinkage of SCC is larger due
to the lower water/binder ratio, which may lead to the appearance of cracks. In
addition, SCC will give great pressure on molds due to its higher liquidity, and it is
easier to spall than NVC when subjected to high temperature.
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Chapter 3
Self-Expanding Concrete
Abstract Self-expanding concrete contains a constituent, which actively causes

volumetrical enlargement of concrete during its process of hydrating, setting, and
hardening. Self-expanding can compensate inherent shrinkage of Portland cement
concrete and prevent cracks. It can also build up chemical prestress in concrete
members/structures. The self-expanding concrete is fabricated with such expansive
cements/agents as calcium sulfoaluminate (ettringite) series, lime series, and
magnesia series. It has been wildly applied in even all the infrastructures with the
purposes of shrinkage compensating and chemical prestressing to achieve crack
preventing, water proofing, joint caulking, and self-stressing.
Keywords Concrete
Self-expanding Self-compensating Self-stressing
Expansive cement/agent
3.1 Introduction
Products made with concrete are generally desirably possessed of the property of
volume stability; i.e., after they have once been formed to the desired dimensions,
they retain these dimensions. When the dimensions change significantly, the change
is usually regarded as a deleterious effect. Volume shrinkage due to drying is an
inherent property of Portland cement concrete during the procedure of hydrating
and hardening. It can lead to mechanical strength reduction of concrete and crack
formation in concrete structures under restraint conditions. The shrinkage cracks
will cause the deterioration of concrete durability because of the entering water
accelerating the corrosion of steel reinforcements, the leakage of water and rain, and
the beauty spoiling of concrete surfaces. In order to overcome these issues, a great
deal of research work has been done to develop non-shrinkage concrete or
self-expanding concrete. During the last 80 years, self-expanding concrete has been
used in construction of thousands of infrastructures, such as buildings, roads,
bridges, dams, and pipes.

38 3 Self-expanding Concrete
This chapter will give a comprehensive introduction to self-expanding concrete

and particularly focus on its mechanism, current progress, and applications.
3.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Expanding

Concrete
Self-expanding concrete (also called expansive concrete) mainly comprises

Portland cement, aggregate, water, and expansive components. It can produce
expansion during the period of hydration and drying to compensate the shrinkage or
build up chemical prestress in concrete members/structures. Generally, according to
the expansive stress level, self-expanding concrete can be divided into two types,
i.e., self-compensating concrete and self-stressing concrete.
Self-compensating concrete is also called shrinkage-compensating concrete. Its
expansion can induce compressive stress which approximately offsets the tensile
stress caused by drying in the concrete under restrained condition. The American
Concrete Institute (ACI) defines shrinkage-compensating concrete as “a concrete
that, when strained by reinforcement or other means, expands…[and] ideally, a
residual expansion will remain in the concrete, thereby eliminating shrinkage
cracking’’. The expansive stress of self-compensating concrete can range from 0.2
to 1.0 MPa according to the Chinese code-technical specification for the application
of shrinkage-compensating concrete (JGJ/T 178-2009) [1]. However, the expansive
stress is confined to the range from 0.2 to 0.7 MPa in the USA and Japan [2].
Self-stressing concrete is called chemical prestressing concrete or chemically
prestressed concrete. Its expansion can induce sufficient compressive stress to build
up prestress in concrete members/structures under restrained condition. Generally,
the expansion stress of self-stressing concrete should be higher than 2.0 MPa.
However, American researchers hold the opinion that the self-stress cannot exceed
0.7 MPa [2].
3.3 Principles of Self-Expanding Concrete
Self-expanding concrete is mainly fabricated by employing expansive constituents

including expansive cements and expansive agents. Expansive cement was invented
and put into application earlier. It is a mixture which is blended with Portland
cement and expansive material at appropriate proportions. Alternatively, expansive
cement can be produced by intergrinding with Portland cement and raw expansive
materials. Expansive cement has fixed proportion of components and certain
expansion energy under designed water-to-cement ratio. Expansive cement is
specified into three types based on the different original minerals according to
ASTM: Type K, Type M, and Type S [3]. Type K expansive cement is a mixture
3.3 Principles of Self-Expanding Concrete 39
which consists of Portland cement clinker, anhydrous calcium sulfoaluminate

(4CaO3Al2O3SO3), calcium sulfate (CaSO4), and quick lime (CaO). The anhy-
drous calcium sulfoaluminate is a component of a separately burned clinker that is
interground or blended with Portland cement clinker. Alternatively, Type K
expansive cement can be formed simultaneously with the Portland clinker com-
pounds. Type M expansive cement is a mixture consisting of Portland cement,
calcium aluminate cement, and calcium sulfate or an interground product made with
Portland cement clinker, calcium aluminate clinker, and calcium sulfate. Type S
expansive cement is a mixture, which contains a large content of tricalcium alu-
minate and is modified by an excess of calcium sulfate above usual amounts found
in other Portland cements.
With the development of engineering application of self-expanding concrete,
expansive cements show the drawback that it is difficult to adjust the content of
expansive component and expansive energy for obtaining variable degrees of
shrinkage compensation and flexible prestress. Besides, like ordinary cement,
expansive cement is vulnerable to the attack of moisture and demands careful
protection during transportation and storage, thus presenting short quality guarantee
period and high using cost. In addition, the particles of expansive component need
not be ground as fine as that of Portland cement clinker. As a result, the expansive
component is ground, prepared, and supplied separately from cement clinker and
then directly mixed into concrete mixture as an expansive agent. Expansive agent
can be added to concrete mixture at demanded dosage to gain accuracy expanding
strain and stress.
The expansion capability of concrete is largely depended on the dosage and
activity of expansive cements or agents. According to the expansive resources,
expansive constituents are classified into five main series: calcium sulfoaluminate
series, lime series, magnesia series, iron powder series, and alumina powder series.
Calcium sulfoaluminate series (C-S-A-type/C-S-A-based, ettringite-based) expan-
sive constitutes include the expansive cements mentioned above and calcium
sulfoaluminate-based expansive agents. Their expansion resources of above
expansive cements and calcium sulfoaluminate-based agents mainly are the
hydration product of acicular ettringite crystals. Self-expanding concrete fabricated
with this series expansive constitutes is the most widely used expansive concrete
because of the chemical stability of ettringite [4]. Lime series (CaO-based) and
magnesia series (MgO-based) expansive agents have gained rapid development in
recent years, because they have the merits of low hydration water requirements and
high volume expansion ratio. The translation of calcia (CaO) into Portlandite (Ca
(OH)2) results in a volume expansion of 94% in theory and 97.9% for magnesia
(MgO) becoming brucite (Mg(OH)2). Of the two oxides, CaO is intrinsically more
reactive compared with MgO. Furthermore, the hydration product Ca(OH)2 is more
soluble than Mg(OH)2 [2]. Iron power series (Fe-based) and alumina powder series
(Al-based, Air-entraining-based) expansive agents are seldom used in construction.
Concrete with the former agent expands due to the volume increase during the
Table 3.1 Summarization of expansive constituents

Expansive Type Original mineral Expansion
constituent resources
Expansive K Monosulfate, gypsum, Ettringite
cement lime
M Aluminate clinker and Ettringite
gypsum
S Tricalcium aluminate and Ettringite
gypsum
Expansive agent Calcium Sulfoaluminate Ettringite
sulfoaluminate-based
CaO-based Calcia Portlandite
MgO-based Magnesia Brucite
Fe-based Fe powder Ferric
hydroxide
Al-based Alumina powder Hydrogen
process that iron is oxidized. Self-expanding concrete with the latter agent relies on
the hydrogen production when alumina reacts with water to generate a volume
expansion. Detailed information on the various expansive cements and expansive
agents is summarized in Table 3.1.
There are several theories about expansion mechanism of self-expanding con-
crete: (1) volume increase in gel state expansive ingredients by water absorption,
i.e., swelling theory [5, 6]; (2) spreading out of surroundings by crystal growth of
crystalline expansive ingredients, i.e., crystal growth theory [7–10]; and (3) forming
coexisting pores by disintegration of expansive ingredients during hydration [11].
In either case, formation of pores in the hardened concrete or formation of gel state
hydrates with low density is required for expansion to coexist with chemical
shrinkage. In the case of expansion taking place with formation of ettringite or CH,
topo-chemical reaction at the surface of expansive ingredients is widely accepted
rather than through-solution reaction. The important factor in expansion is not
merely the hydration of expansive ingredients, but the formation of surrounding
hydrates to which the compressive force produced from the expansive ingredients is
transmitted. Accordingly, it is important that the hydration of both expansive agents
and cement must take place at the opportune moment [4].
C-S-A series self-expanding concrete is the most important series one, and its
chemical hydrating procedure and reaction products have been carefully investi-
gated. The hydration of expansive cement paste consisting of 25 wt% calcium
aluminate cement, 12.5 wt% Portland cement, 12.5 wt% b-calcium sulfate hemi-
hydrate, and 50 wt% water was studied at 20 °C and 100% relative humidity by
using in situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, isothermal conduction
calorimetry, and dilatometric measurements. Initially, gypsum and ettringite form,
while hemihydrate is consumed (0 ± 5 min). Ettringite then continues forming at
the expense of gypsum. When gypsum is depleted after 2 h and 45 min,
3.3 Principles of Self-Expanding Concrete 41
Fig. 3.1 Linear dilatation of

paste during the first 8 h of
hydration. Reprinted from
Ref. [12], Copyright 2001,
with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 3.2 Relative intensities

of identified phases as
determined by synchrotron
X-ray powder diffraction.
Reprinted from Ref. [12],
Copyright 2001, with
permission from Elsevier
aluminate-AFm starts forming, with amount of ettringite staying constant up to 7 h.

The first peak in the heat rate curve includes contributions from mechanical mixing,
initial wetting, and dissolution plus the formation of ettringite and gypsum; the
second peak involves the replacement of gypsum by ettringite; the third peak
corresponds to the formation of aluminate-AFm. The replacement of gypsum by
ettringite is accompanied by an average linear expansion of 0.7% (as shown in
Figs. 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3) [12].
The chemical reaction of the main three types of expansive constitutes in
self-expanding concrete during hydration is shown in Figs. 3.4, 3.5, and 3.6.
Fig. 3.3 Produced (P) and accumulated (Q) heat per unit weight of paste from hydration reactions
measured by isothermal calorimetry. Reprinted from Ref. [12], Copyright 2001, with permission
from Elsevier
3.4 Current Progress of Self-Expanding Concrete
In order to tackle the shrinkage problem of Portland cement and the concrete
thereof, researchers paid their attentions to shrinkage-compensating method and
attempted to find a volume-expanding chemical substance. During hydration pro-
cess of concrete, the chemical substance was expected to bring expansive energy
and volume enlargement. Ettringite met all the demands, but it enjoyed a notorious
reputation for causing expansive fracture of concrete as “a cement-bacillus”. As a
result, researchers focused on the “cement-bacillus” and tried to use it for shrinkage
compensating of concrete members/structures.
In 1936, Lossior mastered the expansive power of the “cement-bacillus” and
invented expansive cement [2, 13]. This kind of expansive cement was incorporated
into Portland cement by grinding or blending therewith a sufficient quantity of
sulfate. It was based on sulfoaluminate compounds and obtained by burning a
mixture of clay or bauxite, gypsum, and limestone at 900–1500 °C. The burned
product composed of sulfoaluminate cements reacts, due to displacement reaction
with the aluminates of the Portland cement. This would form crystallized sulfoa-
luminates of high water content, and it was intended to cause swelling and thereby
counteract shrinkage [14].
Later, Schenker et al. developed a composition in addition to hydraulic cement.
The composition formed a calcium sulfoaluminate of high crystalline water content
when the cement was hydrated and imparted a permanent volume increase to the
cement after hydration. The composition consisted essentially of calcium hydrate,
calcium sulfate, and an aluminum compound selected from the group consisting of
aluminum hydrate, alkali aluminate, and aluminum sulfate to form the calcium
sulfoaluminate. Besides, the composition contained a water-soluble organic car-
boxylic acid compound containing at least two hydroxyl groups combined by
3.4 Current Progress of Self-Expanding Concrete 43
Fig. 3.4 Reaction of C-S-A type (CSA means calcium sulfoaluminate). Reprinted from Ref. [4],
Copyright 1998, with permission from Elsevier
Calcium Hydroxide
CaO H2O
Ca(OH)2
Fig. 3.5 Reaction of CaO type. Reprinted from Ref. [4], Copyright 1998, with permission from
Elsevier
Magnesium Hydroxide
MgO H2O
Mg(OH)2
Fig. 3.6 Reaction of MgO type

aliphatic groups. The compound was in an amount to constitute 0.1–0.5 parts per
thousand parts of the hydraulic cement, and it serves to accelerate and intensify the
formation of the calcium sulfoaluminate [14].
In 1952, Lafuma outlined the expansive cement in 3rd International Congress on
the Chemistry of Cement. The necessity of obtaining a controllable expansion that
remains constant with time practically enforced the use of Candlot’s salt as the
expansion agent, which was made from a sulfoaluminate clinker obtained by
burning a mixture of gypsum, bauxite, and carbonate of lime. Expansive cement
was prepared from a ternary mixture comprising Portland cement, which imparted
its particular properties to the final product; sulfoaluminate clinker, which was the
expansion agent; and blastfurnace slag, which was the stabilizing agent not only
slowing the expansion but also absorbing the excess of sulfate of lime. The com-
position of the three constituents, their relative proportions, and their fineness were
the principal factors whose influence should be considered with regard to obtaining
the required expansion [15].
Circa 1955, Mikhailov invented impermeable expansive cement, i.e., Type M
expansive cement, and developed it into silicate-stressing cement in Soviet Union.
This kind of cement was apply to engineering projects but was not put into mass
production due to its fast setting. In 1957, China building materials academy
developed the same type expansive cement without fast setting. The concrete
fabricated with this expansive cement, actually belonged to
shrinkage-compensating concrete, even though the Soviets called it self-stressing
concrete [2].
In 1958, Klein invented and patented Type K expansive cement. This kind of
cement with high expansion degree provided improvements to the previous
expansive cements and the expansive agents. It did not require the presence of a
terminator or other additions to regulate the rate or magnitude of expansion. His
invention prepared a clinker containing high extractable lime or free CaO, the
remainder of which was predominantly or entirely calcium aluminosulfate [16–18].
Japan modified Type K expansive cement into C-S-A-type expansive agent, which
was mixed in fresh concrete mixture. Later, Japan also developed CaO-type
expansive agent [2]. At that time, the tower of self-expanding concrete had been
established worldwide. Due to the excellent behavior of self-expanding concrete, it
became an important building material and was employed in more projects. In
1960s, self-stressing concrete pipe was developed and put into mass production
later [19–21].
More new or improved expansive cements/agents were developed and patented,
as well as the methods for fabricating them. The US patent 3510326 designed
expansive cement containing a material obtained by burning a raw material com-
prising calcium oxide, aluminum oxide, and calcium sulfate in certain proportions
and crushing the burnt product to obtain a particular grain size distribution. Such
cement expanded during the initial curing period and thereafter substantially
maintained the originally expanded shape [22]. The US patent 3649317 designed
shrinkage compensation cement which included a composition of Portland cement
and a reactive compound which expanded upon contact with water. The reactive
3.4 Current Progress of Self-Expanding Concrete 45
compound was coated with an alkali-soluble but water-insoluble material in order

to delay the expanding time. Quicklime or plaster of Paris was example of reactive
compounds which might be used [23]. US patent 3785844 designed a finely pul-
verized expansive cement additive with excellent chemical prestressing property.
The clinker of additive consisted of alite crystals and calcium oxide crystals dis-
persed in a vitreous interstitial substance. The alite and calcium oxide crystals had a
size ranging from 50 to 100 lm and from 15 to 60 lm, respectively. The content of
said calcium crystals and interstitial substance was from 30 to 80% and from 2 to
27% by clinker weight, respectively [24]. US patent 3801339 designed an expan-
sive additive composition for use in controlling the expansion of cement on aging
comprising a sintered mixture of lime, and at least one additive selected from the
group consisting of ferric oxide, calcium fluoride, and calcium sulfate was dis-
closed. The process for preparing the expansive composition was also disclosed
[25]. US patent 3801345 designed a cement expanding agent, which contained
CaO, Al2O3, SO3, and F. The raw mineral mixture of the agent was heated and
fused in a directly heating electric resistance furnace, and the fused body was
cooled under a particular condition [26]. US patent 3856540 designed a cement
additive consisting of calcium sulfate and calcium fluoroaluminate with the
chemical formula 3CaO3Al2O3CaF2 providing both property of expansion and
strength [27]. US patent 3857714 designed an expansive calcium sulfoaluminate
clinker containing a high proportion of calcium sulfate. The clinker was inter-
grinded with Portland cement to contribute expansive properties to concrete made
from the cement and to contribute false set resistance to the cement by incorporating
the calcium sulfate required as anhydrite present in the expansive clinker [28]. US
patent 3947288 developed an improved finely pulverized expansive cement addi-
tive which caused the cement mortar or concrete mixed therewith to bear increased
chemical prestressing property. The clinker of the additive substantially consisted of
alite crystals with fine crystals of calcium oxide therein and a phase substantially
consisting of optic-microscopically amorphous calcium sulfate in crystals [29]. US
patent 4039345 developed an improved shrinkage-compensating Portland cement
concrete and mortar compositions comprising essentially expansive Portland
cement, mineral aggregate, from about 5 to 25% by cement weight of a
styrene-butadiene-1,3 copolymer with a styrene-to-butadiene weight ratio of about
30:70–70:30, water and certain minor amounts of nonionic and anionic surfactants,
and a foam depressant [30]. US patent 4076546 developed a method for the pro-
duction of expanding cement, including the steps in which Portland cement was
dry-mixed with an expanding additive that comprised 6–30% of the total weight of
the cement. The expanding additive contained dialuminium pentahydroxychloride,
gypsum, and, optionally, a small amount of lime [31]. US patent 4205994 devel-
oped an expansion agent prepared by heating lime of particle size less than 250 lm
in an atmosphere comprising water vapor at 100–400 °C or carbon dioxide at 350–
850 °C, or by heating a partially hydrated lime at a temperature of at least 100 °C
[32]. US patent 4419136 developed improved expansive cement and method of
forming same. An expansive clinker containing a stable calcium alumino sulfate
compound was separately ground to selected surface area greater than about
4600 cm2/gm. The ground clinker was then blended with a ground cement clinker
and gypsum to form the expansive cement. The expansive cement formed in
accordance with the present invention required less of the expansive clinker than
expansive cements known in the art to achieve the same magnitude of expansion
[33]. US patent 5846316 developed shrinkage-compensating cement whose
expansion was 120–200%. The expansion took place over an extended period of
time, to better offset the shrinkage occurring as the concrete dried. The development
of tensile stresses in the concrete was reduced and also delayed, allowing more time
for the tensile strength of the concrete to increase as the concrete dried and
shrinkage cracking was consequently reduced [34]. Patent WO 2016/053290A1
developed an expansive cement composition including Portland cement with cal-
cium aluminate cement additive and a lithium compound additive. The lithium
compound additive was capable of producing expansion in set cements when the
temperature was at or below room temperature and minimizes the amount of cal-
cium aluminate cement additive was needed [35].
In recent years, there was a tendency for self-expanding concrete in cooperating
with other materials such as fibers [36, 37]. It is aimed to improve the performance of
concrete and structures thereof, such as volume stability, load carrying capacity, and
durability. Serials of fibers with different elastic modules and MgO expansion agent
(MEA) can enhance the volume stability of concrete pavement. The early-age
shrinkage of concrete is effectively compensated by MEA. As content of hybrid fibers
is increase, the expansion of concrete is markedly decreased (as shown in Fig. 3.7a).
The early-age volume stability of concrete slabs is improved by using hybrid fiber and
MEA (as shown in Fig. 3.7b). Obviously, the microcracking inside concrete is locally
restrained by the surrounding hybrid fibers (as shown in Fig. 3.7c) [38].
3.5 Applications of Self-Expanding Concrete
Self-expanding concrete has been wildly used for the purposes of shrinkage com-
pensation and chemical prestressing since the 1950s when the Soviet Union began
to apply self-expanding concrete to the joints of subway. In 1960s, China adopted
Type M expansive cement concrete for joints of pipes and tanks. At the same time,
the USA and Japan put self-expanding concrete into wildly use in actual practice for
anti-cracking, water proofing, anti-leakage, and so on. The self-expanding concrete
applied in the USA is the shrinkage-compensating type, while it can be both
shrinkage-compensating type and chemical-prestressing type in the Soviet Union,
China, and Japan [4].
3.5.1 Applications of Self-Compensating Concrete
Self-expanding concrete is mainly used to implement self-compensating function.

There are large numbers of concrete members/structures fabricated with
3.5 Applications of Self-Expanding Concrete 47
Fig. 3.7 a Strain of concrete added with MEA and hybrid fiber; b strain of concrete slabs;
c microstructure of hybrid fiber inside concrete. Reprinted from Ref. [38], Copyright 2013, with
self-expanding concrete for shrinkage-compensating purpose, such as anti-cracking

concrete structures, impervious concrete structures, shrinkages compensating slabs,
mass concrete structures, expansive concrete-reinforcing bands, and
cracks/holes/gaps/joints sealing engineering [2, 4]. A brief introduce to these main
applications is given as follows.
(1) Anti-cracking concrete structures
Cracks due to dry shrinkage are inherent for concrete structures. They will reduce
the strength and durability of structures and spoil the beauty of concrete surface.
Almost all structures have demands on crack-reducing. For example, pools and tanks
are intolerant of the presence of cracks, but buildings and roads agree with cracks
whose widths are not excess a given limiting value. Self-expanding concrete can
compensate shrinkage totally or at some degree to meet the crack-controlling goals.
A typical example, in which self-expanding concrete is used for cracking resistance
or crack-width control, was the South to North Water Diversion Project in China.
Thanks to self-expanding concrete technology, the earth retaining walls and pump
stations of this big project all met the crack-width control demand.
(2) Impervious concrete structures

Concrete structures such as water pools, water tanks, tunnels, and underground
structures have impervious demands to prevent water from passing out or into their
walls. Water leakage not only disturbs the regular service of infrastructure, but also
endangers the safety of infrastructures. The application of self-expanding concrete
increases the density of walls and eliminates cracks; thus, the impermeability of
wall is improved. The self-expanding concrete has been used in a great number of
engineering projects, such as Moscow subway and the Three Gorges Dam.
(3) Shrinkage-compensating slabs
Flour slabs are restrained by surrounding structural members and the friction
between slab and substrate. Thus, all concrete floor slabs without
shrinkage-compensating capability are in tension state after hardening and will
crack randomly. As a result, the slabs are vulnerable to steel reinforcement erosion
and water permeation, with the deterioration of beauty, safety, and durability. The
application of self-expanding concrete can compensate shrinkage and reduce cracks
[39–43]. For example, microexpansive concrete and unbonded prestress technology
were combined to construct seamless floor slabs in the teaching building of Foshan
Experimental School.
(4) Mass concrete structures
Concrete structures with comparatively large section (mass concrete) such as
dams and skyscraper foundations tend to generate thermal cracks due to the
hydration heat of cement instead of shrinkage cracks in smaller structures. The use
of hydration heat-reducing-type expansive concrete is capable of reducing the
hydration heat of cement and decreasing the thermal stress by relaxing the
restraining stress during the drop of temperature with expansive energy maintain-
ing. The typical example of using self-expanding concrete on mass concrete
structure is the concrete floor of the basement of CCTV Cultural Center, which is
200 m long, 145 m width, and 1–2 m thick.
(5) Expansive concrete-reinforcing bands
Generally, cast-in-place concrete structures will leave post-cast strips to release
shrinkage stress during the constructing procedure, preventing the structures from
cracking. After enough time of concrete hardening and stress releasing, the
post-cast parts will be finished by pouring concrete. However, due to the shrinkage
of fresh concrete, the precast part and the post-cast part may not form integrally and
cracks occur at the joints. Self-expanding concrete is the best choice to replace the
ordinary concrete to compensate the shrinkage with good casting quality. As a
result, expansive concrete-reinforcing bands replace the post-cast strips to prevent
the whole structure from cracking. In addition, expansive concrete-reinforcing
bands can also shorten the construction duration while improving the construction
quality. Expansive concrete-reinforcing bands are wildly applied in such infras-
tructures as construction foundations, underground diaphragm walls, and
3.5 Applications of Self-Expanding Concrete 49
superlength structures. For example, Shanghai Bailong port municipal sewage

treatment plant, one of the biggest sewage treatment plants with high-efficiency
setting tank in the world, was constructed with expansive concrete-reinforcing
bands to realize the goal of superlong seamless construction.
(6) Cracks/holes/gaps/joints sealing engineering
Cracks are inevitable for conventional concrete structures. Holes and gaps are
left for the convenience of construction, installation, quality testing, etc. They are
usually narrow and small, and it is not easy to get good quality to seal them with
ordinary concrete. Self-expanding concrete will expand in the narrow space and
densify itself without external force; thus, the cracks/holes/gaps/joints are well
sealed. For example, self-expanding concrete with alumina powder expansive agent
was adopted to seal the joints of walls in a fabricated prestressed reinforced con-
crete oil tank, which has been safely operated for over forty years.
3.5.2 Applications of Self-Stressing Concrete
Self-stressing concrete can establish chemical prestress in members/structures

without the use of complex tensioning procedure and equipment. Concrete thin wall
members/structures such as pipe, slab, shell, and tank are suitable for self-stressing
concrete. Among all the above members/structures, self-stressing concrete pipe is
the only one which is put into mass production and applied most widely.
A self-stressed reinforced concrete pipe is made of expansive concrete which
cooperates with reinforcing bars to place the pipe body into compression.
Compared with traditional cast-iron pressure pipe, self-stressed reinforced pipe
possesses obvious advantages of steel saving, energy conservation, excellent
durability, convenient construction, and less investment. In contrast to mechanical
prestressed concrete pipe, self-stressed reinforced pipe is easier to be produced and
to obtain better impermeability and durability [19–21]. Chinese standard
“self-stressing concrete pipe for water” defines three recommended types of pipes
[44]. These types of pipes have been widely applied to municipal, traffic, industrial,
mining, conservancy, agricultural infrastructures of urban, traffic, mining, industry,
and waterworks for about half a century.
Recent years, self-expanding concrete is filled into steel tube to make steel tube
concrete members/structures with higher performance. Concrete-filled steel tube
columns can provide high strength, high ductility, high stiffness, and full usage of
construction materials. However, due to the shrinkage of ordinary concrete, the
confinement of steel tube to core concrete is reduced and the strength of the core
confined concrete is not increased any more. Filling the steel tube with
self-expanding concrete instead of ordinary concrete can not only compensate the
shrinkage but also give birth to higher continuous stress and core concrete strength;
thus, the performance such as load carrying capacity of columns is improved. As
shown in Fig. 3.8, the restraint stress of the columns can excess 5 MPa, and the
columns can bear higher load than ordinary concrete-filled ones [45]. These
high-performance columns have been applied to arch bridges and skyscrapers, such
as Qijia Yellow River Bridge and Yonghe Bridge in China.
Self-expanding concrete also can be used for strengthening the columns with
fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP). FRP composites are effective materials for
strengthening circular concrete columns. However, FRP confinement to
square/rectangular columns is not as effective as the confinement to circular col-
umns. The flat sides of the square/rectangular columns remain largely unconfined,
and the FRP jacket is effective only along the two diagonal areas of the cross
section. Shape modification of square/rectangular columns into circular/elliptical
columns is the applicable way to solve the problem. The interspace between the
square/rectangular column and the FRP shell can be filled with self-expanding
concrete to increase the confinement stress and improve the performance of the
column. As shown in Fig. 3.9, concrete columns get higher load carrying and
deformation capacity because of FRP strengthening and concrete expansion [46].
Fig. 3.8 a Typical time-dependent prestress; b effect of prestress on load (N) versus mid-height
lateral deflection (um) curve. Reprinted from Ref. [45], Copyright 2009, with permission from
Elsevier
Fig. 3.9 Stress–strain relationships for square and shape-modified specimens. S-0-0, S-C2-0,
S-C2-F, and S-C2-E represent square column without modification, with two-layer CFRP
strengthening, with two-layer CFRP strengthening and ordinary concrete filling, with two-layer
CFRP strengthening, and Type K expansive cement concrete filling. Reprinted from Ref. [46],
3.6 Summary 51
3.6 Summary
Self-expanding concrete can efficiently improve the performance of concrete

structures. The application of self-expanding concrete not only reduces or elimi-
nates cracks of concrete structures, but also improves other behaviors of structures,
such as durability, safety, and reliability, without cost increase. Therefore,
self-expanding concrete has served most of infrastructures such as buildings, roads,
bridges, tunnels, dams, pools, pipes, and factories.
However, self-expanding concrete also has some drawbacks. Expansion caused
by the formation of ettringite consumes a large amount of water. As a result, the
concrete is strongly relied on the wet curing. Additionally, ettringite may undergo
decomposition at high temperature (over 70 °C), and thus, it may be unsuitable for
mass concrete with high-temperature rise. Due to the fast hydration of CaO and the
relatively high solubility of hydration product Ca(OH)2, the application of
CaO-based expansive agents in the concrete for hydraulic structures is forbade. For
MgO-based expansive agents, the calcination temperature is a crucial condition for
the hydration reactivity of MgO. Once the calcine temperature is higher than the
needed temperature, dead-burnt MgO may be produced. This may cause hetero-
geneous expansion and even leads to the destruction of concrete structure.
Therefore, the negative aspect of concrete expansion is required for deep investi-
gations, and more effective self-expanding concrete needs to be developed to meet
the practical engineering demands.
References
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8. M. Okushima, R. Kondo, H. Muguruma, Y. Ono, Development of expansive cement with
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693 (2004)
Chapter 4
Self-Curing Concrete
Abstract Self-curing concrete is achieved by means of replacing a part of

aggregate by lightweight aggregate or adding chemical admixtures. The self-curing
process of concrete takes place from inside to outside, thus reducing the autogenous
shrinkage and self-desiccation, especially for the high-performance concrete with
relatively low water/binder ratio. The durability and the workability of self-curing
concrete are improved, compared with conventional air-cured concrete, while the
mechanical properties may be either enhanced or compromised due to the dual
function of self-curing agent. Self-curing concrete has been widely applied in actual
practice, mostly bridge decks and pavements.
Keywords Concrete Self-curing Lightweight aggregate Polyethylene glycol
4.1 Introduction
Today, concrete has been the most widely used construction material owing to its
good compressive strength and durability. However, the spalling, crack, and cor-
rosion suffered by concrete construction have become more and more serious
problems. A nationwide high-performance concrete (HPC) survey of USA indicates
that 57% of pavement distresses early-age deck cracking, 42% of corrosion, 31% of
cracking of girders, and others such as sulfate attack, chloride attack, and
freezing/thawing cycle. All the problems above would be eliminated or consider-
ably diminished if proper measures were adopted at curing stage.
Curing of concrete is essential immediately after the casting of concrete to avoid
potential shrinkage, settlement, and thermal deformation at early ages. Properly
curing is significant for concrete to satisfy the requirements of mechanical prop-
erties and durability. An ideal curing process demands suitable ambient condition of
moisture, humidity, and temperature, which unfortunately cannot be fulfilled in
most construction projects. Although through traditional curing methods such as
ponding, spraying, covering wet burlap, or plastic films, normal concrete can still
satisfy the relative criteria. However, the potential problems of curing should not be
ignored when applied for HPC. HPC is characterized by low water/binder ratio
56 4 Self-Curing Concrete
(w/b) and high-volume additives such as silica fume, enabling it to possess high
strength and density at early age. On this condition, the penetration of external
water is difficult and only superficial in traditional curing mode. Consequently, with
inherent water insufficient and outer curing water inaccessible to satisfy complete
hydration of binder, a series of chemical shrinkage and thereby autogenous
shrinkage may cause serious premature crack. This premature crack finally induces
the degradation of mechanical properties and durability. Considering these issues,
self-curing as a new technology adapting to high-performance concrete with low
w/b is presented.
This chapter briefly introduces the definition and principles of the self-curing
concrete and reviews the current progress of the concrete along with the self-curing
agents. It then introduces the applications of self-curing concrete. Finally, the future
development of self-curing concrete is also discussed.
4.2 Definition and Mechanism of Self-Curing Concrete
The ACI-308 Code states that “internal curing refers to the process by which the
hydration of cement occurs because of the availability of additional internal water
that is not part of the mixing water.” According to this definition, curing can be
roughly divided into two types: external curing and internal curing. Conventional
concrete curing methods such as water curing and membrane curing are to create
conditions where water is not lost from the surface; i.e., curing is taken to happen
“from the outside to inside.” In contrast, internal curing, also known as autogenous
curing or self-curing, allows for curing “from the inside to outside.” It is achieved by
incorporating presaturated component as an internal curing agent. The curing agent
is uniformly distributed throughout the matrix and acts as an internal water reservoir.
The water within curing agent does not participate in the chemical reaction until a
humidity gradient generates after a period of early hydration. As shown in Fig. 4.1,
the self-curing process occurs at the contact zone between self-curing agent and
cement paste where water is transported from curing agent to unhydrated cement by
the driving forces of capillary suction, vapor diffusion, and capillary condensation
for supporting continuous hydration. As a result, the chemical shrinkage and
self-desiccation caused by low w/b can be considerably diminished [1].
Self-curing agent is the essential component for self-curing concrete. It serves as
an internal water reservoir with high water absorption capacity in aqueous solution
and desorption rate under pressure. Currently, the most popular curing agents are
presaturated porous lightweight aggregate (LWA) and chemical admixtures such as
superabsorbent polymer (SAP), shrinkage-reducing admixture (SRA), and wood
powder [2]. LWAs including ceramsite and pumice are the first used self-curing
agents, which typically contain water by weight of 5–25%. SAP and SRA both are
capable of ultrahigh water adsorption, which even 1000 times higher than their own
weight [3]. The two distinct phases of SAP in dry and swollen are shown in
Fig. 4.2.
4.3 Current Progress of Self-curing Concrete 57
(a) Fresh concrete with LWA (b) Hardened concrete with LWA
(c) Fresh concrete with NWA (Normal

(d) Hardened concrete with NWA
weight aggregate)
Fig. 4.1 Comparison of the contact zone under internal curing and normal curing
4.3 Current Progress of Self-Curing Concrete
Many researches have been done on self-curing concrete, focusing mainly on three
problems: (1) what type and how much curing agents are needed; (2) what extent
can the self-curing reduce the shrinkage and enhance the durability; and (3) whether
self-curing compromises the workability and mechanical properties of concrete or
not.
Fig. 4.2 A dry and a swollen SAP. Reprinted from Ref. [3], Copyright 2001, with permission
from Elsevier
4.3.1 Absorption and Desorption of Self-Curing Water
Powers’ model was proposed considering the first problem, as illustrated in Fig. 4.3
[4]. The model systematically expounds the minimal dose of self-curing water
needed to reach the maximum degree of binder hydration (amax) at a given w/b. As
shown in Fig. 4.3, amax reaches up to the region of 1.0 (i.e., fully hydration of
binder) as w/b is equal to or greater than 0.36. When w/b is lower than 0.36, binder
hydration is only partially achieved and the amax under saturated condition is
estimated as (w/b)/0.36. Fig. 4.3 shows that fully saturated condition of binder
hydration can be achieved with a quantity of self-curing water of 0.064 kg per
kilogram of binder.
As mentioned previously, the w/b is generally between 0.30 and 0.40 for HPC.
The detrimental deformation caused by autogenous shrinkage can be eliminated
through self-curing technology. Here, HPC with w/b of 0.30 is employed as an
example to elaborate the effect of self-curing agent on the performance of HPC on
the basis of Powers’ model [5]. As shown in Fig. 4.4a, at w/b of 0.30 and after
self-curing water removed, hydration stops at a degree of 0.73 under sealed curing
conditions due to the water shortage. Figure 4.4b shows the mixture provided by an
extra self-curing water of 3.20% by total water volume to the system. The water in
curing agent is then drawn out “to fill the pores” created by chemical shrinkage and
proceeds further hydration to 0.77. Once 7.36% of water is replenished, hydration
degree can reach up to 0.83 and the chemical shrinkage is totally eliminated as
graphed in Fig. 4.4c. The maximum theoretical degree of hydration increases with
the volume of self-curing water, but comes to a limiting value at 7.36% as illus-
trated in Fig. 4.4d. This is because that at the hydration degree of 0.83, nearly no
0.08
(w/b)SC =0.064 kg
0.06
SC water needed to
reach the max hydration
(w/b) SC
0.04
0.02
0.36 0.42
0.00
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
(w/b) tot
Fig. 4.3 Minimum amount of self-curing water needed to obtain amax during cement hydration [4]
(a) Chemical Shrinkage (b) Self-curing Water Chemical Shrinkage

1.0 1.0
Capillary Water Capillary Water

0.8 0.8
Gel Water Gel Water
Volume Ratio
Volume Ratio
0.6 0.6
Gel Solid Gel Solid

0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
Cement Cement
0.73 0.77
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Degree of Hydration Degree of Hydration
(c) Self-curing Water
(d) 1.00
1.0
Maximum theoretical degree
of hydration(w/c=0.30)
Degree of Hydration(%)
Capillary Water
0.8
Gel Water 0.90
Volume Ratio
0.6
Gel Solid
0.4 0.80
0.2
Cement
0.83
0 0.70
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 2 4 6 8 10
Degree of Hydration Percent Self-curing Water(%)
Fig. 4.4 Powers’ model showing phase distributions for a w/b = 0.30 paste, b 3.20% self-curing
water, and c 7.36% self-curing water. d Maximum theoretical degree of hydration as a function of
self-curing water. Reprinted from Ref. [5], Copyright 2009, with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 4.5 Example of a good and a bad desorption behavior. Reprinted from Ref. [6], Copyright
void space remains within the hydrating concrete. Therefore, the optimum
self-curing water contents is of utter importance for the desired performance of
concrete.
After determining quantity of required self-curing water attained, quantity of
water that curing agents can provide must be estimated then. The determination of
LWA is achieved by replacing a partial normal aggregate by prewetted LWA.
Castro et al. [6] tested the moisture transport between LWA and cement under
different conditions of relative humidity (RH) (as shown in Fig. 4.5) and found that
an efficient aggregate can release the majority of water at high relative humidity
(i.e., 93% RH), implying that this amount of water is available for reaction with the
cement. Besides, Bentz and Snyder [7] compared the effect between coarse LWA
and equal mass fine LWA (as shown in Fig. 4.6) and found that water is more
uniformly distributed in cement paste of fine LWA concrete, hence more easily
transported to unprotected paste. This is simply because that fine LWA has a larger
specific surface area and makes it more effective curing agent.
When it comes to the chemical admixtures as curing agent, water estimation
becomes simpler since their original volume and mass are negligible. Nevertheless,
researches show that the needed dosage of chemical admixture varies strongly with
strength classes of mortar. Taking polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an example,
different mass is needed for complete hydration, as indicated in Table 4.1.
Fig. 4.6 Model two-dimensional images (20 30 mm, 1 pixel = 100 mm) from
three-dimensional continuum concrete microstructures with 50% replacement of fine aggregate
by lightweight fine aggregates (LWFA). Colors are as follows: white, cement paste farther than
100 mm from a LWFA surface; light gray, cement paste within 100 mm of a LWFA surface; dark
gray, normal weight aggregates; and black, saturated LWFAs. In the left image, Vagg 5 0.75 and
fine aggregate follows the coarse limit of ASTM C 33 specification. In the right image, Vagg 5
0.70 and fine aggregate follows the fine limit of ASTM C 33 specification. Reprinted from Ref.
[7], Copyright 1999, with permission from Elsevier
Table 4.1 Mix proportion of self-curing concrete with PEG [8, 9]

Mix Cement Fine Coarse Water PEG (kg)
(kg) aggregate aggregate (kg) (kg) 0.05% 1.00% 1.50% 2.00%
(kg)
M20 340 610 1330 187 0.17 3.4 5.1 6.8
M25 362.3 817 1128 140 0.18 3.6 5.4 7.2
M40 440 520 1220 154 0.2 4.4 6.6 8.8
4.3.2 Workability and Durability
The water absorbed in self-curing agent is not taken into account when calculating
the w/c ratio, yet it actually increases the water content in concrete. The effect of the
extra water on the workability of self-curing concrete has been investigated in
Fig. 4.7 Chloride ion permeability of self-curing concrete at 90 days, cured at 50% RH.
Reprinted from Ref. [13], Copyright 2011, with permission from Elsevier
recent years. Tyagi [10] tested the slump and the compaction factor of concrete with
PEG-400. It is found that both slump and compaction ratio increase with the dosage
of PEG-400, and the increase rate of slump and compaction factors for M40 con-
crete is less than that of M25 concrete. Chandar et al. [11] studied the workability of
self-curing concrete with 1% PEG and partial replacement (20%) of cement by
quartz and fly ash. Such workability studies as slump flow test, V-funnel test, and
L-box method were performed, and the research results show that PEG can improve
the workability for both conditions. Though the self-curing agents like PEG can
make fresh concrete more workable, the optimal dosage of agents should be tested
carefully since excessive water will finally make concrete too flowable to work.
A favorable internal curing process is supposed to reduce the autogenous
shrinkage and improve the durability of concrete. Schlitter [12] studied the plastic
shrinkage crack width and distribution in concrete at different replacement levels of
LWA and found that the experiments results were identical to the anticipation. The
probability of crack forming decreases as the LWA replacement volume increases.
When a sufficient volume of LWA is used (18.0%), plastic shrinkage cracking is
eliminated. In the meanwhile, the probability of crack widths smaller than 0.0 mm
and 0.2 mm is greatly reduced as the replacement level increases.
Further studies have been conducted on the durability of self-curing concrete.
Hajazin [13] studied the chloride permeability of self-curing concrete with different
w/c ratios (as shown in Fig. 4.7) and found that in all conditions, there exists a
remarkable lessened chloride ion permeability, contributed by the reduced perco-
lation of interfacial transition zone between cement paste and aggregate. The result
is consistent with that obtained by Dhir [14], which indicated that with respect to
surface quality, chloride diffusion, carbonation, corrosion potential, and freeze and
thaw resistance, self-cure concrete can provide improved performance when
Table 4.2 PEG dosage and mechanical properties [8, 9]

PEG (%) M20 M25 M40
CS STS FS CS STS FS CS STS FS
0.00 26.60 1.81 3.50 29.89 2.12 – 46.65 2.42 4.62
0.50 27.61 1.96 3.75 32.81 2.2 – 47.23 2.50 4.75
1.00 28.49 2.02 3.80 36.55 2.4 – 45.93 2.45 4.64
1.50 26.74 1.92 3.68 35.11 2.35 – 44.62 2.34 4.53
2.00 25.03 1.85 3.55 – – – 42.44 2.25 4.46
Note CS compressive strength; STS split tensile strength; FS flexural strength
compared with air-cured specimens. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the

experimental results showed the self-curing concrete has no advantages in these
properties when compared with film-cured concrete controls.
4.3.3 Mechanical Properties
Self-curing agents enable concrete with less shrinkages and better physical prop-
erties, which literally enhance the durability from a long-term prospective. It is
naturally assumed that the self-curing concrete should also have an improvement in
mechanical properties to some extent. However, many conflicting results were
obtained about the effect of the addition of self-curing agents on mechanical
properties of concrete. Some experiments show an increase in a range of 10–20%
compressive strength of concrete with self-curing agent than that without at 28 d,
while others manifest a decrease of 8–31% [15–19]. This difference may be
attributed to the opposite effect of self-curing water. Proper amount of incorporated
self-curing water can improve the degree of binder hydration, while excessive
self-curing water may result in some spherical capillary pores. Once the negative
effect of self-curing water cannot be compensated by the positive effect, the
mechanical properties of concrete would decrease [20].
A feasible method to obtain improved mechanical properties is to adjust the
dosage of self-curing agents, making the positive effect surpass the negative effect.
Researches have been conducted about how the PEG of different levels acts on the
mechanical properties of self-curing concrete. As illustrated in Table 4.2 [8, 9],
compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength are all improved
when a little bit of PEG was added. As the dosage increases and exceeds a certain
value, the negative effect of self-curing water becomes predominant in strength
control and the strength of concrete begins to decrease with the increase in dosage.
It was reported that the optimum dosages of PEG are 1% for M20 and M25 grade
and 0.5% for M40 grade.
Fig. 4.8 Self-curing concrete applications to pavement (left) [24] and water tank (right) [25]
Fig. 4.9 Life cycle cost analysis of HPC bridge decks in New York. Reprinted from Ref. [22],
4.4 Application of Self-Curing Concrete
The self-curing concrete accompanied with well-designed mechanical properties

and outstanding durability has been employed in engineering applications, of which
most are bridge decks and pavements (as shown in Fig. 4.8 [24, 25]). In January
2005, about 190,000 m3 of self-cured HPC with presoaked LWA was successfully
casted in a large railway transit yard in Texas, USA. After placing, the flexural
strength at 7 d reached 90–100% of those required at 28 d as a consequence of
improved cement hydration process [21]. Additionally, shrinkage cracks are
extremely minimal compared with conventional paving concrete. In 2010,
self-curing concrete was used in the construction of 9 bridges by New York
Department of Transportation. A special mixture design, which is similar to the one
of conventional deck design except for the extra 120 kg/m3 of fine LWA, was
applied. Noticeable increases in strength from 2 to 10% of Count Street Bridge and
15% of Bartell Road Bridge at 28 d were reported. Cusson [22] analyzed the
4.4 Application of Self-curing Concrete 65
benefits of life cycle cost of HPC bridge decks with internal curing in New York
and reported that although initial costs are slightly higher, there is a maximum of
63% reduction in life cycle costs, considering the service life of the decks would be
much longer than the ones with normal concrete (as shown in Fig. 4.9).
Self-curing concrete can also be applied with recycled aggregate. Rani [23] studied
the feasibility of replacing part of the sand by crushed spent fire brick as fine LWA and
found both mechanical properties and workability are similar to those of normal
concrete. The crushed brick possesses porous structure with large surface area and
acts as self-curing agents for concrete when it is presaturated. Rani claimed that it has
provided a promising future for massive amount of wasted spent brick, as well as
remitted large demand for fine lightweight aggregate in construction.
4.5 Summary
Self-curing method is effective for improving performance of HPC in both labo-

ratory and actual practices. Extensive researches demonstrated that the self-curing
property of concrete can keep autogenous shrinkage from occurring, improving the
properties in surface quality, chloride diffusion, carbonation, corrosion potential,
and freeze and thaw resistance, and all together contributing to lower risk of
cracking and prolonging the service life of concrete.
Durability and workability of concrete are improved with the increase in addi-
tional self-curing agents, while the mechanical properties may be compromised by
the spherical capillary pores if too much agents are added. The optimal dosage of
self-curing agent varies with different mix proportions. It is accessible to estimate
the required self-curing water by Powers’ model and determination of absorption
and desorption rate of agent, after which tests must be done to find a balance
between mechanical properties and durability, as well as workability.
In future, the following issues are still required to be solved before full appli-
cation of self-curing concrete. Firstly, numerous contradictory results and inter-
pretations exist in mechanical strength and durability. Secondly, the mechanism and
efficiency of different curing agents in terms of type, dosage, particle size, and
spatial distribution are still ambiguous. Finally, more accurate models of the effect
of self-curing agent on the concrete performance are needed to be put forward. The
resolution of these issues would bring more application opportunities for self-curing
concrete in infrastructures.
References
1. http://trinitylightweight.com/images/internal-curing-diagram.gif
2. R. Ahamed, K.A. Pradeep, M. Plan, Experimental study on self-curing concrete using sodium
lignosulphonate. Int. J. Emerg. Technol. Eng. 2(4), 74–78 (2015)
3. O.M. Jensen, P.F. Hansen, Water-entrained cement-based materials: I. Principles and

theoretical background. Cem. Concr. Res. 31, 647–654 (2001)
4. O.M. Jensen, Report 41: Internal Curing of Concrete-State-of-the-Art Report of RILEM
Technical Committee 196-ICC. RILEM Publications (2007)
5. R. Henkensiefken, J. Castro, D. Bentz, T. Nantung, J. Weiss, Water absorption in internally
cured mortar made with water-filled lightweight aggregate. Cem. Concr. Res. 39(10), 883–892
(2009)
6. J. Castro, L. Keiser, M. Golias, J. Weiss, Absorption and desorption properties of fine
lightweight aggregate for application to internally cured concrete mixtures. Cement Concr.
Compos. 33(10), 1001–1008 (2011)
7. D.P. Bentz, K.A. Snyder, Protected paste volume in concrete: extension to internal curing
using saturated lightweight fine aggregate. Cem. Concr. Res. 29(11), 1863–1867 (1999)
8. M.V.J. Kumar, M. Srikanth, K.J. Rao, Strength characteristics of self-curing concrete. Int.
J. Res. Eng. Technol. 1(1), 51–57 (2012)
9. J.S. Kumar, T.S. Babu, A comparative study of mechanical properties of M25 grade self-curing
concrete (using PEG) with conventional concrete. Int. J. Adv. Res. 1(10), 655–659 (2015)
10. S. Tyagi, An experimental investigation of self-curing concrete incorporated with
polyethylene glycol as self-curing agent. Int. Res. J. Eng. Technol. 2(6), 129–132 (2015)
11. S.P. Chandar, P. Sandeep, R.S. Jagadish, Experimental investigation on self-compacting and
self-curing concrete with various admixtures for M30 grade concrete. Int. Res. J. Innovat. Res.
Sci. Eng. Technol. 5(2), 2458–2465 (2016)
12. J. Schlitter, R. Henkensiefken, J. Castro, K. Raoufi, J. Weiss, T. Nantung, Development of
internally cured concrete for increased service life. Federal Highway Administration/Indiana
Division/Joint Transportation Research Program. State Planning and Research: 3211
(2010/10)
13. G.E. Hijazin, M. Lopez, Extending internal curing to concrete mixtures with w/c higher than
0.42. Constr. Build. Mater. 25(3), 1236–1242 (2011)
14. R.K. Dhir, P.C. Hewlett, T.D. Dyer, Durability of ‘self-cure’ concrete. Cem. Concr. Res. 25
(6), 1153–1158 (1995)
15. M.R. Geiker, D.P. Bentz, O.M. Jensen, Mitigating Autogenous Shrinkage by Internal Curing.
ACI Special Publications (2004), pp. 143–154
16. J. Piérard, V. Pollet, N. Cauberg, Mitigating autogenous shrinkage in HPC by internal curing
using superabsorbent polymers, in International RILEM Conference (2006), pp. 97–106
17. B. Craeye, Reduction of autogenous shrinkage of concrete by means of internal curing.
Dissertation for the Master in Ghent University, Dutch (2006)
18. D.P. Bentz, Internal curing of high-performance blended cement mortars. ACI Mater. J. 104
(3), 408–414 (2007)
19. B. Craeye, M. Geirnaert, G. Schutter, Super absorbing polymers as an internal curing agent
for mitigation of early-age cracking of high-performance concrete bridge decks. Constr.
Build. Mater. 25(1), 1–13 (2011)
20. M.T. Hasholt, O.M. Jensen, K. Kovler, Can superabsorent polymers mitigate autogenous
shrinkage of internally cured concrete without compromising the strength? Constr. Build.
Mater. 31(31), 226–230 (2012)
21. V.H. Villarreal, D.A. Crocker, Better pavements through internal hydration. Concr. Int. 29(2),
32–36 (2007)
22. D. Cusson, Z. Lounis, L. Daigle, Benefits of internal curing on service life and life-cycle cost
of high-performance concrete bridge decks—a case study. Cement Concr. Compos. 32(5),
339–350 (2010)
23. M.S. Rani, A study on compressive strength of normal curing concrete and self- curing
concrete by partial replacement of fine aggregate with crushed spent fire brick. Int. J. Innovat.
Eng. Technol. 6(2), 127–135 (2015)
24. http://trinitylightweight.com/index.php/applications/internal-curing
25. http://trinitylightweight.com/index.php/case-studies/internal-curing/item/denver-water
Chapter 5
Self-Shaping Concrete
Abstract Self-shaping concrete is deposited layer by layer through an extrusion

nozzle along the predetermined path without any formwork or vibration. The choice
of raw material and mix proportion design of self-shaping concrete is significant to
guarantee the workability. The mechanical properties of self-shaping concrete
exhibit apparently orthotropic behavior and are easily affected by the printing
operation. Self-shaping concrete has a promising future of providing economically
feasible method for affordable housing construction in low-income countries,
designing multifunctional structures with complex geometry, and building
extraterrestrial settlement infrastructures in vacuum condition.
Keywords Concrete Self-shaping 3D printing
5.1 Introduction
The building and construction industry is one of the major business drivers.
However, in recent years due to the lack of skilled labor, automation, and safety
issues, it has been difficult to meet the targeted demand (e.g., less construction time,
lower pollution, and wastages). To solve these problems, self-shaping concrete is
developed on the base of three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology. As a sub-
group of additive manufacturing process, concrete objects would be directly printed
using 3DP technology. Compared to the conventional concrete-forming process,
self-shaping concrete requires only raw materials and a 3DP machine without the
need of formwork, vibration, or any human intervention and is therefore economical
and environmentally friendly. In order to achieve the practical application,
researches have been done to obtain optimal mix proportion design with the best
workability and mechanical properties, as well as to seek a balance between
building efficiency and mechanical properties.
This chapter briefly introduces the definition and principles of the self-shaping
concrete and reviews current progress of the concrete along with 3DP technology. It

68 5 Self-Shaping Concrete
then introduces the applications of self-shaping concrete. Finally, future develop-

ment of self-shaping concrete is also discussed.
5.2 Definition and Principles of Self-Shaping Concrete
Interdisciplinary work involving materials science, computation, robotics, archi-

tecture, and design resulted in the development of self-shaping concrete [1].
A concrete printing machine and its delivery system are shown in Fig. 5.1. To make
the concrete self-shaped, it is firstly needed to design a building path for the robotic
machine. A usual and straightforward method for generating a building path is to
use a 3D-to-2D slicing software. It consists in slicing the 3D shape of an object in
flat thin layers of constant thickness so that concrete can be layered one up onto the
other [1]. Digital signals are then delivered to printing machine to complete the
operation. The main principle during this process is that the nozzle circumnavigates
following the predetermined paths with fresh concrete extruded out of it one layer at
a time. When all layers are stacked one atop another, a completed 3D structure
component is finished. Since framework and vibration are needless, concrete
employed in 3DP is expected to combine the features of spray concrete with
self-compacting concrete. So far, there is not a uniform definition for this special
concrete, and “self-shaping concrete” is named here based on its working process.
Fig. 5.1 Schematic of the 3D printing setup: 0 system command, 1 robot controller, 2 printing
controller, 3 robotic arm, 4 print head, 5 accelerating agent, 6 peristaltic pump for accelerating
agent, 7 peristaltic pump for premix, 8 premix mixer, and 9 3D printed object. Schematic of
concrete delivery system. Reprinted from Ref. [1], Copyright 2016, with permission from Elsevier
5.3 Current Progress of Self-shaping Concrete 69
5.3 Current Progress of Self-Shaping Concrete
5.3.1 Material and Mix Proportion Design
Self-shaping concrete performs like the “ink” of 3D printer, of which the worka-
bility is critical to the quality of printed constructions. The concrete should easily
pass through the pipe–pump–nozzle system to extrude small concrete filaments.
Meanwhile, sufficient adhesion and rigidity are required for concrete to print
structures with a certain height of layers, while no detrimental deformation occurs.
From the point of rheology view, relatively higher viscosity and lower yield stress
are beneficial for concrete to achieve good plasticity. Moreover, the self-shaping
concrete should provide short setting time and high early strength [2].
As is well known, the workability of concrete is mainly dominated by the mix
proportions (i.e., cementitious binder–aggregate ratio, water/binder ratio, and the
usage of admixture). Experiments based on the rheological approaches had been
conducted by Le et al. [3] to achieve the optimum mix design of a high-performance
fiber-reinforced fine-aggregate self-shaping concrete. Under the condition of a
9-mm-diameter nozzle, the optimum mix was found to have a 3:2 sand–binder ratio
with the latter comprising 70% cement, 20% fly ash, and 10% silica fume plus
1.2 kg/m3 of 12/0.18 mm length/diameter polypropylene fibers. This mix had a
water/binder ratio of 0.26. Malaeb et al. [4] investigated the influence of super-
plasticizer on the flowability and buildability of a cement-based mortar as
self-shaping concrete. It was reported that in the mix with lower water–cement ratio,
high-superplasticizer (0.95–2.5% of water weight) content increases the compressive
strength and flowability of the mix, but it reduces the buildability capacity signifi-
cantly. The optimum (better flowability and buildability capacity) water–cement ratio
and superplasticizer content were found to be about 0.39 and 1.9%, respectively, for
an extruder with 2-cm nozzle diameter, which was used to build a 10-cm-high wall
without any failure notification. Accelerator and retarder were also added to this mix
design to control the rheology of self-shaping concrete. Other materials such as
geopolymer-based material and processed regolith of alien planet have as well been
studied as powder resources for self-shaping concrete (as shown in Figs. 5.2 and 5.3).
Xia and Sanjayan [5] have tried to formulate geopolymer-based material as
self-shaping concrete for the requirements and demands of commercially available
powder-based 3D printers. Results indicate that geopolymer-based material had
gained sufficient depositability and wettability, printed cubic structures exhibited an
anisotropic phenomenon in dimensional accuracy and mechanical property, and
compressive strength of self-shaping concrete had raised from up to 0.9 to 16.5 MPa
of maximum after post-processing. Werkheiser et al. [6] have researched the possi-
bility of using processed regolith as aggregate and binders developed from in situ
materials of extraterrestrial planets for self-shaping concrete. Efforts have been put
into the development of novel nozzle concepts for advanced layer deposition
methods, and they have succeeded in fabrication of construction elements using lunar
regolith simulant and Mars regolith simulant, both with various binder materials.
Fig. 5.2 3D printed structures using geopolymer-based material. a Plate structure, b Cubic
structure. Reprinted from Ref. [5], Copyright 2016, with permission from Elsevier
5.3.2 Mechanical Properties
Besides the workability, researchers also concerned about mechanical properties of

the hardened self-shaping concrete, including compressive and bending strength as
well as tensile bond strength. Since the structure of small concrete filaments is
stacked layer by layer, the anisotropic structure is likely to act as small voids in their
interlayers, leading to the weakened structural capability. Le et al. [7] tested the
mechanical properties of self-shaping concrete invented earlier in reference [3], and
the results indicated that its mechanical strength significantly depends on the ori-
entation of the load relative to the layers.
Plaster cementitious material with major ingredients of plaster, vinyl polymer
and carbohydrate, humectant, and water was adopted as self-shaping concrete to
print 3D concrete specimens, and then, the mechanical properties of these speci-
mens were studied by Feng (as shown in Fig. 5.4a). According to the conclusions
of Le et al., there exists an apparently orthotropic behavior in the mechanical
properties of specimens. Based on the experimental results, a model for the stress–
Fig. 5.3 Dome structure with interior walls built [6]
Fig. 5.4 a Self-shaping concrete specimen; b Stress–strain relationship under compression.

strain relationship was proposed from uniaxial compressive test as shown in

Fig. 5.4b [8].
Gosselin et al. [1] tested the bending strength of an ultrahigh-performance
self-shaping concrete, of which the premix is composed of original Portland cement
CEM I 52.5 N (30–40 wt%), crystalline silica (40–50 wt%), silica fume (10 wt%),
and limestone filler (10 wt%). The result is as shown in Fig. 5.5, and it is reported
that the obtained value for flexural strength is 14.3 ± 2.6 MPa with a conservative
Fig. 5.5 Flexural stress versus beam deflection for four-point bending test on prismatic beams cut
from self-shaping concrete specimen. Reprinted from Ref. [1], Copyright 2016, with permission
from Elsevier
estimate of compressive strength higher than 120 MPa. Gosselin et al. believed this
high mechanical performance allows for the fabrication of slender concrete-based
structures, which is one of the main driving forces for considering large-scale 3D
printing as an attractive alternative to more traditional methods such as casting.
The bond strength between concrete filaments can also largely influence the
hardened properties of self-shaping concrete. Recently, Le et al. have conducted the
experiments on tensile bond strength and reported that when time gap between
printing layers increases, tensile strength tends to reduce. The reduction was
expected since the adhesion reduces with increasing time gap in printing time.
Gibbons et al. [9] applied rapid hardening Portland cement along with 3% polyvinyl
alcohol as powder and demineralized water as liquid to optimize the resolution and
robustness of the uncured specimens. The measured modulus of rupture value was
apparently increased due to the reduced porosity after the self-shaping concrete
specimens immersed in water for curing.
5.3.3 Building Plan Design
In conventional building process, formwork helps shape the fresh concrete and
provides a relatively constant environment for later curing period. When it comes to
self-shaping concrete or structures, formworks are not required, which is actually a
double-edged sword. Formwork-less characteristic endows self-shaping concrete
with high building efficiency, yet usually leads to unqualified mechanical behaviors.
In this case, researchers have studied to obtain an optimal building plan, in which
the mechanical properties of self-shaping concrete can meet the criteria while
keeping a high building efficiency. Perrot et al. [2] pointed out that as construction
progresses, the concrete becomes harder with time. The mechanical strength must
be sufficient to sustain the weight of the layers subsequently deposited.
A theoretical framework is established based on the comparison of the vertical
stress acting on the first-deposited layer with the critical stress related to plastic
deformation that is linked to the material yield stress. And the most significant
principle of the framework is to ensure that the vertical stress does not exceed the
critical stress.
Vertical stress rV can be written as follows:
rV ¼ qghðtÞ ¼ qgRt ð5:1Þ
where q is the specific weight of the concrete, t is the age of the first-deposited layer
(which starts with its deposition), h is the height of the vertical structure located
above the first-deposited layer, and R refers to building rate.
Critic failure stress is linearly linked to the yield stress of the first-deposited
material which can be written as follows:
rc ðtÞ ¼ ageom s0 ðtÞ ð5:2Þ
where s0 is the yield stress of the first-deposited material, and ageom is a geometric
factor which depends of the form of the built structure.
Perrot et al. tested a 70-mm-diameter column with different building rates as
shown in Fig. 5.6. It is believed that the predicted failure times of the sample are in
agreement with the observed ones in experiment and thus can be applied to find a
desired building rate without the occurrence of failure.
Wolfs of Eindhoven University of Technology has also sought for a balance
between building rate and mechanical properties. He suggested that it might be
beneficial to firstly print the load-bearing elements, followed by the non-structural
Fig. 5.6 Comparison of the evolution of critical stress rc and vertical stress rV for building rate
ranging from 1.1 to 6.2 m/h [2]
Fig. 5.7 Percentage of construction time saved with four approaches in two nozzle cases.
parts. The strength development of the load-bearing elements is ahead when higher
loads have to be applied (e.g., when a floor slab is laid down in the construction
process). Specific to each element, layer height will strongly influence the balance.
As the layer height gets smaller, the overall loading capacity increases, though the
total construction time is also increased [10].
After setting an appropriate building rate or rate interval, it is significant to
design an optimal tool path for printing machines, because the printed structures are
usually not simple and closed geometry. This means the tool path will overlap
during the printing, leading to a low building efficiency. In the case, Zhang et al.
[11] have come up with a collision-free operation plan for machines with multiple
nozzles under Contour Crafting (CC) system. The optimal tool path can be stated as
follows: give a set of edges on a layout, and find the optimum sequence and
direction in which: (1) each edge is traversed exactly once; (2) the traveling airtime
(motion between two end points of two edges) is a straight line; and (3) no collision
between nozzles occurs.
According to these principles, three algorithms are proposed: (1) auxiliary buffer
zone; (2) path cycling; and (3) buffer zone path cycling. A buffer zone can prevent
two gantries from getting too close to a common border at the same time. Auxiliary
buffer zones can be introduced to reduce the number of buffer zones being used. Path
cycling focuses on manipulating the x/t curve of the tool path to avoid collision. And
buffer zone path cycling is a combination of buffer zone and path cycling to enhance
the chance of finding the collision-free solutions. Figure 5.7 unveils to what extent
an optimal machine operation can help save the construction time.
5.4 Applications of Self-Shaping Concrete
5.4.1 Self-Shaping Concrete in Practice
The application of 3DP technology has been reported worldwide. At present, there
are three main categories of concrete printing technology in public domain [12],
which are D-shape, CC, and concrete printing, respectively, as shown in Fig. 5.8.
5.4 Applications of Self-shaping Concrete 75
Fig. 5.8 Examples of full-scale builds from each process, a D-shape, top left, b CC, right, and
(c) concrete printing, bottom left. Reprinted from Ref. [12], Copyright 2011, with permission from
Elsevier
D-shape uses powder deposition process, which selectively binds the powder by
a chemical agent (binder) in the same way as of Z-Corp 3DP process. CC has been
in development for some years and is based on extruding self-shaping concrete
against a trowel that provides smoother surface finish to the printed part. And like
CC, concrete printing is an extrusion-based manufacturing process that fabricates
complex part geometries layer by layer without the use of labor-intensive form-
work. Both the D-shape and concrete printing are gantry-based off-site printing
process, whereas CC is for on-site, in situ application [13].
All of the three categories mentioned above adopt wet self-shaping concrete as
their machine “ink.” Recently, a potential step forward comes via Ronald Rael of
UC Berkeley [14]. The method, rather than extruding wet self-shaping concrete,
involves printing out thin layers of a special dry cement powder, each of which is
then sprayed with water to harden the structure. Figure 5.9 [14] shows a free-
standing pavilion using this method, which is made up of steel bones and concrete
skin and took nearly a year to finish. Ronald evaluates the method as “the genesis of
a realistic, marketable process with the potential to transform the way we think
about building a structure.”
Fig. 5.9 Bloom pavilion
Fig. 5.10 3D concrete-extruding printer of CC
Thanks to the researcher’s unremitting efforts, not only large structural components
but also printing full-scale constructions are now possible. Behrokh Khoshnevis, who
developed CC, said he envisioned a 3D concrete-extruding printer that could be used to
build a single 2500-square-foot house in about 20 h (as shown in Fig. 5.10 [15]). The
expectation has now come true. In 2015, Eindhoven University of Technology in the
Netherlands made a breakthrough. They developed a new type of 3D printers, which
was able to provide 11 m 5 m 4 m building space with high printing accuracy of
self-shaping concrete. The device was built by ROHACO, a Dutch company, and has
been currently put into practice (as shown in Fig. 5.11 [16]). In the same year, an
apartment block with five stories was shaped using glass fiber-reinforced concrete as
self-shaping concrete by a Chinese company in Shanghai. It is stated that the houses in
apartment block were in full compliance with the relevant national standards [16].
(a) Complete photograph (b) Local photograph
Fig. 5.11 Giant 3D printer and self-shaping concrete by ROHACO
5.4.2 Self-Shaping Concrete in Potential
With the deepening of the study, researchers found self-shaping concrete shows
great potential in building complex structures and reusing the construction debris. It
is expected that self-shaping concrete will take a place in the field of recyclable and
multifunctional structures.
Concrete, as one of the world’s most ubiquitous building materials, creates a
huge amount of wastages and debris every year. Now, self-shaping concrete pro-
vides a possible way for recyclable building. Researchers at MIT reinvented con-
crete that could be 3D-printed and then disassembled without wasting unnecessary
energy or creating useless debris [17]. As shown in Fig. 5.12 [17], the rock printer
effectively shoves rocks into position, binding them with computer-controlled
Fig. 5.12 Rigid 13-foot column made of construction debris (a) and the rock printer (b)
Fig. 5.13 Architectural context for the multifunctional wall element. Reprinted from Ref. [1],
string. The result in this demonstration is a rigid 13-foot column that can be cleanly
unraveled into its constituent parts. As a matter of fact, the giant printer shown in
Fig. 5.11 has similar application and was invented primarily focusing on how to use
easily recyclable concrete products.
3DP technology has also enabled architects to build multifunctional structures
with complex shape that is uneasily built by conventional methods. In 2016,
Gosselin et al. [1] have attempted to apply 3D printer with a generic six-axis robotic
arm to print ultrahigh-performance self-shaping concrete and structures with
complex geometry. The printed architectural and structural components were
supposed to bear sufficient strength, as well as possessing acoustic damping and
thermal insulation capacities (as shown in Fig. 5.13).
5.4.3 Market Prediction
According to the prediction of David Weinstein et al. [18], self-shaping concrete

and construction would be more likely developed in low-income countries, among
which China would be the optimal country in consideration of its wealth, size,
likelihood to consume, and concrete consumption per capita. The prediction
coincides with the report released by market research company, Markets and
Markets. According to the report, due to saving of construction waste (30–60%),
reduced labor costs (50–80%), and less production time (50–70%) along with the
rapid urbanization and industrialization, self-shaping concrete is forecasted to
witness a significant growth in the next few years. The Asia-Pacific region will play
a key role, and the whole self-shaping concrete market will grow at a compound
annual growth rate of 15.02% to a value of $56.4 million by 2021 [19].
5.5 Summary
Self-shaping concrete was developed thanks to the 3DP technologies. After decades
of studies, there are three main printing methods, which are D-shape, CC, and
concrete printing. All of the three have ensured that structures with complex shapes
could be fabricated by self-shaping concrete for its unnecessity of formwork and
vibration. Mix proportion design of self-shaping concrete is crucial to meet the
demands of extrudability, flowability, and buildability. The mechanical properties
of self-shaping concrete are apparently orthotropic and are strongly influenced by
printing operations, such as time gap between printing layers.
Although self-shaping concrete is a new concept, it will create a new era of
sustainable infrastructures in a more creative, practical, and cost-effective way. It
can be realized in prompting construction speed and reducing labor force and
engineering cost. It can be used to construct multifunctional structures with com-
plex geometry. It can be even applied to build extraterrestrial settlement infras-
tructures using lunar and Mars soil as the raw material in the vacuum condition.
Self-shaping concrete has given a promising future. However, self-shaping
concrete requires good plasticity, short setting time, and high early strength, and it
should bear its own weight and dynamic load during printing without distinct
deformation. All these requirements cannot be satisfied simultaneously by con-
ventional concrete design approaches. Further research should be conducted in the
choice of raw materials, mix proportion design, and the usage of admixtures.
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construction-scale additive manufacturing processes. Auto. Constr. 21, 262–268 (2012)
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construction materials for 3D printing. Mater. Sci. Forum 861, 177–181 (2016)
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19. https://www.3printr.com/3d-concrete-printing-market-reach-56-4-million-2021-1239664/
Chapter 6
Self-Sensing Concrete
Abstract Self-sensing concrete has the capability to sense the conditions inside it
and environmental change including stress (or force), strain (or deformation), crack,
damage, temperature, and humidity through incorporating functional fillers or
sensing component. It can be classified into intrinsic self-sensing concrete and
non-intrinsic self-sensing concrete. The physical parameters of self-sensing con-
crete will change as it is subjected to external force, deformation, or environmental
action, thus presenting sensing capability. The self-sensing concrete has great
potential in the fields of structural health monitoring, traffic detection, and
border/military security.
Keywords Concrete Self-sensing Intrinsic Non-intrinsic
6.1 Introduction
Concrete structures constitute a large portion of civil infrastructures, but their reli-
ability is relatively low because of wide material discreteness and complex service
environment. Although the engineering accidents occurring during the service period
of concrete structures can be avoided by reasonable structural design, some unex-
pected extreme situations are still threatening the safety and durability of concrete
structures. Therefore, it is desirable that the state of concrete structures during service
life can be detected or monitored [1–4]. In order to detect/monitor the performance
and state of concrete during their service periods, the electric resistance strain gauges
were normally used to constitute self-sensing concrete for strain measurement since
the 1930s. Since then, because optical fibers, piezoelectric materials, shape memory
alloys (SMAs), and self-diagnosing polymer structural composites possess capabil-
ities of sensing various physical and chemical parameters related to the health of the
structures, these smart sensors or sensing materials are embedded, attached, or
interfaced to develop self-sensing concrete for structural health monitoring [5–22].
This self-sensing concrete is classified as non-intrinsic self-sensing concrete (NISSC)
since the concept of intrinsic self-sensing concrete (ISSC) was proposed in 1993

82 6 Self-Sensing Concrete
[10–12]. The self-sensing concrete refers to a structural material with the ability to
sense such concrete conditions and environmental parameters as stress (or force),
strain (or deformation), crack, damage, temperature, and humidity. It is also called
self-monitoring or self-diagnosing concrete. This concrete can sense itself, so there is
no need of other external sensors or sensing materials. The classification of
self-sensing concrete is summarized in Table 6.1 [12].
Table 6.1 Classification of self-sensing concrete

Types of Integrated Testing parameters Advantages Disadvantages
self-sensing sensors/Materials
concrete
Intrinsic Functional fillers Strain Work as both structural Poor sensing
(e.g., carbon fiber, Stress materials and sensing repeatability
steel fiber, carbon materials
Temperature
nanotube, nickel
powder) Crack Poor stability
Damage
Smoke
Chloride penetration
Non-intrinsic Electric resistance Strain Easy to install Low sensitivity
strain gauges Excellent reproducibility Sensitive to
of sensing electromagnetic
Low cost interference
Optical fibers Strain High sensitivity Poor durability
Displacement Flexibility
Moisture Embeddability
Corrosion Multiplexity
Crack Electrical/magnetic
Temperature interference immunity
Concrete hydration
process
Piezoelectric Stress High sensitivity Unfavorable
materials Temperature High stability compatibility
Damage High resonance frequency Poor durability
Crack Inapplicable for
Detect and localize truly static
disbond measurements
Concrete strength
monitoring
Impact detection
Structural health
monitoring
SMAs Strain Good durability Low sensitivity
Displacement Good corrosion resistance High cost
Crack
Self-diagnosing Strain Work as both structural Low sensitivity
polymer Displacement materials and sensing
composites materials
Crack Poor durability
Damage
Reprinted from Ref. [12], with permission from SAGE Publication
6.1 Introduction 83
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to two types of self-sensing

concrete including intrinsic self-sensing concrete and non-intrinsic self-sensing con-
crete, with attentions to their principles, properties, current progress, and applications.
6.2 Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete
6.2.1 Definition and Sensing Mechanism of Intrinsic

Self-Sensing Concrete
The ISSC (also called intrinsically smart, piezoresistive, or pressure-sensitive con-

crete) is fabricated through incorporating some conductive fillers such as steel fiber
(SF), carbon fiber (CF), carbon nanotube (CNT), and nickel powder (NP) into con-
ventional concrete to increase its ability to sense the strain, stress, crack, or damage,
smoke [11], chloride penetration [12], and in itself while maintaining or even
improving its mechanical properties and durability. A moderate amount of functional
fillers, with a certain shape and dimension, are incorporated into concrete matrix, and
then, the insulated concrete becomes conductive. As this composite is
deformed/stressed or the environmental condition surrounding this composite is
changed, the conductive path in composite altered due to the variation in concrete
microstructure, thus resulting in the changes of electrical properties (as shown in
Fig. 6.1) [20, 22]. By now, researchers have found some usable electrical signals to
characterize the sensing behavior of the ISSC, which include electrical resistance or
resistivity, electrical reactance, capacitance, relative dielectric constant, and electrical
impedance tomography (EIT) [13–22]. For example, Saafi et al. observed that the
impedance can be used as sensing signal to describe the sensing behavior of
geopolymer cement concrete with carbon nanotubes under bending (as shown in
Fig. 6.2) [21]. Gupta et al. implemented an EIT algorithm for spatial damage detection
of concrete using sand and large aggregates coated with carbon nanotubes-latex thin
films. They found that EIT was able to produce electrical resistivity maps that indi-
cated the locations and severities of damage (as shown in Figs. 6.3 and 6.4) [19].
ISSC is mainly composed of matrix and functional fillers in macrostructure level
as shown in Fig. 6.5. The matrix of ISSC is a generalized concept including con-
crete, mortar, and binder only (Portland cement is the most used). And the con-
ductive fillers mainly consist of carbonaceous, metallic, and polymer material,
among which carbonaceous and metallic fillers are the most widely used and
investigated. The properties of commonly used fillers are summarized in Table 6.2.
It has been demonstrated that some functional fillers can not only improve the
conductive characteristic of concrete but can also enhance its mechanical properties
and durability [23]. In addition, a more preferable property of ISSC can be obtained
by synergistically use of two or several functional fillers, and the positive hybrid
effect is pronounced than any of them alone [24].
Excellent electrical property is necessary for ISSC. Therefore, a fully compre-
hension about the generation mechanism is the basis of controlling and improving
20 12.5MPa
electrical resistivity / %
0
20%
-3.60%
22%
Change in -20
24%
-40
-62.61% -69.00%
-60
-80
-74.67% -79.28%
0 10 20 30 40
Compressive stress / MPa
(a) ISSC with spiky spherical NP under compressive loading
(b) ISSC with CNT under tensile loading. Reprinted from ref. [20], with
permission from permission from CCC Republication
(c) ISSC with CF under flexural loading. Reprinted from ref. [22], Copyright
2007, with permission from Elsevier.
Fig. 6.1 Typical sensing behavior of intrinsic self-sensing concrete (ISSC) under loading. a ISSC
with spiky spherical NP under compressive loading; b ISSC with CNT under tensile loading.
Reprinted from Ref. [20], with permission from CCC Republication; c ISSC with CF under
flexural loading. Reprinted from Ref [22], Copyright 2007, with permission from Elsevier
6.2 Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete 85
Fig. 6.2 Change in impedance versus deflection response of the ISSC with CNTs under bending.
Fig. 6.3 Schematic of an EIT system. Reprinted from Ref. [19], with permission from SAGE
Publication
Fig. 6.4 Damage detection tests were performed on the ISSC plates cast using sand and large
aggregates coated with MWNT-latex thin films. Reprinted from Ref. [19], with permission from
SAGE Publication
Fig. 6.5 Structure of ISSC. Reprinted from Ref. [17], Copyright 2014, with permission from
Elsevier
the self-sensing properties of concrete. Unfortunately, the conductive mechanism is

still debatable, and existing interpretations are variable. By now, the basic types of
electrical conduction of ISSC include electronic and/or hole conduction (i.e.,
contacting conduction, tunneling conduction, and/or field emission conduction) and
ionic conduction [25–28]. Electrons and/or holes come from nanoscale fillers, while
ions come from the cement-based matrix [25, 29].
(1) Contacting conduction
Table 6.2 Properties of functional fillers
Type Elastic Tensile Electrical Elongation/ Advantages Disadvantages
modulus/GPa strength/GPa resistivity/mX m %
PAN-based CF 35–450 2.0–4.5 0.01–1.0 0.4–1.8 High strength, conductivity, and Expensive, difficult to
stability disperse
Pitch-based CF 160–800 0.6–3.0 (1–4) 10−2 0.4–2.5 High strength, conductivity, and Poor impact strength and
cheap easy oxidized
SF 220 1.15 (l.33– 1 High strength, durability, and Easy agglomeration and
2.44) 10−2 sensitivity oxidized
Short-cut superfine – 1.2–1.8 – >1 High strength and stability High water absorption
stainless wire
6.2 Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete
Steel slag – – 4–50 – High strength and stability, Low-purity and low
cheap conductivity
NP 210 – 0.6–1.0 – High strength, most sensitive, Expensive
and anti-corrosion
Graphite powder 10 – (4–18) 10−3 – High electric and thermal High dosage and low
conductivity, and stability strength
Nano-TiO2 – – 3 10−3 – High sensitivity Obvious polarization
Nanocarbon black – – 200–1000 – High conductivity, easily Low strength, high water
(CB) (NCB) dispersed, and cheap absorption, and pollution
Graphine 1000 – 50 – High conductivity,high strength, Difficult to disperse
(in-plane) (in-plane) 10−5 and stability
Carbon nanofiber 400–600 2.7–7.0 5.5 10−4 50 High strength, conductivity, and Difficult to disperse
(CNF) stability, cheap
Single-walled CNTs 1000 50–500 – 30–40 High chemical stability Expensive and difficult to
disperse
Multiwalled CNTs 300–1000 50–200 (5–50) 10−3 5–20 High strength and conductivity Difficult to disperse
Electrostatic – – 1 10−2 – High conductivity, easily Low strength and high
self-assembled dispersed, and cheaper than CNT water absorption
87
CNT/NCB
This type of conduction is due to the direct contact of neighboring functional

fillers, thus forming conductive link. It is associated with the motion of electrons
and/or holes through the conductive paths formed by functional fillers which are
tiny and contact each other. The microstructural observation of ISSC has provided
direct evidence for the existence of contacting conduction. The contacting con-
duction has been widely used in explaining the conductive behavior of ISSC with
different functional fillers [30, 31].
(2) Tunneling conduction and/or field emission conduction
Tunneling conduction takes place when electrons jump through the energy
barriers between functional fillers in cement-based matrix [13, 15]. Some
researchers theorize that field emission is a manifestation of the tunneling effect
[32]. However, because field emission is induced by a local strong electric field,
other researchers consider that filed emission is different from quantum tunneling to
some extent [33, 34]. Tunneling conduction and field emission conduction both are
associated with the transmission conduction of electrons between the disconnected
but close enough fillers. The tunneling conduction has contributed to the electrical
conductivity of ISSC with different nanoscale fillers [13, 15], whereas the field
emission conduction is not widely used because conventional nanoscale fillers
cannot generate a strong electric field to induce field emission at applied low
voltages. However, some nanoscale fillers (e.g., CNTs and CNFs) with unique
morphology can induce a localized increase in the electric field at sharp tips, which
effectively reduces the barrier’s width and allows field emission conduction to
occur, as shown in Fig. 6.6. By now, many researchers have ascribed some con-
ductive behaviors of ISSC to tunneling conduction and field emission conduction
mechanism theoretically, and some observed experimental results also well support
this theory [15, 18, 27, 35, 36].
(3) Ionic conduction
The hydrated cement paste, in addition to the calcium silicate hydrate gel and
other solid phases, contains a variety of voids. The water filling these voids or pores
Fig. 6.6 Schematic diagram of basic conductive element in conductive network of the ISSC.
can dissolve ionic species (mainly Ca2+ and OH−) from the solid phases, resulting
in some ionic conduction through the interconnected capillary pores. Since the ionic
conduction is associated with the motion of ions in pore solution, ionic conductivity
varies in a particularly wide range when cement contains a substantial amount of
free water. In dry conditions, the cement matrix approximates an insulating material
[38]. In addition, the ISSC with a filler concentration below the percolation
threshold generally involves ionic conduction [28, 30].
It should be noted that the actual electrical conduction mechanism of the ISSC is
very complex in nature. The above-mentioned conduction types coexist in the
composite and interrelate with each other. The DC electrical resistance–time rela-
tionship can indicate the relationship between the electronic hole conduction and
the ionic conduction, which one dominates in the electrical conductivity of ISSC.
When the ionic conduction is the dominant, the DC electrical resistance increases
obviously with measurement time due to the polarization effect; in the meanwhile,
the AC electrical resistance is constant. When the electronic hole conduction is
dominant, the DC electrical resistance basically keeps stable with measurement
time. In addition, the current–voltage relationship can give an indication whether
the electrical conductivity of ISSC is due to the tunneling and field emission
conduction or the direct contact of neighboring functional fillers. A linear current–
voltage relationship indicates that the direct contact of neighboring nanoscale fillers
is the dominant conduction mechanism. In contrast, tunneling and field emission
would induce a nonlinear power law current–voltage relation in the electrical
conductivity of the ISSC.
Correspondingly, there are four paths for current transmission: the interior of
concrete matrix, the interface between conductive fillers and concrete matrix, the
contacted or overlapped conductive fillers, and the conductive network formed by
conductive fillers [39]. The intrinsic self-sensing property may be affected by
multiple factors such as external force, voltage, properties of fillers, water/binder
ratio, age, water content, and service environment, among others [29, 40–42]. For
dominating the formation and distribution of conductive networks, filler concen-
tration is a primary parameter affecting the property of ISSC among those factors.
The electrical resistivity of ISSC changing with filler concentration is depicted in
Fig. 6.7. There is a critical composition called percolation threshold [17], beyond
which the electrical resistivity is reduced sharply, thus leading to the transformation
of concrete from an insulating range to a semiconductive or conductive range. The
conductive characteristic curve describes the percolation phenomenon, which can
be divided into three sections: zone A with high resistivity is called as insulation
zone; zone B with sharply decreasing resistivity is called as percolation zone; zone
C with stabilized low resistivity is called as conductive zone [43, 44].
In zone A, filler concentration in concrete matrix is much lower than the per-
colation threshold, spacing between fillers is large, and the filler gathering is few, so
the conductive path is hard to form; the electrons are hard to move between fillers,
and then, the composite exhibits almost the same high resistivity as matrix. The
electrical conductance of matrix (i.e., the ionic conduction) dominates the electrical
conductance of the composite. In zone B, fillers form conductive link and start
Fig. 6.7 Change of the

electrical resistivity along
with filler concentration
forming conductive path; spacing between adjacent fillers decreases. Probability of

the electronic transition greatly rises, resulting in a sharp increase in conductivity of
the composite. The contacting conduction, tunneling conduction and/or field
emission conduction, and ionic conduction are all dominant factors in the electrical
conductivity of the composite when the filler concentration is below the percolation
threshold. However, when the filler concentration exceeds the percolation thresh-
old, the tunneling conduction and/or field emission conduction plays leading roles
in the composite conductivity in addition to the direct contact of functional fillers. In
zone C, the filler concentration is much higher than the percolation threshold, and
fillers can be approximately regarded as totally contacting each other.
It should be noted that the patterns of relationship curve between electrical
resistivity and filler concentration have some difference for different functional fillers.
Generally, fibrous fillers, having a high aspect ratio, can modify the electrical con-
ductivity of ISSC at a much lower concentration level compared with particle fillers.
6.2.2 Current Progress of Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete
Up to now, much effort has been devoted into the research on ISSC. In 1989,
Chung added a moderate amount of short-cutting CF into the concrete and found
some correlation between the electrical resistivity and interior structure of the
concrete. This marks the beginning of smart CF concrete [45]. Thereafter, the
concept of “self-diagnosing” was first proposed by Muto in 1992 [46], stated as a
concrete possessing the ability of sensing its own damage. Later in 1993, Chung put
forward the concept of “smart concrete” and conducted a systematic study on smart
concrete for thirty years [47]. Then, the Seebeck effect of CF-reinforced concrete
(CFRC) was found by Li in 1998; i.e., an electrical field gradient could be induced
by the temperature gradient. CFRC expressed as a stable and repeatable linear

relation between voltage and temperature difference, as illustrated in Fig. 6.8. With
different contents of CF, the thermoelectric power can reach up to 18 µv/°C [25].
All of these make it possible for fabricating a temperature sensor by CF
cement-based material [48]. Subsequent research found that a positive temperature
coefficient or a negative temperature coefficient could generate within the con-
ductive concrete and they may alter the development tendency along with different
conductive fillers [49, 50]. Moreover, a series investigation on various ISSC toward
the mechanical properties, measurement methods, and environment influence were
carried out. For example, Fu et al. [51], Li et al. [52], and Han et al. [53, 54]
observed that the changes in electrical resistance of ISSC with 0.51 vol.%
ozone-treated CF, 400 wt% steel slag, 15 vol.% carbon black (CB), and 22 vol.%
NP can reach 45, 50, 55, and 80%, respectively, under monotonic compression.
Wen and Chung observed that the variation between the Seebeck voltage and the
temperature difference of concrete with CFs is linear and essentially identical during
heating and cooling (as shown in Fig. 6.8) [55]. The concrete with CFs has
excellent thermal self-sensing ability, and its Seebeck coefficient can reach 17 V/K
[49]. Meehan et al. found that the ISSC with CF is effective for sensing impact
damage under impact stress [56]. Hou and Lynch investigated the sensing property
of the concrete with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber only, a hybrid of PVA fiber and
SF, and a hybrid of PVA fiber and CF. They observed that the concrete exhibits
good self-sensing property, i.e., a strong linear relationship between electrical
resistivity and mechanical strain. In addition, they used the ISSC to fabricate bridge
pier for self-sensing strain [57]. Teomete and Kocyigit tested the correlations
between the electrical resistance change and tensile strain of self-sensing concrete
with SF during split tensile test. They observed that the gage factors of self-sensing
concrete with SF are as high as 5195, which can sense its strain and damage [58].
Reza et al. investigated the sensing behavior of concrete with CF under compact
tension. They observed that this concrete can be used to provide direct insight on
the development and the mechanisms of the fracture process, and to provide an
estimate of the length of a propagating crack [59]. Wang et al. tested four-point
Fig. 6.8 Variation in the

Seebeck voltage (with copper
as the reference) and the
temperature difference during
heating and cooling for
concrete. Reprinted from Ref.
[55], Copyright 1999, with
bending beams fabricated with the CF concrete and evaluated the relationship
between electrical property and fatigue life under cyclic flexural loading. The test
results indicated that the CF concrete can be used to monitor their fatigue damage
extent and predict their fatigue life [60]. Hong and Wang used the ISSC with SF as
sensing layers to fabricate sandwich concrete beams and tested the self-sensing
behavior of the beams under four-point bending. The self-sensing SF concrete
layers are capable of real-time health monitoring of compressive and tensile region
of the beams [61]. Ou and Han used self-sensing concrete with a hybrid of CF and
CB to develop standard sensors and embedded these sensors into compressive zone
of the pure bending region of reinforced concrete beams and the center of concrete
columns. They found that these concrete components are capable of self-sensing
compressive strain under four-point bending and uniaxial compression [16].
The ISSC possesses many advantages including high sensitivity (stress/strain
sensitivity can reach 0.16 MPa−1/1500 [53]), good mechanical property, long ser-
vice time, and easy installation and maintenance. However, the ISSC with multi-
components, multiphases, and multiscales serves under complex environments, so
the sensing repeatability and stability are needed to be improved. In addition,
micro- or nanoscale functional fillers, especially for fibrous fillers, are inclined to
entanglement and agglomerate, which turns their dispersion in concrete into a
critical issue [62, 63]. To solve this problem, physical dispersion methods (i.e.,
high-speed shear or ultrasonic dispersion), chemical dispersion methods (i.e., sur-
factant or dispersant), and the combination of them were widely studied in the past
few years [30, 64–67]. It should point out that an appropriate dispersion method can
not only increase the electrical properties of concrete, but also improve the strength
and durability [30, 64–67].
6.2.3 Applications of Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete
Owing to the capability of reflecting its inside stress, strain, crack, and damage, the
ISSC has potential application in the fields of structural health monitoring
(SHM) and traffic detection.
(1) Structural health monitoring
As shown in Fig. 6.9, the ISSC can be used in bulk, coating, sandwich, bonded,
and embedded forms for SHM. Here, the bulk form means that the component is
wholly made of ISSC, the coating form means that one surface of a component is
covered with a layer of ISSC, and the sandwich form refers to the top and bottom
surfaces of a component both covered with ISSC layers. Bonded form means that
the small sensor made of ISSC was attached to the concrete component using glue.
The embedded form means that the ISSC is prefabricated into standard small-size
sensors, which are as small as or a little bigger than conventional coarse aggregate
[13, 68]. Compared with the bulk form, the later four forms can achieve higher
Beam Beam
In coating form
In bulk form
Column or
pier
Beam
Ring
Beam
Beam
In embedded form Beam
In sandwich form
Beam
Column
In bonded form
Fig. 6.9 Typical application forms of ISSC for SHM (the parts in red represent the ISSC).
monitoring efficiency and lower construction cost, in which the ISSC only lies in
key positions of concrete component. Meanwhile, negative impacts on human
safety and the corrosion of embedded steel which caused by the electrical con-
ductivity of ISSC can be avoided once in these forms [69]. The advantage of the
bulk form against others, especially the coating and sandwich forms, is the simpler
construction technology [57, 70–75]. Previous researches on the application of
ISSC for SHM in different forms are summarized in Table 6.3, respectively.
(2) Traffic detection
As shown in Fig. 6.10, the pavements or bridge sections integrated with the
ISSC can detect a lot of important traffic data such as traffic flow rates, vehicular
speed, and traffic density and even achieve weighing in motion (as shown in
Table 6.4). In addition, the changes in sensing signal caused by the polarization and
the environmental factors (including temperature and humidity) are continuous and
gradual, while those caused by vehicular loading are transient and abrupt. As a
result, the former can be filtered out in the post-processing of measured signals, and
Table 6.3 Previous researches on ISSC in bulk form for SHM

ISSC form ISSC type Component Loading Parameters to
for SHM mode monitor
Bulk With CF ISSC beam Four-point Load
(polymer bending Deflection
concrete)
ISSC ring Parallel plate Load
[75]
loading Change in ring
diameter
With CF Reinforced ISSC beam Four-point Load in pure
[70] bending bending region
Damage in pure
bending region
With CF ISSC beam Four-point Load in
[76] bending compressive and
tensile zones
Load in
compressive and
tensile zones
With CF ISSC beam Four-point Elastic
[77] bending compressive
stress in the pure
bending region
Elastic
compressive
strain in the pure
bending region
With ISSC bridge pier Lateral Strain
PVAF loading
[57]
With CF ISSC beam Four-point Fatigue damage
[78] bending extent
With CF ISSC beam Three-point Initial load
[79] bending Elastic
deformation
Deflection
Fracture
With CNF ISSC column Compression Strain
[71]
With CNT ISSC beam Drilling Spatial damage
[19]
Coating With CF Concrete beam cast ISSC on its Three-point Compressive
[80] top or bottom bending strain of beam
surface
Tensile strain of
beam surface
With CF Concrete/reinforced concrete Four-point Load
[81] beam cast ISSC on its bottom bending
(continued)

Strain
With CF Concrete beam cast ISSC on its Four-point Load
[82] top or bottom bending Deformation
Damage degree
With SF Reinforced concrete beam cast Four-point Damage
[61] ISSC on its top or bottom bending
With CF Concrete beam cast ISSC on its Four-point Damage
[71] bottom bending condition
Extent of fatigue
damage
With CF Reinforced concrete beam cast Four-point Strain
or CNF ISSC on its top or bottom bending
[74]
Sandwich With CF Concrete beam cast ISSC on its Three-point Stress of
[78] top and bottom bending compressive and
tensile zones
within elastic
stage
Strain of
compressive and
tensile zones
within elastic
stage
With SF Concrete beam cast ISSC on its Four-point Loading of
[61] top and bottom bending compressive and
tensile region
Deflection of
compressive and
tensile region
Strain of
compressive and
tensile region
With CF Reinforced concrete beam cast Four-point Load
[83] ISSC on its top and bottom bending Deflection
Crack
Damage extent
With CF Concrete beam cast ISSC on its Three-point Loading process
[84] top and bottom bending Deflection
Bonded With CF Reinforced concrete beam cast Four-point Strain
or CNF ISSC on its top, bottom or side bending
[74]
Embedded With Reinforced concrete beam Four-point Stress
hybrid CF embedded with ISSC in its bending Strain
(continued)

and CB compressive zone of the pure
[85] bending region
Concrete column embedded Uniaxial Stress
with ISSC into its center compression Strain
With CF Concrete cylinder embedded Compression Strain
[86] with ISSC along its longitudinal Crack
axis
Concrete beam embedded with Four-point Strain
ISSC into its bottom bending Crack
With CF Concrete beam embedded with Four-point Stress
[87] ISSC into its bottom bending Strain
Crack
With CB Concrete column embedded Compression Strain
[88, 89] with ISSC into its center
Reinforced concrete beam Four-point Strain
embedded with ISSC into bending
uniaxial compression,
combined compression and
shear, and uniaxial tension
zones
With Concrete column embedded Compression Force
hybrid CF with ISSC into its center
and GP
[90]
With CNT Reinforced concrete beam Three-point Crack
[91] embedded with ISSC into its bending propagation
tensile region Damage
accumulation
With CF Reinforced concrete beam Four-point Strain
or CNF embedded with ISSC into it bending
[74]
they will not influence the detection accuracy. Therefore, the self-sensing pave-
ments integrated with the ISSC feature excellent robustness to polarization inside
the ISSC and changes in external environment [92, 93].
6.3 Non-Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete
By now, researchers have developed several types of NISSC by integrating various

sensing elements and sensing materials, which mainly include NISSC integrated
with electric resistance strain gauges, NISSC integrated with optical fibers, NISSC
6.3 Non-Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete 97
Fig. 6.10 Schematic diagram of ISSC pavement structure for vehicle detection [17]. Reprinted
from Ref. [17], Copyright 2014, with permission from Elsevier
Table 6.4 Previous researches on ISSC for traffic detection

Type of Application style of ISSC Test Detection
ISSC goal
With CF ISSC roller Rotate a car tire on the Traffic
[94] roller in lab monitoring
Weighing in
motion
With CF ISSC strip component Test ISSC response by Vehicle
[95] integrated into pavement using testing machine in lab speed
detection
With CF ISSC strip component Test ISSC response by Weighting in
[96] integrated into pavement using testing machine in lab motion
With ISSC strip component Test ISSC response by Vehicle
hybrid integrated into pavement using testing machine in lab speed
CF and Vehicle
CB [97] weight
Traffic flow
detection
Vehicle-type
judgment
With ISSC strip component Perform road test at a road Traffic flow
CNT integrated into a pavement test research facility with a monitoring
[93, 98] section at the Minnesota Road five-axle semitrailer truck
Research Facility and a van
With NP ISSC arrays integrated into a Perform road test at outdoor Passing
[99] pavement laboratory with a car vehicle
detection
integrated with piezoelectric materials, NISSC integrated with SMAs, and NISSC
integrated with self-diagnosing polymer composites.

with Electric Resistance Strain Gauges
Electric resistance strain gauges (also called strain gages) are sensors whose elec-
trical resistance changes with applied force or deformation. The strain can be
measured by detecting changes in electrical resistance. Commonly, electric resis-
tance strain gauges are attached on the concrete surface, embedded into the concrete
or installed on reinforcement bars within the concrete structure for strain monitoring
[100]. Strain gauges were applied in the Val-Alain Bridge, crossing over Henri
River in Québec, Canada, at critical locations to record internal strain data. Similar
strain readings were obtained from both strain gauges and optical fiber sensors
during field static testing [101]. The electric resistance strain gauges are the most
mature and widely used sensors of the electrical measurement techniques for
concrete structures, because they are easy to install, having lower cost and excellent
reproducibility of sensing property. However, the conventional resistance strain
gauges exhibit a low sensitivity (i.e., gauge factor), ranging from 2 to 5, and are
easily affected by electromagnetic interference. In addition, the electric resistance
strain gauges are prone to drift, making them unsuitable for long-term monitoring
[100, 102].

with Optical Fibers
Optical fibers can be incorporated into concrete to measure strain, displacement,

moisture, corrosion, crack, and temperature through measuring the changes in
intensity, phase, polarization, wavelength, or transit time of light inside the fibers
[103–105]. Lau et al. embedded optical Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors into
concrete structures. The schematic illustration of the FBG system for strain mea-
surement is shown in Fig. 6.11. The embedded FBG sensor can measure strain
accurately in different locations and provide information of the structure subjected
to debond or microcrack failure. As shown in Figs. 6.12 and 6.13, the FBG sensors
can monitor the strain condition of the concrete and detect failure earlier than the
strain gauge. The strain measured by the FBG sensors is much more sensitive to the
surface crack of concrete and physical condition change [106]. Lee et al. used
optical fiber sensors for the measurement of crack-tip opening displacements of
concrete structures [107]. Yeo et al. embedded optical fiber-based humidity sensors
in concrete and used them for monitoring moisture changes in concrete [108]. Fuhr
Fig. 6.11 Schematic illustration of the FBG system for strain measurement. Reprinted from Ref.
Fig. 6.12 Strain measured

from the FBG sensor and
strain gauge for beams SB-S1
and SB-S2. Reprinted from
and Huston presented optical fiber corrosion sensors embedded into roadway and
bridge structures. The degradation of reinforced concrete due to corrosion can be
detected by these sensors [103]. Childs et al. embedded FBG sensors into concrete
cylinders to monitor cracking depth [109]. Zou et al. embedded optical fiber sensors
Fig. 6.13 Strain measured

from the FBG sensor and
strain gauge for beam SB-S3.
Fig. 6.14 Experimental

schematic diagram for
monitoring concrete cylinder
internal heat generated by
cement hydration process.
into concrete structure for sensing the temperature change and concrete hydration
process during the early age of hydration. A schematic diagram of this sensor is
shown in Fig. 6.14. Figures 6.15 and 6.16 show that the concrete temperature
measured by the thermocouple generates a higher peak temperature and drops at a
faster rate compared with that measured by the optical fiber sensors. This is mainly
due to the optical fiber temperature sensor which can provide the very small point
sensing and will be less susceptible to disturbances [110]. Glišić and Inaudi
embedded optical fiber sensors into fresh concrete to monitor early-age deformation
of concrete [111]. Kuang et al. employed plastic optical fibers to detect initial cracks,
monitor post-crack vertical deflection, and detect failure cracks in concrete beams
subjected to flexural loading [112]. Bernini et al. attached single-mode optical fiber
sensors to the concrete beam in order to detect both tensile and compressive strains.
Fig. 6.15 Temperature

variation during the early age
of the concrete hydration
experiment with
water-to-cement ratios is 0.4,
0.5, and 0.6 using the optical
fiber temperature sensors.
Fig. 6.16 Temperature

variation during the early age
of the concrete hydration
experiment with
water-to-cement ratios is 0.4,
0.5, and 0.6 using the
thermocouples. Reprinted
from Ref. [110], Copyright
2011, with permission from
Elsevier
The sensors are also able to detect the formation of a crack in the midsection of the
concrete beam [113]. Zhou et al. integrated optical fiber sensors in fiber-reinforced
polymer and embedded them into concrete pavement to monitor the 3D strain dis-
tribution of concrete [114]. Inaudi et al. applied optical fiber sensors in many concrete
structures including bridges, tunnels, and dams to evaluate the curvature variations
and calculate the horizontal and vertical displacements. They found the optical fiber
sensors can give useful information both during the construction phases and in the
long term [115]. Twenty-six optical fiber sensors were embedded in the Horsetail
Falls Bridge in Oregon monitoring the strain for two years. The sensors have a high
sensitivity as demonstrated by the resolution of less than 0.1 microstrain when several
dynamic tests were performed on the bridge [116]. Sixteen optical fiber sensors were
embedded in reinforced concrete foundation piling for strain and temperature
monitoring during the whole construction phase of a 13-story building at Bankside,

London SE1, UK. The sensors can successfully monitor the thermal tensile strains of
the steel rebars and strain distribution of the foundation piles through the concrete
curing [117]. Optical fiber sensors were embedded into the newly casted concrete to
monitor the shrinkage of the newly poured concrete and the long-term new-old
concrete interaction of the Luzzone Dam in Switzerland. The sensors could monitor
the deformation of the dam over years of operation. The monitoring results were
compatible with finite element simulations [118]. Kaya et al. embedded eight optical
fiber water sensors in different concrete bars to detect the presence of water inside the
concrete. They found the sensors show instant responses. The demonstrated detection
sensitivity is 10 ml water when it is poured to the surface of a concrete bar with
approximate dimensions of 30 cm 5 cm 5 cm and the signal-to-noise ratio is
86. The sensors are highly reversible when tested in wet–dry cycles for as long as
43 h, and they are immune to temperature variations in the concrete [119]. Wan and
Leung embedded optical fiber sensors into a concrete beam to monitor crack. The test
results were in good agreement with theoretical model. The low sensitivity at very
small crack openings indicates that the sensor is unlikely to give ‘false alarms’ when
very fine and harmless cracks start to form in the structure [120]. Kesavan et al.
embedded optical fiber sensors in reinforced concrete beam with size of 150 mm
200 mm 1500 mm under four-point bending load to monitor strain. The results
show that the strain responses from optical fiber sensors and electrical resistance
strain gages are 7% variation [121]. Optical fiber sensors were embedded into con-
crete deck slab to monitor internal strain of Cookshire-Eaton Bridge, Quebec,
Canada. The measured tensile strain in concrete is in agreement with the visually
inspected testing for the development or opening of cracks after the bridge in service
for approximately 7 months [122]. Inaudi and Vurpillot reported their work on
application of optical fiber sensors in monitoring the displacements of the fresh
concrete during the setting phase and the long-term deformations of concrete high-
way bridge, Versoix, Switzerland. They also applied the optical fiber sensors in the
Lutrive Highway Bridge in Switzerland to measure the variation in vertical bridge
displacements. The results obtained were then compared with the displacements
obtained through an optical leveling system. A discrepancy of less than 7% was
obtained between the two measuring systems [123].
Optical fibers exhibit several advantages such as lightweight, small physical
dimensions, inherent strength [118, 124], high sensitivity, flexibility, embeddabil-
ity, multiplexity, and electrical or magnetic interference immunity, joining with low
transmission loss. In addition, they can provide distributed sensing over distances of
up to 1 m. However, optical fibers are not suitable for directly embedding in
concrete, and they need to be carefully handled and protected to prevent damage as
they are incorporated into concrete structures for reliable performance. The damage
is difficult to repair when optical fiber sensors are embedded in concrete. The
connection parts which connect the embedded optical fiber with the outer data
recording system are also weak elements [125]. Their durability is not sufficient for
long-term monitoring due to the optical fiber aging.

with Piezoelectric Materials
Piezoelectric materials can be classified into three categories: piezoelectric ceramics

(PZT), piezoelectric polymers, and piezoelectric composites [126, 127].
Piezoelectric materials exhibit the sensing ability resulting from piezoelectric effect;
i.e., a surface charge is generated in response to an applied mechanical stress (direct
effect), and conversely, a mechanical strain is produced in response to an applied
electric field (converse effect) [128]. The piezoelectric materials are very sensitive
in detecting stress, temperature, and crack of concrete. Wen et al. successfully
monitored the temperature and stress of concrete under static or quasi-static states
by embedding piezoelectric materials into concrete [129]. Soh et al. employed
surface-bonded PZT patches to carry out the crack and damage detection during the
destructive load testing of a prototype-reinforced concrete bridge [130]. Saafi and
Sayyah attached an array of PZT sensors at a concrete structure to detect and
localize disbonds and delaminations of reinforcement from concrete structure [131].
Song et al. detected an internal crack of 6.1-m-long reinforced concrete bridge
bent-cap by imbedding PZT inside one end of the concrete [132]. Zhao et al.
embedded PZT transducers in different positions (as shown in Fig. 6.17) of a
concrete beam to monitor cracks [133]. Xu prepared 2–2-type and 1–3-type
concrete-based PZT piezoelectric composite sensors by cutting-casting method to
(a) Real image
(b) Schematic diagram

Fig. 6.17 Arrangement of PZT transducers in the concrete beam. Reprinted from Ref. [133], with
permission from the authors. a Real image; b schematic diagram
monitor the temperature, stress, and cracks of concrete structures adhered and
embedded with these sensors [134]. Yokoyama and Harada used the piezoelectric
polymer film (PVDF) to monitor the initiation and propagation of cracks and detect
damage of reinforced concrete beams. The PVDF films are attached on side surface
and bottom surface of the concrete beam, as shown in Fig. 6.18. Figures 6.19 and
6.20 provide the information on crack progress at the side surface and the bottom
surface of the beam, respectively [135]. Meng and Yi used PVDF-based stress
gauge for stress measurement of concrete under impact [136]. Song et al. embedded
a waterproof piezoelectric patch into a small concrete block to develop smart
aggregates. The smart aggregates were embedded into different types of concrete
structures including concrete bridge bent-caps, concrete cylinders, and a concrete
Fig. 6.18 PVDF films attached on the concrete beam. Reprinted from Ref. [135], with permission
from authors
Fig. 6.19 Load and output

voltage of PVDF film
attached at the side surface.
with permission from authors
Fig. 6.20 Load and output

voltage of PVDF film
attached at the bottom surface.
with permission from authors
frame. The self-sensing concrete can perform three major tasks: early-age concrete
strength monitoring, and impact detection, which has the potential to be applied to
the comprehensive monitoring of concrete structures at their earliest stages and
throughout their lifetime [137, 138]. Tseng and Wang bonded PZT transducers onto
concrete beam to detect the presence of damage and monitor the damage pro-
gression in high-frequency band. The testing results are in agreement with the
numerical simulations using finite element analysis [139]. Li et al. bonded PZT
plate between cement sand paste and encapsulated by sealant to fabricate PZT
sensors. They embedded the sensors into concrete road to monitor the person flow.
They found the sensors can accurately respond to the pulse loadings induced by
walking person [140]. Yan et al. embedded PZT smart aggregates into concrete
shear wall structure to evaluate damage. They found that the PZT smart aggregates
effectively evaluated the damage status and detected the precautionary point to
predict the structural failure [141]. Zhang et al. employed cement-based PZT
sensors in concrete road to detect the real-time pressure induced by the traffic flow.
A 10 ton truck and a 6.8 ton van tests show that vehicle weight-in-motion can be
predicted by the cement-based PZT sensor [142].
The piezoelectric materials possess advantages of high sensitivity, high reso-
nance frequency, high stability, etc. However, the piezoelectric materials can only
produce electrical response to the dynamic mechanics. One disadvantage of
piezoelectric materials is that they cannot be used for truly static measurements. In
addition, the piezoelectric materials also show disadvantages of unfavorable com-
patibility and poor durability with the concrete structures [143].

with Shape Memory Alloys
SMAs can work as sensors because their electrical resistance is dependent on their
strain (the electric resistance is increased with applied tension strain). SMAs can be
used to monitor the strain (or deformation) of concrete and estimate the crack width
in concrete [132, 144]. For example, Song et al. conducted bending test on concrete
beams reinforced with SMA cables. It was found that the electrical resistance value
of the SMA cables experienced large and repeatable changes with the opening and
closing of the crack, indicating that electrical resistance can be used to monitor
crack width [132]. Liu studied the sensing property of SMA wires. The test results
showed that the fracture in electric resistance almost linearly changes with strain,
and the relationship between fracture of electric resistance and stress is similar to
the relationship between the stress and strain. He also investigated the sensing
behavior of concrete beams reinforced with SMA wires. The change rate of SMA
resistance has a good linear relationship with the mid-span deflection of the beam.
The embedded SMA wires can monitor strain and deformation of concrete struc-
tures [144]. Song et al. embedded SMA cables in concrete beam to monitor crack
width. The crack width was estimated by monitoring the electric resistance change
in the SMA cables. During three-point bending test of the beam, the electrical
resistance value of the SMA cable changes up to 27% [145].
The SMAs present excellent deformation behavior and a very good fatigue
resistance [146], good durability, and corrosion resistance, while they have lower
sensitivity (i.e., gauge factor) ranging from 3.8 to 6.2 and higher cost [144]. The
inertance of heating and cooling can limit SMAs’ use in civil structures [146].

with Self-Diagnosing Polymer Composites
Self-diagnosing (or self-monitoring) polymer composites contain an electrical

conductive phase such as CF (short CF or continuous CF) and conductive powder
(e.g., graphite powder, CB) in the polymer matrix. The external force can lead to
regular change in electrical resistivity of self-diagnosing polymer composites, so
they have the abilities to monitor strain (or deformation), crack, and damage of
concrete by measuring electrical resistance [7, 147–149]. The polymer composites
are then embedded/attached into/at concrete structures as sensing elements. The
sensing mechanism of these polymer composites is similar to the self-sensing
concrete discussed in this paper. However, the polymer matrix-based composite still
works as embedded sensor, while the self-sensing concrete itself works as the
sensor. For example, Inada et al. fabricated fiber-reinforced self-diagnosing poly-
mer composites with the ability to memorize damage history and bonded carbon
particle self-diagnosing film sensors (as shown in Fig. 6.21a) on the concrete
surface to detect cracks and measure crack width of the reinforced concrete bridge
pier columns under quasi-static cyclic lateral loading. As shown in Fig. 6.22, the
variation in electrical resistance of the sensors increases almost linearly against the
crack width. The damage of concrete structures can be detected through confir-
mation of the relationship between the extent of damage and the variation in
electrical conductivity of self-diagnosis polymer composites. They also succeeded
(a) Film type sensor (b) Rode type sensors
Fig. 6.21 Schematic drawing of the carbon particle self-diagnosing sensors [6]. a Film-type
sensor; b rode-type sensors
Fig. 6.22 Variation in

electrical resistance values of
sensors against the load [6]
in employing a fiber-reinforced self-diagnosing rod-type sensor (as shown in

Fig. 6.21b) to memorize the concrete column crack widths [7]. Sugita et al.
embedded CF and glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites into concrete struc-
tures as reinforcement and sensing materials. They observed that the electrical
resistance characteristics of reinforced concrete change along with changing loads.
A permanent residual electrical resistance could be observed after the removal of
load, and its change is dependent on the maximum load applied. Monitoring
changes in electrical resistance during and after loading is thus a promising method
for anticipating the fracture of the reinforced concrete [148]. Muto et al. stated that
the self-diagnosis CF and glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites can be used to
give early warnings of catastrophic failure of concrete structures and monitor high
values of strain. They also embedded self-diagnosis polymer material grid in the
20th floor slab of the skyscraper to detect the occurrence of cracks in concrete
[147]. Yang et al. fabricated self-diagnosis hybrid CF-reinforced polymer (HCFRP)
sensors. These sensors can monitor the whole loading procedure of concrete
structures with high sensitivity, including the elastic deformation, the yielding of
reinforcing steel bars, and the initiation and propagation of cracks in concrete.
Figure 6.23 shows the schematic global and distributed sensing of the HCFRP
sensors with multigauges and multielectrodes. The electrical resistance measure-
ment of the full length of the HCFRP sensors provides a global monitoring for
structures. The HCFRP sensors were bonded to the bottom and side surfaces of the
existing bridge to monitor its local condition (as shown in Fig. 6.24) [149].
The most obvious advantage of self-diagnosing polymer composites is that they
work as both structural materials and sensing materials. However, the sensing
repeatability and stability of these composites are heavily affected by aging of
polymer matrix. In addition, the self-diagnosing polymer composites exhibit a
relatively low sensitivity ranging from 30 to 40 [150].
Fig. 6.23 Schematic illustration of integrative and distributed sensing of HCFRP sensors.
Reprinted from Ref. [149], with permission from IOP publishing
Fig. 6.24 Tensile results of some zones of HCFRP sensors with a gauge length of 1.5 m.
6.4 Summary 109
6.4 Summary
The self-sensing concrete is a branch of smart and multifunctional concrete, which

was proposed most early and has been systematically and deeply investigated. The
self-sensing concrete, consisting of ISSC and NISSC to detect/monitor the per-
formance and state of concrete during their service periods, has attracted increasing
interests due to the advanced concepts and predominant behaviors. The self-sensing
concrete, especially the ISSC, possesses many advantages including high sensi-
tivity, good mechanical property, natural compatibility, identical life span with
concrete, and easy installation and maintenance. In addition, the self-sensing con-
crete has potential to achieve monitoring of concrete durability such as weathering
action, chemical attack, and abrasion. It therefore has a wide application foreground
in civil infrastructures, such as high-rise buildings, highway, bridges, runways for
airport, continuous slab-type sleepers for high-speed trains, dam, and nuclear power
plant, and especially has great potential in the fields of structural health monitoring,
traffic detection, and border/military security.
Although self-sensing concrete has emerged more than three decades, many
efforts are needed to promote its development. Under harsh external environment,
the electrical properties of self-sensing concrete are unstable and the measurement
accuracy is sharply reduced. The sensing behaviors of self-sensing concrete under
complex stress condition should be further investigated. Besides, optimization of
functional fillers, influence of aggregates, and selection of dispersant methods are
also required to be deeply explored.
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Chapter 7
Self-Healing Concrete
Abstract Self-healing concrete can timely heal the cracks in itself through auto-
genous or autonomous approaches, which can increase the durability and regain
strength of concrete. The autogenous self-healing is due to further hydration of
cement/other binder and carbonation of calcium hydroxide. The autonomous
self-healing is realized by using such special techniques as the capsule method, the
vascular method, the electrodeposition method, the bacterial method, the shape
memory alloy method, and the induction energy/microwave method. The
self-healing of cracks in concrete is beneficial for low maintenance cost and long
service life of infrastructures.
Keywords Concrete Self-healing Autogenous Autonomous Crack
7.1 Introduction
Cracks inevitably exist in concrete due to chemical shrinkage, dry shrinkage,

autogenous shrinkage, the relatively low tensile strength, and so on. Durability of
concrete is impaired by these cracks since they provide an easy path for the
transportation of liquids and gasses that potentially contain harmful substances. If
microcracks grow and reach the reinforcement, not only the concrete itself may be
attacked, but also the reinforcing steel bars will be corroded. Therefore, it is
important to control the crack width and to heal the cracks as soon as possible. The
regular and planned inspection rounds are necessary for concrete buildings.
However, proper treatment and maintenance costs of concrete structures are quite
high nowadays. It has been estimated that, in Europe, around 50% of the annual
construction budget is spent on rehabilitation and repair of the existing infras-
tructures [1]. Therefore, the self-healing of cracks in concrete contributes to a low
maintenance costs and a longer service life of concrete structures [2–5].
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to two types of self-healing
concrete including autogenous and autonomous self-healing concrete, with atten-
tions to their principles, properties, current progress, and applications.

118 7 Self-Healing Concrete
Table 7.1 Summary of autogenous self-healing concrete

Types of autogenous Conditions of self-healing Self-healing Results Reference
self-healing concrete Crack width Cure Cure product
condition time
Fly ash–cement system Microcrack Sealed – Hydration of Heal the [6]
from shrinkage cure fly ash microcrack
Engineered cementitious Average Wet–dry Five CaCO3 Recovered [7]
composites (ECC) 60 lm cycles cycles
(10d)
High-performance 5-15 lm In water 70d – Recover [8]
concrete (HPC) 20 °C initial
stiffness
Fiber-reinforced concrete <100 lm In water 28d CaCO3 Repaired [9]
7.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Healing Concrete
Self-healing concrete, also called self-repairing concrete, is mostly defined as the

ability of concrete to repair its cracks autogenously or autonomously. Self-healing
concrete can be classified into two categories: autogenous self-healing concrete and
autonomous self-healing concrete. The autogenous self-healing mainly depends on
further hydration of cement/other binder, and carbonation of calcium hydroxide.
However, the autonomous self-healing concrete depends on manual methods.
Tables 7.1 and 7.2 summarize the two types of self-healing concrete, respectively.
7.3 Autogenous Self-Healing Concrete
The autogenous self-healing property is an ancient and famous phenomenon for

concrete. Due to (a) carbonation of calcium hydroxide, (b) blocking cracks by
impurities in the water and loose concrete particles resulting from crack spalling,
(c) expansion of the hydrated concrete matrix in crack flanks, or (d) ongoing
hydration of clinker minerals, cracks may heal after some time [16]. Most
researchers believed that further hydration of unhydrated concrete components
causes seal-healing of young concrete, and the formation of calcium carbonate is
the most likely responsible for self-healing at later ages. In addition, Edvardsen
found that the most potential time for autogenous healing of concrete exists in early
age [17]. Recent studies mainly concentrate on fly ash–cement systems, ECC, HPC,
and fiber-reinforced concrete which have one or more characteristics benefitting for
self-healing process, such as continuing hydration of fly ash, low water/cement
ratio, and a large quantity of unhydrated cement.
Table 7.2 Summary of autonomous self-healing concrete
Types of autonomous Failure mode Conditions of self-healing Results Reference
self-healing concrete Cure Cure Other
condition time
Capsule method Load-induced crack In air 24 h MEYCO (healing Regain 50% of original [10]
220 lm agent) strength and stiffness
Vascular method Regain its initial peak In air 24 h Healing agent Under second load new [11]
7.3 Autogenous Self-Healing Concrete
strength; crack formation

Crack mouth opening
displacement 0.3 mm
Electrodeposition Load-induced crack 0.4– In 28– Constant electrical Close concrete cracks [12]
method 0.6 mm solution 140d current
Bacterial method Break to pieces In tap 8d Alkali-resistance Miner-like precipitates on [13]
water spore-forming bacteria crack surface
SMA method Static loading test In air – SMA Deflection reversed after [14]
unloading
Induction – In air – Conductive fillers and Recover cracks [15]
energy/microwave electrical current
method
119
7.3.1 Self-Healing High-Strength/High-Performance

Concrete
Concrete with low water/cement ratio, i.e., high-strength concrete (HSC), usually
has large amount of unhydrated cement particles, which is very important to heal
cracks. HSC/HPC under different healing conditions, crack widths, and
water/cement ratios has been investigated. Jacobsen et al. studied self-healing of
freeze/thaw cracks in concrete after subsequent storage of deteriorated specimens in
water for three months by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray
Energy-Dispersive Spectroscopy (XEDS). Water/binder of the concrete is 0.40. The
results show that self-healing gives a substantial recovery of the frequency and
reduced cracks from 1–10 lm to smaller than 5 lm, but only a small recovery in
compressive strength [18]. In addition, the self-healing products include C-S-H,
calcium hydroxide plate crystals, and ettringite. Jacobsen and Sellevold performed a
further study and found that the degree of self-healing varies with concrete com-
position and degree of deterioration at stop of freeze/thaw test [19]. Reinhardt and
Jooss also explored the self-healing property of HSC when crack width is between
0.05 and 0.20 mm and temperature is between 20 and 80 °C. The results indicate
that smaller cracks do heal faster than greater ones, and a higher temperature favors
a faster self-healing process [20]. Granger et al. observed the self-healing property
of damaged HPC with cracks between 5 and 15 µm [8, 21]. The water/cement ratio
of the HPC is close to 0.2 so that there is 50–60% unhydrated cement. The results
show that the stiffness of deteriorated specimens recovers to the normal specimens
after stored for 10 weeks in water [21]. He et al. used concurrent algorithm-based
computer simulation system SPACE to study the self-healing of concrete. They
observed that water/cement ratio is an important factor for the self-healing capa-
bility of concrete. When the water/cement ratio is equal or more than 0.4, the
amount of unhydrated cement is limited [22]. Therefore, the self-healing capability
is also limited. Zhong and Yao studied the effect of damage degree on self-healing
of normal strength concrete and HSC [23]. They found that there is a damage
threshold both for HSC and for normal strength concrete. Under the damage
threshold, the self-healing ratio increases with damage degree. However, above the
damage threshold, the self-healing ratio decreases with damage degree. It should be
noted that the damage threshold is also related to the type of concrete. Moreover,
the damage threshold value of HSC is lower than that of normal strength concrete.
7.3.2 Self-Healing Concrete with Mineral Admixtures
Mineral admixtures, such as fly ash, blast furnace slag, chemical expansive agents,
swelling minerals, and crystalline components, also benefit to self-healing of con-
crete, which is due to their slow hydration rate or else. The schematic diagram of
self-healing approach with mineral admixtures is shown in Fig. 7.1.
7.3 Autogenous Self-Healing Concrete 121
Fig. 7.1 Self-healing

approach with mineral
admixtures [24], © by JCI—
reprinted with permission
Sahmaran et al. explored the self-healing of high-volume fly ash (0, 35 and 55%)
self-compacting concrete (SCC) by testing recovery of the mechanical and per-
meation properties [25]. When the concrete preloaded up to 90% of their ultimate
strength, SCC with fly ash lost 27% of their initial strength and SCC without fly ash
lose 19% of their initial strength. After curing in water for a month, the loss in
strengths of SCC with fly ash and SCC without fly ash reduces to 7 and 13%,
respectively. It indicated that concrete with fly ash has substantial healing, while the
self-healing of SCC without fly ash is weak. Therefore, the self-healing of SCC
with fly ash mainly is caused by the pozzolanic reactions of unhydrated fly ash.
Termkhajornkit et al. fabricated cement paste with the water/binder ratio of 1.45 by
volume and cement replaced by fly ash at the ratio of 0, 15, 25 and 50% by volume.
They concluded that fly ash–cement system has the autogenous self-healing ability
for microcracks which occur from shrinkage at early ages. They found that the
self-healing ability is from the continuing hydration of fly ash after 28d and
increases when the content of fly ash increases [6]. Qian et al. studied the
self-healing behavior of precracked fiber-reinforced strain hardening cementitious
composites incorporating blast furnace slag and limestone powder with relatively
high water/binder ratio. The self-healing degree is mainly tested by the recovery of
its deflection capacity. They found that the deflection capacity can recover about
65–105% after submerging in water for a month, and the cracks are healed by
significant amount of calcium carbonate, which is confirmed by Environmental
Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) and XEDS [26]. Tittelboom et al. explored
the influence of mixed composition on the extent of autogenous crack healing due
to continued hydration or calcium carbonate formation. They observed that cement

replacement by blast furnace slag or fly ash improves autogenous healing by
enhancing further hydration, while it does not affect the amount of calcium car-
bonate precipitation [27]. In addition, the advantageous effect is most pronounced
when blast furnace slag is used as cement substitute. Sahmaran et al. investigated
the effect of type of mineral admixtures (Class-F fly ash, Class-C fly ash, and slag)
on the self-healing. They roughly observed that ECC with Class-F fly ash, ECC
with Class-C fly ash, and ECC with slag can heal the cracks with the width of
30 lm, 50 lm, and slightly above 100 lm, respectively [28]. Huang et al. studied
self-healing of microcracks in cement paste with 66% of blast furnace slag. The
self-healing process was induced with saturated Ca(OH)2 solution. They observed
that the filling fraction of a 10 lm artificial gap can reach about 60% after healing
240 h [29]. High content of slag can increase the potential of self-healing in cement
paste. Jiang et al. investigated the effect of the addition of minerals of various
composites (i.e., silica-based materials, chemical expansive agents, swelling min-
erals, and crystalline components) on the self-healing performances of cementitious
materials [30]. They observed that cracks decrease with healing time (as shown in
Fig. 7.2) and the mortars with chemical expansive additives exhibit the highest
(a) 0d (b) 3d
(c) 7d (d) 14d

Fig. 7.2 Measurements of crack width on the surface at: a 0d, b 3d, c 7d, and d 14d. Reprinted
crack self-healing ratio when only a single mineral is added. The self-healing can be
further improved by utilizing a combination of minerals. The mortar containing
combined silica-based, swelling and crystalline components exhibits the best crack
self-healing ratio. In addition, still rather than flowing water and early-age cracks,
high pHs and high temperatures also benefit self-healing process. Pang et al.
explored the self-healing of concrete using carbonated steel slag as aggregate [31].
They observed that the maximum healing width is about 20 lm and maximum
healing length is about 5 mm. The self-healing products mainly include CaCO3, Ca
(OH)2, C-S-H, calcium-aluminate-ferrite hydrate, and amorphous silica.
7.3.3 Self-Healing Concrete with Fibers
Fibers also can help the process of self-healing of concrete [32]. The reasons
include two aspects. Firstly, fibers can bridge over the crack and act as nucleation
site to attach crystallization products. Secondly, fibers can restrict the crack width
(as shown in Fig. 7.3). The narrower the crack width, the higher the self-healing
capability of concrete. The self-healing of fiber-reinforced concrete, especially
ECC, has been widely investigated.
Homma et al. investigated the mechanical properties and morphology of crack in
fiber-reinforced self-healing concrete. They observed that many very fine poly-
ethylene (PE) fibers are bridging over the crack and crystallization products become
easy to attach to a large number of PE fibers. The tensile strength recovery rate of
hybrid fiber-reinforced self-healing concrete (HFRCC) is higher than 100% (as
shown in Fig. 7.4). This indicates that the concrete tensile strength after self-healing
can reach the first tensile strength [9].
Fig. 7.3 Self-controlled tight

crack width self-healing
approach [24], © by JCI—

between recovery rate and
residual elongation. FRCC
(SC): concrete containing
steel cord fiber, FRCC(PE):
concrete containing PE fiber,
and HFRCC: concrete
containing both steel cord and
PE fibers [9], © by JCI—
(a) Before self-healing (b) After self-healing

Fig. 7.5 Microcracks in ECC before and after self-healing. Reprinted from Ref. [7], Copyright
Yang et al. investigated the autogenous healing of ECC under wetting–drying

cycles. They found that through self-healing, crack-damaged ECC recovers 76–
100% of their initial resonant frequency value and attains a distinct rebound in
stiffness. Even for specimens deliberately predamaged with microcracks by loading
up to 3% tensile strain, the tensile strain capacity after self-healing recovers close to
100% (as shown in Fig. 7.5) [7].
Kan et al. explored the effect of crack width, wet–dry cycles, curing ages on the
self-healing of ECC, and the products and mechanism of self-healing [33, 34].
According to the experimental results, cracks with width less than 50 lm show
highly robustly self-healing. The self-healing becomes obvious after four or five
wet–dry cycles. Compared with 3-day-old samples, the 90-day-old samples have a
slight better recovery due to smaller crack width. The products of self-healing are
confirmed to be C-S-H and CaCO3, which are formed by further hydration and
carbonation. In addition, PVA fibers in ECC provide nucleation sites for healing
products that may aid in the self-healing of ECC. Yang et al. studied the
self-healing of damaged 3-day-old ECC under different self-healing conditions:
water/air cycles, water/high-temperature air cycles, 90% RH/air cycles, and sub-
mersion in water. They observed that the self-healing for these early-age specimens
shows high robustness when the preloading strain is limited to 0.3% and the
self-healing condition has water [35]. Kan and Shi also found that ECC with
multiple microcracks benefits self-healing behavior according to the experimental
results. What’s more, longer aged samples and high fly ash contribute to create
more cracks of smaller width [34]. Zhu et al. investigated autogenous self-healing
of ECC subjected to two different cyclic freeze/thaw regimes, which are water and
deicing salt freeze/thaw cycles. They observed that self-healing degree of ECC in
water freeze/thaw cycles is higher than that in deicing salt freeze/thaw cycles [36].
Based on X-ray diffraction analysis, chemical compositions of white self-healed
cracks are calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide.
7.3.4 Self-Healing Asphalt Concrete
Asphalt concrete is also a kind of material with self-healing property. With rest
periods, asphalt concrete has a potential to heal damages by closing cracks. Healing
of asphalt concrete can be found in the field, because the cracks observed in winter
time can disappear in summer time. The self-healing process includes two steps
after the crack forming: (1) wetting both surfaces of the crack and (2) molecule
diffusing from one surface to the other.
The self-healing property of asphalt concrete has been observed since 1967 [37–
40]. Bazin and Saunier found the rest periods have a beneficial effect on fatigues
and even broken asphalt concrete. The tested failure of the specimens under uni-
axial tensile loads can recover 90% of original resistance when they rest under
pressure at 25 °C [40].
The self-healing efficiency of asphalt concrete has relation to the rest tempera-
ture. Daniel and Kim studied fatigue damage and healing of asphalt mixtures [41].
They found that an increase in dynamic modulus of elasticity is observed after
damaged specimens are allowed to rest for 4 h at 20 °C or 60 °C. Moreover, the
amount of healing at 60 °C is more than that at 20 °C during the rest period (as
shown in Fig. 7.6).
The self-healing efficiency is also effected by rest time. Si et al. found that longer
rest periods result in more healing and turn in greater fatigue life [42]. The types of
binders also have influence on self-healing property. Kim et al. used dynamic
mechanical analyzer to determine the self-healing of asphalt with two different bin-
ders, AAD and AAM. Echa asphalt experiences 2-min rest periods 10 times during
each test, and the rest periods are at equal damage levels. As shown in Fig. 7.7, the
fatigue life increases due to introducing rest periods, while the improvement in fatigue
life is significant for the asphalt with binders AAM and small for the asphalt with
binders AAD [43]. This indicates that AAM has more potential for self-healing.
Fig. 7.6 Typical dynamic modulus of elasticity through fatigue damage and rest periods: a 20 °C
healing; b 60 °C healing. Reprinted from Ref. [41], Copyright 2001, with permission from ASCE
In general, the autogenous self-healing capacity of concrete is an ancient phe-

nomenon acting positively. It is acknowledged as one of the reasons explaining the
survival of many old buildings and structures. It also should be noted that the
autogenous self-healing is also limited. The methods to improve autogenous
self-healing are summarized as follow: (1) increase the amount of unhydrated
cement particles, i.e., HSC; (2) use mineral admixtures, i.e., fly ash and slag;
(3) provide proper self-healing conditions, i.e., wet–dry cycles and Ca(OH)2
solution; (4) use fibers to limit crack width and provide cores for self-healing
products; (5) provide water in inner of concrete, i.e., nanoclay [44] and superab-
sorbent polymers [45].
7.4 Autonomous Self-Healing Concrete 127
(a) Asphalt with binders AAD
(b) Asphalt with binders AAM
Fig. 7.7 Impact of rest period on fatigue life and of asphalt with binders AAD (a) and AAM
(b) (RP means rest period). Reprinted from Ref. [43], Copyright 2003, with permission from
ASCE
7.4 Autonomous Self-Healing Concrete
Autogenous healing is limited to small cracks and is only effective when water is
available, which makes it difficult to control. Nonetheless, concrete may be mod-
ified to build in autonomous crack healing [3]. Dry started to work on the auton-
omous self-healing concrete in 1994 [2]. After that, other researchers also started to
put efforts to this topic. A lot of autonomous self-healing approaches have been
proposed, and they mainly include vascular, microcapsule, electrodeposition, bac-

teria, embedding shape memory alloys, and induction energy.
7.4.1 Self-Healing Based on Vascular Method
Vascular method sequesters the healing agent in a network of hollow tubes which
connect the interior and the exterior of the structure including one-channel and
multiple-channel vascular system. When cracks appear, healing agent reveals from
the tank via the vascular into the cracks due to gravitational and capillary forces and
eventual (hydrostatic) pressure (as shown in Fig. 7.8) [11]. Finally, the cracks are
healed.
Dry first put forward the vascular method to realize self-healing in concrete [2],
and then, several other researchers also started to investigate this topic. Joseph et al.
made use of hollow glass tubes inserted in concrete beams to supply healing agent.
One end of the tubes is open to the atmosphere to supply healing agent during
testing. When the healing agent becomes depleted after concrete cracking occurred,
additional healing agent can be added via the open end to allow healing of cracks
(as shown in Fig. 7.9) [11]. Their research results show that both primary and
secondary healing occurs during the first and second loading cycles, respectively.
Sangadji and Schlangen built a self-healing system composed of porous concrete
core acting as “tube,” sensors, and injection (as shown in Fig. 7.10). When cracks
are formed and detected by sensors, healing agents can be infused into porous
network so as to heal the cracks. The results show that the cracks are healed and
strength regained [46].
Huang et al. studied the self-healing efficiency of concrete by using a vascular
system to transport saturated Ca(OH)2 solution. Compared with the self-healing by
using capsules, the vascular system has higher efficiency of self-healing due to
continuous supply of saturated Ca(OH)2 solution. The restoration of ultrasonic
Fig. 7.8 Schematic illustration of the main forces acting on an internally encapsulated healing
agent
Fig. 7.9 Testing arrangement for self-healing experiments on notched beams. Reprinted from
Ref. [11], with permission from ICE Publishing
Fig. 7.10 A conceptual

design and application of
porous network concrete [46],
© by JCI—reprinted with
permission
pulse velocity through the samples can regain about 80% of the original values
when saturated Ca(OH)2 solution is supplied continuously for 250 h [47].
Self-healing based on vascular method has advantage of repeatability which can
heal cracks for many times due to continuous self-healing. However, the diameters
of vascular are usually no less than 3 mm which may lead to harmful effect on
mechanical properties of concrete.
7.4.2 Self-Healing Based Microcapsule Method
Self-healing-based microcapsule method is embedding microcapsule (with healing

agent) and catalyst (selectable) into concrete to realize self-healing. The autono-
mous healing process can be divided into two steps as illustrated in Fig. 7.11.
Firstly, the healing agent is released into the crack surfaces through capillary action
or gravity once the container is ruptured by the propagating crack. Secondly,
chemical reaction takes place between the healing agent and host material to bond
the crack planes together and alter the shape of the crack tip. Finally, the crack
propagation may be held back, and material properties such as stiffness, fracture
toughness, and strength may be recovered.
Fig. 7.11 Basic method of the microcapsule approach. a Cracks form in the matrix; b the
microcapsules rupture, releasing the healing agent into the crack plane; c the healing agent contacts
the catalyst, bonding the crack faces closed; d ESEM image showing a ruptured microcapsule.
Reprinted by permission from Nature Publishing Group: Ref. [48], copyright 2011
The research on capsule-based self-healing method becomes flourishing after

White published the paper about self-healing in polymer-based materials in Nature
in 2001 [48]. The self-healing based on microcapsules is also a kind of promising
method to restore the strength and durability of concrete structures. The researches
mainly focused on fabricated suitable microcapsules, appropriate content of
microcapsules, and the self-healing efficiency. The fabricated suitable microcap-
sules should possess acceptable size, shell thickness, healing agent, survive ability
from mixing, good interfacial adhesive power and compatibility with concrete
matrix, and favorable sensitivity to cracks.
Mihashi et al. used urea–formaldehyde microcapsules (diameter 20–70 lm)
filled with epoxy resin and gelatin microcapsules (diameter 125–297 lm) filled
with acrylic resin to achieve self-healing of concrete under compression and
splitting [49]. Yang et al. prepared microcapsules with oil core and silica gel shell to
fabricate self-healing mortar. The self-healing capability was tested by fatigue test.
The test results in Fig. 7.12 revealed that incorporation of a small dosage of the
microcapsules into carbon microfiber-reinforced mortar improves the crack resis-
tance and toughness of the concrete under fatigue loading [50].
Van Tittelboom et al. explored the self-healing efficiency of cement mortar
containing tubular capsules filled with healing agent by mechanical test and
high-resolution XCT [10]. They observed that 50% of original strength and stiffness
can be regained after self-healing. XCT images, used to study the breakage of
tubers and cracks filling, show that the cracks are filled with healing agents (as
shown in Fig. 7.13).
Fig. 7.12 Relationship between the fatigue strain and the number of cycles under uniaxial
compression cyclic loading, for self-healing mortar (SHM), sulfonated polystyrene modified
mortars (SPSM), and control mortar specimens, respectively. Reprinted from Ref. [50], Copyright
Van Tittelboom et al. filled ceramic tubes with polyurethane or mix of accel-
erator and water and then put them inside the concrete beams to test the self-healing
property (as shown in Fig. 7.14) [51]. The results indicate that more than 80% of
the original strength and stiffness can be regained due to autonomous self-healing.
Furthermore, self-healing with polyurethane regained the same amount of strength
and stiffness as manual crack is healed with a high-strength epoxy resin.
Gilford III et al. investigated the effects of two types of microcapsules (i.e.,
dicyclopentadiene microcapsules and sodium silicate microcapsules) on
self-healing concrete by experimental testing performed in laboratory [52]. For
concrete with sodium silicate microcapsules, the modulus of elasticity shows an
improvement of 11% after healing when the microcapsules are prepared at a pH
value of 3.1 and at a content of 5.0%. For concrete with dicyclopentadiene
microcapsules, the modulus of elasticity increases as much as 30% after healing for
the microcapsules prepared at a pH value of 3.1 and at a content of 0.25%.
One of the key issues for self-healing system with microcapsules is how to
release the healing agent. Dong et al. studied smart releasing behavior of a chemical
self-healing microcapsule in the stimulated concrete pore solution. The results show
that release of the corrosion inhibitor covered with polystyrene resin (PS) increases
with time, while the amount of released healing agent decreases with increasing pH
values (as shown in Fig. 7.15) [53]. This indicates that the microcapsules may be
good candidates for achieving a smart release control in an alkaline cementitious
environment.
(a) 3D visualization of the region of the (b) Y-direction CT cross section through
mortar sample which contained the the sample with 2mm diameter glass
tubes and the crack tubes
(c) Y-direction CT cross section through (d) Y-direction CT cross section through
the sample with 3mm diameter glass the sample with ceramic tubes
tubes
Fig. 7.13 Images of self-healing concrete by XCT. Reprinted from Ref. [10], Copyright 2011,
Sun et al. explored the size (including diameter of the capsules and the thickness
of the shell wall) optimization and evaluated self-healing capability of asphalt based
on the fatigue life recovery test [54]. The results reveal that microcapsules fabri-
cated under the 800 rpm stirring speed with 1:1 core/shell thickness ratio have a
much more satisfactory size and shell structure. Moreover, when the microcapsules
are added into the asphalt, the total loading cycles increase 20% (as shown in
Fig. 7.16).
Perez et al. built an innovative self-healing concrete with silica microcapsules
filled with epoxy resin and amine-functionalized silica nanoparticles [55, 56]. The
silica microcapsule shell can participate in pozzolanic reactions with the portlandite
of the cement matrix, which increase the bond between microcapsules and cement
matrix. Amine-functionalized silica nanoparticles, as carrier of catalyst, also can
react with portlandite and form an amine-functionalized C-S-H gel. Then, the
microcapsules would surround by amine-functionalized cementitious matrix. The
(a) Protection of the ceramic tubes by means of mortar bars
(b) Position of the encapsulated healing agent inside the

concrete beams
Fig. 7.14 Self-healing system using ceramic tubes. Reprinted from Ref. [51], Copyright 2011,
results show that the microcapsules remain stable after stir and pozzolanic reaction
and the self-healing efficiency is confirmed for 150-lm-wide cracks inside concrete.
Hilloulin et al. designed polymeric capsules which are able to resist the
concrete-mixing process and which can break when cracks appear [57]. Firstly, they
chose three different polymers with a low glass transition temperature. Secondly,
after heating the capsules prior to mixing with other components of the mix, their
survival ratio considerably increased to shift from a brittle state to a rubbery state.
Thirdly, the concrete with polymeric capsules was cooled to room temperature.
Finally, the capsules turned to a brittle state. Their design provides a new route for
self-healing concrete. Kanellopoulos et al. investigated the effect of varying volume
Fig. 7.15 Released mass of chemical self-healing microcapsule as a function of time at different
pH values. Reprinted from Ref. [53], Copyright 2014, with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 7.16 Fatigue life curves for asphalt concrete with and without microcapsules (70#Asphalt:
the control sample; 1:1 800: microcapsules fabricated under the 800 rpm stirring speed with 1:1
core/shell thickness ratio; and 2:1 800: microcapsules fabricated under the 800 rpm stirring speed
with 1:1 core/shell thickness ratio). Reprinted from Ref. [54], with kind permission from Springer
Science + Business Media
fractions (4–32% of cement volume) of polymeric microcapsules with sodium

silicate on fresh, mechanical, and self-healing properties of mortar [58]. They found
that inclusion of microcapsules has no effect on hydration and setting time, but
increases the viscosity. Although increasing dosage of microcapsules decreases the
mechanical properties of mortar, the improvement in self-healing property is much
higher. Areal crack mouth healing reaches almost 100%. Lv et al. developed a new
type of polymeric microcapsule with phenol–formaldehyde resin as shell and
dicyclopentadiene as healing agent for self-healing microcracks in cementitious
materials [59]. They observed that the microcapsules possess good chemical sta-
bility in both simulated pore solution and cementitious materials. X-ray Computed
Tomography (XCT) was applied to observe the status and fracture behavior of
microcapsules inside cement matrix, and the 3D images were shown in Fig. 7.17.
The 3D images indicated that the microcapsules have a good dispersibility and
trigger sensitivity to the cracks.
Dong et al. designed urea–formaldehyde/epoxy microcapsule for healing the
cracks in cementitious materials [60]. The microcapsules can survive from mixing
and have good compatibility with cement paste due to their excellent surface tex-
ture, suitable size, and remarkable thermal stability. The results show that the
crack–healing ratios are ranged of 20.71–45.59% and the healing ratio of com-
pressive strength and impermeability is about 13 and 19.8%, respectively, revealing
that the system actually works on the crack–healing.
Although many researches have been done on self-healing based on microcap-
sule method, there are also a lot of problems needed to be solved. Firstly, the
effective microcapsules that can be used in actual practice should be developed.
Secondly, the possibility of cracks across microcapsules should be raised through
reasonable design. Thirdly, more theoretical problems, such as numerical modeling
[61] and mechanism, need to be deeply studied.
Fig. 7.17 3D reconstructed tomographic images of the segmented raw data a a selected section of
fractured cement paste b a 3D rendering of the spatial dispersion of microcapsules. Reprinted from
7.4.3 Self-Healing Based on Electrodeposition Method
As shown in Fig. 7.18, the electrodeposition method for repairing cracks in rein-
forced concrete is developed from the electrochemical technique. Therefore, the
self-healing based on electrodeposition method only can occur on the condition of
conductive concrete, electric current, and electrolyte solution.
Otsuki et al. proposed the electrodeposition method as a means of repair for
cracked concrete structures and investigated the effects of this method on various
concrete properties [12]. Otsuki and Ryu also studied the effect of external solution
(MgCl2, ZnSO4, AgNO3, CuCl2, Mg(NO3)2, CuSO4, Ca(OH)2, and NaHCO3) on
electrodeposition and found that ZnSO4 solution is most effective for the purpose of
precipitating the deposition product inside and outside the crack in concrete [62].
Ryu used electrodeposition method to heal the drying shrinkage cracks and coat the
concrete surface, which can enhance durability of reinforced concrete [63]. They
found that drying shrinkage cracks of 0.05–0.10 width in all specimens are closed
almost completely after 14-day test period and the rates of surface coating are about
70%. As a result, watertightness and carbonation resistance property of the concrete
are also significantly improved. Ryu and Otsuki also explored the self-healing
efficiency of electrodeposition method on the cracks by chloride attack [64]. The
immersion solution is 0.1 mol/L ZnSO4. As shown in Fig. 7.19, the rate of crack
closure of cracks of 0.2 mm width is higher than that of cracks of 0.6 mm width.
Additionally, the rate of crack closure increases rapidly by the first 2 weeks and the
rate of closure almost goes up to 90% at the end of the testing period of 8 weeks.
Interestingly, chloride concentration over the steel surface also decreases with
increasing testing period (as shown in Fig. 7.20), which can improve the resistance
to steel corrosion.
Ryu et al. also investigated electrodeposition method to heal cracks formed
under splitting tensile load [65]. The effect of water/cement ratio and temperature of
solution were both studied. The rate of crack closure increases with water/cement
ratio (as shown in Fig. 7.21) because the concrete with large water/cement ratio has
more porosity and the lower resistance leads to a higher electric current. In addition,
Fig. 7.18 Repairing concrete cracks by electrochemical deposition method

Fig. 7.19 Rate of crack

closure versus age. Reprinted
from Ref. [64]. Copyright
Elsevier
Fig. 7.20 Chloride

concentration over the steel
surface. Reprinted from Ref.

closure versus water–cement
ratio. Reprinted from Ref.
ICE Publishing

closure versus temperature of
solution. Reprinted from Ref.
ICE Publishing
Fig. 7.23 Effect of current

density on unit volume mass
increment of specimens after
electrodeposition. Reprinted
from Ref. [66], with kind
permission from Springer
Fig. 7.24 Effect of

electrolyte concentration on
unit volume mass increment
of specimens after
electrodeposition. Reprinted
from Ref. [66], with kind
permission from Springer
the higher temperature of solution also raises the rate of crack closure (as shown in
Fig. 7.22).
Jiang et al. used porous concrete to simulate cracks in reinforced concrete for
evaluating healing efficiency of crack rehabilitation by using electrodeposition
method. They found that unit volume mass increment of specimens increases with
current density or electrolyte concentration at the same healing age (as shown in
Figs. 7.23 and 7.24) [66]. However, it also should be noted that higher current density
or electrolyte concentration will make deposition products larger and more loosely.
Chu et al. investigated the effect of electrolyte solution (ZnSO4 and MgSO4
solutions) concentration on electrodeposition healing efficiency [67]. The healing
speed of cracks first increases quickly during the first 5 days at the beginning and
then slows down, and the cracks almost complete healing in 20 days. In both
solutions, the rates of weight gain, surface coating, crack closure, and the filling
depth of cracks all decrease with the increase of electrolyte solution concentration.
However, the concentration of electrolyte solution only has effect on the mor-
phology of sediment, but no effect on composition.
Self-healing based on electrodeposition method can be used in a marine envi-
ronment where other traditional repair systems are inefficient or too expensive.
During healing cracks, the concrete surface will also be coated, which increases the
watertightness and carbonation resistance properties. Furthermore, the resistance to
steel corrosion also can be improved because chloride concentration over the steel
surface also decreases with increasing healing age. However, the self-healing speed
is relatively low.
7.4.4 Self-Healing Based on Bacterial Method
As a common phenomenon, CaCO3 precipitation can be found in such environ-

ments as marine water, freshwater, and soils. Numerous different bacterial species
have previously been detected, which is associated with natural carbonate precip-
itating from diverse environments [68, 69]. A schematic overview of the ureolytic
carbonate precipitation occurring at the microbial cell wall is given in Fig. 7.25
[70]. Calcium ions in the solution are attracted to the bacterial cell wall due to the
negative charge of the bacterial cell wall. Under environment with the bacteria, urea
is dissolved into dissolved inorganic carbon and ammonium. In the presence of
calcium ions, this can result in a local supersaturation and hence heterogeneous
Fig. 7.25 Simplified representation of the events occurring during the ureolytic induced carbonate
precipitation: a bacteria attract calcium ions and dissolve urea into dissolved inorganic carbon and
ammonium; b precipitation of CaCO3 on the bacterial cell wall; c the whole cell becomes
encapsulated; d the imprints of bacterial cells involved in carbonate precipitation. Reprinted from
precipitation of CaCO3 on the bacterial cell wall. After a while, the whole cell
becomes encapsulated.
The idea of utilizing bacteria to promote precipitation of CaCO3 in cracks was
put forward (as shown in Fig. 7.26) [71]. CaCO3 can be produced by various
metabolic pathways, which mainly include hydrolysis of urea and oxidation of
organic acids. The advantages and disadvantages of hydrolysis of urea and oxi-
dation of organic acids are listed in Table 7.3.
Gollapudi et al. used bacteria to induce the precipitation of CaCO3 to repair cracks
[72]. After that, many researchers are interested in bacteria-based self-healing con-
crete. Concrete is a rather hostile environment for common bacteria due to high
internal pH, relative dryness, and lack of nutrients needed for bacteria. Therefore, it is
very important to screen the suitable bacteria and calcium source. Jonkers and
Schlangen found a type of alkaliphilic spore-forming bacteria [73]. Moreover, high
Fig. 7.26 Schematic scenario of crack healing by concrete-immobilized bacteria. Reprinted from
Ref. [71], with kind permission from Springer Science + Business Media
Table 7.3 Metabolic pathways of precipitation of CaCO3

Metabolic Advantages Disadvantages
pathways
Hydrolysis of • produce high amounts of carbonate within a – produces excessive
urea short time ammonium
• Catalyzed by means of urease
Oxidation of • less environmental impact – Need more time to
organic acids • CO2 is produced as well. The produced CO2 produce carbonate
can also react with portlandite
numbers of bacteria (109 cm−3) and suitable organic growth substrates have no
negatively affect on compressive and flexural tensile strength. Jonkers et al. further
employed the alkaliphilic spore-forming bacteria in concrete and studied their
potential ability to heal the cracks. The bacterial spores directly added to the cement
paste mixture remains viable for a period up to 4 months. However, the life span of
spores probably is limited when the pore diameter in cement is below the typical size
of the spores, i.e., 1 lm. They also found bacteria on fresh crack surface become
activated due to water ingression. The bacteria start to multiply and precipitate min-
erals to seal the crack and protect the steel reinforcement from external chemical
attack. The mineral precipitated on crack surface is shown in Fig. 7.27 [13].
Krishnapriya et al. checked the suitability of using B. megaterium BSKAU, B.
licheniformis BSKNAU, B. flexus BSKNAU, and B. megaterium MTCC 1684 in
concrete to improve its strength and durability, and heal cracks. The results revealed
that B. megaterium BSKAU, B. licheniformis BSKNAU, and B. megaterium
MTCC 1684 are suitable for use in concrete as they increase strength of concrete
and complete healing of cracks in concrete specimens [74]. Xu et al. found that the
repair method and the type of calcium source have a significant impact on the
healing efficiency of self-healing based on bacteria in concrete [75]. The highest
healing ratio and recovery ratio of flexural strength and modulus are obtained by
Fig. 7.27 Cement stone specimens with incorporated healing agent (B. cohnii spores plus calcium
lactate), cracked after 7 (a and b) or 28 (c and d) days curing. Reprinted from Ref. [13], Copyright
external applied treatment. Moreover, compared with calcium lactate, the recovery
ratio of flexural strength in the case of calcium glutamate is always higher.
Moreover, carrier materials developed to protect the bacteria in concrete are also
necessary. Bang et al. used polyurethane foam to immobilize the whole cell of
Bacillus pasteurii (as shown in Fig. 7.28) [76]. The rate of calcite precipitation of the
cell is not influenced by polyurethane. Moreover, the compressive strength of concrete
with cracks increases due to remediating with polyurethane-immobilized cells.
Wiktor and Jonkers used porous expanded clay particles to develop novel
two-component biochemical self-healing agent (bacterial spores and calcium lactate).
The results revealed that bacterial concrete can heal 0.46-mm-wide cracks, while the
control specimens can only heal 0.18-mm-wide cracks after submersion in water for
100 days [77]. Wang et al. employed diatomaceous earth to immobilize bacteria.
Diatomaceous earth can protect bacteria from the high-pH environment of concrete
[78]. When the weight of diatomaceous earth is 60% of bacterial suspension, the best
results are obtained. The concrete containing diatomaceous earth-immobilized bac-
teria can completely heal the 0.15–0.17-mm-wide cracks. Wang et al. also compared
the two immobilized bacteria methods, i.e., silica gel- and polyurethane-immobilized
bacteria. Their results show that the mortars with incorporated
polyurethane-immobilized bacteria have higher self-healing efficiency, i.e., higher
strength regain and more pronounced decrease of water permeability [79]. Wang et al.
applied hydrogel to act as water reservoirs and carrier of bacterial spores.
Carbonate-precipitating bacteria can precipitate CaCO3 in/on hydrogel. The mortar
with hydrogel-encapsulated spores shows significant self-healing efficiency: Crack of
a width 0.5 mm can be completely healed, and the water permeability is decreased by
68% in average [80]. In addition, Wang et al. also put bacteria into the microcapsules
that are resistant to the high pH of concrete and humidity sensitive [81]. Erşan et al.
screened bacteria and concrete-compatible protection materials (diatomaceous earth,
Fig. 7.28 Distribution of microorganisms on the polyurethane surface, bar, 10 lm. Reprinted
metakaolin, expanded clay, granular-activated carbon, zeolite, and air entrainment)

and studied the influence of the protection approaches on mortar setting and com-
pressive strength when combined with either Bacillus sphaericus spores or
Diaphorobacter nitroreducens and their respective nutrients [82]. The results show
that granular-activated carbon is the most promising protection material available
among the explored six protection materials. More interesting, the addition of either
Diaphorobacter nitroreducens or its respective nutrients does not cause major impact
on both the setting times and the compressive strengths of the mortar. Therefore, the
self-protected non-axenic cultures (such as Cyclic EnRiched Ureolytic Powder and
Activated Compact Denitrifying Core) are the most promising microbial-based
self-healing agents for concrete applications.
The advantages of self-healing based on bacteria are as follows: It is an
environmental-friendly method; it can be used in marine concrete [83]; and it has
big potential to work in long time because new bacteria can produce during
self-healing. However, it also should be noted that the self-healing based on bac-
teria cannot work without water. Moreover, there is still a long way needed to go
before applying the self-healing based on bacteria into actual practice.
7.4.5 Self-Healing Based on Shape Memory Alloy Method
A prestrained SMA wire in martensitic phase recovers its elongated length by phase
transition from martensite to austenite due to the shape memory effect. When SMA
is embedded in concrete, the cracks can be healed and the deflection can be
recovered due to shape memory effect. However, heat energy is needed in the above
self-healing process.
Kuang and Ou and Li et al. found that the SMA wire as reinforcing bar can make
cracks close and perform the task of emergency damage repair in concrete structures.
The cracks are closed due to the superelastic behavior of embedded SMAs (as shown
in Fig. 7.29) [14, 84]. Sun et al. embedded SMA wire in concrete beam and found that
the beam with SMA wires possesses good self-healing capability [85]. Li et al.
investigated self-recovery smart concrete beams with embedded SMA bundles. The
smart concrete beams were integrated into a smart bridge in a freeway. They found that
the recovery force induced by SMA bundles is significant and controllable. The
deflection generated by the SMA bundles at the middle span of the beam is about
0.44 mm, and the capability of resisting overload of each beam is about 2.98 kN [86].
Choi et al. placed four types of SMA fibers (straight-shaped fiber,
dog-bone-shaped fiber, straight-shaped fiber with paper wrapping in the middle, and
dog-bone-shaped fiber with paper wrapping in the middle) at the bottom center of
the beams to study the crack-closing capacity by using the degree of crack recovery
and deflection-recovery factor [87]. The widths of cracks before and after healing
and the degree of crack recovery are shown in Table 7.4. The degree of crack
recovery values for straight fibers, dog-bon fibers, straight-paper fibers,
dog-bon-paper fibers are 0.500, 0.605, 0.678, and 0.910, respectively. Moreover,
(a) At maximum deflection (b) After unloading: the crack almost

disappeared
Fig. 7.29 Crack behavior of beams reinforced with SMA wires. Reprinted from Ref. [14], with
permission from IOP publishing
Table 7.4 Cracks of beams before and after heating.

Specimen Cracks before heating w0 (mm) Cracks after heating w1 (mm) Degree of
crack
recovery
(w0 − w1)/
w0
Straight 0.500
0.58mm 0.29mm
Dog-bone 0.605
0.38mm 0.15mm
(continued)

Specimen Cracks before heating w0 (mm) Cracks after heating w1 (mm) Degree of
crack
recovery
(w0 − w1)/
w0
Straight-paper 0.678
0.28mm 0.09mm
Dog-bone-paper 0.910
0.56mm 0.05mm
Reprinted from [87], with permission from IOP publishing
the deflection-recovery factors are shown in Fig. 7.30. The deflection-recovery

factors of paper-wrapped fibers are larger than 1.0, which are 1.54 and 1.77 for the
straight-paper and dog-bone-paper fibers, respectively. However, the
deflection-recovery factors of the fibers without paper are less than 1.0, which are
0.72 and 0.88 for straight and dog-bone fibers, respectively.
Kim et al. added 1.5 vol.% of SMA fiber into cement mortar during mixing
process [88]. The tensile specimens are noticeably shortened due to shape memory
effect after 10 min of heat treatment, which consequently generates prestressing
effects. Furthermore, the Young’s modulus of specimens in tension significantly
increases due to SEM.
The self-healing based on SMA method can recover the cracks and deflection
timely and strongly. However, cracks still exist and do not be filled. Moreover,
compared with steel or concrete, the price of SMA is relatively high. This also
restricts the application of SAM in actual practice.
Fig. 7.30 Deflection recovery factor. Reprinted from Ref. [87], with permission from IOP
publishing
7.4.6 Self-Healing Based on Induction Energy/Microwave

Method
Self-healing based on induction energy/microwaves is suitable for conductive

asphalt concrete. The self-healing process (as shown in Fig. 7.31) includes three
steps: Firstly, a microcrack appears in the bitumen, and there are enough conductive
fibers or fillers to form closed-loop circuits around the cracks; secondly, under a
magnetic field, currents are induced in the closed-loop circuits; and finally, bitumen
is melted, and the crack is closed. The self-healing process based on microwaves is
similar to that based on induction energy, while the energy is provided though
microwaves.
García et al. prepared asphalt mortar containing conductive fibers and fillers and
studied the properties of materials heated with induction energy [89]. The results
revealed that asphalt mortar containing minimum volume of fibers can be heated
due to magnetically susceptible and electrically conductive closed-loop circuits
formed by the fiber. The lower the resistivity, the higher the heating rate (as show in
Fig. 7.32). Therefore, the healing system should be engineered according to the
speed of the inductors on the road.
Liu et al. investigated the self-healing effect of asphalt mastic and porous asphalt
concrete caused by induction heating [90]. They observed that completely fractured
asphalt mastic beams with steel wool can be healed many times due to induction
heating (as shown in Fig. 7.33). Moreover, the self-healing capacity of porous
asphalt concrete is increased, and fatigue damages are healed by induction heating
based on the strength recovery of mastic, stiffness recovery, and fatigue life
extension test results as shown in Figs. 7.34 and 7.35.
Fig. 7.31 Schematic representation showing the system of using fibers with induction energy to
heal cracks in asphalt concrete. Reprinted from Ref. [15], Copyright 2013, with permission from
Elsevier
Fig. 7.32 Heating curves for samples with different volumes of steel wool (related to the volume
of bitumen). Reprinted from Ref. [89], Copyright 2009, with permission from Elsevier
Schlangen and Sangadji developed self-healing asphalt concrete by embedding

tiny steel fibers and using induction energy. When microcracks occur in the asphalt
mastic of the pavement, the temperature of the mastic can be increased locally by
induction heating of the steel fibers. As a result, asphalt concrete can repair itself
Fig. 7.33 Force–deformation diagrams of asphalt mastic with 5.6 vol.% steel wool loaded in 3
point bending, in 6 cycles of loading heating and reloading. Reprinted from ref. [90], Copyright
Fig. 7.34 Stiffness recoveries of porous asphalt concrete contain 8% steel wool. Reprinted from
and close the cracks through the high-temperature healing of the bitumen. The
closure of microcracks will prevent the formation of macrocracks. They performed
a test track of self-healing property in 400 m of the A58 near Vlissingen and
observed that if the road maintenance runs the induction machine over the road
every four years, the road surface will last twice as long or possibly longer [15].
Fig. 7.35 Fatigue life extensions of porous asphalt concrete samples containing 8% steel wool.
Fig. 7.36 Evolution of surface temperature [10 mm steel wool (SW), MSW-0.6%-10 mm
(medium steel wool-0.6%-10 mm), CSW-0.6%-10 mm (coarse steel wool-0.6%-10 mm)].
Fig. 7.37 Internal temperature of specimens after 120 s in microwave oven (10 mm steel wool).
García et al. investigated the induction-healing rates of asphalt concrete with dif-
ferent asphalt mixture porosities and different types of bitumen. They drew three
conclusions: (1) The minimum temperature for healing of asphalt mixture depends
on the flow capacity of bitumen at the threshold temperature; (2) the maximum
healing level is related to the type of bitumen used; (3) successive heating of asphalt
mixture may damage the structure of the material and reduce their healing capacity
[91].
Besides the self-healing by electromagnetic induction, the self-healing by
microwaves also has been explored. Gallego et al. presented the heating of asphalt
mixes to promote the self-healing process [92]. They found that optimal steel wool
content established for microwaves is around ten times less (as shown in Figs. 7.36
and 7.37) than that recommended for heating by electromagnetic induction. In
addition, the amount of electricity used by microwave devices is much less than that
required to produce a similar effect by electromagnetic induction. Therefore, the
self-healing based on microwaves is a more promising method than the self-healing
by electromagnetic induction.
Self-healing based on induction energy/microwaves is a kind of promising
methods and has been used in actual practice. However, more research efforts are
still needed to explore the detailed effect of the heating time, the types of filler, and
heating temperature on the healing capability of this kind of methods.
7.5 Summary 151
7.5 Summary
Due to low tensile strength and existence of interfacial transition zone, concrete is
very sensitive to cracking formation and usually works with cracks. With extension
of cracks, durability and even strength of concrete will be endangered. The fol-
lowing required repairs not only increase the life cycle cost of concrete structure,
but also affect the normal use of the structure. In addition, some cracks are too small
to be found and repaired timely. Self-healing concrete can effectively respond to
cracks, which increases the service life of concrete structure. Both electrodeposition
method and self-healing based on induction energy/microwaves have been applied
into actual practice.
However, there is still a long way for other self-healing methods to be applied
into practice. On the one hand, some key properties of the self-healing materials
added to concrete are still required to be further studied, such as the compatibility
with concrete, durability, effective response time, and recycle numbers. On the
other hand, self-healing concrete is difficult to cast and may have weaker
mechanical properties than conventional concrete. Necessary protection measures
should be taken if bacteria or capsules are employed in concrete [93]. In addition,
the high price of SMA also hinders the engineering application of self-healing
method based on SMA.
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Chapter 8
Self-Adjusting Concrete
Abstract Self-adjusting concrete has the capability to adjust its internal structures
(e.g., pore structures) and performances (e.g., heat capacity, moisture content, and
hydration process) under external actions. It mainly includes moisture self-adjusting
concrete, thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete, and hydration heat
self-adjusting concrete. Self-adjusting concrete not only has the ability to improve
the comfort of habitation, but also features the ability to avoid the temperature
cracks induced by the cement hydration heat and the concrete spalling caused by
high temperature.
Keywords Concrete Self-adjusting Moisture Thermal parameter Hydration

heat
8.1 Introduction
Infrastructures are subjected to external load and environmental actions. It is desired

that they have properties that react to changes for resisting external actions in most
cases. This means that infrastructures are active and responsive. However, con-
ventional concrete cannot perform passive responses to external actions.
Self-adjusting concrete can mitigate hazards (whether due to accidental loading,
wind, ocean waves, earthquakes, or fire), increase the comfort of people who use
the infrastructures, and enhance the reliability and performance of infrastructures. It
has a very wide range of applications in civil engineering infrastructures, especially
for high-rise building, long-span bridge, high-speed railway, and nuclear power
stations.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to self-adjusting concrete
based on different principles, with attentions to its properties, current progress, and
applications.

158 8 Self-Adjusting Concrete
8.2 Definition and Classification of Self-Adjusting

Concrete
The self-adjusting property of concrete means the ability of making properly

response to loading or environmental change for remaining the carrying capacity of
concrete and the stability of environment surrounding the concrete. It mainly
includes moisture self-adjusting, thermal parameter self-adjusting, hydration heat
self-adjusting, and anti-spalling self-adjusting performances. Self-adjusting con-
crete is also called self-controlling or self-reacting concrete. The classifications and
characteristics of self-adjusting concrete are summarized in Table 8.1.
Here, it should be specified that the first three types of self-adjusting concrete
will be detailedly introduced in the following sections of this chapter, while the
anti-spalling self-adjusting concrete will be introduced in Chap. 10 (Anti-spalling
concrete).
Table 8.1 Classifications and characteristics of self-adjusting concrete

Types of Incorporated Functional properties Advantages Disadvantages
self-adjusting materials
concrete
Moisture Zeolite Balance indoor humidity Maintain the durability of Weaken
self-adjusting the building envelope mechanical
concrete properties
Attapulgite Maintain indoor air Poor
quality durability
Decrease energy
consumption
Thermal Phase change Detect and adjust temperature Increase thermal comfort Poor
parameter materials of building durability
self-adjusting (PCMs) Store thermal energy Weaken
concrete mechanical
Lower the energy
consumption of building property
Hydration heat PCMs Reduce maximum temperature in Control the temperature Weaken the
self-adjusting concrete, and temperature cracks, autogenous mechanical
concrete increase and decrease rate shrinkage at some degree property
Anti-spalling Organic Prevent concrete from spalling at Solve concrete splitting Poor
self-adjusting fibers elevated temperatures problem under fire durability
concrete Ground Decrease
granulated mechanical
blast furnace properties
slag
Air
entraining
agent
8.3 Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete 159
8.3 Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete
8.3.1 Definition, Classification, and Test of Moisture

Humidity environment not only relates to the durability of infrastructures and

energy consumption, but also has great effect on public health problems. According
to the measurement survey on indoor humidity environment in 9 Chinese cities
during winter and summer seasons, the current state of indoor humidity environ-
ment in the houses indicates that serious problems of high or low humidity gen-
erally exist in Chinese residential houses. However, the review of the indirect health
effects of relative humidity indicates that adverse health effects would be minimized
by maintaining relative humidity between 40 and 60%. In order to make a com-
fortable and healthy environment, it is important to control moisture level of indoor
environment [1, 2].
The moisture self-adjusting concrete is fabricated with moisture adjusting
materials and can change the moisture content inside it as external humidity
changes. The moisture adjusting materials include four types: organic mineral
moisture adjusting materials, inorganic mineral moisture adjusting materials, bio-
logical moisture adjusting materials, and humidity-controlling composite materials.
Besides, the inorganic mineral moisture adjusting materials contain montmorillonite
soil, diatomite, sepiolite, zeolite powder, and kaolin, etc. [3].
Two types of methods, the desiccator method and the climate box method, were
proposed in the national standard to test the adsorption–desorption properties of
moisture self-adjusting concrete.
8.3.2 Principles of Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete
The adsorption of moisture self-adjusting materials for water molecules can be

divided into physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. Physical adsorption
occurs in the free surface of solid while water molecules adsorbed by the chemical
process of moisture absorption can be easily trapped within the structure [4]. The
working principle diagram of the moisture self-adjusting concrete is shown in
Fig. 8.1. When the air relative humidity exceeds a certain value U2, the moisture
self-adjusting concrete will absorb moisture in the air to prevent the increase of the
air relative humidity. When the air’s relative humidity is lower than a certain value
U1, the moisture self-adjusting concrete will desorb moisture to prevent the
decrease of the air relative humidity. If the moisture content of the concrete is
between U1 and U2, the indoor relative humidity will be maintained within the
range of U1−U2 automatically [5].
Fig. 8.1 Equilibrium

moisture absorption and
desorption curves of the
moisture self-adjusting
concrete
8.3.3 Current Progress of Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete
The moisture self-adjusting concrete containing zeolite powder was first proposed
by Japanese scholars. It does not need the help from any artificial energy and
equipment, relying on its own moisture absorption and desorption properties. The
hydrated silicate calcium of zeolite contains pores in diameter of
1 10−10−9 10−10 m. The water vapor adsorption capacity of concrete is
improved with porous and multilayered honeycomb structure of zeolite powder,
which has larger pore volume and surface area. The moisture self-adjusting con-
crete made of concrete with zeolite shows a big difference under various humidity
conditions. The moisture self-adjusting concrete quickly reaches the moisture
content equilibrium state in the low-humidity environment. In the contrast, the
moisture content of the moisture self-adjusting concrete increases with time in a
saturated humidity environment [5–8].
Goto et al. tested the moisture controlling performance of the moisture
self-adjusting concrete with zeolite tuff. The amount of water vapor adsorption in
the concrete containing fly ash can only reach half the amount of the moisture
self-adjusting concrete. The water vapor adsorption isotherm of moisture
self-adjusting concrete dried at 150 °C shows rapid adsorptive variation within
range of 30−50 RH% [9].
Deng et al. studied the moisture self-adjusting capacity of the concrete with
different concentrations of attapulgite (1 and 2%, respectively). The moisture
desorption capacity of concrete increases with concentrations of attapulgite. The
moisture desorption capacity of concrete with 2% of attapulgite is 1.8 times that of
concrete with 1% of attapulgite. [10]. Li et al. made moisture self-adjusting concrete
bricks in which the meerschaum-to-cement ratio is 0.144 by weight. The moisture
self-adjusting concrete can adjust relative humidity in the test room from 90 to 65%
in 4.5 h [11]. Guo et al. used the physical and chemical methods to peel and
activate the natural sepiolit fibers. They observed that the spacing degree and
special surface are the best and the self-adjustment humidity performance is the
8.3 Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete 161
perfect when the activate temperature is in the range of 200−250 °C and heat time
is 6 h [12]. Jiang et al. compared the adsorption and desorption properties of zeolite
with that of diatomite and observed that the adsorption–desorption properties of
zeolite are better than diatomite [13]. Vu et al. prepared the humidity control
materials by sintering the mixture of diatomite and volcanic ash with the addition of
sodium perborate 1000 and 1100 °C. The addition of sodium perborate (2%) not
only significantly promotes the bending strength, but also reduces pore diameter in
the final products. The best products (D90−2 sample sintered at 1000 °C and
1100 °C) have mesopore structure and show excellent moisture adsorption–des-
orption performance [5].
8.3.4 Application of Moisture Self-Adjusting Concrete
Moisture self-adjusting materials are widely used in museums, memorial halls,

temples, libraries, and galleries in Japan, such as Kajima technology research
environmental engineering laboratory (Mortar clapboard) [14]. Although the
moisture self-adjusting concrete has the great ability to maintain indoor relative
moisture in a range of 40−70% [15], its disadvantages are low mechanical prop-
erties and poor durability.
8.4 Thermal Parameter Self-Adjusting Concrete
8.4.1 Definition and Principles of Thermal Parameter

With the development of living level, the requirement of environmental amenity is

becoming higher and higher. However, the construction energy consumption
(air-conditioning energy consumption included) raising makes energy exhausted
more quickly and environment polluted more seriously. How to balance the envi-
ronmental amenity and energy consumption has become the eternal theme in
architectural design and building energy-saving aspects. The thermal parameter
self-adjusting concrete can be made by adding the PCMs into concrete. The
enclosure which is made of thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete has lower
indoor temperature fluctuation, lower cost of refrigeration and heating, and better
indoor thermal comfort than that of the conventional concrete. In addition, thermal
parameter self-adjusting concrete can reduce the weight and thickness of the wall,
thus increasing the utilization percentage of the building areas. At the same time,
the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete (which is used in roads, bridges,
airstrips, etc.) can prevent the concrete temperature cracks due to solar radiation in
the summer and hold back its surface freezes at night in the winter [16–19]. The
thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete provides an effective way to realize the
transfer and use of solar energy in time and space, thus presenting significant
economic and social benefits.
Thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete is a kind of smart concrete which
utilizes PCMs to achieve the function of thermal parameter self-adjustment. The
PCMs are the materials that can change state with temperature and provide latent
heat. It can exchange heat with the environment in the phase change process.
Nevertheless, its temperature is almost unchanged before the phase change is
completed. Therefore, it can achieve the purposes of reducing the fluctuation of
ambient temperature and improving the energy efficiency [20–23].
According to the phase change process, the PCMs can be divided into solid-solid
PCMs, solid-liquid PCMs, solid-gas PCMs, and liquid-gas PCMs. Taking the
solid-liquid PCMs as an example, it changes from solid to liquid and absorbs a lot
of latent heat during the melting process when the temperature is higher than the
melting temperature of the material. When the temperature is lower than the melting
temperature of the material, solid-liquid PCMs change from liquid to solid and
releases the stored heat into environment. The stored or released energy during
these two phase transitions is called the latent heat of phase change. Although the
temperature of the material itself is almost unchanged after the phase change is
completed, the latent heat of phase change is quite large.
According to the composition of the materials, PCMs can be divided into
organic PCMs, inorganic PCMs, and mixed PCMs. Each type of PCMs has its
typical phase transition temperature and phase transition enthalpy. The classifica-
tion of PCMs and their characteristics are summarized in Table 8.2.
The “supercooling” phenomenon refers to showing the crystallization when the
cooling temperature of the material reaches a certain temperature below the “con-
densation point” rather than reaching the “condensation point.” It would result in
error between the measured phase transition temperature and the actual phase
change temperature. The phenomenon of “phase separation” refers to the phe-
nomenon that the salt water separation appears due to partial salt precipitation
without being dissolved in crystallization water during the repeated phase change
process. It would lead to a great decrease in energy storage capacity and life cycle
of PCMs. Therefore, the agents (such as thickening agent and crystal structure
change agent) are often used to prevent the phase separation of PCMs.
The thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can achieve the function of nar-
rowing the temperature fluctuations in the maintenance structure and reducing its
own temperature fluctuations by adjusting PCMs’ specific heat capacity, thermal
conductivity, and other thermal parameters. As a result, the thermal parameter
self-adjusting concrete can save energy, improve indoor thermal comfort, and
prevent the concrete temperature cracks which are caused by solar radiation in the
summer and hold back its surface freezing at night in the winter [24, 25].
The preparation of thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete is by adding PCMs
to the concrete making them become a whole. There are three main ways to make
thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete. The first way is called direct impreg-
nation method which directly places the concrete in a container filled with liquid
PCMs to fill the pores inside concrete. This method is suitable for porous concrete.
8.4 Thermal Parameter Self-Adjusting Concrete 163
Table 8.2 Classification of PCMs

Types of PCMs Advantages Disadvantages
Organic Paraffin wax Wide phase transition temperature Low thermal capacity
PCMs class (20–70 °C); [approximately 0.2 W/(m • k)];
Low vapor pressure during Small density;
melting process; Large volume change during the
No phase separation process of phase transition
Except for Good thermal properties High price;
paraffin wax Parts kind of PCMs’ melting point
class are higher than 100 °C, it is
difficult to achieve their melting
points when applied to store solar
energy
Inorganic Salt hydrate, High latent heat storage capacity Most of them are corrosive, and
PCMs metal (250–400 MJ/m3); prone to have the phenomenon of
compounds, Good thermal conductivity; supercooling and phase separation
etc. Low price
Composite – The constraints of the melting Need to ensure the durability and
PCMs point and price of the single PCM thermal conductivity of the
can be ignored, so it could has a composite PCMs
wider range of options;
The phase transition temperature
can be adjusted by the
composition and the component
content of the composition;
The advantages of some
components can be preserved
The second way is called vacuum adsorption technology. Firstly, the liquid PCMs
are added into the concrete which has already been vacuumed. And then, the valve
is open and the liquid PCMs are pressed into the concrete relying on atmospheric
pressure [26]. Compared with direct impregnation method, the absorption of con-
crete for the PCMs is higher when vacuum adsorption technology is used [27]. The
third way is called directly mixing technique. The PCMs are added into suitable
containers or carriers such as porous ceramic and hollow ball. And then, the con-
tainers or carriers are directly mixed with the concrete. The advantages of directly
mixing technique are simpler, more uniform and easier to be made into different
shapes to meet different needs than the other two methods. However, the direct
mixing technique also has a disadvantage. It is easy to leakage from the containers
or carriers in the process of phase change of the PCMs [28].
8.4.2 Current Progress of Thermal Parameter

PCMs have been considered for thermal storage in buildings since before 1980
[29]. The United States Department of Energy Solar Energy initiated a study on the
phase change material which was used in building materials in 1982. After that, the
task to promote this study had been assigned to the US Energy Storage and
Distribution Office since 1988. An American chemical company screened more
than 20,000 kinds of materials which can be used as PCMs. It was found that not all
of the PCMs can be used to make thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete, and
only 1% of the PCMs are valuable for further study [30].
Ideal PCMs require certain features such as high heat of fusion and thermal
conductivity, high specific heat capacity, small volume change, non-corrosive,
non-toxic, and little or no decomposition or supercooling [31]. If the thermal
parameter self-adjusting concrete is used for residential aspects, the phase transition
temperature of the selected PCMs should be close to 20 °C. Table 8.3 lists some
possible candidates of PCMs for applications in buildings [32]. Lane manufactured
the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete by the method of direct immersion
with mirabilite in the 1980s [33]. However, this kind of PCMs has corrosive effect
on concrete matrix. Since then, new types of thermal parameter self-adjusting
concrete have been developed.
In 1999, University of Dayton Research Institute successfully developed a new
type of solid-liquid eutectic PCMs whose eutectic temperature is 23.3 °C. When the
temperature is higher than 23.3 °C, the material would melt, thus absorbing and
storing heat. When the temperature is lower than 23.3 °C, the material would cure
and release heat. These PCMs can be added into lightweight concrete prefabricated
panels to make thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete which can reduce the
environment temperature fluctuations and keep indoor maintain a comfortable
temperature [34]. Hirayama et al. found that the specific heat capacity and the
thermal mass of the concrete increased by adding PCMs, and a building fabricated
with thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can reduce the size of
Table 8.3 Some possible candidates of PCMs for applications in buildings

PCMs Melting point (°C) Heat of fusion (kJ/kg)
KF4H2O 18.5–19 231
Potassium fluoride tetrahydrate
CaCl26 H2O 29.7 171
Calcium chloride hexahydrate
CH3(CH2)16COO(CH2)3CH3 18–23 140
Butyl stearate
CH3(CH2)11OH Dodecanol 17.5–23.3 188.8
CH3(CH2)16CH3 22.5–26.2 205.1
Tech. grade octadecane
CH3(CH2)12COOC3H7 16-19 186
Propyl palmitate
45% CH3(CH2)8COOH 17–21 143
55% CH3(CH2)10COOH
45/55 Capric-lauric acid
air-conditioning systems [35]. When the sun shines on the concrete with PCMs in
the daytime, the PCMs in the concrete absorb heat through phase change to make
the indoor temperature rise a little. At night, the PCMs release the heat absorbed
during the daytime through phase change to improve the indoor temperature. In this
way, the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can make the room maintain a
comfort temperature (as shown in Fig. 8.2) [36].
Hunger et al. investigated the specific heat capacity of concrete with different
thermal conductivity. They found that the specific heat capacity of concrete
increases with PCM-to-concrete ratios and raises up to 3.5 times as the PCM
content is 5% (as shown in Fig. 8.3) [37]. However, the strength of the concrete
declines sharply due to the destroyed capsules during the mixing process.
Fig. 8.2 Heating and cooling function of concrete wall incorporated with PCMs to maintain
pleasant human comfort temperature in indoor room. Reprinted from ref. [36], Copyright 2013,
Fig. 8.3 Specific heat capacity of the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete with different
PCM mixes versus temperature. Reprinted from Ref. [37], Copyright 2009, with permission from
Elsevier
Hawes et al. studied the thermal performance of PCMs (butyl stearate, dode-
canol, paraffin, tetradecanol) in different types of concrete. They comprehensively
studied about the effects of concrete alkalinity, temperature, immersion time, and
the concentration of PCMs on the adsorption of PCMs in the process of impreg-
nation. The experiment results show that the thermal storage capacity of the thermal
parameter self-adjusting concrete increases 300% compared with that of the con-
ventional concrete [38].
8.4.3 Applications of Thermal Parameter Self-Adjusting

Concrete
Thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can maintain the temperature near the
required temperature for a period of time by reducing the frequency of temperature
fluctuation. It can stabilize the indoor temperature through its large specific heat
capacity to guarantee the thermal comfort with low-energy when it is used to make
exterior walls. Cabeza et al. made the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete
which is a blend of the convectional concrete and the microcapsules filled with
PCMs. They built two small houses by using the thermal parameter self-adjusting
concrete and the conventional concrete, respectively. They observed that the
highest temperature in the house built of the common concrete reaches 39 °C when
the outdoor ambient temperature is 32 °C. However, the highest temperature in the
house built of the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete is only 36 °C (as shown
in Fig. 8.4) [39].
Fig. 8.4 Comparison between west wall temperature in both houses and outdoors ambient
temperature (closed windows). Reprinted from Ref. [39], Copyright 2006, with permission from
Elsevier
Fig. 8.5 Measured 48 2445s 13393s
T/ C
temperature time histories and 40
interior temperature difference 32
of two buildings. Tplain: the TA
24
interior temperature of plain
concrete building, TPCM: the 40
T/ C
interior temperature of the 32 TPlain
thermal parameter 24
TPCM
self-adjusting concrete 16
building, TA: the ambient 6.8 C
6 ΔΤ
temperature, △T: the interior
Δ T/ C
2C
temperature difference 3
0
0 3000 6000 9000 12000 15000
Time / s
Similarly, Han et al. came to the conclusions that the temperature fluctuation in
the building built of the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete is smaller
compared with that built of plain concrete, and the maximum temperature difference
between the two buildings is 6.8 °C (as shown in Fig. 8.5) [40]. The above results
indicate that the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete absorbs heat energy and
delays rise of interior temperature of the buildings, which can naturally cool down
building interiors from summer heat.
Farid et al. performed some tests on two kinds of concrete slabs made of thermal
parameter self-adjusting concrete and conventional concrete under 8 h heating and
16 h discharging heat cycles, respectively. The surface temperature of the con-
ventional concrete slab ranged from 22.5 to 36.5 °C, while that of thermal
parameter self-adjusting concrete slab ranged from 25.0 to 31.5 °C [41]. Castellón
et al. tested the performances of two small house-sized cubicles. One cubicle was
made of thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete, while the other one was made of
conventional concrete. The two cubicles with the same characteristics were located
next to each other. The cubicle with conventional concrete always kept a bigger
temperature value (2−3 °C) than the cubicle of thermal parameter self-adjusting
concrete. While the maximum temperature in the cubicle of conventional concrete
was 39 °C, the maximum temperature in cubicle of thermal parameter self-adjusting
concrete was only 36 °C. Furthermore, the first cubicle reached the same temper-
ature 2 h later than the second cubicle [29].
The thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can achieve effective interior
climate control for building through heat storage, shade, night ventilation, and
insulation, thus improving the indoor comfort and reduce energy consumption.
Generally, the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete has a lot of application
potential in the fields of building energy conservation and environmental protection,
especially for passive use because it stores heat for later use instead of blocking
heat. The thermal parameter self-adjusting asphalt concrete is also capable of
lowering the temperature of asphalt concrete pavement to prevent rutting. In
addition, the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can endow the capability of
harvesting ambient thermal and solar energy with the infrastructures such as
buildings, pavement. For example, the stored heat can be used to inhibit the ice
formation and snow accumulation on the surface of concrete pavement. Bentz et al.
added the polyethylene glycols (PCMs) whose phase transition temperature is 5 °C
into lightweight aggregates by the method of impregnation and fabricated the
lightweight aggregates concrete with the PCM content of 300 kg/m3. They found
that the developed thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete can reduce the tem-
perature fluctuation range of concrete and solve the icing problem of concrete at
winter night, thus enhancing the safety of concrete pavements in winter [27].
Furthermore, use of the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete has also other
benefits. The research results of numerical simulation indicate that the thermal
parameter self-adjusting concrete can reduce annual number of freeze/thaw cycles
of concrete and avoid the freeze–thaw cycle damage and improve durability of
concrete bridge decks and pavements in several locations in the USA (as listed in
Table 8.4) [27]. Similarly, Sakulich et al. got a conclusion that the durability of the
thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete is better than that of the conventional
concrete through simulation software [42].
Although the thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete has better latent heat
storage performance, it also has some disadvantages. For example, the strength of
Table 8.4 Simulated reduction in annual number of freeze–thaw cycles due to the presence of
PCMs in the concrete
US city National Number of Number of Simulated
renewable freeze–thaw freeze–thaw reduction
energy cycles for control cycles for with PCMs
laboratory concrete PCM concrete (%)
(NREL) code
Kansas, MO 03,947 81 63 22.2
Tampa, FL 12,842 4 0 100.0
Lubbock, TX 23,042 71 44 38.0
Tucson, AZ 23,160 16 3 81.3
Cheyenne, WY 24,018 131 106 19.1
Pierre, SD 24,025 100 75 25.0
Seattle, WA 24,233 34 18 47.1
Freson, CA 93,193 20 5 75.0
Baltimore, MD 93,721 104 71 31.7
Bridgeport, CT 94,702 104 83 20.2
Alpena, MI 94,849 107 81 24.3
Waterloo, IA 94,910 86 61 29.1
Total cycles 858 610 28.9
concrete would have a significant loss due to the addition of PCMs. In addition,
some types of PCMs have the shortcoming of low thermal conductivity. Thus, the
external PCMs might cool while the internal PCMs still remain liquid at low
temperature, which would prevent the internal heat transfer to the outside and cause
edge solidification [43–46]. Therefore, it is necessary to study the influence of the
proportion and types of PCMs on the mechanical and thermal performance of
thermal parameters self-adjusting concrete. In addition, the thermal parameter
self-adjusting concrete should have appropriate phase change temperature field and
phase change enthalpy according to different environments and be able to keep
stable physical and chemical properties under long-term phase change cycles.
8.5 Hydration Heat Self-Adjusting Concrete
Concretes with low strength and low heat of hydration are mainly used in
small-scale projects before 1940s. Since 1940s, the concrete with high strength has
been more and more widely used in mass concrete constructions. The cracking in
concrete becomes a critical issue [47–50]. On the one hand, cracks can cause the
leakage problem of concrete, increasing the maintenance costs of infrastructures.
On the other hand, cracks make it easier for corrosive medium entering into the
concrete interior, thus affecting the durability of concrete [48]. Previous studies
reveal that about 80% of the crack in mass concrete constructions is caused by
concrete hydration heat. Because the dissipation rate of concrete internal hydration
heat is slower than the dissipation rate of external heat, the temperature gradients
between center and surface of concrete can generate temperature stress. When the
temperature stress exceeds the ultimate tensile strength of concrete, the concrete
surface will crack according to the principle of expansion and contraction [50]. The
traditional methods to decrease temperature gradients in mass concrete include
adding fly ash, retarders [49], cooling through water pipe [51], using low tem-
perature water/aggregate, and increasing surface temperature.
Currently, a type of hydration heat self-adjusting concrete is made of concrete
and functional fillers. The functional fillers mainly consist of PCMs. The hydration
heat self-adjusting concrete with PCMs also has the ability to slow down the heat of
hydration, thus mitigating thermal stress in concrete [52–54]. When the hydration
heat of concrete is under latent heat, rapid drops in temperature can be prevented by
releasing the accumulated heat. Conversely, this translation can control the potential
temperature increase during the hydration process of concrete. For example, Xing
et al. [55] found the hydration heat self-adjusting concrete can effectively adjust the
hydration heat of concrete and reduce the peak temperature by 15–25 °C. Shi et al.
fabricated concrete with 4% of PCMs (paraffin) by weight of concrete. The tem-
perature control effect of PCMs concrete is shown in Fig. 8.6, which was plotted by
the temperature of normal concrete on the horizontal axis and the difference value
between normal concrete and PCMs concrete on the vertical axis. As the temper-
ature increases, the temperature inside PCMs concrete is lower than that inside
Fig. 8.6 Temperature control

effect of PCMs concrete.
with permission from Journal
of Building Materials
normal concrete. However, the temperature inside PCMs concrete is higher com-
pared with normal concrete as temperature decreases. This indicates that the con-
crete with PCMs can reduce the highest temperature inside concrete, and the
temperature increase and decrease rate, thus preventing thermal cracks in mass
concrete [56, 57].
Kim et al. applied PCMs (strontium hydroxide hydrate) to absorb the hydration
heat of high-strength mass concrete at early age so that the hydration heating
velocity can be reduced (as shown in Fig. 8.7) [58]. Figure 8.8 shows the hydration
history of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), ordinary Portland cement with 3%
PCMs (PCM-3), and ordinary Portland cement with 5% PCMs (PCM-5). The
highest temperature of OPC, PCM-3, and PCM-5 is 72.2, 64.3, and 61.2 °C,
respectively. There is a 10–15% decrease in highest temperature for cement paste
with PCMs compared with plain cement paste, which shows the significantly
absorption effect of PCMs. Furthermore, the cement paste with PCMs has a lower
autogenous shrinkage than plain cement paste.
Choi et al. conducted a series of tests to select suitable PCMs which can be used
to control the hydration heat in mass concrete structures [54]. Seven types of PCMs
were used in the study. They include Na2SO410H2O, Na2HPO412H2O, Ba(OH)2
8H2O, Na2S2O35H2O, CaBr26H2O, Ca(NO3)24H2O, and Zn(NO3)26H2O. The
cement mortar with barium-based PCMs [Ba(OH)28H2O] showed the lowest
amount of total hydration heat. It indicates that the barium-based PCMs have good
latent to prevent volume change and microcracks caused by thermal stress in mass
concrete. Šavija et al. explored the influence of PCM addition (in the form of
microcapsules) on hydration temperature evolution and stress development in
hardening concrete though numerical models [52]. At the mesoscale (i.e., cement
paste level), a discrete (lattice) model is developed and used to assess the thermal
performance. The results show that the addition of PCM microcapsules in cement
paste can reduce the adiabatic heat rise and the latent heat contribution increases
8.5 Hydration Heat Self-Adjusting Concrete 171
Fig. 8.7 Hydration heating

velocity by applying the
PCMs [58]
Fig. 8.8 Hydration

temperature [58]
with increasing PCM microcapsules content, while the phase change temperature of
PCMs microcapsules does not influence the heat rise in the adiabatic test. At the
structural scale (i.e., concrete level), temperature and stress distributions in a
wall-on-slab system are calculated by a commercial FE package. The calculated
results indicate that the maximum tensile stress decreases with increasing amount of
PCMs, and the phase change temperature affects the maximum temperature in the
structure. In addition, a high latent heat of fusion acts the same purpose as a high
content of PCMs addition. Form the two levels of numerical models, it can be
confirmed that the addition of microencapsulate PCMs has great potential for
reducing temperature and stresses in hardening massive concrete. Eddhahak et al.
investigated the effect of PCMs on the hydration kinetics of cement mortars through
the heat hydration track. It is shown a decrease in the hydration heat as well as a
delay in the hydration kinetic with the addition of PCMs. Hydration kinetic of
cement mortars with damaged microcapsules filled with PCMs is delayed in
comparison with mortars with unbroken microcapsules due to the paraffin leakage
and its possible interference with the surrounding matrix which could have affected
the hydration reaction [59]. The hydration heat self-adjusting concrete has been
successfully used to mitigate thermal stress in practical massive concrete structures.
For example, a kind of full-scale hydration heat self-adjusting concrete was
implemented at the footing member (28 m wide 18 m long 3.5 m thick) and
the cylindrical column member (diameter of 5.0 m and height of 6.0 m) of an arch
bridge in South Korea (as shown in Fig. 8.9). The highest temperature at the core of
the components in massive concrete structures was maintained at around 58 °C at
around 25 °C of ambient temperature, which indicates that the hydration temper-
ature can be controlled effectively [60]. It also can be seen from Fig. 8.9 that after
removing all the formwork, no visible defects are evident on the surface except for
minor shrinkage cracks.
(a) Footing member (b) Bridge pier

Fig. 8.9 Application of hydration heat self-adjusting concrete in footing member and bridge pier.
8.5 Hydration Heat Self-Adjusting Concrete 173
Although the hydration heat self-adjusting concrete can control the temperature
cracks and autogenous shrinkage in concrete to some degree, the additives will
weaken the mechanical property of the concrete [57]. In order to achieve appli-
cation of the hydration heat self-adjusting concrete in engineering practice, there are
still some problems needed to be first solved. (1) PCMs should be stable in high
alkaline environment of concrete. (2) PCMs should be able to sustain numerous
solid-to-liquid transitions (and vice versa) without losing its latent heat storing
ability [52]. (3) The addition of PCMs should not obviously decrease the
mechanical properties of concrete. Finally, the addition of PCMs should not
increase the cost of concrete too much.
8.6 Summary
Self-adjusting concrete can make proper responses to external field through

changing its composition or structure. These responses are beneficial for improving
the safety, durability, and function of infrastructures. Self-adjusting concrete has
wide application potential in the field of building energy saving, infrastructure
construction, and disaster prevention and reduction of infrastructures. However, the
existing self-adjusting property of concrete is basically passive, and the
self-adjusting function and capability are also limited. Active or semiactive concrete
with multi self-adjusting function and strong self-adjusting capability is desired for
satisfying the growing demands in the field of civil engineering infrastructures.
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Chapter 9
Damping Concrete
Abstract Damping concrete has the ability to change vibration energy into other
forms of energy. The damping property of the concrete can be improved through
introducing effective admixtures into conventional concrete, such as polymer,
fibers, silica fume, graphite, emulsified asphalt, and graphene. Use of damping
concrete is valuable for infrastructures because it can mitigate hazards (whether due
to accidental loading, wind, ocean waves, or earthquakes), increases comfort of the
people who use the infrastructures, and enhances reliability and performance of the
infrastructures.
Keywords Concrete Damping Admixtures Energy
9.1 Introduction
Infrastructures usually suffer severe situations such as typhoons and earthquake

attack, which could cause damage or fatigue accumulations to infrastructures and
considerable retrofitting cost. Concrete is the most widely used structural material,
but it confronts with potentially serious damage or fatigue accumulations in severe
environments due to unsatisfactory damping property. For example, concrete
usually suffers dynamic loading which can be due to live loads, wind, and earth-
quakes. Requirements for better damping property of concrete are of great signif-
icance for the safety and comfort of people. To date, vibration control has been
introduced to infrastructures in order to prolong the life of infrastructures and
reduces economical cost. Vibration control is a set of technical means that aims to
alleviate the dynamic vibration responses and impacts in infrastructures. It can be
simply divided into three categories: substructure vibration isolating, passive
energy dissipation, and active, semiactive, and smart control. Among these meth-
ods, a more preferable approach to attain higher vibration capacity is to tailor the
structural material itself so that it maintains its high strength while providing ideal
damping property. Damping is the dissipation of energy in a material under cyclic
load. It will be more convenient to improve the damping property by adding

178 9 Damping Concrete
effective mixtures into concrete than equipping infrastructures with damping

devices [1, 2].
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to definition and mecha-
nisms of damping concrete, with attentions to properties, current progress, and
applications of different types of damping concrete.
9.2 Definition and Principles of Damping Concrete
The damping function of the concrete is the capacity of changing vibration energy
into other forms of energy. The conventional concrete is inherently poor in damping
ability. Concrete with vibration damping ability is needed for vibration reduction
and hazard mitigation of bridges, buildings, and other civil infrastructure systems.
However, the dynamic mechanical properties of concrete have received much less
attention than the static mechanical properties. The vibration can come from many
sources both within interior and exterior to the infrastructures. The most significant
interior sources are the plant’s mechanical systems, activities, and sometimes the
tools themselves. Exterior sources include nearby traffic, rail lines, construction,
mechanical equipment in neighboring buildings, wind, and most significant of all
earthquakes [3, 4]. Since 1990s, researchers have begun to try to improve the
damping property of concrete by adding macromolecular materials. The damping
properties of concrete can be improved through incorporating functional fillers
including polymers, fibers, silica fume, methylcellulose, graphite, emulsified ash-
palt, and graphene. The damping concrete containing polymer is made by dispersing
polymer particles in the concrete. At the same time, it forms three-dimensional
continuous space network structures which can not only reduce the stress concen-
tration of the concrete effectively but also increase the capacity of deformation and
energy dissipation. Thereby, polymer can improve damping property and slows
down the spread of microcracks in the concrete. The enhancement mechanism in
damping property of the concrete containing fibers, silica fume, and graphite power
mainly comes from the interface friction and interfacial peeling caused by relative
displacement. In addition, the development and extend of the microcracks between
the matrix and fiber under tensile stress will produce energy consumption. Carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) have energy dissipation due to their viscoelasticity. The viscous
and elastic behavior dominates and leads to different degrees of dissipation of energy
into heat at varying frequencies. In addition, CNTs have a remarkable Young’s
modulus and deformability indicating high damping capability. A single
multi-walled CNT (MWCNT) contains several concentric tubes and the interface
slip and friction between tubes, which result in energy dissipation [5]. Wang et al.
found that the addition of silica fume can obviously enhance the vibration damping
ability because that the silica fume can cause increase in both loss tangent and
storage modulus [6]. In addition, silica fume also can enhance the damping capacity
due to the large area of the interface between silica fume particles and the cement
matrix and the contribution of interface slippage. Although the pozzolanic nature of
9.2 Definition and Principles of Damping Concrete 179
silica fume makes the interface rather diffuse, the interface still contributes to
damping [7]. For concrete with graphite, the high loss tangent of the damping
concrete with graphite is attributed to the graphite network, while the high storage
modulus is attributed to the matrix [8]. The reasons for graphene can improve the
damping property of the concrete can be attributed to the followings: (1) The dis-
location slip in graphene own layer consumes vibrational energy. The lamellar
structure of graphite is hexagonal plane lattice unit connected by covalent bond. The
interlayer relies on the connection between delocalized p bonds that is similar to
metal bond and van der Waals forces. Because of the small interlayer binding force
and large gaps between the layers, it is easy to create relative slip for graphene,
which can dissipate vibrational energy and cause high internal friction. (2) Viscous
friction between graphene composite fillers and the cementitious composites con-
sumes vibrational energy. The cementitious composites appear diversity phase
boundaries and crystal interfaces when graphene is combined with the cementitious
composites. In addition, a large number of diversity interfaces increase frictional
energy of cementitious composites. Under shear stress, deformation between the two
interfaces is short of coordination, which leads to interface friction. Furthermore,
these interfaces also make contribution to dislocation damping. (3) Contact friction
between the hydration productions and graphene fillers in the matrix consumes
vibration energy [9].
9.3 Current Progress of Damping Concrete
9.3.1 Damping Concrete with Polymers
Since 1970s, polymer concrete has been used for building foundation damping
owing to its very good damping effect [10]. Nabavi explored the damping mech-
anism in polymer modified concrete. He found that polymers in concrete mixtures
act as passive dampers. The concrete with polymer have following merits compared
to active dampers: no need to specialist persons to set up, no need to special
mechanical or electrical devices and equipment, no further maintenance and repair
cost, and flexible options for design [11]. Damping ratio is more dependent on the
interfacial relations of the microstructure within the concrete matrix [12]. The
mechanical properties are researched to have no significant effect on damping
properties. Curing age and moisture content have much higher effect on concrete
damping properties than the type of concrete [13]. Cao et al. proposed a method of
increasing the damping ratio of concrete by adding carboxylic styrene butadiene
latex. They tested the vibration property of the concrete beam, in which the polymer
to cement ratio, respectively, is 0, 0.1, 0.13, and 0.15 by volume. The fundamental
frequency damping ratio is improved by 55% when the polymer to cement ratios are
both 0.1 and 0.13, and it is improved by 200% when the polymer to cement ratio is
0.15 (as shown in Fig. 9.1) [14]. Wong et al. studied the effect of the concentration
Fig. 9.1 Relations of 8

polymer cement ratio and 7 Third-oder damping ratio
damping ratio of concrete Second-oder damping ratio
6
Damping ratio/%
Fundamental frequncy damping ratio
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16
The polymer to cement ratio
and type of the polymers on the damping function of the concrete. It has been
demonstrated that the damping function of the concrete has improved with varying
degrees when the polymer to cement ratio is in the range of 0–25%. The concrete
shows better damping function when the polymer to cement ratio is from 10 to 20%
[4]. Hua et al. pointed out that the most significant feature of carboxylic styrene
butadiene latex (CSBL) is viscoelastic. They tested the loss factor of mortar cubes
(40 mm 10 mm 5 mm) made of concrete with CSBL by using dynamic
mechanical analyzer and dual cantilever beam method. They got the conclusion that
the loss factor of cement mortar nearly doubles after adding polymeric materials.
The dynamic test result of prestressed rectangle simple beam indicates that poly-
meric materials can greatly increase the damping ration of concrete [15]. Ou and
Liu studied the damping property of the frames fabricated with the different
compositions of concrete. As shown in Table 9.1, before failure of the frames, the
damping ratio of styrene-acrylic emulsion filled concrete frame is improved by
82.3% compared with that of the plain concrete frame. After failure, the damping
ratio of styrene-acrylic emulsion filled concrete frame is improved by 42.5%.
Although styrene-acrylic emulsion decreases, to some extent, the initial stiffness of
concrete frame and the residual stiffness of the styrene-acrylic emulsion filled
concrete frame increase after frame failure. [16]. Fu et al. measured the storage
modulus, tan d, and loss modulus of the concrete with some admixtures under
different temperatures and frequencies. They found that the three properties can be
increased by adding latex and methylcellulose to concrete. Taking energy appli-
cations into account, latex is proposed for use at >1.5 Hz, and methylcellulose is
proposed for use at <1.5 Hz [17].
9.3.2 Damping Concrete with Fibers
The loss factor (or damping factor) is an important parameter that represents the
damping performance of the concrete. In 1990, Cinquin et al. explored the effect of
interface bonding on damping property of glass-fiber-reinforced composites by
9.3 Current Progress of Damping Concrete 181
Table 9.1 Frequencies and damping ratios of undamged and damaged frame models
Frequency/Hz Stiffness/(106 N/m) Damping ratio
Before After Before After Before After
experiment experiment experiment/ experiment/ experiment/ experiment/
% % % %
P 2.832 1.563 1.709 0.521 4.75 8.04
1.660 0.587
1.367 0.398
GSF 2.978 1.953 1.890 0.813 7.24 10.2
1.758 0.659
1.465 0.458
B 2.343 1.723 1.170 0.633 8.66 11.4
1.678 0.630
1.475 0.464
Note P represents plain concrete frame, B represents styrene-acrylic emulsion filled concrete frame,
and GSF represents treated silica fume concrete frame
dynamic mechanical analysis, which gives an accurate measurement of interfacial

damping. Therefore, it is feasible to investigate the damping performance of
CNT-reinforced concrete, and the interface reaction between the CNT surface and
the adjacent cement hydrates through the dynamic mechanical analysis technique
[18–21]. Li et al. observed that the concrete incorporated with MWCNT has better
damping property than the plain concrete. This is attributed to internal frictions,
external frictions, and multiform interfaces [2]. Luo studied the damping capacity of
concrete with different concentrations of CNT (from 0.1 to 2 wt%) and found that
the critical damping ratio of concrete increases with increasing content of CNT. The
critical damping ratio of concrete with 2% of CNT is 1.6 times that of plain
concrete. Luo and Duan demonstrated that the addition of MWCNTs into concrete
can enhance the vibration damping capacity. The maximum increment of damping
ratio can reach up to 20.55% [22, 23]. They also deduced from the force vibration
frequency response functions (FRFs) (as shown in Figs. 9.2 and 9.3) that the FRFs
of the MWCNT concrete beams are wider and steadily become wider with
increasing MWCNT to cement ratio [24, 25]. Luo et al. found MWCNTs in dif-
ferent sizes gather together (as shown in Fig. 9.4), thus leading to more multiphase
interfaces and boundaries. The damping ratio of concrete with 0.5 wt% of
MWCNTs is increased by 24.51% compared with that of plain concrete [24].
Koratkar et al. observed that the addition of CNTs can improve the damping ratio of
concrete by 200% compared to the plain concrete [26]. Ghonsi and Samali get the
conclusions that adding polypropylene (PP) fiber helps improve damping ratio of
concrete. There is a slight increase of damping ratio when the content of PP fiber is
low (0.25 and 0.5%). However, the increase in damping ratio can reach up to 121%
when the content of PP fiber is 1%. Adding a combination of styrene butadiene
(SB) latex and PP fiber to concrete mix is likely to improve the damping ratio by, as
much as, 154% [27].
Fig. 9.2 Force vibration FRFs of MWCNT concrete beams. MWCNT ratios are as follows: 0.1%
(DMd1), 0.2% (DMd2), 0.5% (DMd5), 1.0% (DM1), and 2.0% (DM2). Reprinted from Ref. [24],
Copyright 2015, with permission from Taylor and Francis
Fig. 9.3 Force vibration FRFs of beams without MWCNT. DMp0 to MWCNT ratio is 0.
Reprinted from Ref. [24], Copyright 2015, with permission from Taylor and Francis
(a) Concrete with 0.5 wt. % of MWCNTs (b) Concrete with 2.0 wt. % of
MWCNTs
Fig. 9.4 Microstructures of damping concrete with CNTs. Reprinted from Ref. [24], Copyright
2015, with permission from Taylor and Francis
9.3.3 Damping Concrete with Silica Fume
Ou and Liu observed that the addition of silane-treated silica fume can improve the
loss factor of concrete, thus increasing damping capability of concrete. As shown in
Table 9.1, before failure, the damping ratio of treated silica fume concrete frame is
improved by 52.4% compared with that of the plain concrete frame. After failure,
the damping ratio of concrete frames with treated silica fume is improved by 27.5%.
Treated silica fume may effectively increase the stiffness of plain concrete frame
before and after the destruction. They also found the treated silica fume is effective
for improving both the storage modulus and the loss tangent [16]. Fu et al. found
that the storage modulus, tan d, and loss modulus of the concrete can be increased
by adding silica fume. Taking energy applications into account, silica fume is
proposed for use at <1.5 Hz [17]. Wang et al. reported that the vibration damping
ability of concrete can increase by adding silica fume into concrete. Damping
ability of concrete will be reduced by adding coarse aggregate or fine aggregate.
Therefore, the aggregate proportion designed for reaching high compressive
strength may not be able to achieve good vibration damping. Further addition of
silica fume can overcome the decreased vibration damping ability of concrete,
which is due to the silica fume causing increases in both loss tangent and storage
modulus. The loss tangent of the concrete with silica fume at 0.5 Hz is 0.14, and it
is two orders of magnitude higher than that of plain concrete [6].
9.3.4 Damping Concrete with Graphite
Xu et al. provided a method of increasing the damping ratio of concrete by adding

piezo-damping composites. They observed that the damping property of concrete
Fig. 9.5 Dissipation factor of

damping concrete at elevated
temperature. Reprinted from
with graphite is obviously better than that of the concrete with epoxy resin. The
largest damping loss factor of the concrete is 0.51 at a glass transition temperature
of 70 °C, when the graphite percentage is 1 wt% (as shown in Fig. 9.5) [28].
Compared with other materials, flexible graphite is moderately attractive for
damping. Its loss tangent is much lower than that of rubber, though its figure of
merit is higher than that of rubber. However, flexible graphite is attractive for its
chemical inertness, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and substantial thermal
conductivity. It is used as an asbestos replacement and as a macroscopic insert in a
structure for damping enhancement [29].
9.3.5 Damping Concrete with Emulsified Asphalt
Considering the good damping performance of the emulsified asphalt, emulsified

asphalt can be used as binder with cement together to improve the damping per-
formance of cement mortar. Usually, this kind of cement mortar containing emul-
sified asphalt is called as cement asphalt mortar (CAM). CAM is an inorganic–
organic composite material, which mainly consists of cement, water, asphalt
emulsion, sand, and chemical admixtures [30]. The microstructure of CAM is shown
in Fig. 9.6 [31]. CAM has unique properties that differ from concrete and asphalt
alone, as this hybrid material combines strength of cement mortar and flexibility of
asphalt binder. The damping ratio of CAM is lower than asphalt binder and mixture
but greater than ordinary Portland cement composites. Figure 9.7 shows the
damping ratio values of the CAM (Asphalt/Cement(A/C) = 0.43). It can be seen that
the damping ratio is not a fixed value and changes with the variation in loading rate
and temperature. Generally, the damping ratio of CAM falls within the range of 1%
and 7% depending on the amount of asphalt binder. It is seen that increasing both the
asphalt to cement ratios and temperature leads to an increase in the damping ratios
[32]. He et al. analyzed the effect of the stiffness and the damping of the CAM on the
vertical dynamic responses of the slab track system. Only the CAM damping is
Fig. 9.6 Microstructures of

CAM. Reprinted from Ref.
changed, while the other dynamic parameters are fixed. The maximum value of the
vertical vibration response varies with CCA. All the vertical displacement of the rail,
the vertical acceleration of the rail, the vertical displacement of the track slab, and the
vertical acceleration of the track slab are reduced with the increase of the CAM
damping CCA. Using high damping CAM cushion will reduce the vibration of the
track slab, thus to extend the service life of the plate slab and to reduce maintenance
workload. The calculated results indicate that the reasonable value of the CAM
stiffness is 1.0–1.5 GPa/m, and the large damping of the mortar layer can effectively
reduce the vibration of the track slab. They found that increase of the CAM damping
can reduce the vertical vibration response of the system, especially for reducing the
vertical dynamic acceleration of the track plate [33]. CAM is a key component of
ballastless high-speed rail track system and its mechanical properties (e.g. damping
and stiffness) and plays an important role for a smooth and safe ride. With the rapid
development of high-speed railway, it will be able to effectively and economically
applied CAM for high-speed railway damping (as shown in Fig. 9.8) through
in-depth study of the CAM damping performance [34]. Wang et al. investigated the
damping characteristics of CAM for high-speed rail by taking energy dissipation
coefficient as the evaluation index of damping capacity. The variation laws of energy
dissipation coefficient of CA mortar with loading stress, loading frequency, and test
temperature were studied through cycle loading test. The research results show that
the energy dissipation coefficient of CAM is relatively stable with the change of
loading stress and varies from 13 to 15%. This indicates that CAM features stable
damping property. The energy dissipation coefficient declines sharply before
achieving steady state with increasing loading frequency. It increases much at low
loading frequency but increases a little at high loading frequency as the test tem-
perature increases [35]. Yuan et al. investigated the dynamic mechanical properties
of CAM for ballastless slab track of high-speed rail by using dynamic mechanical
thermo analysis. The research results show that the energy-dissipating ability of
CAM increases with the content of asphalt. The storage modulus of CAM decreases,
Fig. 9.7 Damping ratio of CAM (A/C = 0.43). Reprinted from Ref. [32], Copyright 2014, with
Fig. 9.8 Application of CAM in slab track of high-speed rail. Reprinted from Ref. [34],
Copyright 2016, with permission form Elsevier
while the loss tangent of CAM increases as the test temperature increases. These also
indicate that the vibration damping ability of CAM increases with the asphalt content
in a temperature range from −40 to 60 °C [36].
9.3.6 Damping Concrete with Graphene
Cui et al. used graphene to modify the damping performance of concrete. They
observed that the damping ratio of cementitious composite is directly proportional
to the amount of graphene. When the graphine is not added, the damping ratio of
plain cementitious composites is 0.01. However, the damping ratio of cementitious
Fig. 9.9 Damping ratio of

cementitious composites filled
with graphene (i.e., NGP).
permission form Elsevier
composite increases by 4.7%, when the content of graphene is 1 vol%, and

increases by 20% with the graphene content of 5 vol% (as shown in Fig. 9.9) [9].
9.4 Application of Damping Concrete
Damping concrete can be used in high buildings, bridges, high-speed railway, and
other buildings which require high damping properties to increase their safe and
comfort. For example, the damping concrete used in high-rise buildings will reduce
wind-induced vibration response of the buildings, thus enhances the comfort of the
people who live or work in the buildings. For bridges, especially long-span
cable-stayed bridges, using damping concrete can obviously improve their stability
against heavy wind, vehicle load, and earthquakes. In addition, CAM has been
widely used in slab track systems as a cushion layer to improve the
Fig. 9.10 Application of

CAM in CRST construction
CAM layer
vibration-dissipating ability of track systems and the ride comfort and safety of
high-speed trains. For example, the China Rail Track System (CRTS) has been
established in recent decades. More than 7000 km of the passenger-dedicated lines
have adopted ballastless slab tracks, i.e., CRTS I, CRTS II, and CRTS III ballastless
slab tracks, of which the first two use CAM as cushion layer. CAM has been used in
more than 6000 km of high-speed rail in the temperate and frigid zones of China (as
shown in Fig. 9.10) [36].
9.5 Summary
Concrete is confronted with potentially serious damage or fatigue accumulations in

severe environments due to its unsatisfactory damping property. For example, it is
inevitable for concrete to suffer dynamic loadings such as live loads, wind, and
earthquakes. Performances of most engineering structures would be enhanced if the
concrete technologist can design concrete mixtures with increased damping.
Requirements for better damping property of concrete are of great significance for
the safety and comfort of people. Addition of admixtures has been proved to be an
effective way to enhance the damping capability of concrete. Of course, it also
should be noted that the addition of some fillers may decrease the compressive
strength of concrete besides increasing damping property of concrete. In addition,
the damping property of concrete with polymer or asphalt at different temperatures
is complex due to its organic–inorganic composite structure. It involves three
aspects: the phase transition of polymer or asphalt, the transition of water in cement
pores with different sizes, and the interaction of polymer or asphalt and cement.
More in-depth studies are needed to clarify these issues. Moreover, more efforts are
also needed in systematic investigations on the durability of damping concrete, such
as the volume stability, impermeability, and frost resistance.
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Chapter 10
Anti-Spalling Concrete
Abstract Anti-spalling concrete is usually composed of concrete matrix and fibers

and/or air entraining agent. The polypropylene fiber is the most effective filler to
fabricate anti-spalling concrete. The microchannels formed by melted polypropy-
lene fibers supply evacuation exits for gases and water vapor, decreasing the pore
pressure and temperature stress in concrete. If the air entraining agent is used, a
more permeable network can be formed in concrete at high temperature because of
the entrained air voids. The anti-spalling concrete endows high fire resistance with
infrastructures under complex environment, thus decreasing the building crumble
accident rate and the corresponding economic loss and casualties.
Keywords Concrete Anti-spalling Polypropylene Air entraining agent Fire
10.1 Introduction
At the present time, fire still remains one of the most serious risks for tunnels,
buildings, and other concrete structures, especially those made of high-strength
concrete (HSC) and high-performance concrete (HPC). Therefore, there is a need
for engineers to greatly take the risks into consideration that is associated with high
temperatures in fire when concrete structures are designed. The spalling caused by
fire can result in serious deterioration of the concrete and structures [1–4].
The spalling is prone to occur in concrete under certain conditions. For example,
the concrete used in infrastructures has the following composition characteristics
including low water to cement ratios, high moisture content, and supplementary use
of binder materials and plasticizers [5]. The compactness microstructure of concrete
caused by the above mix proportion characteristics limits the diffusion of water
vapor from the concrete pores. Therefore, with increase of temperature, the pore
pressure within the concrete increases continuously until the internal stresses reach
the tensile strength of concrete and eventually causes spalling [6]. The spalling
behavior of concrete not only inhibits their use in some infrastructures such as
high-rise buildings and tunnels, but also makes the steel reinforcements yield early.

192 10 Anti-Spalling Concrete
In 1998, Guth [7] had pointed out that the occurrence of spalling in reinforced
concrete structures with HSC must be prevented. A lot of researches have been
carried out in order to model the spalling tendency of concrete. Some alternative
solutions have been proposed, such as adaption of special mixture proportions or
use of effective materials to provide passive or active protection against spalling.
Up to date, many types of materials have been introduced into concrete to improve
the anti-spalling property of concrete such as fibers, air entraining agent, and
mineral admixtures [5, 8–13].
This chapter will first give a basic introduction to the definition and occurrence
mechanism of concrete spalling, and then, the definition and principles, current
progress, applications, and the future development of anti-spalling concrete are
presented in sequence.
10.2 Definition and Principles of Anti-Spalling Concrete
10.2.1 Definition and Occurrence Mechanism of Concrete

Spalling
The concrete spalling proposed by Khoury and Anderberg [14] means the violent or
nonviolent breaking off phenomenon of layers or pieces of concrete from the surface
of a structural element at elevated temperature or rapid rising temperature. Explosive
spalling, surface spalling, aggregate spalling, corner spalling, sloughing, and
post-cooling spalling are six main types of spalling [15]. The first three types normally
occur early in a fire, while the last three types often occur later in a fire. Explosive
spalling and surface spalling are violent, while sloughing off spalling is nonviolent
[16]. The existing researches mainly focus on the explosive spalling which is a brittle
failure and creates high strain energies. The explosive spalling occurs suddenly and
violently, resulting in concrete cracks and the falling off of pieces of concrete.
Hereinafter, the spalling refers to the explosive spalling unless otherwise specified.
The spalling of concrete at elevated temperature can be mainly attributed to
thermal mismatch, pore pressure, and thermal stress [17]. The thermal mismatch
phenomenon refers to that the deference between expansion rates of aggregates and
mortar leads to thermal stress spalling. In concrete matrix with dense microstructure,
the water vapor pressure cannot be released due to the low permeability and leads to
tensile failure. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 10.1, the vapor pressure buildup mech-
anism plays a crucial role in the concrete spalling [18]. The physically/chemically
bound water vaporizes to build up pressure in the concrete pores, leading to tensile
stress in the heated microstructure [19–21]. The restrained thermal dilation appears
in concrete pores at elevated temperature, which generates biaxial compressive stress
parallel to the heated surface and leads to the development of tensile stress in the
direction perpendicular to the heated surface [21]. The corresponding restrained
thermal dilatation mechanism is shown in Fig. 10.2 [18].
10.2 Definition and Principles of Anti-Spalling Concrete 193
Fig. 10.1 Vapor pressure.

Fig. 10.2 Thermal dilation.

In practice, the concrete spalling is caused by a combination of thermal mis-

match, vapor pressure, thermal dilation, and exterior load. Vapor pressure can cause
spalling for small size of unloaded specimens, while the catastrophic failure
mechanism is independent on the buildup of pore pressure alone for large size of
specimens under load. The load stress, thermal gradient, and strain energy due to
thermal stress play a secondary role in this explosive spalling mechanism [22, 23].
The recent studies have shown that most concrete spalling starts due to internal
cracking [24, 25].
At elevated temperature, the less permeable concrete is susceptible to spall,

because the fully saturated concrete cover prevents vapor from migrating out the
concrete and causes the generation of high pore pressures. As a result, the concrete
spalling is affected by concrete strength grade, moisture content, structure perme-
ability, heating rate, and so on. In addition, compression of concrete increases the
possibility of spalling because the pores are filled with gel. This means that the
prestressed concrete is particularly at risk of spalling because its service loads are
not decompressed. The spalling phenomenon is also affected by exposure types and
specimen geometry. For example, the moistures flow toward the center of the
concrete cross section and meet a similar flow from the opposite side in multiex-
posure side. Consequently, the role of moisture in inducing explosive spalling is
amplified compared with that of one-side exposure [24]. The content of free water
and the corresponding moisture gradients must be regarded as the most important
reasons of spalling [26]. Conventional concrete will not spall with less than 3%
moisture by weight. It begins to have a risk of spalling when the moisture is 3–4%
by weight. However, the concrete with a dense microstructure (most of the HPC)
may spall even when its moisture content is close to zero [26]. This is because only
the crystal water arisen from the dehydration of hydrates can also cause spalling.
Generally, the moisture content of conventional concrete should be controlled
below 2–3%, and the HPC should have lower moisture content.
The spalling is more likely to happen when the heating rate is above 3 °C/min,
and is affected by elevated temperatures. When the exposure temperature is between
20 and 150 °C, the concrete microstructure has no sensible degradation, and only the
bound water contained in C-S-H and the free water contained in concrete can be
evaporated [27]. With the exposure temperature from 150 to 300 °C, the com-
pressive strength of concrete increases based on the hydration of anhydrous cements
and water movement. With the temperature beyond 300 °C, both mechanical and
physical properties of concrete decrease quickly. At the temperature of 600 °C, the
concrete becomes very weak in mechanical properties, and the microstructure of
concrete deteriorates quickly because the crystal change of the brucite and the
decomposition of the portlandite produce more cracks resulting in an increase in
porosity of about 7% [4].
10.2.2 Principles of Anti-Spalling Concrete
Based on the above spalling mechanisms, preventive measures of the spalling

mainly are originated from two aspects, i.e., material and structure. The common
anti-spalling measures and the corresponding evaluations are summarized in
Table 10.1 [28].
Among all of these methods, the addition of PP fibers is a well-known method to
improve the anti-spalling performance of concrete exposed to elevated tempera-
tures, especially for HSC and HPC with dense microstructure and low permeability
[9, 29–32]. Meanwhile, using PP fiber to produce anti-spalling concrete is economy
Table 10.1 Evaluation of preventive measures for the spalling of concrete

Measures Effectiveness Evaluation
Addition of It is effective for normal It is not suitable for super-HSC, and it
polypropylene strength concrete (NSC), cannot lower concrete temperature. It can
(PP) fiber HSC and HPC only decrease the vapor pressure
Addition of air It is very effective It may reduce the concrete strength
entraining agent
(AEA)
Spray fire retardant It is very effective It can lower concrete temperature and
coating or set of increase fire resistance
heat shield
Moisture content It can decrease vapor Normal moisture content is usually
control pressure higher than the upper limit of no
explosive spalling value
Compressive stress It can decrease explosion This method increases the section size,
control pressure and it is not economy
Selection of coarse aggregate, especially those with Lightweight aggregate with low moisture
low expansion and small size content can improve the fire resistant of
concrete
Reinforcement It can lower explosion Reinforcement can limit the extension of
damage explosive spalling caused by fire
Supplement of It can lower explosion This method is difficult to apply to small
reinforcement damage and narrow section
Selection of Thick section can lower It is important for ribbed section and I
cross-sectional explosion damage section of concrete structure
shape
Reproduced from Ref. [28] by permission of John Wiley & Sons Ltd
and easy to some extent. Of course, some other organic fibers such as polyvinyl
alcohol (PVA) fiber, nylon (NY) fiber, cellulose (CL) fiber, and natural fiber are
also effective in mitigating spalling [33, 34], while steel fibers are not so effective
[35].
The anti-spalling mechanism of PP fiber-reinforced concrete is mainly based on
thermal cracking theory and percolation theory. Cracking is a necessary condition
for concrete spalling, and it is also the release channel for vapor pressure. Usually,
the tiny channels left by melted PP fiber are regarded as cracks. The existing
experimental evidences show that the explosive spalling of concrete occurs typi-
cally at temperatures between 200 and 250 °C, while PP fibers have melt at
approximately 160–170 °C [5]. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the melted
fiber leaves free paths for the water vapor to escape. Thus, the pore pressure is
relieved, and hence, no or very limited spalling occurs. Furthermore, the PP fibers
usually have a vaporization temperature of 341 °C and a burning temperature of
460 °C. The decomposition products of PP fibers are mainly a variety of hydro-
carbons, which can be absorbed by cement matrix, despite the large size of the
molecules compared with diameter of paste pores. And then, the percolated net-
works are formed by the melting of PP fiber and the preexisting of air voids and
Fig. 10.3 Effect of PP fibers on spalling. Reprinted from Ref. [21], Copyright 2014, with
cracks, which can effectively evacuate the water vapor and decrease the pore
pressure (as shown in Fig. 10.3) [21]. In order to form a perfect permeable network,
PP fibers with smaller diameter should be selected in preference [28].
As a complement for the two aspects of anti-spalling mechanisms of PP
fiber-reinforced concrete, Jansson and Boström [24] proposed that the effectiveness
of anti-spalling is greatly affected by the presence and movement of moisture. They
pointed out that the addition of PP fiber can reduce the moisture content in the
critical zone close to the heated surface. This affects the mechanical properties of
concrete advantageously and amplifies moisture movement, thus leading to larger
drying creep which locally relaxes the thermal stresses.
The viscosity of PP fiber has an important impact on the effectiveness of miti-
gation of spalling [36]. Concrete containing fibers with low viscosity exhibits no
spalling, whereas concrete containing fibers with high viscosity suffers severe
spalling even at very high dosages. The decrease in viscosity can be achieved by
decreasing the molecular size of the fibers.
When the water to binder ratio is lower than 0.24 and the content of PP fiber is
relatively low, the microstructure of concrete can be so dense that the intercon-
nected channel system formed by PP fiber is not enough to release water vapor
pressure. The residual pore pressure still can be high enough to exceed the tensile
strength of concrete and lead to explosive spalling [37]. However, the high content
of PP fibers brings adverse effect to the workability of concrete. The introduced air
pores can bridge the channels created by molten PP fibers and form connected
network even at a lower fiber content. As a result, the anti-spalling property of
concrete can be guaranteed without losing the workability. Therefore, the addition
of AEA or other kinds of admixtures which can introduce air into concrete also is a
kind of common methods to fabricate anti-spalling concrete.
The AEA increases the air content of concrete and decreases the thermal con-
ductivity of concrete at the hardened state. And then, the surface concrete can
effectively resist the heat transmission by producing an insulation layer to inner
parts [38]. Therefore, the spalling of concrete caused by urgent increase of tem-
perature can be avoided. Superabsorbing polymer (SAP) is a kind of small-sized
particles which is similar to air entrained agent. The introduced SAP forms
macropores in the hardened concrete because the water contained in SAP is sucked
into concrete matrix due to capillary forces. The macropores uniformly distribute in
concrete matrix, providing passages for water vapor and gases at elevated tem-
perature. Meanwhile, in order to assure better anti-spalling property, the distribution
of void size can be planned and controlled by choosing dry SAP with opportune
absorption properties and particle size [3].
However, the air voids entrained and/or entrapped by AEA/SAP are almost
closed at high temperature. The water vapor cannot escape from these closed pores,
and the pore pressure continues to increase with the increase of temperature.
Therefore, the risk of spalling increases. When PP fibers and AEA/SAP are
introduced into concrete together, the microchannels produced by melted PP fibers
and the air voids entrained by AEA/SAP will form permeable network at elevated
temperatures [3, 39]. Meanwhile, the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) formed
around air voids facilitates the percolation of fibers-voids-aggregate ITZ network
systems [29]. Thus, the gases and water vapor produced by heating can evacuate
through these connected networks, and the pore pressure will be released. In this
sense, the function of AEA/SAP on resisting explosive spalling is based on the
addition of PP fiber. At the same time, the efficiency of SAP is obviously better than
that of AEA, because the air voids produced by SAP are more stable than those
produced by AEA. In addition, the AEA has problems of weak compatibility with
superplasticizers [40] and fly ash [41], which affects the air entraining performance
of AEA. The amount of pores and the size distribution of pores produced by SAP
can be precisely designed, in order to improve the percolation of SAP and PP fiber
permeable network system [42–44]. In short, the mechanism of AEA/SAP is
bridging the PP fibers and the corresponding schematic diagram (as shown in
Fig. 10.4) [3].
In addition, the addition of mineral admixtures is an efficient way to avoid
concrete spalling. When the environment temperatures range from 200 to 300 °C,
Fig. 10.4 Schematic

representation of PP fibers
(yellow) in the microstructure
of a HPC, which come into
contact through a void created
by an empery SAP particle/air
pore by AEA (blue).
the inclusion of fly ash and slag can improve the residual strength of concrete. This
can be attributed to the formation of tobermorite [13].
10.3 Current Progress of Anti-Spalling Concrete
Previous studies have shown that inclusion of different types of fibers (including PP
fiber, other organic fibers, and steel fiber) can diminish or delay the tendency of
concrete spalling. Meanwhile, the addition of entraining air admixture or mineral
admixture can also improve the anti-spalling property of concrete. Of course, the
anti-spalling property is also affected by the moisture content, specimen shape,
temperature rise rate, and so on. In general, if concrete has been well prepared for
inhibiting explosive spalling, the main damage to concrete caused by fire or ele-
vated temperatures is the loss in mechanical properties. Therefore, the research of
concrete at elevated temperature is mainly focused on the spalling and residual
mechanical properties of concrete after the high-temperature exposure.
10.3.1 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Polypropylene Fibers
The PP fibers with sufficient quantities and suitable characteristics can prevent the
spalling of concrete which is in the case of restrained thermal expansion. This is
because PP fibers can produce a connected and fine residual capillary pore structure
at elevated temperature [45]. Meanwhile, the residual flexural strength is improved
when the temperature ranges from 150 to 440 °C [11]. The effect of PP fibers on the
anti-spalling property of concrete is closely related to the kind of cement and
elevated temperature [12, 46]. The HPC with conventional cement containing PP
fibers in volume content of 0.22 has 4.6% higher residual compressive strength after
exposure to 600 °C than that without PP fibers.
The study of Bošnjak et al. [36] confirmed that the permeability of concrete
plays a governing role on explosive spalling. They also found that the melted PP
fibers flow into microcrack and do not penetrate into cement paste. The concrete in
this study containing PP fibers at a very low dosage of 1.0 kg/m3 was proved to be
effective in mitigating spalling. Sideirs et al. [47] pointed out that the addition of PP
fibers with the length of 6 and 12 mm and content of 1 kg/m3 has negative effect on
the residual mechanical properties of concrete. They suggested that the PP fibers
should be used in combination with other materials such as external thermal bar-
riers. Eurocode [48] recommended that including more than 2 kg/m3 of monofil-
ament PP fibers in HSC can reduce spalling but the diameter size of the fibers is not
specified. However, many researchers reported that concrete spalling may be
avoided by adding even smaller amount of fibers [49, 50]. In some studies [5, 9, 26,
51, 52], PP fibers show beneficial effect on the residual strength of concrete after the
high-temperature exposure. One of the important reasons is that PP fibers melt and
10.3 Current Progress of Anti-Spalling Concrete 199
vaporize due to their low melting point (160–170 °C) during the rapid temperature
increasing process, which makes free space in the microchannels in the concrete
matrix. This decreases tension stress in the capillary and reduces the compression
stress in the concrete matrix. Zeiml et al. [53] presented the results of permeability
tests on normal strength in situ concrete without and with PP fibers (1.5 kg/m3) and
illustrated the effect of permeability of concrete on spalling. The results show that
the permeability of concrete with 1.5 kg/m3 PP fibers is three to four times larger
than that of concrete without fibers. Moreover, the permeability difference decreases
with increasing temperature when the heating temperatures are lower than 140 °C.
This phenomenon can be attributed to the additional ITZ between PP fibers and
concrete matrix.
Noumowe [54] observed the disperse state of PP fibers in non-heated HSC (as
shown in Fig. 10.5) and the traces of melted fibers by scanning electron microscope
(SEM) analysis (as shown in Fig. 10.6). The length of PP fiber decreases gradually
under heating owing to relaxation and melt. They pointed out that the use of fiber
affects the porosity of HSC at high temperature and the 1.8 kg/m3 content of PP
fiber can decrease the pore pressure inside the HSC.
In the experiments of reference [10], the use of PP fiber with a quantity of 0.05%
by volume (more than 0.45 kg/m3) can prevent the specimen spalling caused by
high internal vapor pressure. The combination of PP fibers and the metal fabric
lateral confinement further improve the spalling resistance of concrete. When the
mixture contains PP fiber above 0.05% by volume and the lateral confinement is
used at the same time, no spalling occurs and the residual compressive strength ratio
is about 90%. The results also show that the higher the thickness of metal fabric, the
better the spalling resistance. The addition of PP fibers with the content of
1.2 kg/m3 can prevent ferro-siliceous concrete from spalling [55]. Meanwhile, the
Fig. 10.5 PP fibers scattered in the HSC. Reprinted from Ref. [54], Copyright 2005, with
Fig. 10.6 Traces of melted PP fibers in HSC. Reprinted from Ref. [54], Copyright 2005, with
spalling mechanisms of PP fiber-reinforced ferro-siliceous concrete include the

thermal damage, inner expansion force of closed voids, and incompatible defor-
mation between aggregates and cement paste, which is different from the
anti-spalling mechanism of PP fiber-reinforced NSC, HSC, and HPC. Al Tayyib
and Al Zahrani [56] pointed out that PP fiber is in favor of postponing the
occurrence of explosive spalling of surface skin of concrete specimens. The test
results of Xiao and Falkner [46] showed that no explosive spalling happens on
specimens with PP fibers, while some spalling takes place in specimens without PP
fibers. Meanwhile, the inclusion of PP fibers can effectively improve the com-
pressive strength, splitting strength, bonding strength, dynamic performance, and
the fatigue life of concrete although the water penetration and the abrasion mass
loss are reduced. Maluk et al. [57] found that the anti-spalling property of concrete
is affected by not only the parameters of PP fiber including the cross section, length,
dosage, and supplier of PP fibers, but also the pre-defined fiber parameters such as
total surface area, total length, and total number of PP fibers. They concluded that
the concrete spalling occurs when at least one of these factors is relatively low.
They also stated that none of these above parameters plays determinant role in
avoiding the occurrence of concrete spalling. Several researchers [58, 59] have
found that the spalling occurs in a saturated zone (so-called moisture clog) situated
around 1–6 cm from the exposed surface. It has been observed that for a given fiber
content, finer PP fibers with a length of 12.5 mm are more effective in spalling
protection during a fire compared with thicker PP fibers with a length of 20 mm
[31]. Balázs and Lublóy pointed out that the addition of thinner fiber (diameter of
0.032 mm and length of 18 mm) can prevent the occurrence of surface crack when
the concrete specimens are heated up to 800 °C [60]. However, the thicker fibers
(diameter of 1.1 mm and length of 40 mm) flow to the surface and burn off from the
surface at 200 °C. They also found that the concrete specimens with steel fiber
present a special type of failure. Some corners of the cube specimens crack off
during the heating process in the temperature range between 600 and 800 °C.
Liu et al. [61] emphasized the important role of pore connectivity in anti-spalling
property of PP fiber-reinforced concrete. They stated that the melting of PP fiber has
no significant influence on the total porosity of concrete, but greatly changes the
connectivity of the pores. This is just the reason why the damage caused by high
temperature can be avoided. On a statistical basis, Persson et al. [62] suggested that
the optimum content of PP fiber is 0.7 and 1.4 kg/m3 for indoor concrete and tunnel
concreter, respectively, in order to prevent explosive fire spalling in
self-compacting concrete (SCC).
Aydın et al. [63] found that the incorporation of PP fiber effectively improves the
fire resistance of high-strength mortar in both water and autoclave curing cases.
Meanwhile, the effective dosage of PP fiber is 0.1 and 0.2%, respectively, for
water-cured and autoclave-cured high-strength mortar. Figure 10.7 illustrates the
microstructure of high-strength mortar with PP fiber when the temperature is ele-
vated to 600 °C. The structure has no visible change at this temperature, which also
is supported by the compressive strength with no reduction. The voids increase
significantly in both water-cured and autoclave-cured mortars exposed to 900 °C
(as shown in Fig. 10.8). A large amount of small rounded formations are observed
in water-cured HSPP1 (high-strength mortar with 0.1% PP fiber), and some
rounded shape crystals are also observed which are decomposition products of
C-S-H at elevated temperature (as shown in Fig. 10.8a) [64]. The autoclave-cured
HSPP2 (high-strength mortar with 0.2% PP fiber) mortar exhibits glassy-like
structure with pores. This is why the mechanical properties of the autoclave-cured
HSPP2 show great reduction at this temperature.
(a) HSPP1 (b) HSPP2 (autoclave cured )
Fig. 10.7 SEM analysis of mortars at 600 °C. Reprinted from Ref. [63], Copyright 2006, with
(a) HSPP1 (b) HSPP2 (autoclave cured )
Fig. 10.8 SEM analysis of mortars at 900 °C. Reprinted from Ref. [63], Copyright 2006, with
10.3.2 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Hybrid Fibers
The carbon fiber (CF) and glass fiber (GF), which are added into the concrete to
reduce crack propagation and increase concrete ductility, can delay the appearance of
spalling and improve the residual mechanical properties of heated concrete [65–67].
Because of the incombustible properties, CFs and GFs do not melt and deteriorate at
450 °C, although the weak matrix has cracked at this temperature. The petrographic
alterations of the mortars with different kinds of fibers under high temperatures can be
observed from the thin section images as shown in Fig. 10.9. Based on the flexural
and compressive strength of concrete after heated to high temperature, the optimum
addition ratios of PP fiber and GF are all 0.5% by volume, while it is between 0.5 and
1.5% by volume for PVA fiber [65].
Ding et al. [51, 68] found that the reducing effect of micro-PP fiber on the
maximum pore pressure in SCC at high temperature is more remarkable than that of
steel fiber and macro-PP fiber. The results show that the addition of 1 kg/m3
micro-PP fiber makes the maximum pore pressure decrease from 1.19 to 0.64 MPa,
and that is to say the reduction rate reaches up to 46.2%. However, the reduction
rate is only 14.5 and 19.4% corresponding to the inclusion of 50 kg/m3 steel fiber
and 4 kg/m3 macro-PP fiber, respectively. The aim of addition of steel fiber is to
increase the flexural toughness and bridge the macrocracks before heating and
enhance the residual behavior during and after the high temperature. The reduction
effect of macro- and micro-PP fibers on the pore pressure can be attributed to the
low melting point and vaporization. The huge amount of micro-PP fibers
(3.5 billion/kg) is well distributed, melted, and vaporized, making large number of
free spaces in the microchannels in the concrete matrix (as shown in Fig. 10.10)
[51]. Compared with micro-PP fibers, the relative small number of macro-PP fibers
(50,000 pieces/kg) with large geometric size in the matrix is unable to create so
much free spaces for the release of the pore pressure during the heating. The
macrochannels left by macro-PP fibers is shown in Fig. 10.11 [68].
(a) The mortar exposed to normal (b) The mortar exposed to 450°C high
conditionwith PP temperature with PP
(c) The mortar exposed to 650°C high (d) The mortar exposed to normal
temperature with PP condition with CF
(e) The mortar exposed to 450°C high (f) The mortar exposed to 650°C high
temperature with CF temperature with CF
Fig. 10.9 Thin section images of fiber mortars subjected to high temperature. Reprinted from Ref.
As shown in Fig. 10.12, the combined use of 40 kg/m3 steel fiber and 1 kg/m3
micro-PP fiber presents better effect on the reduction of pore pressure, compared
with the other two types of combined use of fibers. This result illustrates that the
reduction of pore pressure depends mainly on the number of PP fibers instead of the
fiber content.
(g) The mortar exposed to normal (h) The mortar exposed to 450°C high
condition with GF temperature with GF
(i) The mortar exposed to 650 °C high (j) The mortar exposed to normal
temperature with GF condition with PVA
(k) The mortar exposed to 450°C high (l) The mortar exposed to 650°C high
temperature with PVA temperature with PVA
Fig. 10.9 (continued)
Lee et al. [35] provided that a combination of NY fibers (with a diameter of

0.012 mm) and PP fibers (with a diameter of 0.04 mm) can achieve the same level
of spalling protection by using half as much fiber content as only PP or only NY
fiber. They found that the addition of 0.05% of NY fibers (0.025 out of 0.05%) and
PP fibers (0.025 out of 0.05%) can inhibit the occurrence of concrete explosive
Fig. 10.10 Images of micro-PP fiber after 600 °C. Reprinted from Ref. [51], Copyright 2011,
Fig. 10.11 SEM images of macrochannel caused by macro-PP fiber after 600 °C. Reprinted from
spalling. The PP fibers with low melting point of 160 °C are useful at the early
stage of a fire while the NY fibers with thinner diameter and high melting point of
225 °C work at the later stage of fire. The thinner diameter of NY fibers creates 11
times larger number of fibers per unit volume in concrete than PP fiber at a given
fiber content by volume, resulting in a better connectivity of void spaces in con-
crete. The well-organized network of the two different sizes of fibers with different
melting points results in better fire resistance with less fiber content than a
well-known product with only 0.1% PP fiber. They also proved that the weight loss
ratio is proportional to the extent of spalling. The weight loss of the specimens
containing over 0.025% fiber is only 7–10%, which can be ascribed to moisture loss
(as shown in Fig. 10.13).
Fig. 10.12 Relationship between decreasing ratio of pore pressure and depth for hybrid
fiber-reinforced SCC (the microfibers with a length of 9 mm and a diameter of 18 mm, the
macro-fibers with a length of 45 mm and a diameter of 0.74 mm). Reprinted from Ref. [68],
Fig. 10.13 Weight loss of specimens containing PP fiber and NY fiber. Reprinted from Ref. [35],
Table 10.2 Time and depth at which maximum pressures occur

Series Length Diameter Max. pressure Temp at Time at Depth at
(mm) (mm) (MPa) max. max. max.
Plain NSC – – 2.1 229 46 10
Plain HSC – – 5.0 235 91 30
PP 6–18 6 0.018 1.1 191 114 50
PP 12–18 12 0.018 0.8 177 97 50
PP 12–28 12 0.028 1.1 188 105 50
PVA 6–16 6 0.016 1.5 215 79 30
PVA 6–40 6 0.040 2.9 219 88 30
HY (PP 6–18) 6 0.018 0.9 185 100 50
HY (PVA 6–40) 6 0.040 2.7 214 84 30
As shown in Table 10.2, the fiber type and geometry have important effects on the
amount of maximum pore pressure measured at different depths in fiber-reinforced
HSC exposed to elevated temperatures [69]. Compared with PVA fibers, PP fibers are
more effective in mitigating maximum pore pressure development while steel fibers
have a slightly low effect. Fibers with smaller diameters and longer length show better
performance on reducing pore pressure and resisting fire based on the more connected
channels left by melted fibers. Table 10.2 also shows that the maximum pressures,
respectively, occur in the temperature ranges of 177–190 and 213–219 °C for PP and
PVA fiber-reinforced concrete, which is accorded with the melting temperatures of
PP and PVA fibers at 160–170 and 200–230 °C, respectively. This is why the PP
concrete performs better anti-spalling property than PVA concrete at elevated tem-
peratures since spalling of HSC normally occurs in the temperature range of 190–
250 °C [9].
Heo et al. [70] proved that the addition of only PP fibers with length of 19 mm can
fully resist spalling at 0.10% of fiber content. Meanwhile, the minimum requirement
content of hybrid fibers (NY fiber with the length of 9 mm and PP fiber with the
length of 19 mm) to resist spalling is only 0.03%, which is three times lower than that
of only PP fibers. This is because NY fibers with smaller diameter can form large fiber
network than PP fibers with the same fiber content. Moreover, the combination of PP
fibers and NY fibers can offset the disadvantage of NY fibers with a melting point of
above 200 °C and increase the effectiveness of the fibers in resisting spalling [71, 72].
The synergistic mechanism of NY fibers and PP fibers at different thermal conditions
is shown in Fig. 10.14. It is shown in Fig. 10.14a that both PP fibers and NY fibers
present disordered distribution in concrete. As shown in Fig. 10.14b, the PP fibers
first melt at 160 °C and provide discharge channels for vapor when the concrete is
exposed to 160–180 °C. Figure 10.14c shows that the NY fibers melt when the
temperature in concrete reaches up to 220 °C, and create large numbers of small
channels to connect some of preexisting pores and allow vapor to escape. When the
temperature is above 230 °C, the thermal incompatibility between aggregate and
cement paste induces some microcracks. These cracks connect to fiber channels to
discharge vapor at the last stage (as shown in Fig. 10.14d).
(b) Between 160°C-180°C (Polypropylene

(a) Room temperature
melted)
(c) Between 210°C-230°C (d) Above 230°C (Cracks)
Fig. 10.14 Pathways for vapor discharge by hybrid fibers melting at different temperatures.
Fig. 10.15 Normalized

permeability versus
temperature curves. Reprinted
Elsevier
Ozawa et al. [21] studied the effect of different organic fibers (PP fibers, jute
fibers, and water-soluble PVA (WSPVA) fibers) on concrete spalling. The results
show that the three types of fibers all can mitigate the inner pressure in concrete at
elevated temperature. Owing to their respective performance, the fiber-reinforced
concretes present different permeability variation tendencies during the heating
process. As shown in Fig. 10.15, the PP fiber-reinforced concrete specimen shows
the highest normalized permeability under high temperature. Compared with their
respective permeability at 20 °C, the permeability of the jute fiber-reinforced
specimen and the WSPVA fiber-reinforced specimen, respectively, increases to
about 4 times and 3 times when heated to 300 °C, and to about 9 and 6 times when
heated to 400 °C. As for the specimen with PP fibers, its permeability has increased
to 3 times when heated to 170 °C and reached 13 times when heated to 350 °C. All
of these can be attributed to the longer diameter, larger length, and higher content
ratio of the PP fibers compared with the other two types of fibers.
In reference [21], the content of jute fibers, WSPVA fibers, and PP fibers is
0.075% (i.e., 1.03 kg/m3), 0.15% (i.e., 1.98 kg/m3), and 0.15% (i.e., 1.37 kg/m3)
by volume, respectively. Based on the thermal analysis of PP fibers, it was found
that the PP fibers are melted, vaporized, and burned at 170, 341, and 447 °C,
respectively. This directly affects the buildup of vapor pressure and thermal stress.
As shown in Fig. 10.16, the maximum vapor pressure of the concrete specimen
without fiber is 4.7 MPa, while that of the concrete specimens with jute, WSPVA,
and PP fibers are 2.5, 1.5 and 1.0 MPa, respectively. This illustrates the effec-
tiveness of the fibers in reducing the vapor pressure and decreasing the likelihood of
spalling when heated to high temperature.
Han et al. [73] studied the influence of different types of organic fibers (as listed
in Table 10.3) on the fire resistance of concrete. The test results show that all the
Fig. 10.16 Vapor pressure versus time curves. Reprinted from Ref. [21], Copyright 2014, with
Table 10.3 Physical properties of the fibers

Type Density (g/cm3) Length (mm) Diameter (mm) Tensile strength (MPa) Melting point
(°C)
PP fiber 0.91 19.0 0.04 450 160
CL fiber 1.5 2.9 0.018 510 260
PVA fiber 1.26 12.0 0.016 1.400 220
fiber length, melted point, and fiber content affect the spalling appearance. Fibers
with larger length can easily connect with each other and form vapor passages such
as gel pores, capillary pores, and cracks to form vapor discharge routes in a lower
dosage. The melted point of fibers plays a decisive role in the vapor released time
and then determines the occurrence of spalling. The edges of the specimens con-
taining CL fibers in this study fall off because of the higher melting point and
smaller length of this kind of fibers. In addition, the other two important factors for
preventing occurrence of spalling are the lasting time and the confining force during
fire. Therefore, PP fibers and metal fabric can be used together to improve the
spalling protection, residual compressive strength, and ductile behavior of rein-
forced concrete columns. In this study, all the specimens simultaneously containing
0.1 vol% of PP fibers and confining 1–3-mm-thick metal fabrics are effectively
protected from spalling owing to the synergistic effect of vapor pressure released by
the fibers and the enhancement of tensile strength by the confinement. It is also
emphasized that the addition of fibers does not lower the structure temperature even
if it protects the spalling.
Steel fibers also have been added into the mixture of concrete with the aim to
reduce crack propagation and increase concrete ductility. However, some contra-
dictory conclusions were drawn about the effect of steel fibers on the anti-spalling
performance of concrete in previous studies. For example, some researches indicate
that steel fibers can hardly contribute to the fire resistance of concrete and risk of
explosion [74]. However, Lau and Anson [75] emphasized that the presence of steel
fibers influences the thermal stability of concrete because the micropores around
steel fibers allow the reduction of vapor pressure during the heating. Therefore, the
steel fibers can delay the time when spalling occurs [76].
In addition, the addition of a cocktail of PP and steel fibers has been proved to be
a feasible technology to reduce the risk of spalling of concrete and take advantage
of the excellent mechanical performance of steel fibers [38, 76, 77]. Ali et al. [77]
found that the mass loss of concrete containing both PP fibers (1 kg/m3) and steel
fibers (80 kg/m3) can be reduced to 1.76 times that of concrete containing PP fiber
only. Han et al. [56] concluded that the mix usage of PP fibers and metal fabric can
significantly improve the explosive spalling resistance of HPC. Pliya et al. [19]
show that the fiber cocktail including PP fibers and steel fibers obviously improves
the residual mechanical properties and ductility of concretes. Peng et al. [37]
pointed out that the concrete with 100 kg/m3 steel fibers spalls because of high
initial moisture and heating rate. Meanwhile, the concrete spalling is affected by the
relative content of PP fibers and steel fibers. The concrete with 70 kg/m3 of steel
fibers and 0.3 kg/m3 of PP fibers spalls during the heating below 200 °C, while the
concrete with 40 kg/m3 of steel fibers and 0.6 kg/m3 of PP fibers does not. Bangi
et al. [69] explored the action mechanism of PP fibers and steel fibers on the
explosive spalling of concrete through studying the pore pressure change rules at
different positions of concrete specimens. They found that the explosive spalling
happens in plain concrete with a maximum pore pressure of 4.009 MPa at 10 mm
depth during a low heating rate of 5 °C/min (as shown in Fig. 10.17). The plain
concrete specimens break into pieces with a sudden drop of pressure from 3.8 to
0 MPa. The formation of fully saturated layer prevents further transport of moisture
vapor and leads to a buildup of pore pressure at the saturated front. Meanwhile, the
initiation of microcracks and the increased permeability make the region of concrete
between the saturated front and the exposed side dry and dehydrate, and the
pressure starts to decrease. The vapor transport speed increases with the heating
rates. The pore pressures will build up again with time in the deeper undamaged
regions, thus leading to multiple spalling of concrete layers if the concrete continues
(a) Slow heating rate at 10 mm depth
(b) Fast heating rate at 10 mm depth

Fig. 10.17 Pore pressure change rule at different positions of concrete specimen. Reprinted from
to be exposed to high temperature after the initial spalling. The concrete specimens
with PP fibers and steel fibers present bell-shaped pressure during the heating and
do not spall as shown in Fig. 10.17. However, it is found that that 0.1% (0.9 kg/m3)
dosage of only PP fibers is not sufficient to reduce pore pressure at a fast heating
rate. The addition of steel fibers plays an important role in pore pressure reduction
in the deeper regions of concrete under a fast heating rate. This is because the poor
interfacial adhesion between steel fibers and concrete matrix and the increased
interconnectivity of the spaces act as a kind of discontinuous reservoirs for pressure
relief.
Ding et al. [51] pointed out that the thermal behavior of steel fibers affects the
temperature field and reduces the thermal stress of concrete matrix. The addition of
steel fibers can enhance the ultimate load-bearing capacity of concrete after
cracking and increase the flexural toughness and the fracture energy of concrete
during and after heating, but it cannot reduce the spalling of concrete. The com-
posite effect of the fiber cocktail demonstrates excellent residual mechanical
behaviors and spalling resistance, thus improving the failure pattern and retaining
the member integrity of concrete structures after exposure to high temperature. The
behavior of fiber-reinforced HSC after heat exposition is of great importance
because the further usage of heated concrete mainly depends on the residual per-
formance [23, 78]. Suhaendi and Horiguchi [34] proved that the inclusion of steel
fibers improves the tensile strength property of heated HSC, because the steel fibers
do not melt after a heat exposition and can effectively act as bridges among cracks.
Moreover, the length of fibers affects the residual permeability performance of the
heated PP fiber-reinforced HSC in a more pronounced way, compared with the
volume fraction of fibers. This can be attributed to the longer fibers creating more
interconnected pores inside the concrete matrix.
10.3.3 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Air Entraining Agent
Akca [4] used AEA and PP fibers together to improve the anti-spalling property of
HPC. The test results show that the collaboration of AEA and PP fibers decreases
the risk of spalling of concrete. In addition, the addition of AEA diminishes the
decrease in residual strength of concrete when the temperature is lower than 300 °
C. Lura [3] added SAP and PP fibers together to reduce the tendency of spalling in
high-performance SCC. The PP fibers-SAP void system percolates at a lower fiber
content than that with fibers alone, which allows the maintenance of the
self-compacting properties and reduces the fire spalling substantially. The addition
of SAP makes the content of PP fibers decrease to 0.2% by volume on the premise
of good workability and anti-spalling property. Toropovs [79] observed that the
effective amount of PP fibers (with a length of 3 mm and a diameter of 30 um) in
resisting concrete spalling is only 0.34% by mass of binder which is corresponding
to 2 kg/m3, when the PP fibers are used in conjunction with SAP. The water loss
shown in Fig. 10.18a indicates that the drying front in concrete exposure to high
temperature moves faster in the sample with PP and SAP together than in the
sample with SAP only. This is because the PP fibers melt to form many connected
channels through which the vapor can be evacuated [61, 80]. The water loss pre-
sents a sharp change for the SAP sample in correspondence with the position of
spalling (as shown in Fig. 10.18b). In this research, the neutron radiography has
been performed on mortar slabs exposed to heating up to 550 °C, simultaneously
monitoring temperature and pore pressure. The research results shown in Fig. 10.19
indicate that the pressure in the sample with no PP fibers is only up to the spalling,
and the pressure increases less than that in the sample with PP fibers.
The moisture profiles of the mortar with PP fibers and SAP together show a
smoother variation tendency than those of the mortar with SAP only due to the
Fig. 10.18 Water loss (expressed as equivalent thickness) in mortar slab with thickness of 35 mm
a PP + SAP sample (no spalling); b SAP sample (spalling occurred after 24 at 6 mm height).
Meanwhile, the estimated temperatures at 24 min are indicated for characteristic points of the
profile. Reprinted from Ref. [79], Copyright 2014, with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 10.19 Pore pressure measured by the two sensors P1 and P2 (nominal distance from the
heated side indicated): a PP + SAP sample (no spalling); b SAP sample (spalling occurred after 24
at 6 mm height). Vapor saturation pressure curves (calculated on the basis of the temperature
measured in correspondence of the sensors) are also reported. Reprinted from Ref. [79], Copyright
Fig. 10.20 Sequence of raw neutron radiographs (cropped bottom part of the sample) showing
drying and spalling in the SAP mortar. Reprinted from Ref. [79], Copyright 2014, with permission
from Elsevier
increased permeability by PP fibers melting. The moisture profiles and the pressure
development results also indicated that the peak pressure in mortar occurs within
the drying front. The test results also show that the specimens with SAP only spall
after 24 min of heating. The dried region in concrete is visible in brighter gray
values at the time of 23:49 just before spalling, and the spalling cracks appear as a
fine line at the time of 24:06 (as shown in Fig. 10.20).
10.3.4 Anti-Spalling Concrete with Mineral Admixtures
Poon et al. pointed that the pulverized fly ash (PFA) can improve the performance
of concrete at elevated temperatures as compared to silica fume or pure OPC
concretes. However, this improvement is more significant at temperatures below
600 °C. Moreover, the PFA also reduces the surface cracking of concrete both at
elevated temperatures and after post-cooling in air or water. Extensive researches
have proved that concrete with ground granulated blast furnace slag is found to be
able to retain their properties better at elevated temperatures. For example, the study
of Poon et al. [13] showed that the NSC and HSC containing ground granulated
blast furnace slag have excellent high-temperature and fire resistance performance
particularly at temperatures below 600 °C. A distributed network of fine cracks was
observed in concrete with GGBS, but no spalling or splitting occurred. Wang [81]
found that 20% content of ground granulated blast furnace slag can greatly improve
the fire resistance of concrete at a water/binder ratio of 0.23. Gao et al. [82, 83]
pointed out that the optimum content of ground granulated blast furnace slag is 40%
for plain concrete while 30% for the concrete containing PP fibers and steel fibers
which can improve the splitting strength of concrete both before and after an
exposure to elevated temperature. In addition, it should be noted that here the
optimum dosages for PP fibers and steel fibers are 0.9 kg/m3 and 1%, respectively.
In addition to the aforementioned, Peng et al. [84] studied the influence of
moisture content on the explosive spalling of concretes without and with 0.9 kg/m3
PP fibers. The test results were summarized in Table 10.4, where the values outside
and inside of the brackets, respectively, represent the total number of specimens
tested and the number of specimens encountered spalling in a given case. The
results show that the spalling only occurs at the moisture content over 75% for the
HPC with normal strength. Moreover, the possibility of spalling occurrence
increases with the moisture content in concrete.
The effect of moisture content on the explosive spalling of concrete was also
explored by Hertz and Sorensen [45]. Debicki et al. [85] pointed out that the
specimen shape and size also have influence on the spalling mechanisms of con-
crete. They simulated the thermal field in the samples of different shapes at 600 °C
using the Abaqus software and found that the sphere enables a symmetrical tem-
perature distribution while the singular zones appear on the corners of cylinder (as
Table 10.4 Occurrence of Type of concrete Moisture content/%

explosive spalling of concrete
0–63 75 88 100
exposed to high temperatures
NS-HPC1 12(0) 3(0) 3(1) 3(2)
NS-HPC2 12(0) 3(0) 3(1) 3(2)
NS-HPC3 12(0) 3(1) 3(2) 3(3)
NS-PP1 12(0) 3(0) 3(0) 3(0)
NS-PP2 12(0) 3(0) 3(0) 3(0)
NS-PP3 12(0) 3(0) 3(0) 3(0)
Reprinted from Ref. [84] by permission of Taylor & Francis Ltd
shown in Fig. 10.21). Meanwhile, the thermal gradient in the sphere is only about
half of that in the wall. Consequently, the thermal stresses are also lower (as shown
in Fig. 10.22).
The thermal gradient becomes more obvious with the increase of the sphere
diameter. This results in the more significant formation of delaminated cracks for
the spheres with larger diameter. For the spheres of 0.12 m in diameter, the satu-
rated zone is close to the center, involving a total and explosive spalling of
Fig. 10.21 Thermal field at 600 °C for a the wall, b the cylinder, and c the sphere. Reprinted from
Fig. 10.22 Thermal gradient, when surface temperature reached 600 °C for the different samples.
Fig. 10.23 No fiber concrete samples (HPC0) after spalling for a sphere diameter of a 0.12 m,
b 0.18 m, and c 0.24 m. Reprinted from Ref. [85], Copyright 2012, with permission from Elsevier
specimens. For the spheres of 0.24 m in diameter, the pressure peak seems to be
situated between the center and the surface, involving a spalling of the specimen
into several parts (as shown in Fig. 10.23). It was also found that the addition of
fibers with a content of 1 kg/m3 is sufficient to prevent spalling and the curing
method has no effect on the risk of concrete spalling. Qadi et al. [1] pointed out that
the PP fiber-reinforced concrete with cubical symmetrical shape has better fire
resistance than that with cylindrical shape due to their different heat distribution. In
addition, there is a difference of 25% in the residual compressive strength between
cubical and cylindrical specimens.
10.4 Applications of Anti-Spalling Concrete
The PP fiber-reinforced concrete was first proposed in 1965 to build explosion-proof

construction for American crops of engineers. This is the pioneer of the synthetic
fiber-reinforced concrete, and it is just a few years after the invention of PP fibers.
The American specification ACI 216.1 has pointed out that the addition of PP fibers
in HSC/HPC can decrease the occurrence of explosive spalling. A great number of
laboratorial tests also have demonstrated that the application of polymeric fibers can
considerably reduce the probability of concrete cover spalling. Meanwhile, a fire
experiment on the tunnel segments with a length of 11 m and a height of 2 m proved
that the cover of PP fiber-reinforced concrete does not spall [86]. A research group of
Austria [60] reported that the PP fiber (1–3% per volume) reinforced concrete slabs
loaded along planes do not spall under fire, while the spalling of concrete cover is
observed for the conventional reinforced concrete slabs without polymeric fibers.
The HSC incorporating PP fibers was applied first in Frankfurt in 1995 [54]. The PP
fiber-reinforced HSC (HSC 105) with high fire resistance was used to build several
structural members for the 115 m high “Japan center”. The French National Project
BHP2000 verified that the addition of PP fibers can improve the hydraulic behavior of
concrete at high temperature and decrease the water vapor pressure in concrete. In this
application, the optimal dosage of PP fibers was found to be about 1.5 kg/m3.
10.5 Summary
Anti-spalling concrete brings good fire resistance to different types of concrete

structures such as long-span, high-rise and nuclear industry engineering structures.
The promotion and application of anti-spalling concrete can not only expand the
service environment of concrete but also reduce the incidents of fire accidents.
Therefore, the anti-spalling concrete has a promising development future and is
representing a prospective development direction of structural materials.
In recent years, great research efforts have been devoted to exploring the spalling
performance and residual mechanical performances of concrete with PP fibers,
hybrid fibers, AEA, or mineral admixture at elevated temperature. The corre-
sponding anti-spalling property and the improvement to mechanical property of
these types of concrete have been verified. However, up to now, few researches
have been focused on the subsequent use of anti-spalling concrete structures after
fire accidents. Therefore, the evaluation and reinforcement of the anti-spalling
concrete structures after fire accidents are required to be explored in the future.
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Chapter 11
Wear-Resisting Concrete
Abstract Wear resistance of concrete refers to its capability of resisting the actions
of abrasion, erosion, or cavitation. Wear-resisting concrete can be achieved by
incorporating (mineral) admixture, latex, microfiber or nanomaterials into con-
ventional concrete. The incorporated materials can improve the microstructure of
concrete, restrict the form of cracks and the development of microcracks, and
increase the toughness of concrete. Owing to the high durability and long-term
economic value, the wear-resisting concrete possesses great application potential in
pavement, highway, airport runaway, hydraulic dams, and subsea tunnel to increase
the security, usage rate, and durability of these infrastructures.
Keywords Concrete Wear resistance Abrasion Erosion Cavitation
11.1 Introduction
Wear is a phenomenon of concrete mass loss, which is common in roads and

hydraulic engineering. Increasing traffic load brings roads peeling, pitting surface,
aggregate exposed, and other diseases soon after open traffic. This not only lowers
the safety of the pavement, but also severely shortens the service life of road [1].
Apart from roads, above 70% of dams in China show different degrees of erosion
and cavitation damage according to a recent investigation statistics.
Concrete is composed of different materials, containing many phases and pores.
As a result, concrete structures, such as dams, pavements, and underground storage,
are faced with wear. This increases the risk of reducing the cycle life of concrete
structures. Furthermore, some damages even pose a threat to the safety of people.
Once wear occurs, circulation of damage and repair will arise [2–5]. Using
wear-resisting concrete can effectively prolong the service life, improve safety, and
reduce the maintenance costs of the concrete structures suffering from wear.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to wear-resisting concrete
based on different principles, with attention to its properties, current progress, and
applications.

224 11 Wear-Resisting Concrete
11.2 Definition and Principles of Wear-Resisting Concrete
Wear resistance of concrete refers to its capability of resisting attrition by the

vehicular traffic, the impinging, sliding (abrasion), and rolling action of the solid
particles suspending in fluid (erosion) or the dynamic pressure of vapor bubbles
collapse (cavitation). Abrasion usually takes place in pavement and industrial
floors. Abrasion of concrete is not only related to the properties of materials, but
also influenced by environmental factors. According to the different causes, the
abrasion can be divided into four types, i.e., adhesive abrasion, abrasive abrasion,
fatigue abrasion, and erosion abrasion. The development process of each abrasion
type is shown in Fig. 11.1 [1].
Erosion is a natural phenomenon caused by abrasive action of the solid particles
suspending in water flow. Erosion mainly occurs in hydraulic infrastructures such
as canal linings, spillways, and concrete pipes for water or sewages transport. The
process of erosion is shown in Fig. 11.2 [5]. In addition, there is another possible
damage formation for hydraulic infrastructures, which is named cavitation.
Cavitation relates to the mass loss by formation of vapor bubbles and their
subsequently collapse due to a sudden change in a direction in a rapidly flowing
river [5].
The concrete with high porosity usually has low wear resistance. Enhancement
methods of wear resistance are as follows: (1) Improve microstructure of concrete
to make the paste denser, reduce the formation of microcracks, and improve the
interface between cement paste and aggregate; (2) Restrict the development of
cracks; and (3) Enhance the toughness of composites.
Adhesive Plastic deformation Wear debris

coating
Approach Friction and adhesion Separation

Contact Plough, whittle, cut
(a) Adhesive abrasion (b) Abrasive abrasion
Tensile zone Pressure zone

Crack
Chemical Mobile reaction Fresh faces
Impact, spueeze Crack formation Crack growth
reaction leaking fresh faces reaction
(c) Fatigue abrasion (d) Erosion abrasion
Fig. 11.1 Basic types of abrasion [1]

11.3 Current Progress and Applications of Abrasion Resisting Concrete 225
a
(a) Before erosion (b) Erosion
n
v1
v
γ
Fx α β
Hc
F
Fy v2
A
(c) Critical state of aggregate detachment (d) Wear aroused by erosion
Fig. 11.2 Process of erosion [circular refers to aggregate, square refers to paste, arrow refers to
loading (water flow)] [5]
11.3 Current Progress and Applications of Abrasion

Resisting Concrete
The abrasion resistance of concrete is influenced by a number of factors. All the

properties of raw materials, the curing medium, and the compressive strength of
concrete have been presented to have strong effect on the abrasion resistance of
concrete [6, 7].
Aggregate is the main ingredient of concrete and its percentage can be up to
75%. Therefore, the properties of aggregate have a great influence on the abrasion
resistance of concrete. Gencel et al. explored the effect of metallic aggregate on the
abrasion resistance of concrete. Their research results indicate that the mass loss of
concrete is decreased by 71.3% compared with conventional concrete [8]. Khayat
et al. investigated the abrasion resistance of concrete with different types of coarse
aggregate (limestone and granite). They found that the abrasion depths of top and
saw-cut surface for concrete with granite aggregate are 0.59 and 0.26, respectively,
and they are 0.84 and 0.69 for concrete with limestone aggregate, respectively. This
exhibits the abrasion resistance of concrete with granite aggregate is higher than
that with limestone aggregate [9]. Yu et al. also studied the abrasion resistance of
concrete with different types of coarse aggregate. Their results reveal that the better
wear resistance of aggregate, the better wear of resistance concrete [10]. Kilic et al.
investigated the effect of aggregate types on the abrasion resistance and the
mechanical properties of fly ash high-strength concrete. It was found that the gabbro
concrete presents the highest abrasion resistance, compressive strength, and flexural
strength, while the sand concrete has the lowest values. In addition, the wear
resistance of concrete is found to increase with the abrasion resistance of the
aggregate, which is consistent with Yu et al.’s conclusion [11].
Mineral admixtures, such as fly ash and silica fume, are often used to improve
the microstructure of concrete. It has also been found that the mineral admixtures
can enhance the abrasion resistance property of concrete. Yen et al. explored the
abrasion resistance of high-strength concrete with class F fly ash. They observed
that the abrasion resistance of concrete with cement replacement by fly ash can go
up to 15%, which is similar to that of control concrete [12]. Naik et al. investigated
the effect of fly ash on abrasion resistance of concrete. The results show that the
wear resistance of the concrete mixed with fly ash improves, while the strength
declines. This indicates that a higher strength does not mean a better wear resistance
[7]. Siddique fabricated the fly ash concrete, respectively, with 10, 20, 30, and 40%
fine aggregate replaced by fly ash. A comparative study shows that the abrasion
resistance increases with the replacement ratio of fly ash to fine aggregate, and the
abrasion resistance of concrete with 40% fly ash replacement for fine aggregate is
improved approximately 40% compared with that of the control specimens [13].
Nader et al. studied the abrasion resistance of the concrete with fine aggregate
replaced by silica fume and found that the abrasion resistance increases with the
silica fume content up to 10% [14].
Fibers have also been found to be a kind of effective fillers for concrete to
enhance its abrasion resistance. Xu et al. studied the abrasion resistance of the
cement mortar with polypropylene (PP) fibers and rubber latex. The results
demonstrated that the mass loss of the concrete with 1% PP fibers and 20%
styrene-butadiene polymer is decreased by 49% compared with that of the control
concrete [15]. Felekoglu et al. explored the abrasion resistance of the
self-compacting concrete with steel fibers. They found that the mass loss of the steel
fiber-reinforced concrete is reduced by 42% [16]. Qin et al. also studied the abra-
sion resistance of the steel fiber-reinforced concrete. Their research results indicate
that the steel fibers can enhance the wear resistance of concrete, and the wear rate of
the concrete with 1.5 vol.% steel fibers decreases more than 20% [17]. Liu et al.
investigated the effect of PP fibers, rubber latex, or both of them on the abrasion
resistance of concrete. It was found that both PP fibers and rubber latex can enhance
the abrasion resistance of concrete. The abrasion resistance of concrete increases as
the content of PP fibers increases from 0 to 0.14 vol.% or the content of latex
increases from 70 to 100 mg/L. The concrete with PP fibers and rubber latex has
better wear resistance than that of the concrete with individual PP fiber or rubber
latex [18]. Li et al. explored the effect of stone powder and carbon fibers on the
abrasion resistance and the compressive strength of concrete. They reported that the
compressive strength increases with the content of stone powder up to 20%. The
compressive strength of the concrete with only 10% stone powder is higher than
11.3 Current Progress and Applications of Abrasion Resisting Concrete 227
that of the stone powder modified fiber concrete, while the latter presents higher
abrasion resistance [19]. It therefore can be concluded that a higher compressive
strength does not mean a better wear resistance, which is consistent with the
conclusion of Naik et al.’s study in reference [7].
Nanoparticles have the particle sizes less than 100 nm, which ensures the
superior properties of nanoparticles, such as small size effect and surface effect.
Some studies confirmed that nanoparticles can effectively improve the abrasion
resistance of concrete. Li et al. studied the abrasion resistance of concrete with
nanosilica of particle size 5–15 nm. Their research results show that the wear
resistance of top surface of concrete with 1 and 3% NS is enhanced 157.0 and
100.8%, respectively, and that of side surface is enhanced 139.4 and 89.0%,
respectively. The optimum content of nanosilica is found to be 1% in this study
[20]. Riahi and Nazari investigated the effect of nanosilica, nanoalumina, and
nano-CuO on the abrasion resistance of concrete under different curing medium.
They found that all the three types of particles can improve the wear resistance of
concrete, and the enhancement of nanosilica is most obvious. The optimum content
of nanosilica is 1% under water medium, while under saturated limewater is 2%
[21]. Cui et al. explored the effect of graphene on the abrasion resistance of
cementitious composites. It was revealed that a 5% content of graphene can reduce
the abrasive loss per unite area and the abrasive depth by 71 and 73%, respectively
(as shown in Fig. 11.3) [22].
In addition, impregnation is also an effective treatment method to improve the
abrasion resistance of infrastructure surface. Stranel et al. studied the abrasion
resistance of epoxy resin impregnated mortars and concrete. Their research results
show that the impregnation of epoxy resin obviously enhances the abrasion resis-
tance of the concrete with low compressive strength [23].
Apart from the above factors, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength
also have effect on the abrasion property of concrete. Khayat studied the abrasion
resistance of high-strength concrete (HSC). It was found that the abrasion resistance
(a) Abrasion loss weight (b) Abrasion depth
Fig. 11.3 Abrasive loss per unit area and abrasive depth of concrete filled with graphene (i.e.,
NGPs). Reprinted from Ref. [22], Copyright 2016, with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 11.4 Compression of tested and calculated wear loss values. Reprinted from Ref. [24],
of HSC is six to ten times higher than that of the concrete with compressive strength
of 30 MPa. This indicates that the abrasion resistance of HSC has a positive cor-
relation with its compressive strength [9]. Yazıcı and Inan tried to build up a
relationship between mechanical properties (compressive and splitting tensile
strengths) and wear resistance of HSC with compressive strength between 65 and
85 MPa [24]. A multiple regression analysis was applied to obtain the following
relationship among compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and wear loss
value:
LOW ¼ 29:38 0:31fc þ 0:39fst ð11:1Þ
where LOW is the wear loss value of concrete (cm3/50 cm2) at 28 day; fc the
compressive strength of concrete (MPa) at 28 day; and fst is the splitting tensile
strength of concrete (MPa) at 28 day.
As shown in Fig. 11.4, the values calculated using Eq. (11.1) are in a good
agreement with the tested values.
Owing to excellent abrasion resistance and economy of life cycle, the abrasion
resisting concrete has wide application potential in ground of
workshop/garage/supermarket/port, urban and rural road, and airport runway. In
recent years, the abrasion resisting concrete has been successfully used in some
infrastructures in China such as Xiamen airport underground parking, instration
workshop and tank in Chaijiaxia hydropower station, floor in China New
International Exhibition Center, and Xiaoxiang freeway toll gate.
11.4 Current Progress and Applications of Erosion … 229
11.4 Current Progress and Applications of Erosion

and Cavitation Resisting Concrete
With the aim of making full use of water resource, some high-head hydropower
stations have been constructed or planed, whose height is even more than 300 m.
The erosion of hydraulic structures becomes a serious problem needed to be solved
as soon as possible. In recent years, many research efforts have been devoted to
improving the erosion resistance capability of concrete, and the multicomponent
concrete has become a mainstream of wear-resisting concrete. Yin et al. studied the
effect of silica and superplasticizer on the erosion resistance of concrete. The results
revealed that adding silica and superplasticizer together can enhance the erosion and
cavitation resistant properties of concrete [25]. Lin investigated the erosion resis-
tance of three types of resin mortar with acrylic acid epoxy resin, low-toxic epoxy
resin, and unsaturated polyester resin, respectively. It was found that the acrylic
acid epoxy resin mortar has the best erosion resistance [26]. Xue studied the erosion
resistance of concrete with fly ash/PP fibers. The research results show that both fly
ash and PP fibers can enhance the erosion resistance of concrete. The optimum
content of fly ash and PP fibers is 10% and 0.9 kg/m3, respectively [27]. Xin
compared the effect of different sizes (<0.63 mm, <5 mm, 5–20 mm) of steel slag
on the erosion resistance of concrete. The enhancement of erosion resistance for the
concrete with steel slag less than 5 mm is more obvious than that of the others. The
erosion resistance of the concrete with 30% steel slag (<5 mm) is increased by 66%
when the water/binder is 0.31 [28].
Horszczaruk investigated the erosion resistance of concrete with PP fibers. It is
found that the wear depth of the PP fiber-reinforced concrete is decreased by 42.4%
[29]. Gao et al. studied the erosion resistance of hydraulic concrete with igneous
rock fibers and carbon fibers. The research results revealed that the erosion resis-
tance of concrete increases with the fiber content up to 0.9%, and the abrasion
resistance is more sensitive to the volume content of fibers than the fiber length
[30]. Zhang et al. investigated the effect of basalt fibers and carbon fibers on the
erosion resistance of hydraulic concrete. They presented that the two types of fibers
both can enhance the erosion resistance of concrete. Moreover, it is also found that
the fiber volume is the main factor to enhance the erosion resistance, but the effect
of the fiber length is not obvious [31]. Liu et al. explored the erosion resistance
performance of hydraulic concrete with different types of fibers. The research
results indicate that the rigid-rod fiber concrete possesses the strongest anti-erosion
capability, the basalt fiber concrete presents the highest anti-abrasion efficiency,
while the PP fiber concrete has both good anti-erosion and satisfying anti-abrasion
properties as shown in Table 11.1 [32].
Assaad et al. explored the relationship between erosion and strength loss of the
underwater concrete. They found that the mass loss of concrete can be reduced by
increasing the content of cement and silica fume, as well as reducing the free water
in concrete. The correlation coefficient of the mass loss and the residual com-
pressive strength is as high as 0.91 [33]. Mirza studied the erosion resistance of
Table 11.1 Performance of concrete with different fiber types and content [32]
Fiber types Fiber Anti-erosion Enhance Abrasion Abrasion
content [h/(kg/m2)] ratio of loose (g) resistance
(kg/m3) erosion (%) uplift ratio
(%)
Control 0 1.87 – 87 0
Polypropylene 0.8 2.70 44.4 58 33
fiber 1.0 3.26 74.3 46 47
1.2 3.28 75.4 48 45
Rigid-rod fiber 4 4.10 119 77 11
6 3.90 109 74 15
8 3.84 105 60 31
Basalt fiber 0.8 2.79 49.2 14 84
1.0 3.21 71.7 12 86
1.2 2.95 57.8 17 80
various repairing mortars. It was revealed that the erosion resistance of

epoxy mortars is higher than that of cementitious grouts and polymer modified
mortar [34].
The erosion resistance of concrete is also affected by the water/cement ratios
used in concrete preparation. Lin and Liu et al. investigated the erosion resistance
property of the silicon powder concrete with different water/cement ratios. The
research results show that the erosion resistance monotonously decreases when the
water/cement increases from 0.28 to 0.5 (as shown in Fig. 11.5). In addition, the
erosion resistance also increases with the curing ages as expected [35].
Besides the raw materials and the mix design of concrete, the erosion capability
of hydraulic concrete is also dependent on the suspension velocity and the impact
Fig. 11.5 Relationship of erosion ratio and water/cement (w/cm) ratios. Reprinted from Ref. [35],
11.4 Current Progress and Applications of Erosion … 231
angle. Hu et al. explored the erosion resistance of steel fiber-reinforced concrete.

They found that the addition of steel fibers provides reinforcement to the erosion
resistance of hydraulic concrete at shallow impact angles (h = 15°) only. In addi-
tion, the reinforcement effect of steel fibers to the erosion resistance is not notable at
low flow velocities (ca. 60 m/s) [36].
The erosion resisting concrete is especially suitable for hydraulic structures
(dams, sluiceway, wharf, weirs, culverts, spillway, stilling basin, discharge laterals
in hydraulic structures, radioactive waste disposal container, and other underwater
structures). Typical applications in China include side wall of flood discharge hole
of the Three Gorges Dam, Jinpen reservoir, and Xiangjiaba hydropower station.
11.5 Summary
There exist many surfaces in infrastructures, which will gradually degrade and even
lose efficacy under the long-term effect of loads or medium. Wear-resisting concrete
can effectively improve the abrasion coefficient and integrity of infrastructure
surfaces, thus preventing the whole infrastructure from failure and prolonging the
serving time of the infrastructure. However, much research efforts are still necessary
and underway on the wear-resisting concrete. (1) The effectiveness of using
nanoscale materials to enhance the wear resistance of concrete needs to be further
investigated since almost all the reported researches are focused on using con-
ventional scale materials (including internal mixing fiber, mineral admixture, latex,
and outer coating anti-wear agent) to improve the wear resistance of concrete.
(2) The working mechanisms of every kind of wear-resisting concrete are necessary
to be explored, and the corresponding theoretical models also should be built up to
learn or predict the wear-resisting behavior of concrete. (3) More suitable test
methods should be developed for exploring the wear-resisting property of concrete
according to the mechanisms of wear resistance. (4) The combination of multiple
technologies (e.g., adding mineral admixtures, using multiscale fibers, and opti-
mizing percentage and strength of aggregates) is needed to be considered, and the
wear-resisting property of concrete under multifactor coupling action should also be
investigated.
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Chapter 12
Aircraft Arresting Concrete
Abstract Runway overrun will cause costly aircraft damages and threaten the
safety of airline passengers and crew. Aircraft arresting concrete is fabricated by
incorporating foaming agents into concrete, thus containing a lot of approximate
spherical, isolated, and arranged disorderly cavities. The aircraft arresting concrete
relies mainly on the hole walls to bear load and can be made into an Engineered
Material Arresting System (EMAS) to absorb the kinetic energy of an overrunning
aircraft. The EMAS can work successfully in arresting the overrunning aircraft and
slowing them down by the drag load of the crushable aircraft arresting concrete.
Keywords Concrete Aircraft arresting Runway safety Energy absorption
12.1 Introduction
Aircraft may overrun the runway area during takeoff and landing, leading to costly
aircraft damages and threatening the safety of airline passengers and crew. In
addition, the increasing speed and weight of modern passenger aircraft require
longer runways. However, many airports are surrounded by the buildings, bodies of
water, and geographic features that prevent runway extension. These facts, com-
bined with the increasing volume of air traffic, make overrun risk more realistic
today than when most airports were first constructed. Examples of such overrun
accidents include: (1) B737 aircraft at Chicago Midway International Airport in
December 8, 2005; (2) MD80 aircraft at Phuket International Airport in September
16, 2007; and (3) B737 aircraft at Mangalore airport in May 22, 2010 [1].
In the case of an aircraft overrunning accident, installing an Engineered Material
Arresting System (EMAS) may be a solution. The EMAS can safely arrest the
overrun aircraft in an allowed distance without injuring passengers and damaging
aircraft landing gear. Generally, the EMAS is a paving system made of aircraft
arresting concrete (as shown in Fig. 12.1 [2, 3]). It is composed of a bed of cellular
cement blocks encased in an environmental cover that is placed at the end of a
runway to decelerate an overrunning aircraft in an emergency. When the airplane

236 12 Aircraft Arresting Concrete
(a) Aircraft arresting concrete blocks
(b) Installed EMAS
Fig. 12.1 EMAS fabricated with aircraft arresting concrete. Reprinted from Ref. [2], with
permission from the author
Fig. 12.2 Overrunning aircraft successfully arrested by the EMAS. Reprinted from Ref. [2], with
permission from the author
12.1 Introduction 237
overruns the runway, it crushes the aircraft arresting concrete in a process that
gently stops the aircraft without causing catastrophic damages (as shown in
Fig. 12.2 [2]) [1–4].
This chapter will introduce the definition, principles, and current progress of
aircraft arresting concrete as well as its application.
12.2 Definition and Principles of Aircraft

Arresting Concrete
Aircraft arresting concrete (also called crushable foamed concrete) is fabricated by

adding foaming agents into concrete. It has a lot of approximate spherical, isolated,
and arranged disorderly cavities and relies mainly on the hole walls to bear load.
Due to the introduction of foam, a large number of pores formed after curing make
the mass of the aircraft arresting concrete much lower than conventional concrete.
Moreover, through adjusting the amount of foam in the aircraft arresting concrete,
its mass can be lower than that of the lightweight aggregate concrete, aerated
concrete, and other lightweight concrete.
Aircraft arresting concrete also possesses a low elastic damping and favorable
buffer energy absorption performance. The large number of internal pores makes its
elastic modulus and stiffness all reduce. As shown in Fig. 12.3 [4], when the aircraft
arresting concrete is subjected to impact or load, the deformation of the pores makes
it to have obvious stress yield platform, which absorbs a large amount of energy
during deformation and crushing. In addition, before the stress–strain state of the
adjacent slurry medium reaches equilibrium, the aircraft will block the repeated
propagation, reflection, and transmission of the stress waves in the concrete
between the bubble wall and the cell. This process can consume a portion of the
mechanical energy [5–14].
Vertical load
imparted
Direction of travel Drag load imparted
Energy consumed
proportional to volume
of concrete crushed
Fig. 12.3 Principles of aircraft arresting concrete [4]

12.3 Current Progress of Aircraft Arresting Concrete
During the last 15 years, there have been more than 30 runway overrun accidents
per year involving commercial aircraft. Approximately 25% of them are classified
as “major accidents” due to the significant damage and injuries or deaths during the
accidents. There have been more than one thousand people dead since 1995. In light
of this, researches have been conducted to the aircraft arresting concrete as well as
the EMAS.
As the principles stated, the compressive strength and the energy absorption are
two of the major properties for the aircraft arresting concrete. Kearsley and
Wainwright [15] investigated the relationship between porosity and compressive
strength of the aircraft arresting concrete. The aircraft arresting concrete fabricated
with different casting densities and cement pastes of different water/cement ratios
were compared from the two aspects of strength and porosity. Different percentages
of both processed by fly ash (pfa) and unclassified ash were used to establish the
effect of the ash content on the strength–porosity relationship. Details of mix
proportions and the properties of aircraft arresting concrete are shown in
Table 12.1. As shown in Fig. 12.4, the porosity (it is the sum of the air voids and
the voids in the paste) is largely dependent on the dry density rather than the ash
type or the ash content. The porosities vary between 29 (for the cement paste with a
water/cement ratio of 0.3) and 67% (for the aircraft arresting concrete with a casting
density of 1000 kg/m3 and a pfa/cement ratio of 3). The lowest porosity of 29% was
measured from the cement paste with a water/cement ratio of 0.3 containing no ash.
The cement paste with a water/cement ratio of 0.6 has a porosity of 40%, which is
virtually the same as the porosity of the aircraft arresting concrete mixtures with a
casting density of 1500 kg/m3 and an ash/cement ratio of 3.
The relationship between the measured porosity and the compressive strength
(after 1 year) of the aircraft arresting concrete is shown in Fig. 12.5. It can be seen
from this figure that the relationship is not significantly influenced by the use of pfa
or pozz-fill. The mixtures with an ash/cement ratio of two seem to yield at mar-
ginally higher strengths for a given porosity and mixtures with no ash. An
ash/cement ratio of three seems to yield at marginally lower strengths for a given
porosity, while the differences are small. These available results show that the
volume of ash used does not significantly influence the porosity–strength rela-
tionship of the aircraft arresting concrete. It, therefore, can be concluded that the
porosity of the aircraft arresting concrete is largely dependent on the dry density of
ash instead of the ash type or content, while the compressive strength of the aircraft
arresting concrete is a function of its porosity and age. In addition, a multiplicative
model (the equation derived by Balshin) was used to fit the test results at all ages of
the aircraft arresting concrete in this investigation. It was found that the derived
equation can be used to effectively predict the compressive strength of the aircraft
arresting concrete containing high percentages of ash [15].
The compressive strength of the aircraft arresting concrete influences its effi-
ciency to stop the aircraft on a safety distance [16–24]. Zhang et al. fabricated three
Table 12.1 Details of mix proportions and properties of aircraft arresting concrete
12.3
Mix Type of Target density a/c w/c w/binder Compressive strength Measured porosity Dry density Saturated density
number ash (kg/m3) (365 days) (MPa) (365 days) (%) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
1 None Full 0 0.30 0.30 85.4 28.2 1958.3 2057.5
2 None Full 0 0.40 0.40 78.9 31.0 1817.3 1968.5
3 None Full 0 0.60 0.60 46.7 37.2 1450.3 1753.0
4 pfa Full 1 0.60 0.30 80.3 29.8 1751.0 1920.0
5 pfa Full 2 0.86 0.29 81.5 27.0 1715.5 1889.5
6 pfa Full 3 1.17 0.29 58.1 30.6 1570.8 1819.0
7 pfa 1500 1 0.60 0.30 39.5 43.3 1287.3 1530.5
8 pfa 1500 2 0.86 0.29 35.6 43.6 1273.3 1509.5
9 pfa 1500 3 1.17 0.29 36.1 43.1 1274.3 1531.5
10 pfa 1250 1 0.60 0.30 19.8 48.4 1055.8 1304.5
11 pfa 1250 2 0.86 0.29 18.4 52.5 1023.5 1254.0
12 pfa 1250 3 1.17 0.29 19.1 49.5 1040.8 1318.5
Current Progress of Aircraft Arresting Concrete
13 pfa 1000 1 0.60 0.30 9.2 59.3 833.0 1079.0

14 pfa 1000 2 0.86 0.29 8.6 62.6 820.8 1064.5
15 pfa 1000 3 1.17 0.29 7.1 61.9 810.0 1111.0
16 poz Full 1 0.60 0.30 93.4 31.7 1695.5 1871.5
17 poz Full 2 0.86 0.29 78.7 31.6 1561.0 1800.0
18 poz Full 3 1.17 0.29 63.1 33.2 1524.5 1789.0
19 poz 1500 1 0.60 0.30 37.0 43.0 1341.5 1545.5
20 poz 1500 2 0.86 0.29 41.3 41.1 1327.0 1537.5
21 poz 1500 3 1.17 0.29 38.8 38.2 1308.5 1560.5
22 poz 1250 1 0.60 0.30 19.8 50.0 1058.0 1303.0
23 poz 1250 2 0.86 0.29 19.8 51.1 1055.0 1281.0
(continued)
239
240
Mix Type of Target density a/c w/c w/binder Compressive strength Measured porosity Dry density Saturated density
number ash (kg/m3) (365 days) (MPa) (365 days) (%) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
24 poz 1250 3 1.17 0.29 17.6 48.3 1014.0 1280.5
25 poz 1000 1 0.60 0.29 7.0 58.7 823.5 1097.5
26 poz 1000 2 0.86 0.29 7.5 60.6 849.5 1088.0
27 poz 1000 3 1.17 0.29 5.8 62.6 772.5 1023.5
Note pfa = processed fly ash, poz = pozz-fill
12
Aircraft Arresting Concrete
12.3 Current Progress of Aircraft Arresting Concrete 241
Fig. 12.4 Porosity as a function of dry density. Reprinted from Ref. [15], Copyright 2002, with
Fig. 12.5 Effect of porosity on compressive strength at one year. Reprinted from Ref. [15],
types of aircraft arresting concrete FC1, FC2, and FC3 with nominal densities of
274.6, 302.4, and 337 kg/m3 and investigated the sensitivity of the aircraft stopping
distance to the main characteristics of aircraft arresting concrete by using an ana-
lytical prediction model. Two parameters, i.e., the compressive strength of the
aircraft arresting concrete and the aircraft weight were considered. The stopping
distances for three types of aircraft arresting concrete and four types of aircraft
(including models of DC-9-41, B737-900ER, B707-320C, and B747-100) are
summarized in Table 12.2, which show that the stopping distances decrease with
the increasing compressive strength of arresting concrete. In addition, since the
density of the aircraft arresting concrete is positive to its compressive strength, the
Table 12.2 Stopping Aircraft type Weight case FC1 FC2 FC3
distances (m)
DC-9-41 MLW 126.8 118.8 115.8
MTW 131.1 122.8 116.7
B737-900ER MLW 129.2 119.7 117.9
MTW 133.2 125.0 121.6
B707-320C MLW 168.0 155.4 147.5
MTW 196.6 180.4 167.6
B747-100 MLW 190.3 175.7 163.5
MTW 213.8 193.4 174.7
Reprinted from Ref. [1], Copyright 2013, with permission from
Elsevier
Note MLW and MTW are the maximum landing and take-off
weight, respectively
aircraft stopping distance also decreases with the increasing density of the aircraft
arresting concrete. It, therefore, can be concluded that the aircraft stopping distance
is sensitive to the compressive strength or density of the aircraft arresting concrete
[1]. However, the increase of the aircraft arresting concrete density increases the
drag force acting on the aircraft gear (as shown in Fig. 12.6), while the maximum
aircraft deceleration should be limited to 1.0 g for passengers’ safety. As shown in
Fig. 12.7, the maximum deceleration (for the same aircraft type) increases with the
density/strength of the aircraft arresting concrete and is greater in MLW case than in
MTW case. Therefore, the evaluation criterion of the deceleration limit should be
based on the compressive strength or density of aircraft arresting concrete [1].
Fig. 12.6 Drag force on B747 landing gear with FC3 aircraft arresting concrete. Reprinted from
12.3 Current Progress of Aircraft Arresting Concrete 243
Fig. 12.7 Maximum aircraft deceleration versus aircraft model for three types of aircraft arresting
concrete at (a) landing weight, and (b) take-off weight. Reprinted from Ref. [1], Copyright 2013,
Heymsfield et al. [13, 22–24] also verified that the aircraft stopping distance is a
function of the compressive strength of aircraft arresting concrete by using the
Federal Aviation Administration computer code ARRESTOR.
12.4 Application of Aircraft Arresting Concrete
The aircraft arresting concrete with thicknesses of hundreds of millimeters that are
arranged on the ground beyond runway end can be used to fabricate EMAS. Once
an aircraft overruns runway and then runs into the EMAS, the aircraft arresting
concrete will get crushed as rolled by the aircraft wheels. In this way, drag forces
are generated to the aircraft landing gears, and the aircraft is, therefore, slowed
down gradually and eventually stopped in the EMAS bed for safety.
Since the first EMAS was installed on runways 04R and 22L at New York John
Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport in 1996, there has been a steady increase
in installations. By the end of 2015, EMAS had been installed at approximately 103
runway ends of 61 airports (such as Greenville Downtown Airport, shown in
Fig. 12.8) in the USA including Boston 15R and 04L, Chicago O’Hare 04R/22L,
and all four runways at Chicago Midway. The first installations outside the US were
carried out at both ends of runway 02/20 at Jiuzhai-Huanglong (China) and later on
runway 10 at Taipei Songshan (Taiwan) and on 33L and 33R at Madrid Barajas
(Spain).
Ho and Romero [2] compared the characteristics, performance, and commercial
availabilities between aircraft arresting concrete and other crushable materials. The
survey findings indicate that the aircraft arresting concrete has demonstrated its
capability to decelerate overrunning aircraft, while its related cost and maintenance
issues need to be further overcome.
Fig. 12.8 Overrunning aircraft successfully arrested by the EMAS courtesy of Joe Frasher,
Greenville Downtown Airport. Reprinted from Ref. [2], with permission from the author
12.5 Summary
Owing to the porous structure, the aircraft arresting concrete used to reduce the
speed of the aircraft can effectively absorb the crash energy of the aircraft and force
the aircraft to stop. It is more and more used in the airport runway. The aircraft
arresting concrete has a nearly zero rebound after compaction, which is inherently
efficient and desirable for arresting aircraft.
However, besides high cost, difficult maintenance is an outstanding shortcoming
of the aircraft arresting concrete. This kind of materials is difficult to maintain a
constant mixing temperature, which will reduce the stability of air voids. Moreover,
the time-consuming maintenance issues including joint-related deteriorations and
coating-peeled problems have been becoming a challenge for airport maintenance
crews. In addition, the aircraft arresting concrete has a large number of holes and it
works long term in the outdoors, causing the aging rate increasing significantly in
the rain. Thus, the aircraft arresting system needs a periodic replacement. Therefore,
further researches are still needed to solve the problem of durability and economy
of the aircraft arresting concrete.
References 245
References
1. Z.Q. Zhang, J.L. Yang, Q.M. Li, An analytical model of foamed concrete aircraft arresting
system. Int. J. Impact Eng. 61(4), 1–12 (2013)
2. C.H. Ho, P. Romero, Investigation of existing engineered material arresting system at three
US Airports, in Proceedings of 50th Annual Forum of Transportation Research Forum
(Portland, Oregon, USA, 2009)
3. S.C. Marisetty, E.D. Bailey, W.M. Hale, E. P. Heymsfield, Development of a soft ground
arrestor system. Concrete Tests, 2008
4. M.A. Barsotti, J.M.H. Puryear, D.J. Stevens, Developing improved civil aircraft arresting
systems. Acrp Report, 2009
5. L.Y. Guan, Research on the air-void system characterization and regulation and properties of
foamed concrete. Dissertation for the Master of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan
University of Technology, 2014
6. http://gizmodo.com/5869715/why-did-this-airplane-landing-gear-destroy-this-concrete-runway
7. H. Chang, Application and research on engineering material runway arresting system.
Dissertation for the Master of Traffic Engineering Institute, Civil Aviation University of
China, 2009
8. C.S. Jiang, H.Y. Yao, X.B. Xiao, X.J. Kong, Y.J. Shi, Phenomena of foamed concrete under
rolling of aircraft wheels. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 495(1), 43–46 (2014)
9. W. Wang, H. Chang, Modeling and analysis of aircraft pavement jamming system. J. Civ.
Aviat. Univ. China 2, 10–13 (2009)
10. R.F. Cook. Soft-ground aircraft arresting systems. Airports, 1987
11. F.Y. Li, Z.X. Jiao, Y.Q. Gui et al., Modeling and simulation of soft ground arresting system
for aircraft. J. Beijing Univ. Aeronaut. Astronaut. 36(8), 945–948 (2010)
12. R. DeLoach, J. Marlowe, T. Yager, Uncertainty analysis for the evaluation of a passive
runway arresting system. Aiaa Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons
Forum and Aerospace Exposition, 2009
13. E. Heymsfield, W.M. Hale, T.L. Halsey, Aircraft response in an airfield arrestor system during
an overrun. J. Transp. Eng. 138(3), 284–292 (2012)
14. R. Zhao, W.G. Guo, Y.J. Shi, L. Zeng, Experimental study on anti-penetration behavior of
foamed composite material, in The International Symposium on Impact Dynamics, 2011
15. E.P. Kearsley, P.J. Wainwright, The effect of porosity on the strength of foamed concrete.
Cem. Concr. Res. 32(2), 233–239 (2002)
16. D.L. Bennett, Engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) for aircraft over runs. Federal
Aviation Administration, 2005
17. E. Heymsfield, Performance prediction of the strong company’s soft ground arrestor system
using a numerical analysis. Arrester Beds, 2009
18. A.G. Gerardi, Collection of commercial aircraft characteristics for study of runway roughness.
Civil Aviation, 1977
19. O.B. Olurin, N.A. Fleck, M.F. Ashby, Indentation resistance of an aluminium foam. Scripta
Mater. 43(11), 983–989 (2000)
20. W.J. Steyn, S. Lombard, E. Horak, Foam concrete-based soft ground arresting system for
runways. Geohubei, 2014, pp. 9–16
21. W.J. Steyn, S. Lombard, E. Horak, Foamed concrete-based material as a soft ground arresting
system for runways and airfields. J. Perfor. Constructed Facil. 1–7 (2014)
22. E. Heymsfield, W.M. Hale, T.L. Halsey, A parametric sensitivity analysis of soft ground
arrestor systems. Int. Air Transp. Conf. 262(20), 227–236 (2007)
23. E. Heymsfield, W.M. Hale, T.L. Halsey, Optimizing low density concrete behavior for soft
ground arrestor systems. Airfield Highw. Pavements. 122–133 (2008)
24. E. Heymsfield, Predicting aircraft stopping distances within an EMAS. J. Transp. Eng. 139
(12), 1184–1193 (2013)
Chapter 13
Electrically Conductive Concrete
Abstract Electrically conductive concrete is the multiphase composite that

includes the electrically conductive fillers on the basis of conventional concrete.
Electrical conductivity of concrete is mainly attributed to the movement of electron
in conductive particle chain formed by conductive fillers. Electrically conductive
concrete not only has an advantage of structural material, but also has high elec-
trical conductivity. It can therefore be used in many infrastructure applications, such
as road deicing, electrostatic prevention, electromagnetic defense, cathodic pro-
tection, and structural health monitoring.
Keywords Concrete Electrically conductive Fillers Resistivity
13.1 Introduction
Concrete has been widely used in civil engineering due to its excellent physical
properties. The resistivity of ordinary concrete is generally in the range of 106–
109 Ω m. It is neither an insulator nor a good conductor. If a certain amount of
conductive fillers are added in the concrete, the electrical conductivity of the
concrete will be improved greatly. Meanwhile, concrete will be a conductor.
Electrically conductive concrete has not only the properties of the structure mate-
rial, but also the electrical conductivity behaviors. This has opened up a new world
for the application of concrete in electric power industry.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to electrically conductive
concrete, with attentions to its properties, principles, current progress, and
applications.

248 13 Electrically Conductive Concrete
13.2 Definition and Principles of Electrically

Conductive Concrete
Electrically conductive concrete is the multiphase composite made up of binder,

electrically conductive material, aggregate, and water (as show in Fig. 13.1) [1]
according to a special mix proportion. It is a kind of special concrete which is
prepared by using electrically conductive fillers in the place of the partial or total
aggregate. Electrically conductive fillers can replace the fine aggregate, or coarse
aggregate, or both. At present, electrically conductive fillers used in electrically
conductive concrete are mainly divided into three kinds: polymer, carbon, and
metal. One of the most commonly used is carbon and metal, such as graphite,
carbon powder, carbon fiber (CF), steel fiber, and steel scraps. The most research
about electrically conductive concrete is CF concrete. The incorporation of CF
makes concrete to possess excellent electrical conductivity and better mechanical
property than ordinary concrete. The more detailed information about conductive
fillers can also refer to Sect. 6.2 in Chap. 6.
Electrically conductive concrete is divided into three major categories according
to the matrix material: inorganic concrete (such as cement electrically conductive
concrete and water glass electrically conductive concrete), organic concrete (such as
bituminous electrically conductive concrete and resin electrically conductive con-
crete), and compound concrete (e.g., polymer electrically conductive concrete and
impregnated electrically conductive concrete).
The current conduction of electrically conductive concrete is from conductive
net formed by conductive fillers and matrix. Existing research showed that perco-
lation phenomena associated with electrical conductivity were observed in elec-
trically conductive concrete [1]. The resistivity of the concrete will reduce by
several orders of magnitude at a critical content of conductive fillers. This content is
referred to as the threshold value. The resistivity of the concrete reduces slowly
with increasing content of conductive fillers when contents are less than or more
than the threshold value. However, the resistivity of the concrete reduces suddenly
Fig. 13.1 A graph visualizing the structure of electrically conductive concrete

13.2 Definition and Principles of Electrically Conductive Concrete 249
Fig. 13.2 Illustration of

carbon nanotube (i.e., CNT)
network percolation (vc)
compared with carbon black
[2]. © 2011 Sang-ha Hwang,
Young-Bin Park, Kwan Han
Yoon and Dae Suk Bang.
Originally published in
InTech under CC BY-NC-SA
3.0 license. Available from:
doi:10.5772/17374
when the contents of conductive fillers reach the threshold value (as shown in
Fig. 13.2).
The percolation phenomenon reflects conductive net formed by conductive fil-
lers. Conductive fillers at small dosage are isolated from each other without
overlapping and have less contribution to electrical conductivity. The resistivity of
concrete in this stage is from that of matrix. There are overlapping and local
conductive net between conductive fillers with increasing content. Under voltage,
the current conduction is formed through electrons or holes moving in local con-
ductive net and jumping barrier between electric materials by tunneling effect.
When contents of conductive fillers increase to the threshold value, the local
conductive net will make a contact with each other so as to form a broad conductive
channel in matrix. The above description can be illustrated in Fig. 13.3. Therefore,
in order to prepare the concrete with good electrical conductivity, the contents of
conductive fillers should reach percolation concentration and should not exceed that
too much. The more detailed conductive mechanism of electrically conductive
concrete can also refer to Sect. 6.2 in Chap. 6.
Fig. 13.3 Conductive

characteristic curves of
concrete and overlapping of
CF. Reprinted from Ref. [3],
13.3 Current Progress of Electrically Conductive

Concrete
In the 1930s and through the 1940s, the former Soviet Union, Germany, Canada, the
USA, and Britain began to explore the possibility of electrically conductive concrete.
At the end of 1950s, the former Soviet Union produced water glass-based and
cement-based electrically conductive concrete. In 1970s, the research and applica-
tion of electrically conductive concrete was introduced to solve the concrete cor-
rosion problems caused by ice and salt in the process of cathodic protection. Banthia
et al. studied the electrical conductivity of cement filled with CF and steel fiber. The
concrete with CFs was found to be better conductors than that with steel fibers. It was
concluded that the size and distribution of fiber in the composites were more
important than conductivity of the fiber material itself [4]. Xie et al. firstly developed
electrically conductive concrete by using conductive fibers and particles as fillers.
This concrete presents good conductivity and mechanical strength [5]. Baldwin
prepared the electrically conductive concrete whose resistivity, compressive
strength, flexural strength, and density were 1–40 X cm, 30 MPa, 5–15 MPa,
and 1450–1850 kg/m3, respectively [6]. Yehia and Tuan et al. developed the new
type of conductive concrete by using steel fiber, graphite, and carbon products. They
used thin conductive concrete overlay as bridge deck deicing and airfield pavement
deicing [7, 8]. Tang et al. studied the resistivity of electrically conductive concrete
with different conductive fillers, such as CF, steel fiber, steel slag, and graphite [9].
Qian et al. prepared electrically conductive concrete by using air quench steel slag
[10]. Gao et al. developed electrically conductive asphalt concrete filled with CF and
graphite [11]. Wu et al. studied the characteristics of electrically conductive asphalt
concrete by adding multiplex electrically conductive materials. They found that
electrically conductive asphalt concrete provided an efficient method for
snowmelting in asphalt road. In the field test, the snow melted completely with an
input power of 350 W/m2 for 240 min [12]. Dai et al. used electrically conductive
steel wool fibers to develop electrically conductive asphalt concrete and evaluated
the healing capacity of the developed electroactive asphalt mastic and concrete beam
with induction heating. Binders inside the heated electrically conductive asphalt
concrete subjected to induction energy can heal microcrack [13]. Huang et al.
studied using electrical resistance tomography to characterize electrically conductive
concrete filled with graphite. The resistivity threshold of such concrete can be
determined by means of electrical resistance tomography [14].
13.4 Applications of Electrically Conductive Concrete
Electrically conductive concrete possesses electrical conductivity and an advantage

in technology and performance compared to conventional concrete. Therefore, it
has great application prospect in the field of civil engineering. The
13.4 Applications of Electrically Conductive Concrete 251
mechano-electrical effect of electrically conductive concrete is mainly used for

stress, strain, damage, and crack monitoring of structures and the traffic detection
(this can refer to Chap. 6). The electrothermal effect of electrically conductive
concrete is mainly used to melt snow and ice of roads, bridge and airports, and
building heating ground (this can refer to Chap. 12). In addition, the electrical
conductivity of electrically conductive concrete is also widely used in defense of
electromagnetic wave and cathodic protection for reinforced concrete corrosion.
13.4.1 Electrically Conductive Concrete Used

in Electromagnetic Defense
Electromagnetic energy is widely available in nowadays’ environment. A burst of

electromagnetic waves caused by a high-altitude nuclear explosion or an electro-
magnetic pulse device could induce electric current and voltage surges that cause
widespread electronic failures. Today’s shielding technologies employ metal
enclosures that require expensive metal panel or screen construction, limiting their
feasibility in large infrastructures. Electrically conductive concrete is more
cost-effective and flexible than current shielding methods.
Nebraska engineers Tuan and Nguyen had developed a cost-effective concrete
that shielded against damaging electromagnetic energy. This concrete works by
both absorbing and reflecting electromagnetic waves. Some standard concrete
aggregates are replaced by magnetite. It is a mineral with magnetic properties,
which absorbs microwaves like a sponge. Electronics inside structures built or
coated with this concrete are protected from electromagnetic interference [15].
Krause and Aaron investigated the development and evaluation innovative
methods for the use of conductive concrete as an electromagnetic shield.
Electrically conductive concrete has the potential to provide electromagnetic shield
that is cost-effective in terms of construction, operation, and maintenance compared
to conventional approaches. The favorable testing methods about the shielding
properties of conductive concrete would help to design a promising conductive
concrete. A great deal of money and effort was saved in relation to the amount of
test data collected for various mixtures and thicknesses by using the small test
samples and large test slabs [16]. Wang et al. developed a waterborne coating of
waterborne acrylic resin-based material with different sizes of hybrid homemade
graphite as conductive filler. They found that the conductivity and the electro-
magnetic shielding effectiveness of the coating were the best under the optimal
proportion. The coating volume resistivity was about 0.05 X cm according to the
optimal proportion. The attenuation of electromagnetic wave could reach more than
30 dB within the frequency range of 1 MHz–1.5 GHz [17].
Ogunsola et al. discussed the shielding properties of electrically conductive
concrete including steel fiber. They found that the real and imaginary parts of the
complex relative permittivity and the electrical conductivity of the conductive
concrete were higher than those obtained from an undoped concrete up to

approximately 2 GHz. Moreover, the shielding effectiveness of electrically con-
ductive concrete was surely higher than that of ordinary concrete [18].
Kim et al. investigated the effect of fiber geometry included in electrically
conductive concrete on the electromagnetic shielding performance. The results
showed that the electromagnetic shielding performance improved with increasing
fiber length or decreasing fiber diameter. On the other hand, the effect of the
cross-sectional geometry of the fibers was smaller to the effect of the fiber spacing
factor [19].
The above introduces the application of electrically conductive concrete for
electromagnetic shielding. The detailed introduction of electromagnetic wave
shielding concrete can refer to Chap. 18.
13.4.2 Electrically Conductive Concrete Used in Cathodic

Protection
The damage caused by corrosion of the steel reinforcement is a prime factor of

concrete corrosion. Cathodic protection (CP) system, in which sacrificial anode
cathodic protection and impressed current CP (ICCP) are used as two main cathodic
protection components to control corrosion, is considered as a leading method for
the protection against corrosion in concrete structures. As illustrated in Fig. 13.4
[20], in the ICCP systems, a direct current flows from electrically conductive
concrete anode usually laid on the concrete surface to a cathode (i.e., steel rein-
forcement). The anode connects with the positive terminal of a low-voltage direct
source, and the cathode connects with the negative terminal. In order to make
charge balanced, the anode would lose electrons and be destroyed after about
30 days.
At the beginning of 1970, Stratfull [21] firstly used electrically conductive
concrete as anode in ICCP system, which is applied on a 307 m2 bridge deck.
Cañón et al. [22] used the electrically conductive concrete and Ti–RuO2 as anodes
to build an ICCP system, respectively. Figure 13.5 shows the method of fabricating
electrically conductive concrete anode. They compared electrically conductive
anode with traditional Ti–RuO2 anode and measured the chloride concentration
profile at different depths (the initial chloride concentration profile, the final chlo-
ride concentration profile, and the local efficiencies (in decreasing the Cl− content)
as shown in Fig. 13.6a). The case of using Ti–RuO2 as an anode is shown in
Fig. 13.6b. It can be seen from these two figures that the efficiency of a sprayed
anode based on electrically conductive concrete is nearly the same as traditional
reference anode (i.e., Ti–RuO2 mesh).
Bertolini et al. studied electrically conductive concrete as anode for CP in
chloride-contaminated concrete. Tests were carried out on the reinforced concrete
specimens as shown in Fig. 13.7. The results of the tests confirm that electrically
Fig. 13.4 Schematic illustration of CP reinforcement of a concrete structure. Reprinted from

Fig. 13.5 Device assembly with electrically conductive concrete anode: 1 Electrically conductive
concrete is sprayed by using a compressed air gun on the surface of the specimen, 2 an absorbent
layer of polypropylene is placed recovering the specimen surface, and 3 the electrical circuit is
installed. The positive pole of the source is connected to the anode, and the negative pole is
connected to one of the longitudinal of the specimen reinforcement. Reprinted from Ref. [22],
conductive concrete can be properly used as anode for CP of steel reinforcements in

concrete structures. A maximum current density of 10–15 m A/m2, referred to the
surface of concrete covered by the anode, and a distance of 1 m between primary
anodes can be suggested for a safe design [23].
Yao et al. studied the current distribution in a designed three-layer reinforced
concrete CP system, with electrically conductive concrete as anode. Current dis-
tribution is markedly influenced by concrete resistivity. When the pore water
content is low and the concrete resistivity is high, bars farthest from the anode may
receive very little of the total current. Magnitude of impressed current density has
(a) Using electrically conductive concrete as anode.
(b) Using Ti-RuO 2 as anode
Fig. 13.6 Chloride concentration profile of different depths and the local efficiencies in decreasing
the Cl− content. Reprinted from Ref. [22], Copyright 2013, with permission from Elsevier. a Using
electrically conductive concrete as anode. b Using Ti–RuO2 as anode
little effect on the current distribution when the corrosion rate of steel is relatively
low [24].
Yehia et al. used electrically conductive concrete overlay as an anode to be cast
on the top of a bridge deck for preventing reinforcement corrosion. Four slabs with
different electrode sizes and spacing were tested. The supplied 2 V voltage pro-
vided ample CP in terms of meeting the required 4 h 100 mV polarization in each
Fig. 13.7 Reinforced concrete specimens used for CP tests (dimensions are in mm). Reprinted
slab at each test. The 100 mV polarization criterion was met, and hydrogen dis-
charge was limited. In this ICCP system, the anode is destroyed after about 30 days,
while through the removal of the destroyed concrete overlay, a new electrically
conductive concrete coating could be paved. As a result, the anode could continue
to protect the bridge decks [25]. Pérez et al. studied the viability of using an
electrically conductive concrete anode for the electrochemical extraction of chlo-
rides from reinforced concrete with an efficiency similar to that obtained with a
classic Ti–RuO2 anode. The thickness of the electrically conductive concrete anode
has a great influence on the capacity of the anode to retain an important part of the
extracted chlorides after finishing the electrochemical treatments [26]. Xu et al.
studied the behavior of electrically conductive concrete as a secondary anode.
A 5- to 10-mm-thick layer of electrically conductive concrete with CF can be
sprayed on the surface to provide a continuous network with electronic conductivity
(resistivity about 10 X cm). Activated titanium strips are embedded in the overlay
as primary anodes with the purpose of distributing the current along the overlay.
The study shows that the optimum fiber content in mortar should be in the range
from 0.5 to 0.7 vol.% [27]. Anwar et al. investigated the effectiveness of electrically
conductive concrete as an anode material for ICCP of concrete structures. In this
study, pumice aggregate is used as fine aggregate. The weight of the anode was
found to have reduced to half of the weight of the conventional anodes. Electrically
conductive concrete is used as the second anode, and the MMO–Ti is used as a
primary anode. From Figs. 13.8 to 13.9, it is observed that the conductivity of
electrically conductive concrete increases with the increase of CF and pumice
aggregate addition. Accordingly, concrete with 1.1% CF and 30% pumice addition
has the highest conductivity value of 0.20 S/cm at which the highest degree of
fiber-to-fiber contact is achieved. After 14 days of accelerated galvanic testing, the
composite anode has stable passive region from the potential value of 600 mV to
2.5 V even in the presence of chloride, and breakdown voltage of composite anode
Fig. 13.8 Conductivity versus carbon fiber content for cement mortar systems. Reprinted from
Fig. 13.9 Conductivity versus replacement of pumice aggregate for cement mortar systems.
is more than 2.5 V. Stable oxidation products formed on the CFs encapsulated into
the matrix maintain its passivity and do not cause any dissolution during the test
period (as shown in Fig. 13.10) [28].
Fig. 13.10 Anode potential of the conductive mortar as a function of exposure time in
SPS + 3% NaCl with 1.1% CF. Reprinted from Ref. [28], Copyright 2014, with permission from
Elsevier
Carmona et al. studied the application of electrically conductive concrete

in CP. This electrochemical technique is able to provide protection conditions to
steel, despite a severe internal and external chloride contamination, as long as the
proper current density value is set. Also, its capability to recover the lost protection
conditions with the increase of current density was demonstrated. The electrically
conductive concrete anode system makes possible to apply a combined treatment of
electrochemical chloride extraction and then CP through only changing the current
density in the electric source. This combination has shown to be capable of
maintaining or recovering protection conditions if the cathodic current density is set
to the appropriate value according to the Cl− content present. This combined
treatment also supposes a strong barrier to Cl− penetration [29].
13.5 Summary
Electrically conductive concrete is a special functional concrete which is different

from the previous structural concrete. Resistivity of concrete depends on the type,
performance, and content of conductive fillers. When the conductive filler has been
determined, the adjustment of the resistivity is only linked to the content of the
conductive materials. Electrically conductive concrete has the characteristics of
wide material source, simple preparation, convenient construction, long service life,
economy, and so on. It is widely used for intelligent detection, deicing,
electromagnetic defense, and cathodic protection of reinforced concrete structure

over most of recorded research. In addition, electrical conductivity makes the
application of concrete extend from the field of civil engineering to electrical power
engineering. For example, the large heat capacity of conductive concrete has a
potential to apply in grounding resistance of transformer neutral point. Electrically
conductive concrete can be manufactured into ground device to play the role of
antistatic industrial production. With the further research on the electrically con-
ductive concrete, it must be widely used in many fields of industrial production and
produce enormous economic and social benefits.
However, the existing electrically conductive concrete has some limitations and
challenges. For example, a large amount of conductive fillers will significantly
increase the cost as well as probably degrade the related mechanical performance to
some extent. What’s more, the electrical conductivity of concrete is easily influ-
enced by the change inside matrix and the action of environmental humidity and
temperature. Therefore, the future work should be focused on optimizing electri-
cally conductive concrete formulations for the best combination of strength, elec-
trical properties, and production methods at the lowest possible cost.
References

2. S.H. Hwang, Y.B. Park, K.H. Yoon, D.S. Bang, Smart materials and structures based on
carbon nanotube composites, in Carbon Nanotubes-Synthesis, Characterization,
Applications, 514, ed. by S. Yellampalli (InTech, 2011), pp. 371–396
3. B. Chen, K.R. Wu, W. Yao, Conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced cement-based
composites. Cem. Concr. Compos. 26(4), 291–297 (2004)
4. N. Banthia, S. Djeridane, M. Pigeon, Electrical resistivity of carbon and steel micro-fiber
reinforced cements. Cem. Concr. Res. 22(5), 804–814 (1992)
5. P. Xie, J.J. Beaudoin, Electrically conductive concrete and its application in deicing. ACI
Spec. Publ. 154, 399–418 (1995)
6. K. Baldwin, Electrically conductive concrete: properties and potential. Constr. Can. 98(1),
28–29 (1998)
7. S. Yehia, C.Y. Tuan, D. Ferdon, Conductive concrete overlay for bridge deck deicing:
Mixture proportioning, optimization, and properties. ACI Struct. J. 97(2), 172–181 (2000)
8. S.A. Yehia, Conductive concrete overlay for bridge deck deicing. ACI Mater. J. 96(3), 382–
390 (1999)
9. Z.Q. Tang, Z.Q. Li, Z.F. Hou, D.L. Xu, Mechanism analysis on melting snow and ice of
electrically conductive concrete. Concrete 7, 8–11 (2001)
10. J.S. Qian, C.T. Li, Z.Q. Tang, Z. Wang, Experimental study on electrically conductive
concrete with the air quench steel slag. J. Build. Mater. 8(3), 233–238 (2005)
11. Y.X. Gao, Research on preparation and conductive performance of conductive carbon fiber
graphite asphalt concrete, Dissertation for the Master of Science in Engineering, Wuhan
University of Technology, 2011
12. S. Wu, P. Pan, M. Chen, Y. Zhang, Analysis of characteristics of electrically conductive
asphalt concrete prepared by multiplex conductive materials. J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 25(7), 871–
879 (2013)
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conductive asphalt mastic and asphalt concrete beams through fracture-healing tests. Constr.
Build. Mater. 49(12), 729–737 (2013)
14. B.S. Huang, L. Qin, H.W. Ren, Z.X. Hua, K.G. Tian, ERT imaging of graphite electrically
conductive concrete. Key Eng. Mater. 680, 388–391 (2016)
15. http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/conductive-concrete-shields-electronics-from-
emp-attack/
16. A.P. Krause, Conductive concrete for electromagnetic shielding–methods for development
and evaluation, Dissertation for the Master of Science in Telecommunications Engineering,
The University of Nebraska, USA, 2012
17. W.D. Wang, Q. Xu, S.X. Zhou, W.W. Deng, Preparation of waterborne graphite conductive
coating and study of its electromagnetic shielding performance. Appl. Mech. Mater. 313,
241–244 (2013)
18. A. Ogunsola, U. Reggiani, L. Sandrolini, Shielding properties of conductive concrete against
transient electromagnetic disturbances, in IEEE International Conference on Microwaves,
Communications, Antennas and Electronics Systems, 2009, pp. 1–5
19. Y.J. Kim, D.M. Yemam, B.J. Kim, C. Yi, Effect of fiber geometry on the electromagnetic
shielding performance of mortar. Comput. Concr. 17(2), 281–294 (2016)
20. P. Pedeferri, Cathodic protection and cathodic prevention. Constr. Build. Mater. 10(5), 391–
402 (1996)
21. R.F. Stratful, Experimental cathodic protection of a bridge deck. Transp. Res. Rec. 500, 1–15
(1974)
22. A. Cañón, P. Garcés, M.A. Climent, J. Carmona, E. Zornoza, Feasibility of electrochemical
chloride extraction from structural reinforced concrete using a sprayed conductive graphite
powder-concrete paste as anode. Corros. Sci. 77, 128–134 (2013)
23. L. Bertolini, F. Bolzoni, T. Pastore, P. Pedeferri, Effectiveness of a conductive cementitious
mortar anode for cathodic protection of steel in concrete. Cem. Concr. Res. 34(4), 681–694
(2004)
24. J. Xu, W. Yao, Current distribution in reinforced concrete cathodic protection system with
conductive mortar overlay anode. Constr. Build. Mater. 23(6), 2220–2226 (2009)
25. S. Yehia, J. Host, Conductive concrete for cathodic protection of bridge decks. ACI Mater.
J. 107(6), 577–585 (2010)
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concrete using a conductive cement paste as the anode. Corros. Sci. 52(5), 1576–1581 (2010)
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concrete. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol-Mater. 25(5), 883–888 (2010)
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(2015)
Chapter 14
Electrothermal Concrete
Abstract Electrothermal concrete refers to the material achieving electrical resis-

tance heating based on Joule effect. Since conventional concrete is hard to be
heated, electrically conductive fillers such as carbon fibers, steel fibers, steel
shaving, nickel powders, and graphite are incorporated to reduce the resistivity of
concrete. Electrothermal concrete has excellent potential for domestic and outdoor
environments, especially for deicing and snowmelting of parking garages, side-
walks, driveways, highway bridges, and airport runways. It also can be used for
domestic heating in residence, factory, and greenhouse.
Keywords Concrete Electrothermal Resistance Snowmelting Deicing
14.1 Introduction
The heating of infrastructures is conventionally accomplished by the use of func-

tional materials (e.g., metal coils—the coil configuration is necessitated by the
requirement of a long length of metal wire due to the low resistivity of metals) that
are not structural materials, or the use of systems (e.g., forced air heating systems)
that are outside the structural materials. For the purpose of spatially uniform
heating, design simplification, implementation convenience, and energy efficiency,
it is desirable to use structural materials themselves for heating, i.e., structural
materials heat themselves through the conversion of energy (e.g., electrical energy).
Such structural materials are said to be self-heating [1].
Ice or snow accumulation on transportation infrastructures (such as driveways,
bridges, and airport runways) has troubled us for a long time, which causes a
number of dangerous situations, hampers flow of traffic, and brings great incon-
venience to life [2]. Therefore, improving the conditions of transportation infras-
tructures in a timely and high-efficient fashion is imperative. In the past thirty years,
the main methods of snow removal and deicing are labor or machine removal and
using salt. However, the traditional snow removal and deicing methods are labor
intensive and time-consuming, they also cause damages to both the constructions

262 14 Electrothermal Concrete
and the ecological environment [3]. Recent years, researchers propose to fabricate
electrothermal concrete using for road surface. This kind of concrete relies on the
electrical conductivity of concrete. The principle of electrothermal concrete is
adding conductive fillers into concrete and generating heat by applying voltage to
concrete based on the Joule law. A thin layer of conductive concrete can generate
enough heat to prevent ice formation on concrete pavement when energized by a
power source. Compared with conventional deicing methods, electrothermal con-
crete has the advantages of high efficiency, no negative effects, and without pol-
lution [4]. It would eliminate or dramatically reduce the need for using salt, thus
providing an effective and environmentally friendly alternative. Electrothermal
concrete was also applied to subway in London to protect passengers from slipping
on frozen platform. The electrothermal concrete used in platform is characterized by
rapidly warmed under low voltage.
Another application of electrothermal concrete is domestic heating [5, 6]. It is
realized by substituting electrothermal concrete for traditional concrete in the wall
or floor and applying voltage to them. And then, heat will be emitted continuously
from the wall or floor. This kind of conductive concrete is absolutely safe to human.
This is because just a small voltage and current is needed when the concrete works,
and no electric can be felt even if we touch it. In former Soviet Union, electric
heating floor and furring brick were made by electrothermal concrete and they were
used for providing heat for residence, factory, and greenhouse.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to the electrothermal
concrete filled with different conductive fillers, with attentions to its properties,
current progress, and applications.
14.2 Definition and Principles of Electrothermal Concrete
Electrothermal concrete refers to concrete material using electrical resistance

heating based on Joule effect (Eq. 14.1). It is also called self-heating concrete.
Conventional concrete material is not electrically conductive. Its resistivity is too
high to be effectively heated. The resistivity of concrete can be reduced by adding
electrically conductive fillers, such as carbon fibers, steel fibers, and graphite.
Q ¼ I 2 Rt or P ¼ I 2 R ð14:1Þ
where Q is calorific value, I is current, R is resistance, t is time, and P is thermal

power.
Characterized by a heating element, conductive concrete is seen as an electric
heater. When a voltage is applied to this conductive concrete, thermal energy is
radiated from it in the same fashion as a metallic wire conductor. According to the
formula of Joule law, resistivity is a dominant criterion which governs the effec-
tiveness of a material for electric heating, particularly in relation to the power and
the maximum temperature. There is a rational resistivity value for concrete [7],
14.2 Definition and Principles of Electrothermal Concrete 263
Fig. 14.1 Electric resistivity

versus temperature of
conductive concrete.
with permission from ACI
either excessive high or low is undesired for the materials used as heating element.
An electric element with rather high resistivity would result in an extremely low
current in the heating element (unless the voltage is very high). On the contrary, an
electric element with excessive low resistivity would require an extremely high
current to reach a certain power [1, 8]. In addition, the stability of resistivity is a
basic requirement for conductive concrete to become electrothermal. Only with a
stable resistivity, the steady electrothermal power will be attainable. Studies indi-
cated that the resistivity of conductive concrete tended to be stable on condition that
the content of conductive filler closes to or more than the percolation threshold
[9, 10]. Percolation means the attainment of a continuous conductive path due to the
touching of adjacent conductive fibers or particles. These composites are lower in
resistivity than concrete itself by orders of magnitude, due to the attainment of
percolation of the conductive fillers. For more detailed information about perco-
lation refer Chaps. 6 and 13. Moreover, the conductive concrete behaves like a
semiconductor or a capacitor. The electrical resistivity of these materials is a
function of temperature as shown in Fig. 14.1. As electrical current flows through
the conductive concrete, its temperature rises and the heating rate increases. The
electrical conductivity of the conductive concrete will increase as its temperature
rises. The increase in electrical conductivity will cause more current to flow through
under a constant voltage. Hence, the applied voltage must be controlled to maintain
a gradual heating rate to avoid thermal shock to the conductive concrete [11].
Table 14.1 Classification of electrothermal concrete

Categories Conductive filler
Electrothermal concrete filled with metal particles Steel fiber, steel shaving, nickel
and fibers particle, etc.
Electrothermal concrete filled with carbon particles Graphite, carbon fiber, carbon black,
and fibers etc.
Electrothermal concrete filled with multiplex fillers Mixture of metal and carbon fillers
Electrothermal concrete with different conductive fillers (their detailed information

can refer to Chap. 6) was summed up in Table 14.1. Each category of the elec-
trothermal concrete will be introduced, respectively.
14.3 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Metal

Particles and Fibers
Tuan and Yehia studied several typical concrete using steel fibers and steel shavings
as conductive fillers [3, 12, 13]. The use of 20 vol. % steel shavings together with
1.5 vol. % steel fibers resulted in an electrical resistivity of 75–100 X cm.
A 1.2 3.6 m (4 12 ft) and 150-mm-thick (6 in.) conventional concrete slab
was constructed to simulate a concrete bridge deck. A 90-mm-thick (3.5 in.) con-
ductive concrete overlay with two steel strips embedded for electrodes was cast on
top of the concrete slab for conducting a deicing experiment in a natural envi-
ronment. They laid a new conductive concrete at the University of Nebraska–
Lincoln specifically for experiment of bridge deck deicing. Over 100 trial batches of
conductive concrete were prepared and their properties were evaluated. Average
power of about 590 W/m2 was generated by the electrothermal concrete overlays to
prevent snow and ice accumulation. The slabs’ temperatures rise from −1.1 to
15.6 °C in 30 min. They presented the optimized mixture proportioning for best
mechanical and physical properties and pointed that the electrothermal concrete
overlay has the potential to become the most cost-effective bridge deck deicing
method. However, the resistivity of concrete increased with time, reaching
350 X cm in 6 months, presumably due to corrosion of the steel shavings and
fibers. It reveals that conductive concrete with steel fibers and steel shavings is not
stable on conductive performance over time [3].
After confirming Yehia et al.’s results, Hou et al. [7] further investigated the
effects of various parameters on the melting time, power requirements, and per-
formance of the electrothermal concrete. Their study revealed that there is a rational
thermal conductivity value for the concrete due to the limits of Joule heating from
the concrete’s internal electrical resistance.
Wang et al. [14] developed electrothermal concrete by the use of 8 lm-diameter
stainless steel fibers in concrete. Due to the exceptionally low electrical resistivity
(0.85 X cm) attained by the use of steel fibers, the effectiveness for heating is
exceptionally high, as described below. A direct current (DC) electrical power input
of 5.6 W (7.1 V, 0.79 A) resulted in a maximum temperature of 60 °C (initial
temperature = 19 °C) and a time of 6 min to reach half of the maximum temper-
ature (as shown in Fig. 14.2). The efficiency of energy conversion increased with
time of heating, reaching 100% after 50 min (Fig. 14.3). The heat power output per
unit area attained by concrete with steel fiber was 750 W m−2, compared to
14.3 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Metal Particles and Fibers 265
Fig. 14.2 Temperature variation during heating (current on) and subsequent cooling (current off),
using concrete with steel fiber (8 lm-diameter) as the resistance heating element (thick curve:
temperature; thin curve: current). Reprinted from Ref. [14], with permission from ICE Publishing
Fig. 14.3 Efficiency versus

time during heating of
concrete with steel fiber
(8 lm-diameter) at a current
of 0.48 A. Reprinted from
Ref. [14], with permission
from ICE Publishing
340 W m−2 for a metal wire having the same resistance. Due to the presence of
steel fibers, the structural properties are superior to those of conventional concrete.
Furthermore, its resistivity is stable over time and it does not require any special
mixing equipment, procedures, or any special aggregate.
Zhang et al. [8] observed that the concrete with nickel particles has stable
electrical conductivity and the heating rate increases with input voltage (as shown
in Fig. 14.4). This concrete can achieve a temperature increment of about 50 °C
within 30 s when the input voltage is 20 V (as shown in Fig. 14.5). At an input
voltage of 15 V, the concrete can deice 3 mm of ice in 478 s under an ambient
temperature of −16.0 °C and melt 2 cm of snow in 368 s under an ambient tem-
perature of −5.3 °C, respectively.
Fig. 14.4 Temperature time

histories on specimen surfaces
of two types of electrothermal
concrete containing nickel
particles during heating with
different input voltages (T123:
Type 123 nickel particles,
T287: Type 287 nickel
particles). Reprinted from
Ref. [8], Copyright 2011, with
Fig. 14.5 Temperature time

histories on specimen surfaces
of two types of electrothermal
concrete containing nickel
particles during heating and
subsequent cooling (T123:
Type 123 nickel particles,
T287: Type 287 nickel
particles). Reprinted from
14.4 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Carbon

Particles and Fibers
Carbon material has excellent electrical conductivity, a large heating capacity at low
voltage, high strength, and, in particular, natural immunity to corrosion, which
offers an excellent alternative as the heating element in electrical resistive deicing
systems [15].
Xie and Beaudoin [16] first used carbon fiber and carbon particle materials to
prepare electrothermal concrete and utilized it in deicing and snow melting. The
resistivity of concrete was 1.2 X cm using carbon fiber and carbon particle as
conductive phase and resistivity. However, the compressive strength and bending
strength were relatively low due to large water–cement ratio. As for only using
carbon fiber as conductive phase, the resistivity was slightly higher for 1.6 X cm,
but good mechanical properties were achieved. Li et al. [5] made an attempt to
utilize graphite cement paste to product indoor heating ground. The design power of
heating ground is 1 kW. The results suggested that energizing for 4 h every day
would meet the heating requirements in 3.0 2.6 m2 electrothermal concrete
14.4 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Carbon Particles and Fibers 267
ground. However, due to decreasing the strength of concrete with high content of
graphite powder, it is suitable to add conductive fibers into concrete together with
graphite.
Due to a lack of consistency in size and composition and instability on resistivity
of steel shavings, carbon and graphite products were used to replace steel shavings
in several trial electrothermal concrete mixture designs. Tuan et al. [11] developed a
electrothermal concrete mix utilizing 70% Portland cement, 1.5% steel fibers, and
30% graphite powder. An electrothermal concrete deck using this mixture has been
implemented for deicing on a highway bridge at Roca (as shown in Fig. 14.6). The
deicing system worked well in four major snowstorms in the winter of 2003 and
delivered an average power density of 452 W/m2 to melt snow and ice.
In 2008, a kind of carbon black concrete slabs was used as electrothermal
flooring material by Sun et al. [17]. The investigation manifested that the carbon
black concrete slab was able to raise the temperature of a small room up to 10 °C in
330 min and the distribution of temperature along the height of room was uniform
(as shown in Fig. 14.7). In addition, the heating system provided by carbon black
concrete slab floor was stable, sustainable, and controllable.
Wu et al. [18] studied three-phase composite conductive concrete containing
steel fiber, carbon fiber, and graphite. The concrete made with optimal mix (1%
volume fraction of steel fiber, 0.4% volume fraction of carbon fiber, and 4% content
of graphite), whose resistivity is 322 X cm after 28 days and compressive strength
is 40 MPa or greater. Heating experiments are conducted and the specimen tem-
perature increases 8.7 °C after 2.5 h under 27 V, and 21.8 °C after 2 h under 44 V.
Fig. 14.6 Roca bridge deck deicing. Reprinted from Ref. [11], with permission from ACI
Fig. 14.7 Increase in the

indoor temperature during
heating of different heights
(the distances from
thermocouples t1, t2, t3, t4,
and t5 to the surface of
electrothermal concrete are
2.5, 2, 1.5, 1, 0.5 m,
respectively). Reprinted from
The temperature test confirmed that three-phase composite conductive concrete

provides low resistivity and high power density.
In addition to studies for electrically conductive cement concrete, electrically
conductive asphalt concrete as a novel function material was found to have great
uses in asphalt pavements to remove the snow and ice by electric heating. Wu et al.
[19] analyzed the snowmelting performance of electrically conductive asphalt
concrete by adding multiplex electrically conductive materials including graphite,
carbon fiber, steel fiber, and steel shavings. Figure 14.8 shows some of the digital
images of the asphalt slab surface during the snowmelting process in the field test.
The snow melted completely with an input power of 350 W/m2 for 240 min. Lu
et al. [20] studied electrical resistivity stability of conductive asphalt concrete using
steel slag as aggregate with graphite. They observed that the electrical resistivity of
steel slag with 15% graphite is less than 100 X cm and has good stability for road
service.
Some researchers built models to predict the heating result of electrothermal
concrete with variable parameters. Gomis et al. [21] studied the effects of several
parameters to electrothermal concrete with carbonaceous materials including gra-
phite powder, carbon fiber powder, carbon nanofibers, and carbon nanotubes. The
reached heating temperature depends on the electric power that can be applied,
which in turn depends on the electrical resistance of the material. The proposed
mathematical model by Gomis et al. predicts that the degree of heating is adjustable
with the applied voltage (as shown in Fig. 14.9):
P ¼ hAðT Tr Þ ð14:2Þ
where P (W) is the applied power, h (W/m2 °C) is a parameter that measures the
rate of energy transport toward the outside, A (m2) is the surface of sample exposed,
T (°C) is the average temperature of the sample, and Tr (°C) is the room
temperature.
14.4 Electrothermal Concrete Filled with Carbon Particles and Fibers 269
Fig. 14.8 Images of surface condition of electrothermal concrete during the snow melting
process: a 0 min; b 50 min; c 120 min; d 160 min; e 210 min; and f 240 min. Reprinted from Ref.
[19] with permission from ASCE
Fig. 14.9 Representation of

the experimental data
according to Eq. (14.2).
14.5 Summary
Electrothermal concrete has excellent potential for domestic and outdoor environ-
ments, especially for deicing and snowmelting of parking garages, sidewalks,
driveways, highway bridges, and airport runways. It would eliminate or dramati-
cally reduce the need for using salt, thus providing an effective and environmentally
friendly alternative. As the heating element of itself, electrothermal concrete is able
to generate the heat more uniformly throughout the heated structure and has no
damage to infrastructures. However, the resistance of the electrothermal concrete is
changed with the temperature and humidity (or water content). The heating property
is hard to keep constant for a long term. The wind speed and the thickness of the
ice/snow layer may also have some effects on its application. In particular, the
electrothermal concrete is needed special protection to guard the safety of human
during its application. Therefore, new types of electrothermal concrete accompa-
nying higher heating performance and long-term stability are still necessary to be
developed.
References
1. D.D.L. Chung, Self-heating structural materials, Smart Mater Struct. 13(3), 562–565 (2004)
2. S. Li, X. Ye, Study on the bridge surface deicing system in Yuebei section of Jingzhu
highway. Int. J. Bus. Manage. 3(12), 116–121 (2008)
3. S. Yehia, C.Y. Tuan, D. Ferdon, Conductive concrete overlay for bridge deck deicing:
mixture proportioning, optimization, and properties. ACI Struct. J. 97(2), 172–181 (2000)
4. P.J. Tumidajski, P. Xie, M. Arnott, J.J. Beaudoin, Overlay current in a conductive concrete
snow melting system. Cem. Concr. Res. 33(11), 1807–1809 (2003)
5. R.F. Li, C.Q. Dai, Electrically conductivity concrete used in floor heating. Concrete. 1, 47–48
(1998)
6. X. Xie, M. Zou, Literature review of the application of conductive carbon fiber-graphite
concrete in floor heating. J. Eng. Res. Appl. 7(5), 161–163 (2015)
7. Z.Q. Li, Z.F. Hou, Finite element analysis and design of electrically conductive concrete for
roadway deicing or snow-melting system. ACI Mater. J. 100(6), 469–476 (2003)
References 271
8. K. Zhang, B. Han, X. Yu, Nickel particle based electrical resistance heating cementitious
composites. Cold Reg. Sci. Technol. 69(1), 64–69 (2011)
10. P.W. Chen, D.D.L. Chung, Improving the electrical conductivity of composites comprised of
short conducting fibers in a nonconducting matrix: the addition of a nonconducting particulate
filler. J. Electron. Mater. 24(1), 47–51 (1995)
11. C.Y. Tuan, S. Yehia, Evaluation of electrically conductive concrete containing carbon
products for deicing. ACI Mater. J. 101(4), 287–293 (2004)
12. S.A. Yehia, C.Y. Tuan, Conductive concrete overlay for bridge deck deicing. ACI Mater.
J. 96(3), 382–390 (1999)
13. C.Y. Tuan, Electrical resistance heating of conductive concrete containing steel fibers and
shavings. ACI Mater. J. 101(1), 65–71 (2004)
14. S. Wang, S. Wen, D.D.L. Chung, Resistance heating using electrically conductive cements.
Adv. Cem. Res. 16(4), 161–166 (2004)
15. X.M. Zhou, Z.J. Yang, C. Chang, G. Song, Numerical assessment of electric roadway deicing
system utilizing emerging carbon nanofiber paper. J. Cold Reg. Eng. 26(1), 1–15 (2012)
16. P. Xie, J.J. Beaudoin, Electrically conductive concrete and its application in deicing. ACI
Spec. Publ. 154, 399–418 (1995)
17. M. Sun, X. Mu, X. Wang, Z. Hou, Z. Li, Experimental studies on the indoor electrical floor
heating system with carbon black mortar slabs. Energy Build. 40(6), 1094–1100 (2008)
18. J. Wu, J. Liu, F. Yang, Three-phase composite conductive concrete for pavement deicing.
19. S. Wu, P. Pan, M. Chen, Y. Zhang, Analysis of characteristics of electrically conductive
asphalt concrete prepared by multiplex conductive materials. J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 25(7), 871–
879 (2013)
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Chapter 15
Light-Transmitting Concrete
Abstract Light-transmitting concrete has the capability of letting light pass

through it. It is produced by incorporating optical elements (e.g., optical fibers) into
conventional concrete. The mechanical properties and durability of
light-transmitting concrete are slightly different from that of conventional concrete
because the optical fibers only account for small volume of the concrete.
Light-transmitting concrete allows using sunlight as a light source to reduce the
power consumption of illumination. It also can be used in cold regions to transmit
heat with sunlight or act as a decorative material. Light-transmitting concrete can
therefore play an important role in both construction and environment fields.
Keywords Concrete Light-transmitting Optical fiber
15.1 Introduction
Energy saving and nice view are two main pursuing performances for infrastruc-
tures. With the economic growth and science-technology development, more and
more large-scale infrastructures, such as tall buildings, underground buildings, and
landmark buildings, are built around the world. The brightness of indoor envi-
ronment is entirely maintained by artificial lighting, which has consumed a large
number of resources. To reduce the consumption of energy by the existing and
upcoming buildings in future, the development of a new construction material
which will consume less amount of energy has attracted the attention of many
researchers. Light-transmitting concrete is one such material, which has the ability
of letting light pass through it.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to light-transmitting con-
crete with attentions to its definition, classification, principles, manufacture, prop-
erties, current progress, and applications.

274 15 Light-Transmitting Concrete
15.2 Definition and Classification of Light-Transmitting

Concrete
Concrete has light-transmitting properties (as shown in Fig. 15.1) due to embedding
optical elements like optical fibers in it. Generally, the fibers run parallel to each
other, thus transmitting light between two surfaces of the concrete element in which
they are embedded. Thickness of the optical fibers can be varied between 2 µm and
2 mm to suit the particular requirements of light transmission. Light-transmitting
concrete is produced by mixing 4–5% (by volume) optical fibers in fine materials
only, which does not contain coarse aggregates. This concrete has less weight
compared to original concrete, but it can have around 70 MPa of compressive
strength. In addition, existing researches have proved that the glass fibers do
not negatively affect the compressive strength of concrete. Therefore, the
light-transmitting concrete does not lose the strength parameter compared to regular
concrete at low content of fibers. Light-transmitting concrete is also known as
transparent concrete or translucent concrete. It can be produced as prefabricated
building blocks and panels. The optical fibers can transmit light up to 20 m, so the
concrete can be very thick while still making use of its light-transmitting capabil-
ities [1–3].
According to the used fiber types, the classification of light-transmitting concrete
is summarized in Table 15.1. The light-transmitting concrete can also be classified
into L-type and cubic type based on its configuration.
Fig. 15.1 Light-transmitting

concrete
15.3 Principles and Manufacture of Light-Transmitting Concrete 275
Table 15.1 Classification of light-transmitting concrete

Type Materials Advantages Disadvantages
Light-transmitting Fiber: Silica with small Transmit light Heavy weight
concrete with glass amounts of dopants effectively over large
fibers distances
Light-transmitting Fiber cladding: Silicone Flexible Only practical
concrete with plastic or teflon Inexpensive for short run
fibers
Easy to install
Fiber core: Poly(methyl Withstand greater
methacrylate) or stresses
polystyrene Lightweight
15.3 Principles and Manufacture of Light-Transmitting

Concrete
Some optical elements (e.g., optical fibers, glass rods, and translucent stone) have
been used to fabricate light-transmitting concrete. The optical fibers are the most
effective optical elements. An optical fiber is a flexible, thin, long transparent fiber
made of glass (silica) or plastic. Its function is acting as a waveguide or light pipe to
transmit light between the two ends of the fiber [2, 3, 7]. Typical optical fibers have
three parts: core, cladding, and coating [8]. When light traveling in an optically
dense medium hits a boundary at a steep angle (larger than the critical angle for the
boundary), the light is completely reflected. This is called total internal reflection.
This effect is used in optical fibers to confine light in the core. Light travels through
the fiber core, bouncing back and forth off the boundary between the core and
cladding. Because the light must strike the boundary with an angle greater than the
critical angle, only light that enters the fiber within a certain range of angles can
travel down the fiber without leaking out. The main reason for using optical fiber to
fabricate light-transmitting concrete is that it can transmit light even when an
incident angle greater is than 60°. Optical fibers transmit light so effectively that
there is virtually no loss of light conducted through the fibers. Therefore, light can
be conducted through light-transmitting concrete from one end to the other, which
leads to a certain light pattern on the other surface depending on the fiber
arrangement [2–10].
The manufacturing process of light-transmitting concrete is almost same as
regular concrete [11]. As shown in Fig. 15.2, the main procedure of making typical
light-transmitting concrete is as detailed bellow: (1) make molds; (2) roll some
polymer craft clay into a flat circle, and make it as level as possible, (3) cut out a
ring and press it into clay; (4) arrange the prepared fibers in the required pattern in
the formwork before casting of concrete; (5) pour the concrete carefully and slowly
in molds; (6) pull off the polymer clay and cut off the plastic ring once the concrete
is cured for 24 h; (7) allow the concrete to cure for 7–15 days; (8) cut off the extra
fibers after the demolded concrete dry out; and (9) use sand paper to polish [12, 13].
(a) Make the moud (b) Cut a bunch of optical fibers
(c) Place the fibers (d) Pour concrete
(e) Break the mold (f) Trim the fibers
(g) Polish (h) Final light-transmitting concrete
Fig. 15.2 Process of manufacturing light-transmitting concrete [7]
15.4 Current Progress of Light-Transmitting Concrete
Light-transmitting concrete has been first mentioned in a 1935 Canadian patent.

The rate of inventions and developments in this field has drastically increased since
the development of optical glass fibers and polymer-based optical fibers.
15.4 Current Progress of Light-Transmitting Concrete 277
Light-transmitting concrete with glass fibers was originally developed by a

Hungarian architect Aron Losonczi in 2001. The first light-transmitting concrete
block was successfully produced by introducing glass fiber into concrete in 2003
and named as LiTraCon. Since then, Sergio developed a light-transmitting concrete,
which can allow 80% light through, and its weight is only 30% of common con-
crete. Italian Pavilion in Shanghai Expo 2010 shows a kind of light-transmitting
concrete developed by mixing glass into concrete [11, 14, 15]. In addition, Litricon
company has already applied light-transmitting concrete into decorative fields. The
typical properties of light-transmitting concrete blocks fabricated by Litricon
company are summarized in Table 15.2. After then, several studies were conducted
subsequently.
Zhou et al. employed plastic optical fiber (POF) into concrete to develop a
light-transmitting concrete. They observed that the light-transmitting ratio becomes
higher with a higher proportion of POF and is stable at certain proportions of POF
in concrete. Volume proportion affects the compressive strength of the concrete
block for less than 10% when the proportion ratio of the POF is less than 5%. They
concluded that POF can be easily combined with concrete and can provide a steady
light-transmitting ratio [15]. He et al. [14] fabricated light-transmitting concrete
with different POF volume ratios of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6%. They observed that for the
halogen lamp, the transmittances of the six types of concrete are 0.29, 0.59, 0.98,
1.41, 1.83, and 2.36%, respectively (as shown in Fig. 15.3a). For the incandescent
lamp, the corresponding transmittances are 0.41, 0.82, 1.22, 1.72, 2.15, and 2.59%,
respectively (as shown in Fig. 15.3b).
Mainini et al. inserted poly(methyl methacrylate) in the fiber-reinforced concrete
panel to obtain the light-transmitting capability. They found that the measured
angular light transmittance values not only depend on the rectangular resin insertion
percentage, but also depend on their orientation (parallel or perpendicular to the
light incidence angle plane) [10, 17]. Momin et al. aimed at producing the
light-transmitting concretes with different percentages of glass rods and optical
fibers and compared them with the traditional concrete. The light transmittance
through the concrete can be obtained by measuring the current corresponding to the
Table 15.2 Typical Product Light-transmitting concrete

properties of transparent
concrete blocks fabricated by Form Prefabricated blocks
Litricon company [16] Ingredients 96% concrete, 4% optical fiber
Density 2100–2400 kg/m3
Block size 600 mm 300 mm
Thickness 25–500 mm
Color White, gray, or black
Fiber distribution Uniform or prearranged
Finish Polished
Compressive strength 50 N/mm2
Bending tensile strength 7 N/mm2

between transmittance and
POF volume ratio [14]
(a) Test results with halogen lamp
(b) Test results with incandescent lamp
light measured by a light-dependent resistor [10]. The light-dependent resistor is

soldered onto a printed circuit boards. By calculating the transmittance, the results
showed that light-transmitting concrete with glass fiber has a better
light-transmitting property. Sawant et al. [6] intended to achieve a balance between
compressive strength and percentage of optical fibers laid in cube. Trial cubes are
casted to check the reflection of light intensity through the concrete block with
different percentages of fibers and different surface areas (as shown in Fig. 15.4).
The intensity of light passing through the block is maximum at 13 P.M.. The proper
fiber ratio is between 4 and 5%, because the compressive strength of concrete with
5% of fibers is slightly lower than the target strength and that of concrete with 4% of
fibers is slightly higher than target strength.
Bhanuse et al. [18] conducted an experiment to determine optimum area of laid
fibers to transmit maximum intensity of light through the blocks without reducing
concrete strength considerably. They observed that the compressive strength of
lightweight light-transmitting concrete with different POF volume ratios of 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, and 6% at 28 days is 11.91, 10.93, 10.09, 9.54, 8.9, and 8.58 N/mm2,
respectively (as shown in the Fig. 15.5). The light-transmitting concrete has good
15.4 Current Progress of Light-Transmitting Concrete 279
(a) Average compressive strength (b) Reflection of light through 5 concrete

block at box face
(c) Reflection of light through different surface (d) Reflection of light through different surface
areas for concrete with 5% of optical fibers areas for concrete with 4% of optical fibers
Fig. 15.4 Reflection of light through different surface areas for concrete with 5% of optical fibers
light guiding property, and the optical fibers volume ratio to concrete is in pro-
portion to transmission capability. As the number of optical fibers increases, the
compressive strength decreases.
Momin et al. [10] compared light-transmitting concrete with traditional concrete.
They concluded that the compressive strength of light-transmitting concrete with
optical fibers ranges between 20 and 23 N/mm2. The compressive strength with
glass rods ranges between 24 and 26 N/mm2. These indicate that the concrete
satisfies the compressive strength requirement for M20 grade concrete.
Shanmugavadivu et al. [13] conducted experiment on workability, compressive
strength, and flexural strength of light-transmitting concrete. The test results proved
that the properties of concrete with optical fibers in all aspect are better than those of
normal M20 grade concrete.
Fig. 15.5 Comparison of compressive strength between conventional light-transmitting (i.e., light
translucent) concrete and lightweight light-transmitting concrete. Reprinted from Ref. [18], with
permission from the authors
Sangeetha et al. [20] developed the lightweight light-transmitting concrete for

decorative purpose by using lightweight materials such as Portland pozzolana
cement, natural sand, coir pith, water, admixture, and optical fibers. The main
advantages of such concrete include low density, low thermal conductivity, low
haulage and handling cost, and fast building rate in construction. Karthikeyan et al.
[21] carried out an experiment on a new type of light-transmitting concrete (named
LiTraMor-Light-transmitting mortar blocks) made of ordinary Portland cement, fine
aggregate, aggregate dust, and optical fibers. The use of aggregate dust decreases
the sand content in mortar and achieves strength gain of nearly 20–25% against
conventional mortar block.
15.5 Applications of Light-Transmitting Concrete
Light-transmitting concrete can be used as material for interior and exterior walls
(as shown in Fig. 15.6a). When a wall is constructed with the light-transmitting
concrete, fewer lights in house would be used during daylight hours. As a result, the
light-transmitting concrete can save energy by using natural light, thus reducing the
amount of heat produced from artificial lights [22]. Sawant et al. [9] obtain the
conclusion that the average value of light transmission through light-transmitting
concrete block is sufficient for daily activities such as general visits, normal office
work, and PC work. In addition, light-transmitting concrete has very good archi-
tectural properties for giving good aesthetical view to building (as shown in
Fig. 15.6b, c) [22–24]. Light-transmitting concrete also can be used as flooring, a
passable surface illuminated from below. During the day, it looks like typical
concrete pavement, but at sunset, the paving blocks begin to shine in different
15.5 Applications of Light-Transmitting Concrete 281
colors (as shown in Fig. 15.6d). There are also many applications in illuminating
underground buildings and structures for light-transmitting concrete, such as sub-
way stations. It could provide safety applications in the future such as speed bumps
that could be lit “from below to make them more visible at night,” or to light indoor
fire escapes in case of a power failure. The light-transmitting concrete is also a great
insulating material that protects against outdoor extreme temperatures while also
letting in daylight. This makes light-transmitting concrete an excellent compromise
for buildings in harsh climates, where it can shut out heat or cold without shutting
the building off from daylight.
Light-transmitting concrete has been successfully used in actual practices around
the world including the Al Aziz Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the Façade in Izmir, the
Media-Façade in Aachen, the Museum Cella Septichora in Hungary, the Hungarian
Embassy in Paris, and the Iberville Parish Veterans Memorial in Louisiana. The
main drawback of light-transmitting concrete is its high cost [11]. Initial cost of the
light-transmitting concrete is 12 times higher than that of conventional concrete. By
calculating the cost of light-transmitting concrete and energy saving, the payback
period is 3.5 years for domestic consumption and 2.1 years for commercial and
industrial consumption, respectively [9].
(a) Walls [16] (c) Downstairs
(b) Lucem's light-transmitting concrete technology (d) Road incorporated with light-transmitting
is used to light up the calligraphy at concrete. Reprinted from ref.[1], with
Abu Dhabi's Al Aziz Mosque permission form IJERA
Fig. 15.6 Application of light-transmitting concrete

15.6 Summary
Concrete can have light-transmitting properties due to embedding optical elements

like optical fibers in it. Optical fibers in the concrete act like the slits and carry the
light across throughout the concrete. Light-transmitting concrete combines the fluid
potential of concrete with glass ability to admit light, and it also retains privacy and
can be used as structural support. It is an excellent material with various applica-
tions in the construction, architecture, decoration, and even furniture fields. As can
be imagined, concrete with the characteristic of being translucent will permit a
better interaction between the construction and its environment, thereby creating
ambiences that are better and more naturally lit, at the same time significantly
reducing the laying expenses and maintenance of the infrastructures.
Light-transmitting concert uses sunlight as source of light instead of electrical
energy, and it can also be used in cold countries to transmit heat with sunlight.
Light-transmitting concrete to reduce the power consumption of illumination has
proven its potential in energy-saving filed. Meanwhile, it enhances appearance of
building and will be widely used in the future. However, many efforts are needed to
promote the development of light-transmitting concrete. The further study should
focus on reducing the cost of light-transmitting concrete and finding easy approach
to manufacture light-transmitting concrete. In addition, the amount of optical fibers
has obvious influence on the compressive strength of concrete. In order to guarantee
the compressive strength requirement, the transmission is unable to be endlessly
increased through increasing the number of optical fibers in concrete. Furthermore,
the optical fibers can reduce the anti-permeability of concrete, so specific treatments
(e.g., using epoxy resin to seal the boundary of optical fibers and concrete) should
be adopted to address this issue.
References
1. M.P. Bhushan, D. Johnson, M.A.B. Pasha, Optical fibers in the modeling of translucent
concrete blocks. Int. J. Eng. Res. Appl. 3(3), 13–17 (2013)
2. A.B. Kamdi, Transparent concrete as a green material for building. Int. J. Struct. Civil Eng.
Res. 2(3), 172–175 (2013)
3. B.K. Kashiyani, V. Raina, J. Pitroda, A study on transparent concrete: a novel architectural
material to explore construction sector. Int. J. En. Innovative Technol. 2(8), 83–87 (2013)
4. P. Bishetti, S.D. Ojanahalli, M.N. Sohail, A.B. Rajiva., V.H Shivanagouda. Experimental
study of translucent concrete on compressive strength. Int. J. Tech. Res. Appl. 4(4), 120–122
(2016)
5. M.B. Bureau. Light transmitting concrete panels-a new innovation in concrete technology.
The Masterbuilder. 98–102 (2013)
6. A.B. Sawant, R.V. Jugdar, S.G. Sawant, Light transmitting concrete by using optical fiber.
Int. J. Inventive Eng. Sci. 3(1), 23–28 (2014)
7. N.R. Nagdive, S.D. Bhole, To evaluate properties of translucent concrete/mortar & their
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10. A.A. Momin, R.B. Kadiranaikar, V.S. Jarirdar, A. Inamdar. Study on light transmittance of
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2(8), 83–86 (2013)
12. S. Ravivarman, S. Deepak Raj, K.P. Naveen, B. Babu, A. Parthiban. Experimental study on
light transmitting concrete (LiTraCon). Int. J. Res. App. Sci. Eng. Technol. 4(4):23–29 (2016)
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tal study on light transmitting concrete. Int. J. Res. Eng. Technol. 3(11), 160–163 (2014)
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in The 6th International Workshop on Advanced Smart Materials and Smart Structures
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building. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Invention. 5(3), 55–62 (2011)
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validation of an innovative transparent concrete panel for façades. Energy Procedia. 30, 1184–
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Chapter 16
Light-Emitting Concrete
Abstract Light-emitting concrete can trap solar energy during the daytime and
convert it into visible light in the night. According to the manufacture methods,
light-emitting concrete can be divided into three main categories: the luminous
component mixed, the microstructure modified, and the surface coated. The con-
crete emits soft light all the night without any electricity and contributes to energy
conservation and low-carbon eco-friendly environment. Light-emitting concrete
enjoys promising application prospect in building environment decoration,
roads/lanes lighting, and expressway signs/safety.
Keywords Concrete
Light-emitting
Mixing luminous component

Microstructure modification Surface coating
16.1 Introduction
In our impression, conventional concrete is an opaque material and concrete

structures are dull and gray, which does not allow light to pierce its interior and
reflects few. As a result, concrete buildings and roads are lighted up by lamps at
night for decoration and safety. Thus, more electricity is consumed and more
greenhouse gases are produced, with much pressure on our atmosphere and envi-
ronment. Moreover, the hard light from the buildings and roads may disturb and
exhaust the nearby wild creatures, with their eyes dazzled and their circadian clocks
shattered. To cope with the problems, scientists and engineers come up with new
ideas for the modification of concrete and developed light-emitting concrete.
Recent years, with the acceleration of the development of smart buildings and
highways, the outstanding performance of light-emitting concrete attracts much
attention and various types of the concrete has been developed, and some of which
has been put into engineering applications.
This chapter will give an overall introduction to light-emitting concrete
including its emitting mechanism and properties, current progress, and its
applications.

286 16 Light-Emitting Concrete
16.2 Definition and Classification of Light-Emitting

Concrete
There is no clear and unified definition about light-emitting concrete, because of

lacking enough studies and detailed information. In this chapter, as many research
results and some detailed information as possible are gathered and the definition of
light-emitting is developed. Light-emitting concrete is a type of smart and multi-
functional concrete that possesses the ability of trapping solar energy or artificial
light and emitting it as visible light in the darkness. Light-emitting concrete is also
called self-luminous concrete or glow-in-the-dark (GITD) concrete, which is
powered by the sun or other lamps without any electricity consumed. There are also
other types of concrete are called “light-emitting concrete,” but actually they are
powered by electricity or only pervious to light. This type of concrete is categorized
into light-transmitting concrete and introduced in Chap. 15.
There is also no systematic classification of light-emitting concrete available so
far. According to the manufacture methods, light-emitting concrete can be classified
as luminous composites adopted, microstructure modified, and surface coated.
According to the gelled material, light-emitting concrete includes cement-based,
asphalt-based, and polymer-based.
16.3 Mechanisms and Properties of Light-Emitting

Concrete
In order to make concrete absorb and convert solar energy, the common way is take
advantage of luminous materials, such as luminous aggregates and phosphor
powers. At present, there are three main feasible approaches to fabricate the con-
crete: mixing luminous aggregates or phosphor powers into concrete, modifying the
microstructure of the concrete, and covering the concrete surface with a luminous
coat.
16.3.1 Mixing Luminous Components into Concrete
In order to enable traditional concrete to emit light by itself, researchers adopt the
luminous materials and mix them into concrete as a component. Luminous
aggregates and powders are the best choices, and they are made from light-storing
and emitting material (also called fluorescent material or phosphor material).
Usually, normal aggregates are totally or partially replaced by translucent or
luminous ones, and a moderate amount of fluorescent powders are added into the
concrete mixture. Thus, the top layer of the concrete can absorb and store solar
energy or artificial light energy and emit light for a long time in the darkness.
16.3 Mechanisms and Properties of Light-Emitting Concrete 287
A company called Ambient Glow Technology (AGT) developed a new concrete

with glow-in-the-dark aggregates that absorb and store energy from both the sun
and artificial lighting [1]. Once the light source is no longer present, they begin
releasing their stored energy though visible light. They utilize a proprietary for-
mulation of powerful, patented photoluminescent pigments, so they will emit their
glow for 12 h or longer to provide a self-generating ambient light source. The
aggregates can be fully charged in 10 min when exposed to natural light. Direct
sunlight is not required and the aggregates can be fully energized in 15–20 min
using halogen, fluorescent, or incandescent light sources. The aggregates will
continue to glow for over 20 years, with a glow degradation of approximately 1 to
2% per year. After 20 years, they will be performing at 60% capacity. Three
optional colors are available: safety yellow, aqua blue, and sky blue. Figure 16.1
shows the concrete made with these luminescent aggregates [1].
The technology center of China West Construction Group co., LTD developed a
marble-imitated light-emitting concrete (as shown in Fig. 16.2) by adding inorganic
pigment and nonradioactive long-afterglow phosphor aggregates and polishing its
surface, which had the capability of storing energy and emitting visible light in the
darkness [2]. With various optional colors, this marble-imitating concrete not only
saves electricity energy and meets the requirements of low-carbon materials, but
also possesses high decorative quality, showing a style of nature and fashion
meanwhile. This concrete enjoys a broad application prospect in building
decoration/road lighting and has been used on practical engineering project in
Sichuan province of western China. More detailed information is unavailable on the
Internet related to the source material mixture ratio and manufacture process of this
new concrete.
Wang developed a new light-emitting concrete by mixing phosphor powders that
can emit light after excited by the sun ray [3]. By using the adoption of high-temperature
solid-state method, the original materials of CaCO3, Na2CO3, and Dy2O3 were
turned to a series of phosphor materials: CaCO3:xDy3+, yNa+ (x and y stood for the
corresponding mole ratio of content) When x = 0.02 and y = 0.15, the phosphor
(a) Under artificial light (b) Under the darkness
Fig. 16.1 AGT’s luminescent aggregate concrete

Fig. 16.2 Marble imitated light-emitting concrete
powder emitted the largest intensity of light. The peak frequency of the emission
spectrum of this phosphor material was 480 nm while the absorption spectrum was
mainly at the ultraviolet region, which was able to turn invisible sunray to visible light.
The research shows that the light-emitting duration of the excided concrete gets longer
when the phosphor powder content is increased, while the mechanical properties suffers
a degradation. By mixed with 8% of the phosphor powder, this concrete is considered to
be good at emitting light and recommended for engineering application without too
much strength reduction.
16.3.2 Modifying the Microstructure of Concrete
In hardened concrete, crystal flakes are main byproduct and unnecessary matter for
light emitting. When water is mixed with cement, crystal flakes are formed that
does not allow light to pierce its interior. In order to address this issue, researchers
paid much attention on modifying the microstructure of cement aiming to eliminate
the crystals and make it permeable to light. José Carlos Rubio, from Michoacan’s
University of San Nicolas of Hidalgo in Mexico, has created a light-emitting
cement recently as shown in Fig. 16.3 [5]. He focused on modifying the
microstructure of cement in order to eliminate the crystals to make it opaque, and
eventually developed a translucent gel without any fluorescent attributes added
enabling the absorption of solar energy that was returned to the environment as light
with a maximum duration of 12 h in the darkness. The light-emitting concrete is
either a blue or green color, and its intensity can be fine-tuned to suit the appli-
cation. It is not dependent on direct sunlight and can “recharge” sufficiently even
16.3 Mechanisms and Properties of Light-Emitting Concrete 289
(a) Glowing effect (b) The details
Fig. 16.3 Rubio’s light-emitting concrete
during overcast days. According to Rubio, the light-emitting concrete enjoys

durability as long as one hundred years and possesses strong resistance ability
against ultraviolet rays. Furthermore, it is ecological because the gel is made out of
sand, dust, or clay, and during manufacture, the only residue is water steam. Since
this new concrete has being patented, detailed information about the compositions
of raw materials and fabrication methods is unavailable on the Internet.
16.3.3 Covering the Concrete Surface with Luminous Coat
Compared to mixing the luminous materials into concrete, coating the concrete
surface with GITD sealant may be easier to be realized. Researchers in Purdue
University developed a soy-based luminescent sealant, a powder mixture of soy
methyl ester polystyrene (SME-PS, showed in Fig. 16.4) and strontium aluminate
that slowly luminesced after being excited by light [6]. The sealant covered the
surface of the common concrete and a type of new light-emitting concrete was
completed. The magnitude and duration of the luminance of the concrete surface
(a) SEM-PS (b) SEM-PS GITD (c) Glowing

SEM-PS-GITD
Fig. 16.4 Soy-based luminescent sealant [6]

were quantified to evaluate its performance. The luminescent sealant was excited in
a consistent manner with a xenon lighting system that simulated sunlight including
a photometer that measured the luminance of the excited concrete surface and a
housing unit that prevented extraneous light from the surroundings to influence the
test results (as shown in Fig. 16.5).
The results indicates that the luminescent surface emits light for approximately
24 h in the dark place after being exited and the larger particles of strontium
aluminate luminesce for a longer time against the smaller particles (as shown in
Figs. 16.6 and 16.7). The luminance of the concrete surface is largely independent
of the time that the xenon lighting system excites the luminescent powder. However,
the durability of the soy-based sealant needs to be improved to keep the sealant
adhered to the concrete surface when exposed to abrasion and water. Isothermal
calorimetry data proposes that a quick chemical reaction occurs when the powders
are admixed into the cementitious system and the glow time of the hardened system
is reduced compared to topical applications of the luminescent sealant.
(a) Over view of the experiment setup (b) Xenon light exciting sample with
1) Photometer 2) Xenon light 3) GITD sealant
flexoptometer 4) Data acquisition
computer
(c) Sample immediately emitting light (d) Photometer capturing luminance of

after xenon light turned off GITD sealant
Fig. 16.5 Procedure of the luminance test of the GITD sealant concrete [6]
16.4 Current Progress of Light-Emitting Concrete 291
(a) Depth of powder (b) Particle size
(c) Application of 290 SME-PS-GITD (d) Exposure time of xenon light

admixed vs fresh concrete vs hardened
concrete
Fig. 16.6 Luminance tables [6]
16.4 Current Progress of Light-Emitting Concrete
Although a variety of light-emitting concretes have been developed and put into use
in actual practice, the research about it is rather new and relatively rare. There are
few previous papers talking about it and only a little related information available
on the Internet. Light-emitting concrete just has a short history and Mexican sci-
entist Rubio is one of the earliest researchers. He started his research work ten years
ago and had developed and patented a type of light-emitting concrete [4]. Wang [3]
from Shenyang Jianzhu University developed a new light-emitting concrete by
mixing phosphor powders. She tested the luminous performance and gave out an
optimum mixing dosage of phosphor powders. Researchers in Purdue University
Fig. 16.7 Particle size

distribution obtained by
Beckman coulter particle size
analyzer [6]
developed a soy-based luminescent sealant coating concrete recently and tested the
luminous performance [6].
Recently, some companies are promising commercial application potential of
light-emitting concrete. For example, Ambient Glow Technology developed a new
light-emitting concrete with luminescent aggregates that utilized a proprietary
formulation of powerful, patented photoluminescent pigments [1]. Studio
Roosegaarde in Netherland developed a type of light-emitting concrete for its
designs of Van Gogh-Roosegaarde bicycle path and smart highway glowing lines
[7]. Pro-Teq Surfacing (UK) Ltd invented a starpath with light-emitting concrete by
mixing photoluminescent aggregates mix and resin binder [8].The technology
center of China West Construction Group co., LTD developed a marble-imitated
light-emitting concrete by adding inorganic pigment and nonradioactive phosphor
aggregates [2]. Most of these concretes have been marketed to commercial appli-
cations, and some of them have been patented.
In 2010, a utility patent application was approved by the World Intellectual
Property Organization [9]. The patent’s claims include method for making a pro-
duct from concrete, which comprises the introduction of small light-emitting glass
pieces into the concrete product or their application to the surface of the concrete
product, where the small glass pieces contain a light-emitting pigment, either by the
introduction of a coating into which small luminescent glass pieces have been
incorporated into the concrete or its application to the top layer of the concrete, with
the aid of a resin, an adhesive, or a plastic of the type that adheres to the concrete, or
by the insertion of the small light-emitting glass pieces into a mold by scattering
them on the bottom of the mold and then pouring concrete over them, or by the
application of the small glass pieces to the concrete in the form of a top layer, and
by making the small glass pieces visible on the surface of the concrete. And then,
the concrete is further processed, smoothed down, or otherwise treated, so that a
concrete product with a light-emitting surface is obtained with small glass pieces
comprising light-emitting pigments that can emit light in the dark.
16.5 Applications of Light-Emitting Concrete 293
16.5 Applications of Light-Emitting Concrete
Light-emitting concrete has excellent performance of long duration of light emitting

and long life span without consuming any electricity, which is considered as a
promising smart and sustainable low-carbon concrete. Due to the gentle light
emitted by the concrete and less light pollution generated, both human beings and
wild creatures are less disturbed at night and we are able to create a more livable
and eco-friendly environment. Unlike electricity powered lamps, light-emitting
concrete can glow in the darkness without complex support devices and does not
require frequent maintenance. As a result, the application of this concrete is mainly
in three aspects: building environment decoration, roads/lanes lighting, and high-
way signs/safety.
16.5.1 Building Environment Decoration
The lighting emitting concrete is able to trap energy from not only the sun but also
the lamps; therefore, it can be applied to building environmental decoration both
indoors and outdoors. With various colors available, this concrete offers soft light in
the darkness and elegant living environment for us, which reduces light pollution
and makes people feel better. Instead of consuming electricity, this concrete is
totally sustainable and low-carbon building material and conforms to the devel-
opment trend of green buildings. The concrete has been applied to dining rooms
(shown Fig. 16.8) [10], swimming pools (shown Fig. 16.9) [1], bathrooms (shown
Fig. 16.10) [1], etc.
Fig. 16.8 A dining room decorated by light-emitting concrete

(a) In the daytime (b) In the night
Fig. 16.9 AGT glow aggregates in a concrete pool deck and coping
(a) Bright (b) Moderate (c) Dark
Fig. 16.10 AGT glow aggregate concrete sink at various light levels
16.5.2 Road and Lane Lighting
Without adopting lamps, roads, and lanes that using light-emitting concrete can
light up themselves by soft light all the night. Without power supply and mainte-
nance, the self-luminance roads provide us a romantic and safe circumstance for
walking and cycling. At the same time, they bring few disturbances to the wild
creatures and give off less carbon emissions, which is environmental friendly and
sustainable. A few roads and lanes have been built. The Van Gogh-Roosegaarde
bicycle path was made of thousands glowing stones which charged at daytime and
emitted light at night (as shown in Fig. 16.11) [7]. Inspired by “Starry Night,” it
combined innovation with cultural heritage in Nuenen NL, the place where Van
Gogh lived in 1883 [7]. At the Christ’s Pieces park in Cambridge, a starpath as
shown in Fig. 16.12 has been trialed, which was invented by Pro-Teq Surfacing
(UK) Ltd. The starpath was a natural appearance pathway in the daytime while it
transformed into a captivating soft blue luminescent glow way at night [8].
16.5 Applications of Light-Emitting Concrete 295
(a) A close look (b) A aerial view
Fig. 16.11 Van Gogh-Roosegaarde bicycle path in Nuenen, the Netherlands
(a) A close view (b) Its soft blue light
Fig. 16.12 Glowing starpath at the Christ’s Pieces park in Cambridge
16.5.3 Highway Signs and Safety
The safety of highways is always a significant issue for drivers and the government.
Conventional highway sign lines only reflect the light of vehicles at night, and its
brightness and clearness are not enough to guarantee the safety of driving. The
introduction of light-emitting concrete not only offers bright and clear sign lines,
but also makes drivers relax and feel better, with fewer traffic accidents. Designer
Daan Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure have developed smart highway and
glowing lines which charges at daytime and glows at night upto 10 h [11]. The first
pilot of glowing lines has been realized at N329 in Oss, the Netherlands and will be
further launched international (as showed in Fig. 16.13) [11].
When driving into a tunnel of the highway, drivers are impacted by dramatic
change of light and suffer from black hole effect, which is more prone to traffic
accident. In order to eliminate this effect and improve safety, the self-emitting
concrete is introduced to tunnels whose concrete surfaces are covered by fluores-
cent coats. Without power support devices and maintenance, the tunnels give off
(a) A close view (b) Its details
Fig. 16.13 New growing lines at N329 in Oss, the Netherlands
(a) Tunnels in Anhui province (b) Tunnels in Huangshan
Fig. 16.14 Express way tunnels lighted by light-emitting coat in China
soft light for safe driving and less interruption of transportation. In China, this
technology has been used in expressway tunnels (as shown in Fig. 16.14) [12, 13].
16.6 Summary
Light-emitting concrete belongs to the category of smart and multifunction concrete

and captures much attention of scientists and companies recently. Over the past
decade, various light-emitting concrete has been developed and applied to actual
practice, with some of it has been patented and is unavailable to the public.
Light-emitting concrete is a perfect self-luminous material for lighting and deco-
rating, without any electricity and maintenance. It collects solar energy or artificial
energy in the light and gives off soft visible light in the darkness for a whole night,
which eliminates the installation of expensive electrical system and reduces the
consumption of electricity. As a result, less carbon dioxide is discharged into the
atmosphere and less light pollution is produced in our living environment. This
16.6 Summary 297
concrete has enormous application potential in building environment decoration,

roads/lanes lighting, and highway signs/safety.
The study of light-emitting concrete is rather rare and unsystematic, so more
detailed research work will be required. Mixing of fluorescent powders will
decrease the strength and durability of the concrete, and the fluorescent surface coat
is vulnerable to the damages of abrasion and water. The durability and abrasion
resistance need further investigations and more effective luminous aggregates and
additives with good mechanical enhancement properties should be developed.
Besides, new method for fabricating light-emitting concrete and more systematic
theory for improving its performance are eager to be developed.
References
1. http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/exposedaggregate/glow-in-the-dark.html
2. http://cwcg.cscec.com/art/2013/12/18/art_3500_119045.html
3. Q. Wang. Preparation and performance research of the luminescent concrete. Dissertation for
the Master Degree in Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, (2013)
4. http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/solar-light-cement-em5466/
5. http://jalopnik.com/a-mexican-scientist-says-he-figured-out-how-to-make-glo-1778638553
6. A. Wiese, T. Washington, B. Tao, W. Jason Weiss. Assessing the performance of glow-in–
the-dark concrete. Transp Res. Record J. Transp Res Board. (2508): 31–38 (2015)
7. https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smart-highway/photo/
8. http://www.pro-teqsurfacing.com/gallery/
9. De. Bruijn, G. W. Light emitting concrete comprising photoluminescent pigment containing
glass particles. WO 2010/134805 A1. (2010)
10. http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/innovation/mexican-scientist-creates-glo7w-da7rk-
ceme7nt/
11. https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smart-highway/photo/#van-gogh-path
12. http://www.gytst.com/gsyj_Cons.asp?id=1300
13. http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_70bff0360100vfd8.html
Chapter 17
Photocatalytic Concrete
Abstract Photocatalytic concrete has the capability to realize air depollution,

self-cleaning, and self-disinfecting. It is fabricated by adding photocatalyst into
conventional concrete, and the most appropriate photocatalyst to fabricate photo-
catalytic concrete is TiO2. The photocatalytic reaction can occur under the light
when energy is higher than the photocatalyst band gap. The formed highly oxidizing
hydroxyl radicals can react with contaminants and produce carbon dioxide, water, or
other harmless substances. The decomposed pollutants can be taken away by wind or
rain to achieve the function of air depollution and self-cleaning. The photocatalytic
concrete has great potential in the field of degradation of pollutants, deodorization,
sterilization, and energy conservation.
Keywords Concrete Photocatalysis TiO2 Air purification Self-cleaning

Self-disinfecting
17.1 Introduction
The rapid development of social productivity makes economic prosperity and

material life of human beings abundant tremendously. However, such boosting
productivity is at the cost of the damage of environment including the living space
suffering, the natural resource exhausted, and the ecological environment polluted.
As a result, the healthy life of human beings is challenged. Under the circumstances,
researchers turn to develop eco-friendly materials which can reduce the environment
burden. Nowadays, the concrete is becoming one of the most widely used materials,
which are closely related to our life. Thereby, it is of great significance to develop
and popularize the eco-friendly concrete. The use of photocatalytic concrete can
improve the living environment obviously, so the researches and applications of this
kind of concrete have broad prospects [1–3].
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to photocatalytic concrete,
with attentions to its properties, principles, current progress, and applications.

300 17 Photocatalytic Concrete
17.2 Definition and Principles of Photocatalytic Concrete
The photocatalytic concrete as one of the eco-friendly concrete can degrade the
harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), SO2, and volatile organic com-
pounds into HNO3, H2SO4, and H2CO3 which can be washed away by rainwater
easily. In addition, photocatalytic concrete also can be used for self-cleaning and
self-disinfecting. The photocatalytic concrete is fabricated by adding photocatalyst
into concrete by using different methods. At present, there are mainly three types of
methods of making photocatalytic concrete. The first method is adding photocat-
alyst into concrete directly during mixing process. The second method is using the
catalytic carrier in concrete. For example, adding aggregates covered by a layer of
photocatalyst thin film into the building blocks surface. The third method is
spraying the solution/paint of photocatalyst on the concrete surface. It should be
noted that porous concrete or pervious concrete is suitable matrix for spraying the
solution method. There are several common photocatalysts which are semicon-
ductor compound such as TiO2, ZnO, CdS, WO3, Fe2O3, SnO2, PbS, and ZnS.
Among these photocatalysts, the photocatalytic activity of WO3, Fe2O3, SnO2, PbS,
and ZnS is lower than that of TiO2, ZnO, and CdS. However, ZnO and CdS are not
steady under illumination and produce toxic icons Zn2+ and Cd2+, respectively, due
to anodic oxidation. Compared with the other photocatalysts, TiO2 has many
advantages as follows: (1) relatively inexpensive, safe, and chemically stable;
(2) high photocatalytic activity, and effective under weak solar irradiation; and
(3) compatible with concrete [4]. Therefore, TiO2 is the most used photocatalyst.
TiO2 exists generally in three crystal structures: brookite, rutile, and anatase.
Compared with other two forms, the anatase crystal is proved to be the highest
catalytic activity due to the spherical particles and large specific surface area [5]. As
a kind of semiconductor material, the band gap of TiO2 is 3.2 eV, which is
equivalent to the light with 387 nm wavelength. TiO2 can absorb energy which is
equal to or higher than its band gap. After absorbing energy, electron transition
occurs [6]. As shown in Fig. 17.1a, there is a band gap of energy (ΔE) between the
conduction band and an empty valence band (VB). Without enough photonic
excitation (i.e., hv < DE), the photocatalyst is at the ground state where the elec-
trons are confined in the range of empty valence band. However, once a photon
containing the energy equal to or larger than DE is absorbed by TiO2, the electrons
will overcome the band gap barrier and move to the conduction band area. The
activation and transition of the electrons lead to holes (electron vacancy) left in the
empty valence band zone (as shown in Fig. 17.1b). Then, electron–hole pairs, i.e.,
highly active electrons (e−) in the conduction band and positive holes (h+) in the
empty valence band, are generated [as shown in Eq. (17.1)].
There are three possible routes for the formed electron–hole pairs (as shown in
Fig. 17.2): (1) electron–hole pairs may recombine on the surface or within the
photocatalyst (recombination); (2) electrons spread onto the surface of photocata-
lyst and react with oxygen molecules (O2 ), which produces reactive oxygen radicals
(O, O2 , O3 ) (photoreduction); (3) holes oxidize water molecules (H2O) or
17.2 Definition and Principles of Photocatalytic Concrete 301
(a) Ground state (b) Excitation state
Fig. 17.1 Schematic diagram of photoexcitation process on TiO2 surface (CB means conduction
band, and VB means empty valence band). Reprinted from Ref. [7], with permission from the
Centre National de la RechercheScientifique (CNRS) and The Royal Society of Chemistry
adsorb hydroxide ions (OH−) and then form highly oxidizing hydroxyl radicals
( OH) (photooxidation). The generated O, O2 ,O3 , and OH can react with
contaminants. The reaction products are carbon dioxide, water, or other harmless
substances according to Eqs. 17.7–17.13 [8, 9]. Therefore, it has the function of air
depollution and self-cleaning [10–13].
(1) The production of hydroxyl radicals
TiO2 þ hv ! e þ h þ ð17:1Þ
e þ h þ ! TiO2 ð17:2Þ
e þ O2 ! O
2 ð17:3Þ
O
2 þH
þ
! HO2 ð17:4Þ
h þ þ H2 O ! OH þ H þ ð17:5Þ
h þ þ O
2 ! 2O ð17:6Þ
(2) The purification of NOx
NO þ O2 ! NO2 ð17:7Þ
Fig. 17.2 Schematic diagram

of TiO2 photocatalysis.
Reprinted from Ref. [7], with
permission from the Centre
National de la
RechercheScientifique
(CNRS) and The Royal
Society of Chemistry
NO þ NH2 ! N2 þ H2 O ð17:8Þ
NO2 þ OH ! HNO3 ð17:9Þ
(3) The purification of SO2
SO2 þ OH ! HSO3 ð17:10Þ
HSO3 þ O2 ! SO3 ð17:11Þ
SO3 þ H2 O ! H2 SO4 ð17:12Þ
HSO3 þ OH ! H2 SO4 ð17:13Þ
The light-induced superhydrophilicity of TiO2 was actually discovered by acci-

dent in 1995 at the laboratories of TOTO Inc. It is based on the principle of the
reconstruction of the surface hydroxyl groups under the ultraviolet (UV) irradiation
[14] (as shown in Fig. 17.3) [4]. The atomic binding energy of Ti and O is weakened
after generation of e and h þ pairs by UV irradiation. Therefore, a Ti–O–Ti bond
will be broken easily by water molecules and form two new Ti–OH bonds. Then, the
external surface of TiO2 becomes superhydrophilic and forms a sheet-like layer of
17.2 Definition and Principles of Photocatalytic Concrete 303
Fig. 17.3 Light-induced hydrophilic TiO2 surface. Reprinted from Ref. [4], Copyright 2009, with
moisture under water and UV irradiation. Thus, a transparent protector against dirt is
developed. In fact, TiO2 is not only hydrophilic but also oleophilic under UV irra-
diation. The surface may adsorb both polar and nonpolar liquids. When water is
rinsed over the superhydrophilic TiO2, adsorbed stains like oil can also be washed
away [15, 16]. In fact, both degradation of organic deposits and superhydrophilicity
structure contribute to the self-cleaning capability [4].
Self-disinfecting mechanism of illuminated TiO2 is still a debatable subject.
There are two major explanations. One explanation attributes the death of
microorganisms to the attack of chemical species. Another explanation thinks
biological structure destruction accounts for the inactivation of microorganisms.
17.3 Current Progress of Photocatalytic Concrete
Researchers have focused on the photoelectrochemical conversion of solar energy

since the 1960s. Fujishima and Honda performed a study on the
photolysis-decomposition of water at the surface of n-type semiconductor TiO2
electrode in 1972. This opened the prelude of heterogeneous photocatalysis
[17, 18]. The first photocatalytic concrete blocks containing TiO2 started in 1997 in
Japan. After that many scholars carried out research on photocatalytic concrete.
A typical performance of NO removal by the photocatalytic paving blocks obtained
in the laboratory is shown in Fig. 17.4 [4]. Hunger et al. obtained a series of data
that photocatalytic concrete pavement bricks degrade NOx under UV. In addition,
they deduced the reaction model based on Langmuir–Hinshelwood dynamic model
in accordance with the data obtained [19, 20]. Poon and Cheung evaluated the
removal rate of NO by the paving blocks consisting of cement materials and TiO2.
The results indicated that an optimum mix design incorporating cement, sand,
recycled glass, and 10% TiO2 could achieve a NO removal rate of 4.01 mg/hm2
[21]. Demeestere et al. explored the possibility of TiO2 as a kind of photocatalyst
and tested the degradation organics performance of concrete pavement brick with
TiO2. The content of TiO2 is 12.1, 22.2, 45.4 and 46.4 mg/cm2, respectively. When
the content of TiO2 is 45.4 mg/cm2, the degradation efficiency of photocatalytic
concrete pavement brick can reach 78% at [toluene]in = 25 ppmv, T(time) = 114 s,
Fig. 17.4 Photocatalytic NOx removal results of photocatalytic paving block obtained in
laboratory. Reprinted from Ref. [4], Copyright 2009, with permission from Elsevier
and RH (relative humidity) = 1%. They pointed out that the degradation activities
will be decreased when relative humidity and gas inlet flow rate are high. Therefore,
the residence time of gas in the reaction vessel should be increased to enhance the
degradation activities of photocatalytic concrete pavement brick [22]. Beeldens
tested the change in the concentration of NO and NOx after the photocatalytic
concrete pavement bricks under the UV irradiate for 53 min. The results indicated a
small increase in NO2, but a significant decrease in NOx (NO + NO2) [23]. Guerrini
and Pecati reported that the photocatalytic concrete blocks were installed in the
street pavement to monitor environment by measuring NOx concentration. The
average NOx abatement of 45% in day time is attained from a two weeks successive
air-monitoring campaign [24].
Concrete with TiO2 also has the self-cleaning property. Cassar introduced a
suitable amount of TiO2 into white cement pastes to endow the structure with
photocatalytic function [25]. In order to verify the self-cleaning property, white
cement disks have been impregnated with a phenanthroquinone solution
(0.1 mg/cm2), yielding homogeneously yellow surfaces. After performing an
accelerated irradiation with a solar simulator (100 h of irradiation, corresponding to
1 year of sunlight), rapid restoration of the clean surface was obtained (as shown in
Fig. 17.5).
Two types of concrete products, a 10-mm-thick rendering (mixture of cement,
lime, sand, and nanosized TiO2) and a 1-mm-thick mineral paint (mixture of cement
and fillers, and nanosized TiO2), were covered by an organic dye rhodamine B. The
experimental results showed that the samples recovered about 65% of their initial
coloration in less than a day of exposure to artificial sunlight [26]. Chen et al.
fabricated concrete with TiO2 and tested its self-cleaning property. The color
variations (DE) of the rhodamine B on the specimens subjected to UV radiation
were used to monitor the self-cleaning effect [27]. As shown in Fig. 17.6,
approximately 70% color fading occurred in the first 2 h and the discoloration rate
17.3 Current Progress of Photocatalytic Concrete 305
Fig. 17.5 Time evolution of the reflectance(R) spectra of a TiO2-loaded white cement sample in
which phenanthroquinone was introduced, showing the restoration of a clean surface by sunlight
irradiation. (A) Original clean surface; (B) Surface after deposition of phenanthroquinone (dashed
curves); and (C) Surface after 8 h irradiation (dotted curved under Curve A). Reprinted from
Ref. [25], with permission from Materials Research Society 2004
Fig. 17.6 Color variation

under UV radiation.
of concrete with 5% TiO2 was much higher than that of concrete with 2% TiO2
during this period. The self-cleaning effect of concrete with TiO2 can also more
explicitly be observed from Fig. 17.7. Li et al. fabricated TiO2-electrolytic man-
ganese residue concrete by using the solgel dip-coating method and studied the
self-cleaning property [28]. They found the concrete calcined at 500 °C for 2 h and
coated 4 cycles exhibited the best methyl orange photodegradation efficiency of
94.2%. Furthermore, the self-cleaning property of concrete coated with TiO2 can be
regenerated by calcination at 500 °C for 2 h and used repeatedly. Guo et al.
investigated the self-cleaning property of concrete with different preparation
strategies, i.e., directly applying a TiO2 containing paint on the surface of
self-compacting architectural mortar, 5% P25-TiO2 intermixed concrete and
dip-coated self-compacting architectural mortar [29]. Among the three TiO2
application methods, the TiO2-containing paint-coated self-compacting architec-
tural mortar products possessed both a high self-cleaning ability and a robust
Fig. 17.7 Color variation of Rhodamine B coated on concrete (left with 5% TiO2; right with 0%
TiO2): a before test, b after 6 h irradiation of UV. Reprinted from Ref. [27], Copyright 2011, with
weathering resistance under both UV-A and visible light irradiations, while the 5%
TiO2 intermixed concrete displayed a much lower self-cleaning property and the
TiO2 suspension coated concrete had a weak weathering resistant ability. Therefore,
the TiO2-containing paint-coated method is more suitable to realize the
self-cleaning property of interior and exterior concrete.
In addition, photocatalytic concrete also can be used for disinfection and
inhibiting the attachment and growth of oedogonium. Ganji et al. prepared cement
with nano-TiO2 at levels of 0, 1, 5, and 10% [30]. They found that increasing
content of TiO2 in cement paste results in an enhanced inactivity of Escherichia coli
under UV irradiation while further increase from 5 to 10 wt% had only insignificant
improvement on this effect. Linkous et al. employed TiO2 in photocatalytic concrete
17.3 Current Progress of Photocatalytic Concrete 307
to inhibit the attachment and growth of oedogonium. They found that the photo-
catalytic concrete with a dispersion of 10 wt% TiO2 powder could achieve a 66%
reduction in the growth of algae [31].
17.4 Applications of Photocatalytic Concrete
As the laboratory researches are well-developed, the engineering tests of photo-

catalytic concrete have begun to carry out. The applications for photocatalytic
concrete in actual practice are mainly as the followings.
(1) As the pavement material of buildings. A block located in the center of
Bergamo (Italy) city was repaved using photocatalytic concrete paving blocks
with a total area of about 12,000 m2. An air-monitoring campaign was then
conducted for two weeks and showed an average decrease of NOx by 45% in
daily time from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. [31]. Blöß and Elfenthal conducted their
experiment in a cloudless summer with high UV-A irradiance feature. They
found the degradation efficiency of NO for photocatalytic concrete has a close
relationship with the intensity of the UV-A irradiance. The degradation effi-
ciency decreased as the UV-A irradiance decreased [32]. It just goes to show
that the photocatalytic concrete has the function to reduce the amount of NO in
the air even though the averaged UV-A irradiance is high.
Beeldens paved a 10.000 m2 parking lanes by photocatalytic concrete pavement
bricks in Antwerp (as shown in Fig. 17.8) [23, 33]. She tested the decrement of
NOx in different conditions such as different temperature, different humidity,
different ultraviolet light intensities, and different contact time. The results
showed that the decrement of NOx was bigger in the conditions of higher tem-
perature, lower humidity, higher ultraviolet light intensity, and longer contact
Fig. 17.8 Separate parking lanes at the Leien of Antwerp with photocatalytic pavement blocks [33]
time. After a year, the test results showed that the efficiency of air purification by
photocatalytic concrete pavement bricks could reach 20% [23, 33].
(2) As exterior wall materials of buildings. The photocatalytic concrete used as
exterior wall materials can decompose the harmful gas and bacteria on its
surface to achieve the sterilization and deodorization function. Hu et al. carried
out the sterilization experiments under UV illumination. They found that the
cell wall and the cell membrane were decomposed by reactive oxygen species,
which leads to the leakage of intracellular molecules and causes the cell death
[34]. In addition, the applications of TiO2 concrete can maintain the aesthetic
and luster of the building surface due to the whiter color of TiO2. For instance,
a white photocatalytic concrete involving TiO2 has been employed for the
construction of the Jubilee Church in Rome, Italy (completed in 2003). During
six years of monitoring, only a slight difference of lightness values between
internal and external walls was observed at the church (as shown in Fig. 17.9).
(3) As roof material of buildings. When the roof of a building is made by pho-
tocatalytic concrete, the roofs can be covered by a thin water layer due to the
superhydrophily of the photocatalytic concrete under light. The cyclic action
that rain water flows down along the wall and then evaporates cannot only
purify air but also reduce the temperature of the building. Thus, this kind of
roof can reduce the power consumption aimed to lower the temperature in hot
days. Furthermore, the wide use of this type of roof may also mitigate the
greenhouse effect [35].
Fig. 17.9 Dives in Misericordia, a church constructed of TiO2-containing self-cleaning cement, in

Rome (architect, Richard Meier; completed in 2003). Reprinted from Ref. [25], with permission
from Materials Research Society 2004
17.4 Applications of Photocatalytic Concrete 309
(4) As inner wall materials of buildings. It can degrade harmful gas such as
formaldehyde and benzene and make the indoor air quality better [36]. In
Guerville France, three walls, whose surface were added TiO2, were used to test
the ability of degrading the harmful gas pollutants. The test result showed that
the NOx gas concentrating in the walls with photocatalytic ability was lower
36.7–82.0% than that of the walls without photocatalytic ability [37]. In
addition, concrete in inner wall also can be used for disinfection in hospital or
food factories.
(5) As materials of oceaneering. The light-induced bactericidal activity of TiO2 can
also be used to control biological growth on concrete surfaces, which can
enhance the durability of oceaneering concrete.
17.5 Summary
Photocatalytic concrete is a type of environmental friendly material, by which air

pollution or pollution on the concrete surface can be diminished. It can catalyze
chemical reaction with the involvement of light illumination. The photocatalytic
function of concrete can be achieved by adding or coating any type of photocata-
lyst, such as TiO2, LiNbO3, and ZnO. Photocatalytic concrete can decompose
organic materials (soot, grime, and oil), biological materials (mold, algae, and
bacteria), and pollutants (volatile organic compounds and tobacco smoke), thus
presenting great potential to construct infrastructures with function such as degra-
dation of pollutants, deodorization, sterilization, energy conservation, self-cleaning,
and self-disinfecting.
Although the photocatalytic concrete has been transformed from laboratory stage
to initial commercial application, there are still some problems in practical applica-
tion stage. On the one hand, some pollutants and photocatalytic reaction products are
difficult to be washed away due to the surface of the concrete is rough. On the other
hand, the photocatalytic reaction occurs only on the surface of the photocatalytic
concrete. Therefore, the photocatalytic activity will decrease after it is exposed for a
period of time. To guarantee the photocatalytic effects, the only method is cleaning its
surface regularly. That is to say, photocatalytic concrete is suitable for wet and moist
areas rather than dry environment. For another aspect, the photocatalytic efficiency
will dedicate obviously due to the carbonization of concrete surface. Therefore, the
durability of photocatalytic concrete is still needed to be improved.
In addition, the photocatalytic reaction has to rely on ultraviolet ray seriously
while the UV ray takes only about 3–4% of sun light. The lack of UV ray restricts
the utilization of photocatalyst. Although the method which can realize photocat-
alytic activities under visible light is presented by some researchers, the efficiency
of photocatalytic reaction under visible light is still much lower than that under UV
ray. The key point of the research in this field is how to enhance the efficiency of
photocatalytic reaction under visible light. Much effort must be devoted to over-
come this obstacle.
References
1. M.M. Ballari, M. Hunger, G. Hüsken, H. Brouwers, NOX photocatalytic degradation

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Chapter 18
Electromagnetic Wave
Shielding/Absorbing Concrete
Abstract Electromagnetic (EM) wave (EMW) shielding/absorbing concrete refers

to the concrete with EMW defense capacity in a wide frequency region. The EMW
shielding can be achieved by incorporating electrically conductive fillers into
conventional concrete, and its mechanism is reflection. The EMW adsorbing can be
implemented by the addition of magnetic loss, dielectric loss, and resistive loss
fillers, and it results from energy conversion and dissipation of EM energy.
Development of EMW shielding/absorbing concrete has become urgent since such
issues as EM pollution, EM interference, information security, and military security
are becoming more and more pressing. The EMW shielding/absorbing concrete has
wide potential application in such fields as EM radiation protection of urban civilian
infrastructures, and stealth and defense of military installations.
Keywords Concrete Electromagnetic wave Shielding Absorbing Fillers
18.1 Introduction
With the development of high technology in modern society, electromagnetic

(EM) radiations are becoming more and more pervasive. It is reported that we are
exposed to 200,000,000 times more EM fields in our surroundings today than our
ancestors. The severity of EM interference and EM compatibility caused by EM
radiations is increasingly mounting and brings the following issues: (1) Damage the
electronic instruments and electronic equipments or degrade their performances and
affect operation of infrastructures. For example, mobile phone signals would
interfere with the operation of electronic diagnosis instrument in hospitals. Flights
are often delayed or canceled because of EM interference. (2) Pollute the envi-
ronment and bring harm to human’s health. Besides the traditional three social
effects of pollution, i.e., water pollution, air pollution, and noise pollution that
threaten human, the EM pollution becomes another problem today. The invisible,
silent, and ubiquitous “electro-smog” can damage brain cells and DNA, cause
cancer, and adversely affect central nervous, cardiovascular, and immune systems.

314 18 Electromagnetic Wave Shielding/Absorbing Concrete
(3) Threaten information safety and military security. Information carried by EM

wave (EWM) would be given away secrets if EMW is leaked. In addition, EM
weapon could directly target electronic equipment, power systems, and military
facilities, causing temporary or even permanent failure of information system and
damaging the human body function [1–4].
In view of the above, it is desired to develop effective EMW shielding/absorbing
materials to prevent the problem of EM interference and EM compatibility, improve
the security and reliability of electrical products and devices, protect EM weapon
strikes, and ensure the security and smooth operation of communication system,
network system, transportation system, and weaponry platform. Because infras-
tructures are the carrier of human activities, endowing them with intrinsically EMW
shielding/absorbing capability is the best choice to achieve the above goals, and the
emergence of EMW shielding/absorbing concrete provides material support to
develop such infrastructures [5–11].
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to two types of concrete
including EMW shielding concrete and EMW absorbing concrete, with attentions
to their principles, properties, current progress, and applications.
18.2 Electromagnetic Wave Shielding Concrete

Wave Shielding Concrete
EMW shielding concrete (also called EM shielding concrete, or EM interference

shielding concrete) is a type of composites to defend or shield EMW through
modifying conventional concrete or embedding metal components (e.g., steel bar
and metal mesh). In EMW shielding concrete structures, external EMW cannot
penetrate and the internal EMW cannot be easily leaked out. The primary mech-
anism of EMW shielding concrete is reflection to prevent the emissions of elec-
tronics. The reflection usually requires an interaction between mobile charge
carriers and EM fields. However, concrete is slightly electrically conductive in
nature, so there are no mobile charge mobile charge carriers inside conventional
concrete. Incorporating electrically conductive fillers or components is essential for
fabricating EMW shielding concrete. Consequently, EMW shielding concrete tends
to be electrically conductive, although it does not need a complete connection in the
conduction path [3, 12]. Meanwhile, the multiple reflections caused by interfaces
between fillers and matrix inside EMW shielding concrete are regarded as another
primary shielding mechanism. Generally, small fillers (e.g., nanoscale fillers) with
high surface areas are beneficial for enhancing shielding performance of concrete
due to the skin effect (i.e., the interaction of high-frequency radiation with only the
material surface).
18.2 Electromagnetic Wave Shielding Concrete 315
Fig. 18.1 Diagram of coaxial

planar-spectrum analyzer
method. Reprinted from Ref.
EMW shielding effectiveness (SE) is the index for characterizing EMW shielding
capability, and it is positively correlated to the electrical conductivity of EMW
shielding concrete. Commonly, EMW SE in the frequency range of 30 kHz–1.5 GHz
can be measured using coaxial planar-spectrum analyzer method (as shown in
Fig. 18.1) [13]. In addition, the attenuations upon reflection and transmission can be
measured using the coaxial cable method (i.e., the transmission line method) [14, 15].
18.2.2 Current Progress and Applications

of Electromagnetic Wave Shielding Concrete
Much work has been carried out to develop high-performance EMW shielding
concrete. According to the type of electrically conductive fillers used, EMW
shielding concrete can be classified into three different categories: EMW shielding
concrete with carbon fillers, EMW shielding concrete with metal fillers, and EMW
shielding concrete with hybrid fillers [7].
(1) EMW shielding concrete with carbon fillers
Generally, effective conductive fillers usually have the characteristics of small
size, high conductivity, and large aspect ratio, which are beneficial to refection, skin
effect, and formation of conductive path [3]. Carbon materials have good electrical
conductivity and compatibility with concrete. Therefore, carbon materials are
usually used as conductive fillers to make EMW shielding concrete. EMW
shielding concrete with carbon fillers has been reported since 1989 [5]. Frequently
used carbon fillers include carbon fiber, carbon filaments, carbon nanotube (CNT),
coke powder, graphite, and carbon black (CB).
Carbon fiber is the most used carbon filler for fabricating EMW shielding concrete.
As early as 1989, Chiou et al. developed EMW shielding concrete by adding short
carbon fibers. They found that the attenuation of EMW increased from 0.5 dB for
plain concrete to 10.2 dB for EMW shielding concrete at the frequency of 1.5 GHz
[16]. A group in Japan also developed conductive concrete with carbon fibers to obtain
EMW shielding capability in 1995 [17]. The fabricated concrete showed the SE
between 26 and 54 dB within the frequency range of 30 MHz–1 GHz.
Huang et al. studied the SE of CB-cement paste and found that CB can improve the SE
of matrix when the mass fraction of CB attained to 6% of percolation threshold. The
maximum SE reached 15 dB at the frequency of 1.5 GHz [1]. Muthusamy and Chung
fabricated EMW shielding concrete with short carbon fiber made from pitch or
polyacrylonitrile and silica fumes. The polyacrylonitrile-based fiber with diameter of
7 µm was effective for enhancing EMW shielding capability of cement paste, whose
shielding capability was superior to that of the previously studied cement paste
containing pitch-based fiber with diameter of 15 µm. In addition, adding sand into
cement paste leads to a slight decrease in SE [18]. Because carbon filaments have tiny
diameter, high aspect ratio (>1000), and good conductivity, Fu and Chung made
EMW shielding concrete with carbon filaments. Their work showed that the use of the
carbon filaments with 0.1 mm of diameter was much more effective than the use of
conventional carbon fibers with 10 mm of diameter for enhancing SE. When loading
of carbon filaments is 0.54 vol.% and shield thickness is 4 mm, a SE of 30 dB was
attained at l–2 GHz [19].
CNT is considered to be one of the most beneficial nanomodification materials.
The combination of high aspect ratio, small size, low density, and unique physical
and chemical properties makes it perfect candidates for fabricating EMW shielding
concrete. Nam et al. tested SE of concrete containing multiwalled CNT (MWCNT)
with varying weights. As shown in Fig. 18.2, the maximum SE was −3.27 dB at
the frequency of 0.94 GHz, when 0.6 wt% of MWCNT was added into concrete
[14]. Singh et al. [20] studied the EMW shielding performance of concrete con-
taining MWCNT. The SE of concrete with 15 wt% loading of MWCNT was more
than −27 dB in the frequency range of 8.2–12.4 GHz (as shown in Fig. 18.3).
Compared with carbon fibers, carbon filaments, and CNT with features of high
price and easy agglomeration, graphite is cheaper and easier to disperse in concrete.
Zhang et al. investigated the effect of volume percent of graphite on SE of EMW
shielding concrete at low frequency. The fabricated concrete showed a SE of 10–
40 dB in the frequency range of 200–1600 MHz when the graphite content was
increased to 18.0 vol.% [21]. Cao and Chung studied the EMW shielding properties
of concrete with colloid graphite and compared them with that of concrete with
Fig. 18.2 Variation of SE at

0.94 GHz of concrete with
MWCNT (C0.0: MWCNT
content is 0.0%, C0.3:
MWCNT content is 0.3%,
C0.6: MWCNT content is
0.6%, and C1.0: MWCNT
content is 1.0%). Reprinted
Elsevier
18.2 Electromagnetic Wave Shielding Concrete 317
Fig. 18.3 Dependence of SE

in frequency range 8.2–
12.4 GHz showing effect of
MWCNT concentration on
SE valve of concrete. OPC:
MWCNT content is 0%,
CCNT1: MWCNT content is
1%, CCNT2: MWCNT
content is 2%, CCNT3: 3%,
CCNT4: 4%, CCNT5: 5%,
and CCNT10: 10%,
CCNT15: 15%. Reprinted
Elsevier
carbon fibers and carbon filaments. At a similar volume fraction of filler and at the
frequency of 1 GHz, the SE was 22 dB for concrete with solid graphite, 15 dB for
concrete with 15 lm diameter carbon fibers, and 35 dB for concrete with 0.1 lm
diameter carbon filaments [2]. Coke powder was also used in EMW shielding
concrete because it is naturally facilitating to disperse, less brittle, electrically
conductive, and less expensive. Cao and Chung fabricated EMW shielding concrete
with coke powder [22]. Coke powder was more effective than carbon filaments with
0.1 lm diameter [19], but less effective than steel fibers with 8 lm diameter [13].
SE values of concrete with 0.51 and 1.02 vol.% of coke powder were 45 and 49 dB
at the frequency of 1.5 GHz, respectively [22].
(2) EMW shielding concrete with metal fillers
Metals, such as silver, copper, nickel, and steel, are attractive for EMV shielding
due to their superelectrical conductivity. The advantage and disadvantage of can-
didate metal fillers for EMW shielding concrete are summarized in Table 18.1.
Table 18.1 Advantage and disadvantage of candidate metal fillers for EMW shielding concrete
Types Advantage Disadvantage Widely used in
EMW
shielding concrete
Silver Highest conductivity Expensive No
among metal
Copper Good conductivity Easier to be oxidized; a little No
expensive
Nickel Stable and resistant Lower conductivity than silver No
to corrosion or copper; a little expensive
Steel Good conductivity; High density Yes
cheap
Up to now, the researches on EMW shielding concrete with metal fillers are
mainly focused on EMW shielding concrete with steel filler. Chung et al. studied
the EMW shielding properties of concrete containing steel fiber with diameter of
8 lm and length of 6 mm in 2004. They did amount of researches which mainly
include three aspects: (1) selecting the optimal amount of steel fiber; (2) finding out
the effect of presence of sand on SE; (3) investigating the effect of presence of steel
rebar on SE of composites. As shown in Table 18.2, the maximum SE of 70 dB at
the frequency of 1.5 GHz has been attained in cement paste containing 0.72 vol.%
steel fiber. The presence of sand essentially does not affect SE, and the fibers remain
effective in the presence of steel rebars [13].
(3) EMW shielding concrete with hybrid fillers
In order to take advantages of different fillers and realize synergistic modification
effect, some researchers tried to use hybrid fillers to develop EMW shielding concrete.
For example, Huang et al. studied SE of cement past with hybrid CB and carbon fiber.
The maximum SE of cement paste with hybrid fillers reached 27 dB, but the biggest
value of SE of cement paste with CB alone and carbon fiber alone at 1.5 GHz is 14 and
21 dB, respectively [1]. Singh et al. fabricated iron oxide infiltrated vertically aligned
multiwalled CNT (MWCNT forest) sandwiched with reduced graphene oxide sheets
network to develop high-performance EMW shielding concrete. Such sandwiched
network exhibited enhanced SE compared with conventional fillers. In Ku-band
(frequency range of 12.4–18 GHz), the SE value of concrete with the network was
more than 37 dB (>99.98% attenuation), which is greater than the recommended limit
(about 30 dB) for techno-commercial applications [23]. Zhang et al. used electrostatic
self-assembled CNT/nanoCB (CNT/NCB) filler to enhance EMW shielding capa-
bility of concrete. As shown in Fig. 18.4, the maximum SE of the developed concrete
was 1.09 dB at 2 GHz, which was 9.4 times that of concrete without filler. The SE of
concrete with 2.40 vol.% of filler was 5.0 dB at 18 GHz, which was 2.2 times that of
concrete without filler [24].
As mentioned above, the SE of EMW shielding concrete with different fillers is
summarized in Table 18.3.
In addition, concrete also can achieve EMW shielding function by setting steel
bar and wire-mesh reinforcement inside it.
EMW shielding concrete is mainly used to prevent EM signals leakage and
external EM interference. Due to its excellent SE, EM shielding concrete is grad-
ually applied to practical engineering. For example, precast blocks fabricated with
EMW shielding concrete containing carbon fibers have successfully been applied to
shielding enclosure structures of a nine-story building in Japan. Additionally, EMW
shielding concrete has also been employed in construction of the Pentagon in the
United States. More applications of the EMW shielding concrete can be found in
such structures as launching pad, base station, microwave station, EM compatibility
laboratory, buildings below high-voltage line, and military bunker. In addition,
EMW shielding concrete has potential application for lateral guidance of automatic
driving in highways due to its high radio wave reflectivity [25].
18.2
Table 18.2 Attenuation (dB) of radio wave (1.0 and 1.5 GHz) upon transmission and upon reflection.
Rebar Sand to cement ratio Fibers (vol.%) Specimen thickness (mm) Transmission Reflection
1.0 GHz 1.5 GHz 1.0 GHz 1.5 GHz
No 0 0 4.36 ± 0.40 4.06 ± 0.13 2.35 ± 0.09 5.51 ± 0.21 8.75 ± 0.30
No 0 0.09 4.45 ± 0.17 19.4 ± 2.6 19.2 ± 2.8 2.94 ± 0.31 2.95 ± 0.43
No 0 0.18 4.54 ± 0.32 27.7 ± 3.0 29.7 ± 3.6 2.78 ± 0.25 2.77 ± 0.29
No 0 0.27 4.47 ± 0.25 37.8 ± 4.6 43.3 ± 3.4 2.07 ± 0.17 2.30 ± 0.18
No 0 0.36 52.3 2.8 57.6 3.0 1.61 0.12 1.89 0.16
Electromagnetic Wave Shielding Concrete
4.39 ± 0.23 ± ± ± ±
No 0 0.72 4.47 ± 0.16 59.1 ± 3.3 69.8 ± 5.4 1.28 ± 0.08 1.66 ± 0.12
No 0 0.90 4.48 ± 0.20 58.0 ± 4.6 71.3 ± 5.8 1.20 ± 0.09 1.80 ± 0.14
No 1.0 0 4.39 ± 0.43 4.38 ± 0.52 1.75 ± 0.02 5.55 ± 0.17 10.43 ± 0.11
No 1.0 0.46 4.44 ± 0.38 56.8 ± 0.38 62.2 ± 0.40 1.15 ± 0.09 1.40 ± 0.10
Yes 1.0 0 9.04 ± 0.38 14.9 ± 3.1 8.66 ± 1.74 4.07 ± 0.23 5.73 ± 1.06
Yes 1.0 0.41 9.90 ± 0.48 60.8 ± 3.0 67.6 ± 5.5 1.23 ± 0.13 1.41 ± 0.07
Reprinted from [13], Copyright 2003, with permission from Elsevier
319
Fig. 18.4 SE of concrete with different contents of filler in the frequency of 2–18 GHz. Reprinted
Table 18.3 SE of EMW shielding concrete with different fillers

Rebar Sand Filler type Filler content Frequency Shielding Ref.
effectiveness
(dB)
No No Steel fibers 0.72 vol.% 1.5 GHz 70.0 [13]
Yes No 78.0
No No Carbon fibers 0.21 vol.% 1.5 GHz 10.2 [16]
No No Carbon fibers – 30 MHz– 26.0–54.0 [17]
1 GHz
No No Graphete 18.00 vol.% 200– 10.0–40.0 [21]
1600 MHz
No No Carbon 0.54 vol.% 1–2 GHz 30.0 [19]
filaments
No No Coke powder 0.51–1.52 vol.% 1.5 GHz 40.0 and 49.0 [22]
No No Colloidal 0.92 vol.% 1 GHz 22.0 [2]
graphite
No Yes Carbon fiber 0.90 vol.% 1.5 GHz 21.0 [1]
Hybrid carbon Carbon fiber 0.90 vol. 1.5 GHz 27.0
fiber and CB % + CB 9.0 vol.%
No Yes Short carbon 2.00 vol.% 1 GHz 32.6 [18]
No fiber 2.00 vol.% 1 GHz 34.0
Yes Yes MWCNT 0.60 wt% 0.94 GHz 3.2 [14]
Yes Yes CNT/NCB filler 2.40 vol.% 18 GHz 5.0 [24]
18.3 Electromagnetic Wave Absorbing Concrete 321
18.3 Electromagnetic Wave Absorbing Concrete

Wave Absorbing Concrete
EMW absorbing concrete (also called radar stealthy concrete) refers to the com-
posite which can absorb or attenuate incident EM energy by converting EM energy
into thermal or other energy [7]. EMW can be absorbed through magnetic loss,
dielectric loss, and resistive loss. The magnetic loss is caused by natural resonance
and eddy currents. The dielectric loss is produced by polarization, such as electronic
polarization, ionic polarization, molecular polarization, and interface polarization.
The resistive loss is implemented by macroscopic current induced by carrier. These
loss mechanisms can be achieved by adding different types of absorbing agents with
different EM parameters (e.g., magnetic permeability, dielectric constant, and
electrical conductivity) [3, 4]. Magnetic fillers (e.g., ferrite) and resistive fillers
(e.g., carbon materials and metals) are the most used absorbing agents for fabri-
cating EMW absorbing concrete [26]. Some researchers also tried to use fly ash and
expanded polystyrene as absorbing agents.
The absorption property of EMW absorbing concrete generally is represented by
reflectivity. The test system as shown in Fig. 18.5 is the most commonly used to
measure the reflectivity [6]. In addition, the reflectivity can be calculated by using
EM parameters tested with coaxial method including complex permittivity and
permeability.
Fig. 18.5 Diagram of test system for reflectivity. Reprinted from Ref. [6], Copyright 2010, with
18.3.2 Current Progress and Applications

of Electromagnetic Wave Absorbing Concrete
According to the type of absorbing agents incorporated, EMW absorbing concrete

can be classified into four types: EMW absorbing concrete with magnetic absorbing
agents, EMW absorbing concrete with resistive absorbing agents, EMW absorbing
concrete with hybrid magnetic and resistive absorbing agents, and EMW absorbing
concrete with other absorbing agents.
(1) EMW absorbing concrete with magnetic absorbing agents
The most commonly used magnetic absorbing filler is ferroelectric material.
Concrete with ferrite can convert the EMW energy into thermal energy by magnetic
loss and dielectric loss, thus featuring a wide absorbing frequency band. Xiong
et al. developed EMW absorbing concrete with Mn–Zn ferrite in 2007. This kind of
ferrite had a good stability in concrete matrix. Its content has remarkable effect on
absorption properties of composites. The reflectivity of cement-based composite
with ferrite of 35% (by mass) was less than −6 dB. The reflectivity of specimen
with coarse surface was less than −7 dB in the frequency range of 8–12.5 GHz.
Minimum value of reflectivity can reach −10.5 dB [27]. Zhang et al. fabricated
double-layer cement-based plates with EMW absorbing properties. They observed
that absorbing properties of cement-based composites with mixed ferrites were
better than those composites with single type ferrite. The maximum reflection loss
of double-layer cement-based plates with the addition of 30% (in mass) mixed
ferrite absorbing agents (the volume ratio of two types of ferrites is 1:1) reached
−16 dB in the frequency range from 8.3 to 11.5 GHz and −10 dB in the frequency
range from 12.3 to 18 GHz, respectively [28]. Cui et al. tested the reflectivity of
EMW of concrete with different contents of graphene in 1–18 GHz frequency band.
As shown in Fig. 18.6, the EMW reflectivity of concrete with 5% loading of
graphene reached the minimum value (−5 dB) in the vicinity of 8 GHz. The
absolute value of reflectivity increased by 38% compared with that of plain con-
crete. The excellent EMW absorbing property of concrete can be attributed to their
high dielectric loss angle tangent and resonance absorption [29].
(2) EMW absorbing concrete with resistive absorbing agents
The most used resistive absorbing agent for EMW absorption concrete is steel
fiber. Yang et al. investigated the EMW absorbing property of concrete containing
steel fiber with diameter of 0.7–1.0 mm and length of 2–8 cm with steel fiber in 2002.
Absorbing peak value of −9.8 dB in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz and −4 dB for
the frequency bandwidth of 15.28 GHz was achieved [30]. Gao et al. performed an
intensive research on absorbing property of steel fiber concrete. Absorbing property of
concrete in low- and high-frequency range was improved by adding steel fiber. Length
and volume fraction of steel fiber are two key factors for improving absorbing property
of concrete. Absorbing property of steel fiber concrete decreased with the increase of
temperature and humidity. Radar maximum detection range of steel fiber concrete
Fig. 18.6 Reflectivity of concrete filled with graphene. Reprinted from Ref. [29], Copyright 2016,
with optimum absorbing performance reduced to 84–89% compared with that of plain
concrete in frequency range of 2.6–4 GHz [31].
Due to rapid development of carbon materials in recent years, more researchers
turn their attention to the study of EMW absorbing concrete with carbon material
absorbing agents. Ou et al. investigated the absorbing property of carbon fiber
concrete in 2006. The maximum radar detection range of carbon fiber concrete with
an optimum mixture ratio was 80–90% of plain concrete in the frequency range of
14–18 GHz [32]. Dai et al. [6] tested EMW absorbing effectiveness of concrete
filled with CB. As shown in Fig. 18.7, the concrete with CB exhibited good EMW
absorbing performance in the frequency range of 8–26.5 GHz because CB can
improve the loss factor of concrete. The minimum reflectivity reached −20.30 dB
(a) In frequency range of 8-18 GHz (b) In frequency range of 18-26.5 GHz
Fig. 18.7 Absorbing performance of concrete with different concentrations of CB. Reprinted
Fig. 18.8 Reflectivity of

concrete with different
contents of CNT/NCB
composite filler in the
frequency of 2–18 GHz.
when the content of CB is 2.5 wt%. The frequency bandwidth in which the
reflectivity is less than −10 dB is from 14.9 to 26.5 GHz. Zhang et al. [24] used
electrostatic self-assembled CNT/NCB composite filler to enhance EMW absorbing
capability of concrete. As shown in Fig. 18.8, the fabricated composites exhibited
strong EMW absorbing performances in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz.
A minimum reflectivity of composite reached −23.08 dB, and a reflectivity less
than 10 dB in the frequency bandwidth ranged from 16.16 to 17.60 GHz when
filler content is only 0.77 vol.% [24].
Zhang and Sun investigated the EMW absorbing properties of concrete incor-
porating steel fiber and carbon fiber. They observed that the absorption properties of
concrete in the frequency range of 8–18 GHz can be improved through adding
these fibers. The concrete with 0.5% of carbon fiber possesses the best absorbing
property [32].
It should be noted that too much resistive fillers will do harm the transition of
incident EMW because of reflection, thus attenuating the absorption performance.
(3) EMW absorbing concrete with hybrid magnetic and resistive absorbing
agents
Some researchers intended to combine magnetic loss and resistive loss effects for
enhancing EMW absorbing properties of concrete by mixing ferrite with resistive
fillers as absorbing agents. One Japanese institute puts ferrite tiles and steel mesh
into fiber-reinforced concrete board to obtain enhanced EMW absorbing properties.
An absorbing effectiveness of 8 dB at the frequency of 2.45 GHz was achieved [7].
Ou et al. found the addition of hybrid carbon fiber and ferrite is beneficial to
absorbing property of concrete [33]. Wu et al. fabricated W-type BaCo2Fe16O27
hexaferrite and investigated EMW absorbing properties of concrete filled with this
kind of ferrite and short carbon fiber. The research results showed that the maxi-
mum absorption value of concrete filled with the ferrite (35% mass fraction) was
−8.7 dB at the frequency of 14.3 GHz, but it can reach −23.7 dB when concrete
was filled with ferrite (35% mass fraction) and carbon fiber (0.2% mass fraction)
[34]. Wu et al. also used hybird W-type Ba(Zn1-xCox)2Fe16O27 hexaferrite and short
SiC fibers to develop EMW absorbing concrete. They found that the performance of
Ba(Zn1-xCox)2Fe16O27 hexaferrite is the best at x = 0.8. The maximum reflectivity

of concrete filled with 35% (in mass) ferrite and 0.2% (in mass) short SiC fibers is
−13.5 dB in the frequency range of 12–18 GHz [35].
(4) EMW absorbing concrete with other absorbing agents
Guan used expanded polystyrene with EM transparency to enhance EMW
absorbing capability of concrete. The expanded polystyrene filler can effectively
improve reflection loss of concrete, and its size has obvious effect on EMW
reflection loss of concrete. When the volume concentration of expanded polystyrene
with size of 1 mm was 60%, the reflection loss was all higher than 8 dB in the
frequency range of 8–18 GHz and the bandwidth of 10 dB reached 6.2 GHz for
sample with thickness of 20 mm. In addition, this kind of concrete is easily handled
and has an advantage of relatively low bulk density [36]. Li et al. used fly ash as the
cement replacement to enhance the EMW absorption of cement-based composites.
Fly ash had the potentiality of wave attenuation due to its complex components
(over 8 wt% of unburned carbon, 7.1 wt% of Fe2O3, 1.2 wt% of MgO, and 1.3 wt
% of K2O) and porous structure. However, the pozzolanic activity and packing
effect of fly ash had a negative effect on the absorbing properties. In addition, the
absorbing properties of concrete can be enhanced greatly by adding hybrid
expanded polystyrene and fly ash. As 25% fly ash and 50% expanded polystyrene
were added into concrete, the bandwidth in which reflection loss is less than −8 dB
was enlarged to 10.95 GHz, and peak value of reflection loss reached −15.2 dB at
the frequency of 5.5 GHz [9].
EM radiation cannot be eliminated or weakened by EMW shielding concrete. In
addition, EMW shielding concrete can cause secondary reflection since the reflected
wave may interact with the incident wave. Therefore, EMW absorbing concrete
features more desirable property against EMW shielding concrete, thus having
wider application. EMW absorbing concrete can be utilized in the field of anti-EM
pollution and environmental protection buildings to purify EM environment and
reduce EM damage to human’s health. The EMW absorbing concrete employed in
building, bridge, and tower construction can prevent radar artifact. In addition,
improved communication quality can be achieved if EMW absorbing concrete is
used during the construction of communication base and parabolic antenna. For
airport, dock, beacon, TV station, and receiving station, the application of EMW
absorbing concrete is of great benefits to eliminate reflection interference effec-
tiveness. To build wave absorbing chamber with the EMW absorbing concrete not
only can eliminate interference and improve measurement accuracy, but also has
the protection function to operators. The EMW absorbing concrete also plays an
important role in the field of military stealth building, research department of EM
interference prevention, precision instrument factory, and national security
department [4, 7, 37].
18.4 Summary
EMW shielding concrete and EMW absorbing concrete are two types of EMW
defense composites with different mechanisms. Generally, the latter has more
desirable performance than the former. Different types of fillers are necessary for
obtaining the required shielding/absorbing performances. As a result, the EMW
shielding/absorbing concrete has such main drawbacks as depressed compressive
strength, complex processing, and high cost. Especially, the shielding/absorbing
bandwidth of concrete is limited by nature of shielding/absorbing fillers and
selectivity of shielding/absorbing fillers to EMW frequency.
With the increase in popularity of electronic devices, the development of radiation
sources in industrial production and resident life, and the upgrading of military
confrontation, the subsequent EM pollution, EM interference information stealing,
and military security are becoming more and more serious, so there is a growing
interest in studies and applications of EMW shielding/absorbing concrete. Although
significant achievements have been gained, existing EMW shielding/absorbing
concrete still needs to be further modified. It is urgent to develop EMW
shielding/absorbing concrete with the features of stable performances, high shielding
coefficient, strong absorbing effectiveness, large frequency band, and low cost. In
future, much research efforts on EMW shielding/absorbing concrete should be
devoted to look for high-performance shielding/absorbing agents, set up effective
design and fabrication methods for EMW shielding/absorbing concrete and struc-
tures, test long-term performance of EMW shielding/absorbing concrete and struc-
tures under environmental actions, and evaluate effectiveness of infrastructures made
of EMW shielding/absorbing concrete.
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Chapter 19
Radiation Shielding Concrete
Abstract Radiation shielding concrete is the composite made up of cement, water,

and heavy weight aggregates. It can shield such radiations as alpha rays, beta rays,
gamma rays, X-rays, and neutrons due to its high density and large content of crystal
water. Compared with other shielding materials, radiation shielding concrete is
cheaper, easier to mold into complex shapes, and suitable for neutron and proton
shielding. It can work as a biological shield for nuclear power plants, particle accel-
erators, research reactors, laboratory hot cells, and other different radiation sources.
Keywords Concrete Radiation Shielding Heavyweight aggregates
19.1 Introduction
The rapid development of society largely depends on consumption of oil energy

and coal resources, which are nonrenewable. As a result, energy problem becomes a
worldwide problem. As a clear and high-efficiency resource, nuclear energy has
received extensive attention from all over the world due to its naissance. In recent
decades, nuclear technology has been used not only in defense construction but also
in electric power, medical treatment, and scientific research. With bringing huge
social and economic benefit, nuclear energy also brings great threat to the health of
biology and environment. The security of nuclear energy is one of the main factors
which limit its development and application. The harm of radiation has been
gradually realized. Radiation can lead to people’s skin burn, fair loss, leucocyte
reduce, and even cancers. In addition, radiation also can induce mutation of
polygenes of plants and harm the crops. The harm of radiation has a very long
period of incubation which cannot be found in short time. Therefore, radiation
shielding is very important and has been researched largely. The radiation shielding
materials mainly include metallic material, ceramic material, and concrete. Concrete
is by far the most widely used radiation shielding material because it is cheaper,
easier to mold into complex shapes, and suitable for neutron and proton shielding
against other shielding materials [1].

330 19 Radiation Shielding Concrete
This chapter will give an overall introduction to radiation shield concrete

including its definition and classification. The current progress and applications of
radiation shielding concrete are also briefly summarized.
19.2 Definition and Classification of Radiation Shielding

Concrete
Radiation shielding concrete, also called atomic energy protection concrete or

heavyweight concrete (such concrete that normally utilizes magnetite aggregates
can have a density in the range of 3.2–4 t/m3, which is significantly higher than the
density of concretes made with normal aggregates), is the composite made up of
cement, water, and heavy weight aggregates. Owing its high density and large
content of crystal water, this concrete can shield such radiations as alpha rays, beta
rays, gamma rays, X-rays, and neutrons. Among these rays, alpha rays and beta rays
have low penetration ability. They can be absorbed easily by thinner shielding
materials. Therefore, the main purpose of radiation shielding concrete design is to
shield gamma rays and neutrons. Gamma rays and X-rays are electromagnetic
wave, which have strong penetration ability. They can be absorbed by heavy ele-
ments or concrete with high density. Therefore, heavy elements, i.e., high atomic
weight elements, are necessary in radiation shielding concrete. Neutrons are par-
ticles having no electric charge, high energy, and the property of great penetration.
According to the energy of neutrons, neutrons can be classified into fast neutrons,
moderate neutrons, and low neutrons. After crashing with heavy atoms, fast neu-
trons can slow down and even be shielded. As for moderate neutrons and low
neutrons, only light elements, such as hydrogen and boron, can absorb them.
Therefore, not only heavy elements but also light elements are needed in radiation
shielding concrete for neutrons [2]. According to the types of aggregates, radiation
shielding concrete can be classified as shown in Table 19.1.
Table 19.1 Categories of Criteria Categories

radiation shielding concrete
Types of aggregates Barite concrete
Magnetite concrete
Hematite concrete
Ilmenite concrete
Serpentine concrete
Limonite concrete
Goethite concrete
Lepidocrocite concrete
Ascharite concrete
Basalt concrete
Ilmenite–limonite concrete
19.3 Current Progress of Radiation Shielding Concrete 331
19.3 Current Progress of Radiation Shielding Concrete
19.3.1 Binding Materials
Binding materials used for preparing radiation shielding concrete mainly include
ordinary Portland cement, barium silicate cement, strontium silicate cement,
high-alumina cement, gypsum aluminate cement, high magnesia Portland cement,
boron containing cement, and boron and iron containing phosphate cement. Owing
higher density, barium silicate cement and strontium silicate cement are suitable for
making homogeneous and compact radiation shielding concrete with heavyweight
aggregates. It also should be noted that strontium silicate cement has poor radiation
shielding property compared with barium silica cement. The strength of boron
containing cement increases sharply in early age. Boron containing cement can
absorb thermal neutrons and reduce radiation capture and heat of shielding mate-
rials. In addition, high-alumina cement has higher early strength, high strength, high
temperature, and corrosion resistant. High-alumina cement, gypsum aluminate
cement, and high magnesia Portland cement, all can increase the content of crystal
water in radiation shielding concrete, which is a benefit for absorbing neutrons.
Phosphate cement containing boron and iron can shield not only neutrons but also
gamma rays.
The function, advantages, and disadvantages of binding materials in radiation
shielding concrete are listed in Table 19.2. In general, ordinary Portland cement and
high-alumina cement are the most widely used binding materials for making
radiation shielding concrete.
Active mineral admixtures, such as fly ash, silica fume, and slag, added into
radiation shielding concrete can increase viscidity, water-retaining property, and
segregation resistance. Yılmaz et al. [3] observed that the use of fly ash, silica fume,
and furnace blast slay leads only slight variation of radiation shielding. Sakr [4]
investigated the effect of silica fume or rice husk ash as a partial replacement for
cement on the shielding, physical, and mechanical properties of ilmenite concrete,
barite concrete, and gravel normal aggregate. He found that silica fume and rice
hush ash can increase mechanical properties and durability of concrete but have no
obvious effect on the attenuation coefficient (as shown in Fig. 19.1).
19.3.2 Aggregates
The volume of aggregate in concrete is 70–80% of total volume. Therefore, the

properties of aggregates have important effect on the properties of concrete. In
radiation shielding concrete, the aggregates are usually heavyweight aggregates or
aggregates with crystal water (as shown in Table 19.3) [5–9].
Existing researches have shown that the types and mount of aggregates are the
main factors affecting the radiation shielding property of concrete. Creutz and
Table 19.2 Binding materials used in radiation shielding concrete

Types Function Advantages Disadvantages
Ordinary Cheap Poor shielding
Portland cement property
Barium silicate Shield gamma rays High early strength, suitable for Expensive
cement and X-rays, slow making homogeneous and compact
down fast neutrons radiation shielding concrete with
heavy aggregates
Strontium Suitable for making homogeneous Expensive
silicate cement and compact radiation shielding
concrete with heavy aggregates
High-alumina Shield neurons Having crystal water; high High heat of
cement temperature and corrosion resistant hydration
Gypsum Having crystal water High heat of
aluminate hydration
cement
High magnesia Having crystal water High heat of
Portland cement hydration
Boron Heat stability Expensive
containing
cement
Boron and iron Shield neurons, High temperature and corrosion Poor water
containing X-rays, and gamma resistant resisting
phosphate rays property
cement
Downes [2] prepared radiation shielding concrete with magnetite and found that
concrete with magnetite has appreciably better shielding properties than ordinary
concrete. For low-energy gamma rays and neutrons, the half-thickness is about 7 cm
as compared to about 10 cm in ordinary concrete. Makarious et al. observed that
ilmenite concrete is more suitable for gamma rays attenuation compared with ordinary
and ilmenite–limonite concrete. Moreover, they also found that the slow neutrons
attenuation property of ilmenite concrete with a density of 4.6 g/cm3 is better than that
of both ordinary and ilmenite–limonite concrete [10]. In their further research, they
prepared ilmenite concrete (density = 3.5 g/cm3) which has higher shielding effi-
ciency for fast neutrons than that of ilmenite concrete (density = 4.6 g/cm3) [1]. Abdo
et al. [11] employed barite concrete (density = 3.49 g/cm3) as radiation shielding and
found that flux intensity of the slow neutrons, fast neutrons, and gamma rays decreases
with increase in the barite concrete thickness and more rapidly decreases in order of
slow neutrons than fast neutrons and then gamma rays. Akkurt et al. [12] investigated
the gamma ray shielding properties of barite concrete and normal concrete. They
observed that the type of aggregate is more important than the amount of aggregate.
The barite concrete is preferred materials against radiation. Mortazavi et al. [13]
studied the shielding property of galena concrete (density = 4.8 g/cm3). The mea-
sured half-value layer thickness of the galena concrete for cobalt-60 gamma rays
Fig. 19.1 Relation between attenuation coefficient (l) (cm−1) of Co60 and Cs137 of tested concrete
mixed with silica fume (i.e., SF) or rice husk ash (i.e., RHA). Reprinted from Ref. [4], with
permission from ASCE
Table 19.3 Composition, density, and performance of heavyweight aggregates [5–8]

Types of Chemical composition of principal Relative Performance
aggregates mineral density
Barite BaSO4 4.0–4.4 Shield gamma
Magnetite Fe3O4 4.6–5.2 rays
Hematite Fe2O3 4.6–5.2
Ilmenite FeTiO3 4.2–4.8
Serpentine Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 2.4–2.65 Shield neurons
Limonite Hydrous iron ores containing 8–12% 3.4–4.0
Goethite water
Lepidocrocite
Ascharite Mg2B2O5H2O 3.4–3.6
Basalt – 2.6–2.8 Shield X-rays
is 2.6 cm, which is less than the 6.0 cm of ordinary concrete. Moreover, the galena
concrete also showed a higher compressive strength compared with ordinary concrete.
Akkurt et al. made radiation shielding concrete with different content of barite and
Fig. 19.2 Calculated l for all concretes as a function of the concrete’s density and comparison
with measured data obtained at 0.66 (upper) and 1.25 meV (lower) (ordinary concrete are tagged
A2, A3, A4 and barite concretes are tagged B2, B3, B4; the w/c ratio decreases both from A2 to A4
and from B2 to B4). Reprinted from Ref. [14], Copyright 2004, with permission from Elsevier
studied its attenuation coefficients (l). The results showed that the l does not depend
on water/cement ratio and compressive strength but increases with the increase of the
concrete density (as shown in Fig. 19.2) [14]. Demir et al. [15] studied the radiation
attenuation coefficients of heavyweight and normal-weight concretes containing
colemanite and barite. The results showed that the linear attenuation coefficient (l/cm)
decreases with colemanite concentration and increases with barite concentration in
both type of the concretes. It was also revealed that the attenuation of the energy
gamma rays photons is governed primarily by the atomic number and density of the
concrete. Gencel et al. [16] investigated gamma rays and neutrons shielding charac-
teristics of concretes containing different hematite proportions. They found that
hematite inclusion in concrete has no effect on neutron absorption capability but
enhances the gamma rays attenuation capability and the mechanical strength.
19.3.3 Admixture
Apart from binding materials and aggregates, admixtures such as fibers, steel shots,
recycled glass derived from cathode ray tubes (CRT) funnel glass, carbon powder,
crystal water additive, and heavy metal sludge also have some effect on radiation
shielding properties of concrete.
Sharma et al. [17] fabricated fiber-reinforced concrete with steel fibers, lead
fibers, and a combination of the two (hybrid fibers), and investigated its mechanical
and radiation shielding properties. Steel fibers increase the mechanical properties
but do not show enhancement in radiation shielding properties compared with plain
concrete. Lead fibers do not enhance the mechanical properties while significantly
increase the radiation shielding properties compared with plain concrete or steel
fiber concrete. The results also clearly showed that concrete with both steel fibers
and lead fibers displays a remarkable increase both in radiation shielding and
mechanical properties. Maslehuddin et al. [18] studied the unit weight, compressive
strength, radiation shielding of concrete with electric arc furnace slag aggregates
(EAFSAs), and steel shots. The results indicated that maximum gamma ray
attenuation was measured in the concrete with 100% steel shots, but the minimum
gamma ray attenuation was found in the concrete with 35% steel shots and 65%
EAFSA. It should also be noted that concrete with 50% EAFSA and 50% steel
shots meets the weight and radiation requirements of radiation shielding concrete.
Ling et al. [19] prepared cement mortar with recycled glass derived from CRT
funnel glass and crushed ordinary beverage container glass at replacement levels
(0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% by volume) of sand, and explored the radiation shielding
and mechanical properties. Compressive strength of all the cement mortar decreased
with increasing content of glass, while the compressive strengths were all over
30 MPa. The density and shielding properties of mortar with ordinary crushed glass
were similar to the control mortar. However, mortar with CRT glass showed a
remarkable enhancement in radiation shielding property. In addition, mortar with
CRT glass can be used in diagnostic X-rays and CT-scanner rooms. Erdem et al.
[20] also found that concrete with metallurgical solid containing lead was preferred
for buildings as shielding materials against gamma rays radiation. Kharita et al. [21]
studied the workability, mechanical properties, and radiation shielding properties of
hematite concrete with carbon powder at replacement levels (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15%
by weight) of cement. The results showed the carbon powder in ratios up to 15 wt%
in hematite concrete has no significant effect on shielding properties for both
gamma rays and neutrons but enhances the workability and mechanical properties.
The recommended content of carbon powder for the hematite concrete is 6 wt%,
which shows little effect on shielding properties but the best workability and the
highest strength. In addition, crystal water additive can increase the content of
crystal water of hydration products of cement, enhance the shielding property for
neutrons, and improve the mechanical property of heavyweight concrete [22].
Huang [7] also put forward using heavy metal sludge to fabricated radiation
shielding concrete.
19.4 Applications of Radiation Shielding Concrete
Radiation shielding concrete is commonly used for biological shielding in nuclear

power plants, medical units, particle accelerators, research reactors, laboratory hot
cells, and other different radiation sources. For example, barite concrete is used
widely in Turkish nuclear reactors and hospitals where radioactive impermeability
is required [23]. Barytes concrete is also used in the radiation shielding for the
DIDO reactor at Harwell in Britain, for the production of isotopes, as well as, for
the PLUTO and BEPO (British Experimental Pile 0) research reactors at Harwell
[11, 24–27].
19.5 Summary
Radiation shielding concrete is a robust, effective, and economical material for the
infrastructures of radiation shielding. It has been used for many purposes and
particularly for large, permanent installations such as nuclear power plants, research
reactors, particle accelerators, and high-level radioactive research laboratories.
However, radiation shielding concrete also faces many challenges: (1) Radiation
shielding concrete is easy for segregation due to high density of aggregates.
Moreover, radiation shielding concrete usually has higher requirement on pile
foundation and bad effect on earthquake resistant due to high dead weight. (2) The
effect of binding materials, especially for activity mineral admixture, on shielding
properties is still needed to study further. (3) The long-term properties of radiation
shielding concrete after suffering various rays are also very important for safety and
necessary to be deeply investigated.
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shielding properties of some concrete materials. Ann. Nucl. Energy 38(10), 2204–2212 (2011)
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5. ASTM C637-14, Standard Specification for Aggregates for Radiation-Shielding Concrete,
ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, (2014)
6. P.K. Mehta, P. Monteiro, Concrete: Structure, Properties and Materials (McGraw-Hill,
New York, 2006)
7. X. L. Huang, Study on fabricating radiation shielding aggregate by heavy metal sludge and
the properties of the concrete. Dissertation for the Doctor Degree, Wuhan University of
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10. A.S. Makarious, M.A. El-Kolaly, I.I. Bashter, W.A. Kansouh, Radiation distribution through
ilmenite—limonite concrete and its application as a reactor biological shield. Int. J. Radiat.
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containing different aggregates. Cem. Concr. Compos. 28(2), 153–157 (2006)
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17. A. Sharma, G.R. Reddy, L. Varshney, H. Bharathkumar, K.K. Vaze, A.K. Ghosh,
H.S. Kushwaha, T.S. Krishnamoorthy, Experimental investigations on mechanical and
radiation shielding properties of hybrid lead-steel fiber reinforced concrete. Nucl. Eng. Des.
239(7), 1180–1185 (2009)
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concrete with electric arc furnace slag aggregates and steel shots. Ann. Nucl. Energy 53,
192–196 (2013)
19. T. Ling, C. Poon, W. Lam, T. Chan, K.K. Fung, Utilization of recycled cathode ray tubes
glass in cement mortar for X-ray radiation-shielding applications. J. Hazard. Mater. 199,
321–327 (2012)
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of hematite radiation shielding concrete. Prog. Nucl. Energy 51(2), 388–392 (2009)
22. P. Wang, F.C. Wang, Experimental study on the properties of radiation shield concrete.
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Chapter 20
Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete
Abstract Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is demonstrated by the capabil-

ity of a surface to repel water and is characterized by contact angle. The contact angle
of hydrophobic concrete is over 90°, while that of superhydrophobic concrete can
exceed 150°. Hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity of concrete can be achieved by
using hydrophobic/superhydrophobic coatings on hardened concrete or adding
hydrophobic/superhydrophobic admixtures into fresh concrete. The hydrophobic/
superhydrophobic concrete can be applied for water repelling, freezing–thawing
resistance and self-cleaning requirements, with the potential to enhance the durability
and sustainability of infrastructures.
Keywords Concrete Hydrophobic Superhydrophobic Contact angle
20.1 Introduction
Concrete is normally a hydrophilic material. When dry concrete contacts with

water, most of the water is absorbed by the pores due to the capillary forces. Ingress
of water is the main cause of all the major physical and chemical degradation
processes affecting concrete structures. For instance, freezing–thawing damage
occurs when water in saturated concrete freezes and ice thaws in loop due to
temperature fluctuations causing considerable stresses within the material. In order
to avoid the ingress of water and the corresponding deterioration such as freezing–
thawing damage water erosion and carbonization, the water resistance of concrete
should be improved. That is to say, the hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is a
correct choice for structures in water or humidity environment, which can effec-
tively improve the structure durability, reduce the occurrence of concrete erosion,
and decrease the life cycle cost of concrete infrastructures.
The water erosion happens because a network of pores and capillaries allows the
ingress of harmful substances to exist in concrete. The variations in ingredients
mixed to prepare concrete and the service environments play a decisive role in the
degree of water resistance and porosity of concrete. The hydrophobic treatment

340 20 Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete
methods of concrete include the decrease of water/cement ratio (w/c ratio), the use
of permeable formwork, the incorporation of water proof agent, and the surface
treatment [1, 2]. All of these methods are based on increasing the compactness,
decreasing the porosity, and improving the surface roughness of concrete.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to hydrophobic/
superhydrophobic concrete fabricated with different fabrication methods, with
attentions to its properties, test methods, current progress, and applications.
20.2 Definition and Preparation

of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete
Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is a kind of concrete, in whose surface

the water is repelled through the hydrophobic/superhydrophobic treatment.
The hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity can be characterized by contact angles
between the tangent line of droplets and solid surface. Figure 20.1 shows
the hydrophilic, hydrophobic, overdrophobic, and superdrophobic surfaces. For
a contact angel more than 90°, hydrophobic behavior is deemed to appear. When
the water contact angles exceed approximately 150°, the surface is superhy-
drophobic [3].
Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete can be obtained by increasing the
compactness of microstructure (usually through decreasing the water/binder ratio
and using of permeable formwork) and improving the roughness of surface and
chemical property. The surface treatment mainly includes three types [4]: (1) hy-
drophobic impregnation, (2) impregnation, and (3) coating (as shown in Fig. 20.2).
The hydrophobic impregnation means that the pore space of concrete surface is
lined with a thin layer of active ingredient making the surface water repellent.
Consequently, capillary absorption of liquid water is reduced while the water vapor
permeability is hardly influenced. Most frequently used water-repellent agents are
silane/siloxane based [5, 6]. The effectiveness of this treatment measures can be
attributed to the rough structure of concrete surface. Two analytical models are used
to explain the roughness effect on wetting properties of the surfaces, which are
proposed by Wenzel [7] and Cassie-Baxter [8]. According to the Wenzel model,
Fig. 20.1 The hydrophilic (0° h 90°), hydrophobic (90° < h), overhydrophobic (120°
h < 150°), and superhydrophobic (150° h 180°) surfaces, where h is the contact angle.
Reprinted with the permission from Ref. [3]. Copyright 2013 American Chemical society
20.2 Definition and Preparation of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete 341
Fig. 20.2 Schematic illustration of the three major types of surface treatment of concrete:
a hydrophobic impregnation, b impregnation, and c coating [4]
(a) Wenzel model (b) Cassie-Baxter model
Fig. 20.3 Schematics of water droplets on the rough surfaces. Reprinted with the permission from
Ref. [3]. Copyright 2013
wetting is homogeneous because water fills all pores and cavities at the surface (as
shown in Fig. 20.3a), and a rough solid surface enhances its hydrophobicity/
superhydrophobicity by increasing the surface area. According to the Cassie-Baxter
model, air can be trapped in cavities and the wetting is heterogeneous (as shown in
Fig. 20.3b). The formation of solid–water–air interface increases the water repel-
lency of the surface due to partial contact area of water droplet with air.
These surfaces mimic the lotus leaf surface, which is called lotus effect
(as shown in Fig. 20.4) [9]. It is found that the specified micro- and nanostructure
morphology formed by the combination of high surface roughness and low surface
energy is employed to achieve the hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity [10].
Therefore, the geometry and chemical constitution of concrete surface determines
the hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity together [11].
Impregnation partially or totally fills the pore space near the concrete surface to
reduce the permeability, which can also low the water vapor diffusion [12]. Coating
is characterized by a continuous layer on the surface sealing the pore space [4].
Therefore, the formation mechanism of hydrophobic concrete mainly includes
the following three aspects: (1) the formation of pore lining; (2) the formation of
thin coating surface; and (3) the function of pore blocking. Muhammad et al. [13]
divided the producing hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete methods into three
Fig. 20.4 a Typical digital photographs of superhydrophobic lotus leaf and water droplet on the
lotus leaf, b low-magnification SEM image of the surface structures on the lotus leaf,
c high-resolution SEM image of a single papilla consisting of ciliumlike nanostructures.
Reprinted from [9], with the permission of AIP Publishing
categories: external coating, integral mixing, and external membrane. External

coating is a kind of method applied on the surface of concrete substrates either by
dipping, brushing, and/or spraying to serve as coatings. It can be formed by
polymers, silanes, or siloxane-based additives. Mixture-incorporated additives are
applied during mixing. Integral mixing can offset the limitations of the agent
penetration and remain effective in resisting water ingress even with 7-mm abrasion
of the substrate surface [14]. Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete can be also
divided into three grades on the basis of morphology of the hydrophobic/
superhydrophobic additives, including macromaterials, micromaterials, and nano-
materials. The common used macroadditives mainly include silanes and siloxanes.
The water absorption of concrete can be reduced by 89 and 75% by silanes and
siloxanes, respectively [15]. Micromaterials are basically polymers as well as their
dispersions and emulsions. Here, the reduction of water absorption was noticed to
be up to 98.96% [16], and the maximum reduction of 94% in chloride ingress was
reported [17]. Nanomaterials used here are nano-SiO2, ZnO2, and nanoclay. The
water contact angles of concrete containing these three nanomaterials are 120°,
130°, and 142°, respectively [18, 19].
20.3 Test Methods of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic

Concrete
The performance of the hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity of concrete can be

assessed by standard test methods, such as Karsten-tube penetration test, contact
angle measurement, hydrophobic quality test, as well as more refined test methods,
such as infrared spectroscopy (IR), moisture sorption analysis, and scanning elec-
tron microscopy (SEM) coupled with elemental X-ray analysis. These test methods
may be categorized into direct and indirect methods (IR and energy-dispersive
X-ray analysis). They are commonly employed for the assessment of surface-treated
ordinary concrete. In case of high-performance concrete exhibiting a denser
20.3 Test Methods of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete 343
microstructure, indirect methods were found to reach their limits such as the size of
the measured quantity and testing time, whereas direct methods showed promising
performance [20].
20.4 Current Progress of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic

Concrete
The existing researches about hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete mainly

focus on the preparation technology and performance test of water repellency
[4, 21]. As previously described, the access methods of hydrophobic/
superhydrophobic concrete include coating, mixing, and forming external mem-
brane, and the characterization index mainly includes contact angle, water
absorption, and durability of concrete.
Silanes, siloxanes, or combination of both are the most widely used coating
materials. They penetrate into concrete pores in liquid form and react with concrete
to form a silicone resin covering the surfaces [14]. Flores-Vivian et al. [3] used
siloxane emulsions with and without particulates as non-VOC (i.e., volatile organic
compounds) coatings for concrete and depicted the hydrophobic chemical effects of
this concrete (as shown in Fig. 20.5). They fabricated hydrophobic emulsions to
apply on Portland cement mortar tiles in order to synthesize water-repellent con-
crete. The emulsion was enriched with the polymethyl-hydrogen siloxane oil
hydrophobic agent as well as metakaolin (MK) or silica fume to induce the
microroughness and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers to create hierarchical surfaces.
The maximal contact angle can reach up to 156° for the concrete with PVA fibers
treated with MK-based emulsion. The water contact angles and roll-off angles are
shown in Fig. 20.6 [3].
Fig. 20.5 Hydrophobic siloxane bonding to concrete with added particulate roughness. Reprinted
with the permission from Ref. [3]. Copyright 2013 American Chemical society
Fig. 20.6 The contact and roll-off angles of specimens with single (Mk)—and double
(DMk) coatings. Mk2-MK-0.5(5) the siloxane-based emulsion Mk2 with 0.5(5) wt% of MK;
Mk2-SF-5 the siloxane-based emulsion Mk2 with 5 wt% of silica fume. Reprinted with the
permission from Ref. [3]. Copyright 2013 American Chemical society
Through replicating polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold topography, an inte-

grated microtexture superhydrophobic concrete surface was firstly obtained by
Horgnies and Chen [22]. Meanwhile, the transfer of siloxane residues from the
molds can modify the hydration of the concrete surface. Figure 20.7 describes the
2D and 3D topographic profiles of ultrahigh-performance concrete (HPC) (UHPC)
demolding from PDMS molds. Figure 20.8 shows the interface between
hydrophobic PDMS mold and fresh UHPC mix, and the microstructure of the
hardened UHPC surfaces. For the siloxane-based coated UHPC/PDMS concrete,
the water contact angles reach up to 164°, demonstrating superhydrophobic prop-
erties. Boinovich et al. [23] studied the time evolution of water contact angles on
siloxane-based superhydrophobic concrete surfaces in the conditions of long-term
continuous contact with water. Figure 20.9 shows that the water contact angles
decrease and contact diameters increase with the time extension. Ramachandran
et al. [24] investigated the ability of concrete superhydrophobic surfaces to resist
wetting and repel impinging water droplets. The states of droplets (e.g., pin,
breakup on impact, and bounce off) are depended on the droplet velocity as well as
the surface topography.
Duan et al. [25, 26] produced hydrophobic geopolymer on basis of alkali acti-
vation of MK and hydrophobic modification. They coated hydrophobic modifica-
tion agent on the surface of geopolymer to build waterproof layer which mainly
consist of water, aluminum trichloride, and fatty acid. Figure 20.10 shows the static
water contact angles of geopolymer before and after surface hydrophobic modifi-
cation. Meanwhile, they successfully developed a waterproof, fast setting
geopolymer repair material which can be used for the road concrete repair or as
protection coatings for marine concrete.
Gong et al. [27] proved that coating organosilicon hydrophobic agent (OHA) on
vitrified microspheres (VM) surface or blending OHA with cement is efficient in
20.4 Current Progress of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete 345
(a) The 2D topographic profiles of UHPC/PDMS
(b) The 3D topographic profiles of UHPC/PDMS
Fig. 20.7 The 2D and 3D topographic profiles of UHPC/PDMS. Reprinted from Ref. [22],
reducing the water absorption, permeability, and wettability of thermal insulation

mortar. Meanwhile, blending OHA with cement is more favorable and recom-
mended. The contact angles of the original thermal insulation mortar, treated with
OHA on VM surface (h = 81°)-blended OHA with cement (h = 123°), increase
considerably with the modification methods. The surface morphology of VM,
hydrophobically treated VM, thermal insulation mortar, and hydrophobically
treated thermal insulation mortar is shown in Fig. 20.11. The waterproof film
Fig. 20.8 The interfaces

between PDMS mold and
UHPC fresh mix during the
molding time and
microstructures of the top
surfaces after demolding.
Fig. 20.9 The relationship

between time and contact
angles/contact diameters.
Reprinted with the permission
from Ref. [23]. Copyright
2010 American Chemical
Society
α=36 º α=132 º
Fig. 20.10 Contact angles of hydrophobic geopolymer before (a) and after (b) modification.
Fig. 20.11 SEM pictures of the thermal insulation mortar: a Untreated VM; b VM coating with
OHA; c Untreated thermal insulation mortar; d thermal insulation mortar containing modified VM;
e thermal insulation mortar blending OHA with cement. Reprinted from Ref. [27], Copyright
is found on the hydrophobically modified VM surface (as shown in Fig. 20.11b),

leading to the significant reduction of the water absorption. The hydrates in thermal
insulation mortar containing the cement material mixed with OHA have smooth
surface and densified structure (as shown in Fig. 20.11e), because the OHA can
consume the hydroxyls in the hydrates resulting in mature hydration of the cement
material, tighter lapping of its crystals, and compactness microstructure.
Weisheit et al. [28] developed a water repellent based on silane/siloxane
copolymer especially for HPC, which is not commercially available and an aqueous
solution containing 31 vol. % of active substance. The Karsten-tube penetration test
is carried on the untreated, treated, and weathered HPC concrete surface (as shown
in Fig. 20.12). The results show that the treated concrete has marginal lower values
than the concrete without any water repellency. In case of weathering, the protective
layer is damaged resulting in an increase of the water-penetration value. The
photographs of the surfaces show that the surfaces of the untreated and weathered
concrete indicate water intrusion, while the water repellency effect is clearly seen at
the surface of treated concrete. Meanwhile, the contact angle increases from 30° for
the untreated concrete surface to 93° for the treated concrete surface, while the
weathered sample surface shows a contact angle of 71° (as shown in Fig. 20.13).
Evgeniya [29] proposed a new method to improve the hydrophysical properties of
aerated concrete by the joint application of waterproofing additives and hydrophobic
traeger in the form of pellets made from bitumen and fly ash. Test results show that
the residual moisture is reduced by 30%, while the water absorption and the capillary
leak are reduced by 38–39% and 30–32%, respectively. Liu et al. [30] studied the
effect of silanes hydrophobic surface on the freezing–thawing durability of concrete
in the laboratory and field. Meanwhile, they referred to the hydrophobic mechanism
of silanes coating on concrete surface, which falls into the category of pore liners.
Capillary suction is an unsaturated transport process by means of capillary forces.
This is thermodynamically a spontaneous process when contact angle is small than
90°. In this case, there is a molecular attraction between the liquid and the concrete
substrate, accompanied by a capillary rise and a concave meniscus (as shown in
Fig. 20.14a). The silanes coating can easily penetrate capillary pores due to the small
Fig. 20.12 Results from Karsten-tube penetration test: a water-penetration value and b pho-
tographs showing the concrete surfaces after testing. Reprinted from Ref. [28], Copyright 2016,
Fig. 20.13 Contact angles and corresponding images of the water drop for a untreated, b treated,
and c weathered samples. Reprinted from Ref. [28], Copyright 2016, with permission from
Elsevier
(a) Untreated surface (b) Treated surface with a pore liner
Fig. 20.14 Illustration of silane pore line effect. Reprinted from Ref. [30], Copyright 2016, with
molecular size [31] and reduce capillary suction, because the silanes are able to
increase the contact angle above 90° by forming a water-repellent lining on the pore
walls (as shown in Fig. 20.14b) [32, 33].
Junaidi et al. [34] pointed out that the superhydrophobic coating of concrete can
be more easily formed by adding nanoparticles into the existing formulation to
generate the required roughness, compared to using lithography techniques, phase
inversion, templating process, surface etching, and solgel method [35, 36].
They proposed that the rice husk ash can be used as hydrophobic coating for
concrete. Of course, the raw rice husk ash is hydrophilic in nature due to its high
content of silica. However, the hydrophilic surface can be tuned into superhy-
drophobic (contact angle >150°) by lowering the surface free energy through
chemical modification [37] such as 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane
(HFDS), and stearic acid. The contact angle test results show that the concrete
surface coating with HFDS modified rice husk ahs is more hydrophobic than the
coating of stearic acid modified rice husk ash. Wong et al. [38] examined the
influence of a superhydrophobic powder derived from wastepaper sludge ash
(PSA) on a range of properties of pastes and concretes at water/cement ratio of 0.38
and cured for up to 28 days. Using 12% superhydrophobic PSA partially to replace
cement can decrease the water absorption by 83–84% and the sorptivity by 83–86%
compared to the control concrete prepared at the same water/cement ratio, curing
age, and conditioning regime. As a surface coating, the superhydrophobic PSA was
able to reduce both absorption and sorptivity by 85–99% depending on the adhesive
used. Meanwhile, the superhydrophobic PSA is very effective at reducing both the
amount and rate of capillary water absorption. Song et al. [39] used sodium
silicate-based concrete sealers to improve the water resistance of concrete struc-
tures. The sodium silicate-based concrete sealers can permeate into concrete and
react with portlandite in the cement matrix to yield calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H
gels). Therefore, the surface hardness of the concrete specimens is found to be
increased by approximately 11.9% relative to the untreated concrete specimens.
Figure 20.15 confirms that the micropores, microvoids, and microcracks in the
concrete structures are partially filled by the C-S-H gels and the compactness of
concrete is increased. Consequently, the impregnated concrete absorbs water drop
far more slowly compared to the untreated concrete.
(a) The reference concrete (b) The concrete treated with sealer
Fig. 20.15 SEM images of the untreated reference concrete and the concrete treated with the
modified sodium silicate-based concrete sealer. Reprinted from Ref. [39], Copyright 2015, with
The water-repellent admixtures (e.g., mineral oil, vegetable oil, paraffin waxes,
and calcium stearate) introduced into concrete can increase hydrophobicity/
superhydrophobicity of concrete [21, 40]. Hekal et al. proved that cement mortars
with polymethyl-hydrosiloxane (PMHS)-based admixtures have lower water
absorption. The PMHS-based admixtures react with cement matrix to release
hydrogen and create small (10–100 lm) and well-dispersed air voids [41, 42].
Sobolev and Batrakov [43] used siloxane-based emulsions containing 50% siloxane
and a polyvinyl alcohol emulsifying agent to improve concrete hydrophobic
property. Sobolev et al. also developed a new hybrid superhydrophobic engineered
cementitious composite (ECC) using polyvinyl alcohol fiber and modified based on
polyethyl/PMHS admixtures. To obtain an optimum performance, more than 70%
of the PMHS should be dispersed to the level of under 1 lm. The walls of air voids
are then coated by submicron or nanosized particles, and a hierarchical surface
roughness is produced to achieve superhydrophobic properties within the hardened
cement phase/paste [44]. The idea of mixing superhydrophobic admixture with
ECC to form an ultradurable-material superhydrophobic ECC was proposed by
Sobolev [44, 45]. The investigation demonstrated that the incorporation of super-
hydrophobic admixtures in ECC is beneficial for improving flexural toughness
without adverse influence on the compressive strength. This composition of
admixtures was proved to be the most ideal admixture since small and well-
dispersed air voids were created within the concrete. Muzenski et al. [46] proved
that concrete has lower permeability and absorption due to inner superhydrophobic
air voids.
Liu et al. [47] developed a new polymer-modified waterproof mortar using poly
(styrene-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [P(St-co-HEMA)] microsphere with a
core-shell structure as the modifier and with steel slag, iron tailings, and fly ash as
aggregates. In their research, the polymer probably has three effects [48]: (1) it
partially obstructed the fine pore network inside of hydrates; (2) it filled the large
pores; and (3) it formed membranes that encapsulated the cement grains and
aggregate. The above effect can be clearly observed by SEM images as shown in
Fig. 20.16. As shown in Fig. 20.16, the ordinary mortar has loose internal mor-
phology and is full of needle materials with large aperture, while the pores of
polymer-modified mortars are filled up by many membrane-like substances bonding
the aggregate together and crossing the pores like a bridge. Meanwhile, the P
(St-co-HEMA) particles with smaller size can permeate more effectively to the
capillary pores and microcracks distributed on the surface of the hydrates and
aggregate, compared to EVA.
Most existing strategies to produce hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete are
based on an additional surface treatment on the casting concrete surface [22, 25, 49]
or relied on integrating hydrophobic components into the bulk volume of the
concrete [2, 38]. Bulk modification based on the mineralized nanostructures
transform of cementitious materials is a promising and complementary strategy to
produce hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete. Meanwhile, using bio-inspired
approaches to control mineralization processes has lead to many new hybrid
materials with astonishing properties including hydrophobic/superhydrophobic
(a) Ordinary mortar (b) EVA modified mortar
(c) P(St-co-HEMA) modified mortar (d) P(St-co-HEMA) modified mortar

etched with HCl
Fig. 20.16 SEM images of composites. Reprinted from Ref. [47], Copyright 2014, with
concrete [50–53]. Grumbein [54] presented a mortar hybrid material through adding
a biological component, i.e., bacterial biofilm, to the inorganic mixture. The
addition of biofilm to mortar obtains a material with an increased roughness on the
microscale and nanoscale, and on both the outer and inner surface. The contact
angle of the hybrid mortar can reach to 90° or higher, while the untreated mortar
exhibits strongly hydrophilic behavior with a contact angle of 30° or lower. The
multiscale roughness of the bacterial biofilm modified mortar surface is shown in
Fig. 20.17. There is a high density of elongated, spike-like structures on the whole
hybrid mortar surface. The increased surface roughness for the hybrid mortar is
expressed by a slightly increased Sq value (describing the root-mean-squared
roughness) and a significantly increased Sdr value (describing the developed
interfacial area ratio) compared to untreated mortar (Fig. 20.17b, c).
20.5 Applications of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic Concrete 353
Fig. 20.17 Hybrid mortar exhibits increased micro- and nanoroughness: a SEM images; b Light
profilometry images are shown for unmodified (left) and hybrid mortar surfaces (right); c A
schematic of the topological changes responsible for the increased wetting resistance of hybrid
mortar. Reproduced from Ref. [54] by permission of John Wiley & Sons Ltd
20.5 Applications of Hydrophobic/Superhydrophobic

Concrete
Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete can be applied in where needs to repel

water, resist freezing, or clean itself. In particular, hydrophobic/superhydrophobic
concrete can be used for infrastructure applications such as pavements, roadways,
bridges, tunnels, and airline runways. Tunnel work is a major application of
hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete as repairs underground are difficult to do.
The hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is also a favorite choice for laying
foundations for buildings and sidewalks in places below the water table. Under
water use of hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is a major application in
marine facilities. In addition, the hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is often
used to hold water to create pools and ponds. NASA (i.e., National Aeronautics and
Space Administration of USA) used hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete to

build the swimming pool in order to train astronauts for walking on the moon.
Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is also used in applications that are
exposed to rain or rain puddling, such as green roofs and parking structures, as well
as plazas and other rooftops as well. For instance, the application of the
hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete on the covers of the multifamily buildings
in Province of Villa Clara, Cuba, has great performance, stopping the leaks in over
95% of the intervened buildings [55].
20.6 Summary
Owing unique water repelling, freezing–thawing resistance, and self-cleaning

properties, the hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete cannot only clean the sur-
face of concrete but also decrease the water absorption and permeability, thus
providing protection for infrastructures, such as pavements, roadways, bridges,
tunnels, airline runways, laying foundations for buildings, and swimming pools and
roofs. In addition, the durability of concrete can be optimized by the characteristic
of hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity which makes concrete valuable in the long
run of infrastructures for reducing the restore costs. Therefore, the application of
hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete in infrastructures prevents concrete from
stresses, cracks, spalling and corrosions, improving the durability and sustainability
of infrastructures. Furthermore, hydrophobic/superhydrophobic property of con-
crete can also play roles in reducing the accumulated snow or ice on the road in cold
regions.
Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic concrete is a promising material for extending
the service life of concrete and reducing the cost of repair. However, most of
hydrophobic/superhydrophobic admixtures mixed into concrete may decrease the
strength of concrete. Meanwhile, it remains necessary to further perfect the theory
of surface hydrophobicity/superhydrophobicity, improve the preparation procedure
and lower the cost. The wear-resisting property of hydrophobic/superhydrophobic
surface also needs to be modified. In addition, the hydrophobic/superhydrophobic
concrete will be expected to be more widely used in special environment, military
structures, and complex structures.
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Chapter 21
Permeable Concrete
Abstract Permeable concrete is the concrete containing interconnected voids

inside to allow air or water moving through it. The fundamental material charac-
teristic of permeable concrete is its open pore structure (primarily the connected
porosity and the larger pore sizes), which is caused by gap-graded coarse aggregates
and little to minimal amounts of fine aggregates. Water is easy to percolate through
paving matrix into the subsoil beneath when permeable concrete is utilized as
paving material. Permeable concrete is beneficial for conserving storm water and
recharging groundwater, thus can be used to absorb the noise of vehicles and adjust
the temperature and humidity of the Earth’s surface.
Keywords Concrete Permeable Coarse aggregates Binders Voids
21.1 Introduction
With the population growth and the continual urbanization, cities are being covered
with the impermeable concrete surface areas such as residential and commercial
buildings. Because of the lack of water and air permeability of the traditional
concrete pavements, the storm water is not filtered underground leading to rapidly
increase of the runoff. Therefore, the drainage system gets overloaded. In addition,
for the impermeable concrete surface, it is difficult for soil to exchange heat and
moisture with air. As a result, the temperature and humidity of the Earth’s surface
cannot be adjusted. This phenomenon commonly called urban heat islands has led
to thermal discomfort for urban dwellers, which has prompted the consumption of
additional electricity for cooling purposes and increased CO2 emissions. The
construction of conventional impermeable pavement systems has caused two major
shifts in the local environment: (1) changes in the hydrological aspects and
(2) variations in the surrounding thermal ambience. At the same time, the plash on
the road during a rainy day reduces the safety of drivers and passengers. In order to
decrease the effect of high-impact development, several researchers have focused
on implementation of sustainable materials and eco-friendly strategies that result

360 21 Permeable Concrete
in low-impact development. Many investigations have attempted to increase the

permeability of concrete by reducing or even eliminating the use of fine aggregates
in concrete to increase the number and size of pores in the concrete. Permeable
concrete has become a suitable candidate due to its structural, economical, and user
benefits.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to permeable concrete, with
attentions to its definition and principles, components, current progress, and
applications.
21.2 Definition and Principles of Permeable Concrete
Permeable concrete is an environmentally friendly composites consisting of cement

paste or asphalt and coarse aggregate, little or no fine aggregate, and water. In
permeable concrete, continuous porosity ranges from 15 to 35% and the presence of
interconnected large voids system allows the water flow easily through it. A model
for the structure of permeable concrete is shown in Fig. 21.1. The skeleton of
permeable concrete is formed by coarse aggregates, which are bound together by a
limited amount of cement paste or asphalt. Without the filling effect of fine
aggregate, plenty of open voids exist among coarse aggregates and the typical size
of voids ranges from 2 to 8 mm. There are many pores with diameters above 1 mm
inside the permeable concrete, so water can penetrate through the concrete quickly
[1, 2]. This special structure provides the concrete with an interconnected macro-
pore internal structure. The limited quantity or absence of fine aggregate in per-
meable concrete creates highly curvaceous voids that help to store storm water
within them and reduce runoff quantity in a scientific manner [3]. Permeability is
the most important performance characteristic of permeable concrete. As a porous
(a) (b)
Voids
Fig. 21.1 a model of permeable concrete; b schematic diagram of permeability

21.2 Definition and Principles of Permeable Concrete 361
Fig. 21.2 Porosity–

permeability relationships for
several permeable concretes.
material, its transport properties are also inherently dependent on the pore structure
features. Figure 21.2 shows a compilation relationship between porosity and per-
meability from a few reported studies [4–8].
21.3 Components of Permeable Concrete
The aggregate gradation for the permeable concrete typically consists of discon-
tinuous gradation/single-sized coarse aggregates. The cement or asphalt is used to
cover and bind aggregates together. The porosity of a typical permeable concrete
varies in the range of 15–25%. The water-to-cement ratios as a very important
variable are in the range of 0.28–0.40, which are lower compared to those used in
the conventional concrete mix. The main intention of the low water-to-cement
ratios is to provide sufficient cement coating for the aggregates [9, 10]. Further, the
aggregate-to-cement ratio has been varied in the range from 4:1 to as high as 6:1.
Typically, the volume of aggregates in permeable concrete is about 50–65%, while
that of conventional concrete is about 60–75% [3].
21.3.1 Coarse Aggregates
In order to maintain sufficient voids in the concrete, permeable concrete is usually

made up of coarse aggregates with varying sizes in the range of 19–9.5 mm [3].
However, the compressive strength of concrete shows an adverse tendency with the
increase of porosity [11–13]. In order to balance the conflict of permeability and
compressive strength, the porosity of concrete is usually designed as 15–25% based
Fig. 21.3 Relationship between strength, void ratio, and permeability for several trial mixes of
permeable concrete [14]
on the correlation between porosity and permeability, porosity and compressive

strength (as shown in Fig. 21.3) [14]. To improve the mechanical strength of
permeable concrete but still maintain its high porosity, the cement paste or asphalt
binder area should be increased. Smaller-sized aggregate is beneficial for increasing
the number of particles per unit volume of concrete. This can lead to the increases
of the specific surface of aggregate and the binding area, thus resulting in the
improved strength. As shown in Table 21.1, three different sizes of the aggregate
were used to fabricate the permeable concrete. It is obvious that the strength of
permeable concrete is relatively low due to its high porosity. When the mix pro-
portion and the apparent density of the concrete are approximately same, reducing
the aggregate size seems to increase the concrete strength. This may be attributed to
the fact that the smaller aggregate size may improve the strength of the interface
between the aggregate and cement paste or asphalt [13, 15]. In this case, several
studies have used coarse aggregates with the size of 2.36–9.5 mm to balance the
strength properties and water permeability. The compressive strength of concrete
locates in 2.8–28.0 MPa at 7 d and water permeability coefficient ranges from
0.2 to 5.4 mm/s [16].
Table 21.1 Properties of permeable concrete fabricated with aggregate in different sizes
Mixture Aggregate size W/C 28-day compressive Water penetration
number (mm) strength (MPa) coefficient (mm/s)
1 15–30 0.33 7.1 7.8
2 10–20 0.33 9.8 8.3
3 5–10 0.33 13.8 8.9
21.3 Components of Permeable Concrete 363
21.3.2 Binders
Permeable concrete has been normally produced using ordinary Portland cement
and asphalt. The main function of the binding material is to provide sufficient
coating around the aggregates to increase the strength and durability of the per-
meable concrete. Based on the structure model in Fig. 21.1, the load will be
transferred to the aggregates by cement paste when the concrete is subjected
to loading. Although the strength of aggregate is high enough, the cement paste in
the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) is relatively weak. Using asphalt as binding
material also leads this issue. Therefore, the permeable concrete always fails at the
binding material in ITZ. In other words, cement paste or asphalt is an important
factor in permeable concrete design. Researchers have tried to enhance the strength
of cement binder and asphalt. Except for applying high-strength cement and
reducing water/cement ratio, supplementary materials, organic intensifiers, and
other special chemical reinforcing agents are usually used. In recent years, many
researchers have tried to develop permeable concrete by adding supplementary
materials such as silica fume [3, 13, 15].
21.4 Current Progress of Permeable Concrete
The concept of permeable concrete has been put forward for nearly 60 years. Since
the 1980s, permeable concrete has been widely used in parking lots, squares,
pedestrian walkways, and other areas with light traffic. In fact, the research of
permeable concrete is mainly focused on the various properties of the pores in it.
One of the significant challenges in porous material characterization is obtaining
relevant features of the three-dimensional pore structure from two-dimensional
images. Geometrical-statistical methods (also called stereology) are generally
applied for this purpose [17]. Figure 21.4 shows representative planar images of
Fig. 21.4 Two-dimensional images of planar sections from pervious concretes proportioned with
a 2.36mm, b 4.75mm, and c 9.5mm maximum-size aggregates. Reprinted from Ref. [4], Copyright
sections of permeable concrete made using three sizes of coarse aggregate [4]. The
complexities of the pore space in permeable concretes are evident from these
images. Even though the porosities are similar, the pores sizes, distributions, and
likely connectivity are very different. In these planar images, there are fewer and
larger “pores” in the specimen made with larger coarse aggregate. Neithalath et al.
found that permeable concrete filled with a conducting electrolyte (such as sodium
chloride solution) can be approximated as a medium with a single electrically
conducting phase (solid phase has a much lower conductivity as compared with the
electrolyte-filled pore space). Therefore, the concrete permeability can be visibly
realized through the concrete conductivity. They proposed that it is instructive to
examine the relative influence of porosity, pore size, and pore connectivity on the
permeability of permeable concrete (as shown in Fig. 21.5). Based on the above
studies, they got conclusions that very high porosities (typically more than
25–30%) are generally undesirable from a viewpoint of mechanical properties.
It has also been shown in an earlier study that higher porosities are not necessarily
required to obtain higher connectivity factors. It is suggested that the connectivity
factors can increase by selection of suitable aggregate gradations to obtain desirable
transport properties [4]. The effective volumetric porosities (/V) of the permeable
concrete mixtures were determined by using a commonly adopted procedure where
the mass of water required to fill a permeable concrete enclosed in a latex sleeve
was measured [18, 19] and then converted to an equivalent volume. The perme-
ability expressed by Darcy’s relationship is valid in laminar flow regime [20]. This
test determines the permeability coefficient under a constant load and variable load.
The constant head permeability is measured with the levels of 255 mm and the
Fig. 21.5 Relative influence

of relevant pore structure
features uv (porosity or pore
connectivity) and d2crit (pore
diameter pore diameter) on
permeability. Reprinted from
21.4 Current Progress of Permeable Concrete 365
Fig. 21.6 Device for measuring the permeability coefficient of permeable concrete. Reprinted
falling head permeability is evaluated with an initial water level 255 mm and final
height 75 mm. The device for measuring permeability of permeable concrete is
shown in Fig. 21.6. Using the device in Fig. 21.6, Nguyen et al. observed that the
permeability of permeable concrete is 1.1 mm s−1 with variable head test and
0.8 mm s−1 with constant head test. The small permeability coefficients are con-
sistent with the small continuous porosity and the high compressive strength
[21–25]. They found that the variation of the permeability of permeable concrete is
inverse to the compressive strength but proportional to the porosity [1].
21.5 Applications of Permeable Concrete
The permeable concrete possesses many advantages such as flood protection and
drainage, noise reduction, and maintenance of the balance of urban soil ecological
environment; thus, it can be applied as follows: (1) Most cities of the developed
world rely on pipe network systems, which have frequently been developed in the
nineteenth century. Traditional systems capture storm runoff and subsequently
distribute it to nearby watercourses or sewer systems. Some of these systems have
become ineffective. Furthermore, they are usually very expensive. Through intro-
duction of the permeable concrete, the rainwater can quickly filter into ground.
Then, the groundwater resources can renew in time. Recently, a UK building

material company named Lafarge Tarmac has developed a new type of permeable
concrete with crushed granite as coarse aggregate. This concrete is permeable
enough to let average 600 L/(min m2) water through to the ground level (as shown
in Fig. 21.7) [26]. (2) The management of runoff in urban areas has taken a ‘green’
approach due to the emergence of sustainable drainage systems constructed of
permeable concrete, which can collect, store, treat, redistribute, and recycle water.
In countries such as Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, recycled water is used in the
development of ecosystems and landscapes. (3) As the permeable concrete pave-
ment is air permeable and water permeable, the soil underneath can be kept wet. It
improves the environment of road surface. (4) The permeable concrete pavement
can absorb the noise of vehicles, which creates quiet and comfortable environment.
In rainy days, the permeable concrete pavement has no plash on the surface and no
glisten at night. This improves the comfort and safety of drivers. (5) The permeable
concrete pavement has holes that can cumulate heat. Such pavement can adjust the
temperature and humidity of the Earth’s surface and decrease the phenomenon of
hot island in cities. (6) Through introduction of permeable concrete pavements, the
rainwater will be stored underneath on raining days and water vapor will be
released on sunny days. By using the property of the permeable concrete above, we
can transform cities to sponge eco-cities so as to enhance their capacity on flood
prevention, water resources replenishment, biodiversity development, and air
quality improvement [13, 27–29].
Fig. 21.7 Test of permeable concrete

21.6 Summary 367
21.6 Summary
Permeable concrete plays a key role in water purification and alleviating the drai-
nage burden of sewage system. The United States Environmental Protection
Agency has recognized the usage of permeable concrete as one of the best man-
agement practices in storm water conservation. In addition, the special porous
structure of permeable concrete generates excellent performance in anti-skid,
thermal insulation, and acoustic absorption, which makes permeable concrete
suitable for traffic system. However, the defects of poor mechanical strength and
freeze–thaw resistance need to be paid enough attention. Because of the limitation
of strength, the application of permeable concrete is still limited in heavy traffic
roads. Besides, the open voids of the permeable concrete structures prone to
clogging. Periodic cleaning or replace should be considered.
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pervious concretes, Dissertation for the Doctor Degree, Clarkson University, 2011
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Chapter 22
Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete
Abstract Non-dispersible underwater concrete refers to the concrete mixed with

the anti-washout admixture, which is a kind of water-soluble polymers with
long-chain structures and strong absorption capacity. It can be used to solve the
problems including placing and repairing of traditional concrete in underwater
construction. Owing to the advantages of self-leveling, self-compacting, and little
pollution to the environment water, the non-dispersible underwater concrete plays
an important role in underwater and underground construction.
Keywords Concrete Non-dispersible Underwater Water-soluble polymer
22.1 Introduction
Concrete is still one of the most important and largest demand building materials
for the construction of underwater engineering [1]. It has direct effect on the quality
of engineering. Conventional concrete and water must be kept apart during trans-
portation and placing in underwater engineering. When they inevitably come into
contact, rapid interface flow must be minimized. Otherwise cement may be washed
out to form a weak layer [2]. One of the typical placement methods for underwater
concrete is the tremie method, in which a pipe is used to place concrete below water
level. The lower end of the pipe is kept immersed in fresh concrete so that the rising
concrete from the bottom displaces the water without washing out the cement paste.
Because the concrete is required to flow over significant distances, it needs to keep
strengths as low as 20% of the equivalent concrete cast in air can occur to ensure
the satisfying flowability. However, some quality uncertainties inevitably exist in
the tremie method due to the uncontrolled internal flow velocities and changes in
the geometry of concrete and water interface. Therefore, development of non-
dispersible underwater concrete is necessary for underwater and underground
construction. This makes it possible to design a mixture to reduce the quality
uncertainties of concrete placing in the tremie method [1, 3].

370 22 Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete
This chapter will give an overall introduction to the non-dispersible underwater

concrete including its definition and classification, principles, properties, current
22.2 Definition and Classification of Non-Dispersible

Underwater Concrete
Non-dispersible underwater concrete, also named anti-washout underwater con-

crete, is the concrete mixed with anti-washout admixtures (AWAs). The AWAs
belong to a kind of water-soluble polymers with long-chain structures and strong
absorption capacity [1]. The non-dispersible underwater concrete can be classified
as conventional non-dispersible underwater concrete and high-performance
non-dispersible underwater concrete. Typical mixing proportion of the two types
of non-dispersible underwater concrete is summarized in Table 22.1.
Table 22.1 Mixing proportion of typical non-dispersible underwater concrete

Types of concrete Control Conventional High-performance
non-dispersible non-dispersible
underwater underwater
concrete concrete
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 1 Mix 2
Water to cement ratio 0.50 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.47
Cement (kg/m3) 390 450 450 346 278
Pfa (kg/m3) – – – 86 –
Ggbs (kg/m3) – – – – 278
Water(kg/m3) 195 194 194 186 258
Coarse aggregate (kg/m3) 971 971 971 1045 827
Sand(kg/m3) 794 794 794 764 706
AWAs (% mass of cement) 0 0.50 0.60 0.20 1.65
Superplasticizer 1.0 1.21 1.76 3.9 0.2
Slump (mm) 160 215 220 225 –
Flow (mm) 265 330 340 370 510
Washout %(Lunge test) 16.3 3.6 3.9 2.5 4.1
Washout %(Spray test) 52.2 13.9 24.4 – –
22.3 Principles of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete 371
22.3 Principles of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete
The non-dispersible underwater concrete is made by adding AWAs into traditional

concrete to increase concrete cohesion. The AWAs contain special thickening or
viscosity-modifying agents which are effective in improving viscosity of concrete.
The group of thickening agents comprises a number of high molecular weight,
water-soluble polymers which can modify the rheology of concrete. The
water-soluble polymers are dispersed in a molecule form and bond a part of water
by hydrogen bonds. As a result, the bond water is confined in the network structure
of the dispersed polymers and the mixing water becomes highly viscous. The highly
viscous water envelops cement and aggregate particles to prevent concrete from
dispersing [4–8]. Cellulose ethers (methyl, hydroxyethyl, and hydroxypropyl cel-
luloses), gum, and polyethylene oxides are commonly marketed AWAs. The
polyacrylamide-modified non-dispersible underwater concrete is highly cohesive. If
cellulose admixtures are added at the same time, it will produce self-levelling
concrete with little loss of cement from a pump delivery pipe through about 1 m of
water. Cellulose ethers can be used alone to produce underwater concrete but there
are difficulties in obtaining sufficient workability for the concrete to be self-leveled
and self-compacted. Apart from AWAs, a 10% silica fume cement replacement has
been successful in increasing cohesiveness and washout resistance in non-turbulent
conditions, but this would not be suitable for free-fall or turbulent underwater
conditions. In a word, the AWAs allow concrete to drop without water washout [2].
Usually, superplasticizer (preferably of the sulfonated melamine formaldehyde
type) and antifoam agents to minimize air entrainment are also added into
non-dispersible underwater concrete. Therefore, the non-dispersible underwater
concrete has good anti-dispersibility, self-leveling capability, and non-pollution
property. For non-dispersible underwater concrete, the AWAs are essential to
reduce the rate of segregation of material constituents and improve the homogeneity
and performance of the hardened product (as listed in Table 22.2) [2, 3].
22.4 Current Progress of Non-Dispersible

Underwater Concrete
The non-dispersible underwater concrete for construction was developed first in

Germany and marketed in 1977. It was further developed by Japanese in the 1980s and
has prevailed in concrete market today. Initially, the shortcomings of traditional con-
crete for underwater construction have been improved greatly due to the fact that this
concrete was developed by mixing the AWAs with higher performance air entraining
agents (AEAs). Table 22.3 shows the disadvantages of traditional concrete and the
non-dispersible underwater concrete by mixing AWAs with AEAs. In addition, a design
process (as shown in Fig. 22.1) and some mixing methods for the non-dispersible
underwater concrete for underwater construction are also provided [9].
Table 22.2 Properties and effects of admixtures

Admixtures Properties or effects
Microsilica 0.1–0.2 lm microspheres Compatible with cement
typically over 90% reactive silica Increase compressive and tensile strength
Increases rate of gain of strength
Reduce porosity
Increase rate of gain of strength
Increase resistance to abrasion/erosion effects
Increase cohesion
Nonionic cellulose ether derivative, up to Compatible with cement
500 cellulose ether units; equivalent molecular Retard hydration reaction
length 0.5 lm
Large increase in viscosity
Large increase in cohesion
Very good segregation resistance
Self-levelling
Self-compacting
Nonionic polyacrylamide Compatible with cement
Typical molecular mass 5 106 Retard hydration reaction
Approximately 70,000 units; Large increase in viscosity
Equivalent molecular length 10 lm
Large increase in cohesion
Excellent segregation = resistance
Flow resistance (20% surface gradient)
Table 22.3 Disadvantages of traditional concrete and non-dispersible underwater concrete

Traditional concrete Water/sand leakage
Poor strength
Non-uniformity
Non-dispersible underwater concrete Prolong initial setting
by mixing AWAs with AEAs Lower initial strength
Lower flow velocity
High price
In the subsequent years, extensive studies about raw materials and properties of
the non-dispersible underwater concrete were conducted. Moreover,
high-performance non-dispersible underwater concrete was developed to meet the
requirement of harsh engineering. Ito et al. modified the former study, and the
water-soluble agent was used to solve the problems of the long setting time and low
strength. They suggested that the concrete composition used in underwater should
contain about 0.1–4% WAWs (a water-soluble vinyl polymer containing vinyl units
with sulfonic groups) by weight of cement. The concrete composition is easy to mix
and can prevent separation of concrete composition constituents when it is laid
22.4 Current Progress of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete 373
Determination of the content of coarse aggregates
Determination of the content of fine aggregates
Determination of the content of mixing water and powder
Determination of the content of binding materials
Determination of the content of admixtures
Fig. 22.1 Design process of non-dispersible underwater concrete [9]
under water [10]. Kumar et al. studied the effect of the viscosity-enhancing
admixtures on the different properties of concrete for underwater concreting. The
experiment was carried out with different water to cement ratios in air and water,
respectively. They got the conclusions as follows: (1) the use of admixtures in a
cement-based system reduces the amount of free water available for the lubrication
of the paste and increases its yield value and viscosity; (2) the combined additions
of admixtures can result in some delay in setting time both in water and air, and the
strength of concrete cast in air is better than that of concrete cast in water; (3) for a
fixed water to cement ratio, slump increases with the admixture dosage (0.5–1.6%)
[3]. Heniegal et al. fabricated non-dispersible underwater concrete with AWAs [0.0,
0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5% by weight of cement with cement contents (400, 450, 500,
and 550 kg/m3)], silica fume, and high-range water-reducing agent (15 and 4% by
weight of cement). The properties of non-dispersible underwater concrete, such as
slump flow, washout resistance, and compressive strength, are investigated. They
found that that slump flow value decreases as AWAs dosage increases (as shown in
Fig. 22.2). The weight loss decreases with the increase of AWAs dosage (as shown
in Fig. 22.3), i.e., the washout resistance increases with increase of AWAs.
Figure 22.4 shows the strength of the air-placed and water-placed concrete with
different cement contents, at 28 days. It is shown in Fig. 22.4 that the compressive
strength of concrete casted in air decreases with increase of the amount of AWAs.
However, the compressive strength of concrete casted in water increases with
increase of the amount of AWAs [11].
Park et al. intended to fabricate non-dispersible underwater concrete with high
fluidity, targeting a design compressive strength of 35 MPa. The blast furnace slag
powder was adopted here, which not only can improve the fluidity of the concrete
but also can endow the concrete with resistance to seawater ingress. The fluidity test
was carried on the non-dispersible underwater concrete with different dosages of
AWAs (0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, and 1.50%). The non-dispersible underwater con-
crete with 1.0% of AWAs and 5.5% of superplasticizer presents the optimal fluidity.
Fig. 22.2 Effect of AWAs and cement content on slump flow. [11], © 2015 Faculty of
Engineering, Alexandria University, under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Fig. 22.3 Effect of AWAs and cement content on weight loss. [11], © 2015 Faculty of
Engineering, Alexandria University, under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
22.4 Current Progress of Non-Dispersible Underwater Concrete 375
Fig. 22.4 Relation between

compressive strength and
percentage of AWAs at
28 days. [11], © 2015 Faculty
of Engineering, Alexandria
University, under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
(a) Cast in air (normally)
(b) Cast underwater
The amount of the suspended solids in the developed concrete reduces with the
increasing dosage of AWAs [12].
Niu studied the effects of fly ash on the slump, slump loss with time, dis-
persibility, and strength of non-dispersible underwater concrete. The research
results show that fly ash can increase the fluidity of fresh non-dispersible under-
water concrete and reduce the loss of fluidity, but may be disadvantageous for
improving turbidity, especially when fly ash is added more than a certain range. The
reinforcement of fly ash takes place at later ages, and the amount of fly ash has little
effect on the later strength continuing to increase with ages. The results of field tests
also indicate that the non-dispersible underwater concrete with 30% fly ash has very
small slump loss and good anti-dispersibility, and meets the requirement of com-
pressive strength [13]. Zhong et al. investigated the axial and eccentric compression
performance of non-dispersible underwater concrete columns with eccentric dis-
tance of 0 mm, 40 mm, and 100 mm, respectively. The study focused on the
process of failure and the steel bar load–strain curves of axial compressive speci-
mens. They got the conclusion that the non-dispersible underwater concrete col-
umns have three failure modes similar to normal concrete columns: axial
compressive failure, small eccentric compressive failure, and big eccentric com-
pressive failure. The stress–strain process and failure mechanism of the
non-dispersible underwater concrete columns are similar to those of normal con-
crete columns [1]. Sun et al. performed an experiment on short non-dispersible
underwater concrete columns, derived their failure pattern, hysteretic curve, and
skeleton curve, discussed the hysteresis characteristic such as the influence of
ductility coefficient and the energy dissipation, and analyzed the axial pressure ratio
on earthquake-resistant behavior. The results show that the seismic performances of
the short non-dispersible underwater concrete columns and the short common
concrete columns are similar. Ductility of the short non-dispersible underwater
concrete column is a little better than that of common concrete short column. As the
axial compression ratio decreases, the ductility of the short non-dispersible
underwater concrete columns increases and the growth rate slightly increases. The
non-dispersible underwater concrete has a strong bonding with the longitudinal
steel bars [14].
22.5 Applications of Non-Dispersible Underwater

Concrete
The preparation technology of non-dispersible underwater concrete is developing

for satisfying the demand of underwater construction [14]. The non-dispersible
underwater concrete has many advantages such as low dispersible property, low
water pollution, low risks of losing strength, excellent viscosity and flexibility, and
low hydration heat. It therefore is more stable in a large-scale concrete placement,
thus having wide application in underwater and underground construction.
Generally, the non-dispersible underwater concrete can be used for sealing,
grouting, casting, filling, repairing, and plugging of such infrastructures as caisson,
cofferdam, underwater continuous wall, pile, dam, reservoirs, revetment, and
underwater bearing platform [15]. In recent years, the non-dispersible underwater
concrete has been successfully used in some important infrastructures in China,
such as the dock construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the construction of the
Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, the repairment of the Port of Dalian, and the
foundation construction of the Qing Dao Tidal Power Station [16].
22.6 Summary 377
22.6 Summary
The non-dispersible underwater concrete achieves its function by incorporating

AWAs, thus reducing the risk of segregation of the heterogeneous constituents of
concrete during transportation, placement, and compaction, and directly provides
extra stability to the cast concrete in a plastic state.
The non-dispersible underwater concrete has features of self-leveling,
self-compacting, and little pollution to the environment. It can play an important
role in placing concrete in underwater and underground construction as an
environmental-friendly and economical material. The further studies on the
non-dispersible underwater concrete are suggested to be focused on how to save
materials in underwater construction and improve the strength of non-dispersible
underwater concrete.
References
1. W.Q. Zhong, G. Sun, L.Y. Xie, Y. Ma, Compression performance of non-dispersible concrete
columns. Adv. Mater. Res. 97(20), 462–466 (2011)
2. Linacre House, Jordan Hill. Chapter 11: Underwater concrete. Book: Advanced Concrete
Technology, ed. by J. Newman, B. S. Choo, Publisher: Replika Press Pvt Ltd (2003)
3. V. Kumar, R. Kumar, S. Mandal, A.N. Sinha. Admixtures for underwater concreteing for repair
of cracks in the structure. 30th Conference on Our World in Concrete & Structures (2005)
4. Z.Y. Lu, X.H. Zhou, Workability control of con-dispersible underwater concrete. J. Shanghai
Jiaotong Univ. 5, 82–85 (2005)
5. V.C. Nguyen, Q.T. Tran, L.T. Luong. Design and construction of anti-washout underwater
concrete. The 3rd ACF International Conference-ACF/VCA. pp. 356–359 (2008)
6. H. Kamal, J.A. Khayat, Relationship between washout resistance and rheological properties
of high-performance underwater concrete. ACI Mater. J. 100(3), 185–193 (2003)
7. O. Nobuaki, H. Makoto, N. Shigeyoshi, An experimental study on the fluidity of anti-washout
underwater concrete. ACI Mater. J. 93(1), 20–25 (1996)
8. K.H. Khayat, Effect of anti-washout admixture on fresh concrete properties. ACI Struct. J. 92
(2), 164–171 (1995)
9. W.C. Jau. Non-dispersible concrete for underwater and underground construction. Patent US
20080257221A1 (2008)
10. K. Ito, M. Sakuta, Y. Yoshioka, T, Kaya, T. Shioya,H. Yamakawa, Y. Shimoyama. Concrete
composition for underwater use. Patent Japan 4743301 (1988)
11. A.M. Heniegal, A.A.E.S. Maaty, I.S. Agwa, Simulation of the behavior of pressurized
underwater concrete. Alexandria Eng. J. 54(2), 183–195 (2015)
12. J.J. Park, J.H. Moon, J.H. Park, S.W. Kim, An estimation on the performance of high fluidity
anti-washout underwater concrete. Key Eng. Mater. 577–578, 501–504 (2013)
13. J.S. Niua, X.W. Ma, Effect of fly ash on the workability of non-dispersible underwater
concrete. Adv. Mater. Res. 194–196, 942–946 (2011)
14. D.M. Sun, H.G. Kang, Y.F. Lu, W.Q. Zhong, Experimental study on seismic performance of
non-dispersible underwater concrete short columns. Appl. Mech. Mater. 226–228, 462–466
(2012)
15. http://concrete-admix.com/3-3-non-dispersible-underwater-concrete.html
16. Z.L. Liang, C.M. Zhang, J.W. Lei, Application of non-dispersible underwater concrete at
three gorges project. Concrete. 12, 78–80 (2006)
Chapter 23
Energy-Harvesting Concrete
Abstract Energy-harvesting concrete has the capability to capture and store the
wasting natural energy derived from external sources (e.g., mechanical energy,
solar power, and thermal energy) for reuse. Energy-harvesting concrete can be
achieved by incorporating piezoelectric, pyroelectric, thermoelectric, and photo-
voltaic materials into it. The energy-harvesting concrete can make infrastructures,
especially traffic infrastructures, and become green, smart, resilient, and sustainable.
It will turn traffic infrastructures into distributed energy generators, thus supporting
the next generation of traffic systems, such as electrical vehicle chargers, sensors,
and communications.
Keywords Concrete Energy Harvesting Capture Store
23.1 Introduction
Energy is everywhere in the environment surrounding us, and it is available in the

form of thermal energy, light (solar) energy, wind energy, and mechanical energy.
However, the energy from these sources is often found in such minute quantities
that it cannot supply adequate power for any viable purpose. Energy harvesting
from wasting natural energy, which is playing an increasingly important role in
supplying energy to applications, is the process of capturing minute amounts of
energy from one or more naturally occurring energy sources, accumulating them
and storing them for later use. Concrete used in widespread infrastructures is
subjected to the ambient energy field. Energy-harvesting concrete allows the cap-
ture of unused ambient energy, such as vibration, strain, light, and temperature
gradients and stores or turns it into usable electrical, thermal, or luminous energy,
which can provide cost-effective and more environmentally friendly solutions.
This chapter will provide a systematical introduction to energy-harvesting
concrete based on different principles, with attentions to its properties, current

380 23 Energy-Harvesting Concrete
23.2 Definition and Principles of Energy-Harvesting

Concrete
Energy-harvesting concrete (also known as energy-scavenging concrete or power

harvesting concrete) refers to concrete harnessing energy from various ambient
energy sources (e.g., vibration, thermal energy, and solar power) and converting or
storing it to electrical, thermal, or luminous energy. Its classification is summed up
in Table 23.1. Energy-harvesting concrete in this book refers to concrete with
capability of converting ambient energy to electrical energy unless otherwise stated.
Energy-harvesting concrete storing ambient thermal or solar energy is introduced in
Chap. 8 (self-adjusting concrete: thermal parameter self-adjusting concrete) and
Chap. 16 (light-emitting concrete). Energy-harvesting concrete is fabricated
through incorporating piezoelectric, pyroelectric, thermoelectric, and photovoltaic
materials into conventional concrete [1–5].
Table 23.1 Classification of energy harvesting

Criteria Categories
Converting energy Energy-harvesting concrete based on piezoelectric effect
Energy-harvesting concrete based on pyroelectric effect
Energy-harvesting concrete based on thermoelectric effect
Energy-harvesting concrete based on photovoltaic effect
Storing energy Energy-harvesting concrete incorporating phase change materials
Energy-harvesting concrete incorporating photoluminescent materials
Fig. 23.1 Piezoelectric effect

23.2 Definition and Principles of Energy-Harvesting Concrete 381
Fig. 23.2 Pyroelectric effect
Fig. 23.3 Thermoelectric

effect
The piezoelectric materials generate a small voltage whenever they are

mechanically deformed (as shown in Fig. 23.1 [6]). The characteristic of pyro-
electric material is that a change in temperature creates current flows in the material
(as shown in Fig. 23.2 [7]). Thermoelectric materials produce a voltage due to a
thermal gradient inside it (as shown in Fig. 23.3 [8]). Photovoltaic materials can
generate electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity
(as shown in Fig. 23.4 [9]).
Fig. 23.4 Photovoltaic effect
23.3 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based

on Piezoelectric Effect
Israel firstly developed the energy-harvesting concrete including piezoelectric

generators of about 5 cm and embedded them into an asphalt concrete road to store
traffic-generated energy (as shown in Fig. 23.5 [10]). As the concrete slightly
deforms when vehicles travel across the road, the electrical current is thereby
produced. The concrete is able to capture energy that would otherwise just go to
waste. The test site was at the Hefer intersection along the old coastal road of Route
4 in Israel. The road is capable of producing significant amounts of electricity,
about 400 kWh from an 1-km stretch of generators along the dual carriageway
Fig. 23.5 Energy-harvesting concrete road embedded with piezoelectric generators

23.3 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Piezoelectric Effect 383
Fig. 23.6 Energy-harvesting concrete road installing
(assuming 600 vehicles go through the road segment in an hour) (as shown in
Fig. 23.6 [11]), enough energy to power 600–800 homes. In Israel along, there are
sufficient roads to produce 160 MWh of energy using the energy-harvesting con-
crete, which can provide about 2% of the country’ electric energy consumption [2].
Israel is developing a wide range of piezoelectric generators with size varying
from a few centimeters to networks covering large surfaces. The generators are
mounted with electronic cards supplying the storage system. The laying of the
present system (embedding the generators and electronic cards into the roadway)
can be done during paving of new roads or in the course of the maintenance work in
existing roadways, so it is entirely retrofittable to any road. The heavier the vehicle
and the greater the number of vehicles, the greater the return.
Energy-harvesting concrete based on piezoelectric effect can generate energy
from weight, motion, and vibration. It can be configured to generate and store
energy from roads, airport runways, and rail systems (as shown in Fig. 23.7 [12]) at
the same time as delivering real-time data on the weight, frequency, and spacing
between passing vehicles. Israeli company Innowattech installed this type of con-
crete into railways to generate electricity. Preliminary results suggest that areas of
railway track that get between 10 and 20 ten-car trains an hour can produce
120 kWh of renewable energy per hour, which could be used to help power trains
and/or signals. The harvested energy can be transferred back to the grid or used for
specific public infrastructure purposes such as lighting and widespread use. The
system would enable far greater scrutiny and hence understanding of the behavior
of road vehicles [13–16].
Kim et al. also performed a research to develop roadway energy-harvesting
system with the most economical piezoelectric materials. The energy generated by
piezoelectric materials under or in pavement materials was measured in the labo-
ratory to determine the economy and feasibility of piezoelectric materials prior
Fig. 23.7 Energy-harvesting concrete based on piezoelectric effect to sequester the mechanical
energy generated on highways, the runway, and the railway
to field experiments. Their research includes investigation of the energy-harvesting

method, preparation of equipment and materials, laboratory experiments, and future
research. The pavement materials tested with piezoelectric materials include asphalt
pavement, which is the most popular flexible pavement material, and concrete
pavement materials, including typical concrete and engineered cementitious com-
posite (ECC). The research results indicate that voltages increase with frequency,
and piezoelectric material with concrete generates energy more than piezoelectric
materials with asphalt. In addition, piezoelectric materials with ECC generate more
voltage than those with typical concrete. The levelized cost of energy with piezo-
electric materials is relatively high. However, potential energy generation can be
improved by optimal unit designs and the integration of cutting-edge technologies.
The results will contribute to the possibility of highways’ self-supporting energy
capacity [17]. In addition, Jewell et al. proposed that thanks to ettringite as a
piezoelectric mineral, cement can serve as an electric source for energy-harvesting
materials through functionalizing calcium sulfoaluminate cements [18].

on Pyroelectric Effect
Bhattacharjee et al. investigated the possibility of capturing thermal energy from

pavements and storing the energy and using it as alternative power source to other
devices. They employed carbon nanofiber as a pyroelectric material into concrete to
capture ambient thermal energy available from pavements. Specimens of Portland
cement with and without carbon nanofibers have been prepared in the laboratory
and tested for various properties including pyroelectric coefficient and dielectric
23.4 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Pyroelectric Effect 385
Fig. 23.8 Typical

dependence of dielectric
constants (e′) of carbon
nanofiber concrete on
temperature. Reproduced
from Ref. [1] with permission
from ASCE
Fig. 23.9 Typical

dependence of pyroelectric
coefficient of carbon
nanofiber concrete on
temperature. Reproduced
from Ref. [1] with permission
from ASCE
constant. Addition of carbon nanofibers increases the pyroelectric behavior of

cement. Both dielectric constant and pyroelectric coefficient increase with increase
in temperature, while the contents of carbon nanofibers are 0.07 and 0.49 wt%,
respectively (as shown in Figs. 23.8 and 23.9) [1]. The present research indicates
that Portland cement can be used to capture heat energy from pavements.

on Thermoelectric Effect
Wei et al. performed energy-harvesting experiments based on the thermoelectric

behavior of carbon fiber-reinforced cement composite (CFRCC) under simulated
solar irradiation. The Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal
conductivity of CFRCC were measured to obtain the thermoelectric figure of merit
and maximum power output. The CFRCC specimen with 1.0 wt% carbon fiber
possesses the maximum figure of merit of 1.334 10−7 at 27 °C (as shown in
Fig. 23.10). A slab sample was used to estimate the energy-harvesting quality of
CFRC at a temperature difference of about 60 °C (as shown in Fig. 23.11). The
harvested energy per square meter of CFRCC reached up to 8.4 10−6 J over
420 min of irradiation, while its surface temperature remained at 68 °C (as shown
in Fig. 23.12). 4–5 µW power could be achieved by a 1 m2 CFRCC slab with a
thickness of 20 mm under a temperature difference of about 62 °C [19].
Lee et al. investigated energy-harvesting issues using thermoelectric technology
which used a temperature gradient to generated electricity. They build up an energy
harvest system to be installed on the infrastructure that was constructed with
concrete. The developed system can collect energy from the temperature difference
between surface and inside of concrete structure, which presents a feasible energy
harvesting using the thermoelectric technology on concrete structure in road [20].
Fig. 23.10 Variation of the Seebeck voltage versus the temperature difference for the prepared
CFRCC specimens. Reproduced from Ref. [19] with permission from The Royal Society of
Chemistry
23.6 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Photovoltaic Effect 387
Fig. 23.11 Experimental setup for investigating the energy-harvesting behavior of CFRCC under
solar irradiation simulated by a 500-W halogen lamp. Reproduced from Ref. [19] with permission
from The Royal Society of Chemistry
Fig. 23.12 Normalized

harvested energy from the
CFRCC (1.0 wt% carbon
fibers) per square meter across
the external storage capacitor,
under simulated solar
irradiation. Reproduced from
Ref. [19] with permission
from The Royal Society of
Chemistry

on Photovoltaic Effect
Hosseini et al. integrated CNT (i.e., carbon nanotube), TiO2, indium tin oxide
(ITO), and dye with concrete to develop photovoltaic solar cell. The schematics of
the concrete–dye solar cell and the energy band diagram describing the photovoltaic
effect and electrical power generation in concrete–dye solar cells are shown in
Figs. 23.13 and 23.14. The monolithic concrete-integrated dye-synthesized pho-
tovoltaic solar cell can convert optical energy to electrical energy and generate
power on-site. They carried out transport measurements in the dark and observed
that the presence of open-circuit voltage (VOC) is about 190 mV and short-circuit
Fig. 23.13 Schematics of concrete–dye solar cell. Reproduced from Ref. [2] with permission
from Nature Publishing Group
Fig. 23.14 Energy band diagram describing PV (i.e., photovoltaic) effect and electrical power
generation in concrete–dye solar cell. Reproduced from Ref. [2] with permission from Nature
Publishing Group
current (ISC) is about 9 lA. The current–voltage measurements performed under

illumination at incident optical powers of about 46 mW confirmed the generation
of electrical power of about 0.64 mW with almost half generated via battery effect
(as shown in Fig. 23.15) [2].
23.7 Summary 389
Fig. 23.15 a Current–

voltage characteristic of
concrete–dye solar cell in
dark (black line) and under
illumination (red line). An
increase in the open-circuit
voltage and the short-circuit
current can be observed upon
illumination, resulting in
power generation when the
cell is exposed to light.
b Electrical powers versus
voltage obtained under dark
and illumination conditions.
Reproduced from Ref. [2]
with permission from Nature
Publishing Group
23.7 Summary
Owing to unique converting or storing the available energy from the environment,
the energy-harvesting concrete allows a self-sufficient energy supply for infras-
tructures, especially roadways, railways, airline runways, and city sidewalks with
distributed nature, which create complex supply issues for conventional energy.
The captured energy can power nearby electrical systems (e.g., lighting systems),
structural health monitoring system of infrastructures, wireless data communication
systems that provide information, electric vehicle charge, etc. Energy-harvesting
concrete is a promising material for approaching the global energy problem without
depleting natural resources, but some technical difficulties (e.g., low-power, low
conversion rate, and poor stability) need to be overcome before it realizes wide
applications.
References
1. S. Bhattacharjee, A.K. Batra, J. Cain. in Carbon nano-fiber reinforced cement composite for
energy harvesting road, Green Streets and Highways Conference (2010), vol. 389, pp. 258–271
2. T. Hosseini, I. Flores-Vivian, K. Sobolev, N. Kouklin, Concrete embedded dye-synthesized
photovoltaic solar cell. Sci. Rep. 3, 2727 (2013)
3. J. Park, S. Lee, B.M. Kwak, Design optimization of piezoelectric energy harvester subject to
tip excitation. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 26(1), 137–143 (2012)
4. G.F. Qiao, G.D. Sun, Y. Hong, Y.L. Qiu, J.P. Ou, Remote corrosion monitoring of the RC
structures using the electrochemical wireless energy-harvesting sensors and networks. NDT
and E Int. 44(7), 583–588 (2011)
5. S. Sudevalayam, P. Kulkarni, Energy harvesting sensor nodes: Survey and implications. IEEE
Commun. Surv. Tutorials 13(3), 443–461 (2011)
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8. http://tematiu.web.fc2.com/menu1_en.html
9. http://solarphotovoltaic.blogspot.com/
10. http://www.dmass.net/blog/2010/11/09/thinking-bigger-is-better
11. http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/middle-east-/-africa/20091205/50402-nile-river-ferry-
collision-leaves-many-missing.html
12. http://www.treehugger.com/cars/see-innowattech-collect-energy-from-the-road-in-action.html
13. http://newatlas.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/
14. http://inhabitat.com/new-piezoelectric-railways-harvest-energy-from-passing-trains/
15. http://www.ats.org/news/harvesting-energy-from-passing-trains/
16. http://www.greenprophet.com/2009/10/innowattech-israel-road-energy/
17. S.H. Kim, I. Stern, J.N. Shen, M. Ahad, Z. Tucker. Developing an energy harvesting system using
piezoelectric materials for highway sustainability (Transportation Research Board, 2016), 14p
18. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1435260
19. J. Wei, Z.B. Nie, G.P. He, L. Hao, L.L. Zhao, Q. Zhang, Energy harvesting from solar
irradiation in cities using the thermoelectric behavior of carbon fiber reinforced cement
composites. RSC Adv. 4(89), 48128–48134 (2014)
20. J.J. Lee, D.H. Kim, S.T. Lee, J.K. Lim, Fundamental study of energy harvesting using
thermoelectric effect on concrete structure in road. Adv. Mater. Res. 1044–1045, 332–337
(2014)
Chapter 24
Future Developments and Challenges
of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
Abstract The research and development of smart and multifunctional concrete has
produced a revolution in the field of concrete materials toward sustainable infras-
tructures. Although the smart and multifunctional concrete has been developed for
more than 30 years, many efforts are still needed to promote its development. Some
challenges in design, fabrication, test and characterization, properties, mechanisms
and models, and application of smart and multifunctional concrete need to be
addressed in the future. Using low-quality energy and increasing dissipation effi-
ciency are two basic principles to further develop smart and multifunctional
concrete.
Keywords Smart and multifunctional concrete Challenges Development

Evolution principles
24.1 Introduction
Smart and multifunctional material technology represents an emerging research

field that is finding many applications in infrastructures. These applications include
condition/health monitoring, damage assessment, structural control, structural
repair and maintenance, integrity assessment and more recently asset management,
preservation, and operation of infrastructures. The potential benefits of this tech-
nology include improved infrastructures reliability and longevity, enhanced struc-
tural performance and durability, improved safety against natural hazards and
vibrations, and a reduction in life cycle costs in operating and managing
infrastructures.
The smart and multifunctional concrete represents the development direction of
concrete from high strength and high performance to intelligence and multifunc-
tionality. It has attracted wide attentions from both academia and industry. Since the
concept of smart and multifunctional concrete was proposed in the late 1980s, great
efforts have been made on the research of smart and multifunctional concrete and
fruitful research results have been achieved. The basic concepts and research ideas

392 24 Future Developments and Challenges
about smart and multifunctional concrete are becoming clear. The prior research
work on smart and multifunctional concrete has laid a solid foundation for the
future development [1–13]. Recently, there emerge some new types of smart and
multifunctional concrete. For example, because the manufacture of concrete has a
heavy carbon footprint, researchers are engaging in creating low-carbon concrete
through utilizing carbon dioxide curing technology, using primary ingredients of
concrete to uptake carbon dioxide, and developing new types of binder (e.g.,
“carbon negative” cement) [14–16]. Researchers from BarcelonaTech in Spain are
working to perfect living concrete-a layered formulation that allows photosynthetic
organisms, such as mosses, lichens, and other microorganisms, to grow within the
material itself. In addition to providing esthetics to the concrete, the organisms
recycle carbon dioxide out of the air. Affixed to buildings, the concrete also helps
regulate thermal conductivity, thus reducing energy demands of buildings [17–19].
Al-Thawadi at Murdoch University proposed to develop bioconcrete through
bacterial technology. He used bacterial carbonate precipitation as a cementing agent
to bind sand particles together. With multiple bacterial applications, sandstone has
been replicated at a much shorter timescale. Successful experiments have been
conducted where soft sand turns hard, changing into a substance as hard as marble
and unconfined compressive strength of up to 30 MPa [20, 21]. What is more, some
novel concrete (e.g., macrodefect-free cement with ultrahigh toughness, resistance
seawater concrete, resistance-reinforcing bar corrosion concrete, meteorological
concrete to forecast the weather, flexible concrete, magnetic shielding concrete, and
infrared stealth concrete) also generally falls into the category of smart and mul-
tifunctional concrete. Furthermore, the presence of smart and multifunctional
concrete blurs the boundaries of structural materials and functional materials,
concrete materials, and concrete structures. Therefore, smart and multifunctional
concrete is a branch with extreme extendability in the fields of both concrete and
structures.
Although much progress has been made in the field of smart and multifunctional
concrete, there are also some issues needed to be solved. Additionally, the con-
tinuing development and in-depth discovery of smart and multifunctional concrete
are needed. Therefore, this chapter will propose the challenges and some sugges-
tions on research and development of smart and multifunctional concrete. The
general principles to evolve smart and multifunctional concrete are also provided
based on dissipative structure theory.
24.2 Design of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
The design principles of smart and multifunctional concrete are greatly different
from conventional concrete. The design of conventional concrete only concerns
about structural function and durability. However, the application conditions or
goals should be ascertained first for designing smart and multifunctional concrete,
and then the smart and multifunctional properties will be determined.
24.2 Design of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete 393
The appropriate materials or components, which possess the abilities of sensing,

actuating, controlling, etc., will be selected after that. The following steps are
structural design between macroscale and microscale, complex material or structure
compositing, and examining the system characteristics of concrete structures.
Finally, the system characteristics will be optimized and reexamined. The design
will be finished if the system characteristics satisfy the setting goals. If not, redesign
will start from the materials selection until the goals are achieved. Namely, cus-
tomizing smart and multifunctional concrete to meet the specific application
requirements is the objective of the design of smart and multifunctional concrete.
Of course, during the design process, the intrinsic structural function and durability
of smart and multifunctional concrete should not compromise with the addition of
smartness and functionality seriously. The detailed design process of smart
and multifunctional concrete is shown as in Fig. 24.1. In general, it is suggested
that the subsequent researches should be aimed at establishing a uniform method,
guidance and specification for design, and optimization of smart and multifunc-
tional concrete [7–22].
Application conditions and goals
Smart and multifunctional properties required
Select materials or components with specific function
Structural design (macro, micro and nano scales)
Material or structure compositing

If not satisfy
the requirements
Examination and optimization
Smart and Multifunctional Structures
Fig. 24.1 Design process of smart and multifunctional concrete

24.3 Fabrication of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
The fabrication process of smart and multifunctional concrete basically remains

consistent with that of conventional concrete. However, with regard to functional
priority and structural specificity of smart and multifunctional concrete, it is sug-
gested that each step of the fabrication process should be paid attention to and novel
technologies should be introduced to improve and optimize the fabrication process.
Although smart and multifunctional concrete features high-performance price ratio
and low life cycle cost, the relative high production costs primarily limit its
large-scale application. Therefore, some low-cost but high effective functional
materials or component elements should be chosen to constitute smart and multi-
functional concrete. Besides, the optimum design and distribution of functional
material or component elements in/on smart and multifunctional concrete are
advocated and effective to reduce the fabrication cost of smart and multifunctional
concrete and structures. During the fabrication process, using materials and tech-
niques efficiently and cleanly to minimize environmental impacts also should be
priority among priorities. It is an ultimate goal for researchers to seek and develop a
technical route with the possibilities for simple, reproduction, low-cost, large-scale,
and environmental-friendly fabrication of smart and multifunctional concrete
without altering the normal raw materials and manufacturing process of concrete
materials. The nanotechnology, bionic technology, self-assembly technology, and
hybrid filler multiscale composite technology should be effective approaches to
fabricate smart and multifunctional concrete in the future [23–32].
24.4 Test and Characterization of Smart

Smart and multifunctional concrete involves interdisciplinary crossing and inte-

gration. Their smart and multifunctional behaviors are various. The corresponding
test and characterization are usually drawn from the existing technologies of rela-
tive discipline fields. However, it is also necessary to develop some simple and
convenient methods for evaluating behaviors of smart and multifunctional concrete.
The ultimate objective is to develop standard test and characterization methods and
equipments for smart and multifunctional concrete [33–36].
24.5 Properties of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
The intriguing properties of smart and multifunctional concrete have led to an

explosion of research efforts worldwide. However, because concrete is a fairly
complicated material, the related effect of its own components on the reinforcing
24.5 Properties of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete 395
capacity of functional fillers or devices is remarkable and so complex that it is

difficult to control the effect completely. While introducing new smart and multi-
functional properties into concrete, the intrinsic mechanical properties as well as
durability might decrease to some extent at the same time. At the present stage, the
properties of each kind of the aforementioned smart and multifunctional concrete
have not yet reached a stable, repeatable, and optimized state. It deserves extensive
further investigation on the development of reliable, preferable, and applicable
smart and multifunctional concrete. In addition, the specific smart concrete and
structure only possess a certain intelligent or functional behavior, which is not
satisfying enough. Concrete with single smart or multifunctional property is only
the initial stage of smart and multifunctional concrete. The high-level integration of
various smart and multifunctional properties will make concrete become really
smartness and multifunctionality. Therefore, the development of multifunctional,
multidirection, and compound smart and multifunctional concrete will be the main
driving force in this field in the future. It is also an important trend and is expected
to find some new smart and functional properties on the current ongoing basis.
Biomimetic design, nanotechnology, and new composite technology should be
three effective approaches to extend or optimize the properties of smart and mul-
tifunctional concrete and find new smart and multifunctional properties of concrete.
Biomimetic design of smart and multifunctional concrete can be illustrated as
Fig. 24.2 [1, 22, 37, 38].
Smart and
‘Nerve’
Conventional multifunctional concrete
concrete
‘Brain’
‘Muscle’ Sensing
Diagnosing
Adaptive
Controlling
……
Fig. 24.2 Biomimetic design of smart and multifunctional concrete

24.6 Mechanisms and Models of Smart

Although researchers have given a lot of reasonable explanations on the smart and
multifunctional properties through combination of experiments and theories, some
explanations are still unclear or need to be further verified because of the complex
nature of smart and multifunctional concrete with multicomponent, multiphase, and
multiscale characteristics. The use of some advanced analyzing and testing
instruments as well as novel computing and simulation techniques is helpful for
better understanding the mechanism of smart and multifunctional properties of
concrete and structures. In addition, the smart constitutive characteristic models are
only built for some types of smart and multifunctional concrete under a certain or
simple condition. In future work, much effort should be invested in developing
more comprehensive and precise constitutive models for describing and forecasting
the behaviors of smart and multifunctional concrete in different temporal and spatial
conditions based on experiments and numerical simulations. Multiscale/
multiphysics modeling may be an effective bottom-up approach to achieve this
goal [1, 22, 39–42].
24.7 Applications of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete
Smart and multifunctional concrete has great potential in practical applications for
infrastructures such as high-rise buildings, large-span bridges, tunnel, high-speed
railways, offshore structures, dams, and nuclear power plants. Thus far, they have
been utilized individually or as an ensemble in many fields of construction industry.
However, smart and multifunctional concrete still stays at the research stage at present
and only countable applications have been put into practice. Therefore, there should
be some profound investigations focused on application of smart and multifunctional
concrete. Better understanding the properties of smart and multifunctional concrete is
a fundamental approach to explore their potential applications. Furthermore, some
novel retrofits of smart and multifunctional concrete should be developed based on
other disciplines, such as artificial intelligence, biomimetics, electronics, and aero-
space. In general, it is suggested that the subsequent investigations on application of
smart and multifunctional concrete should be aimed at establishing a uniform method,
guidance and specification for design, and construction of infrastructures as shown in
Fig. 24.3. Such strategy as bottom-up approach, up-bottom approach, and life cycle
design are helpful to attain this target. In addition, the practical application also can
accelerate the maturity of smart and multifunctional concrete technology and promote
the generation of new types of smart and multifunctional concrete to satisfy the needs
of developing new architectural structure systems (e.g., replaceable, resilient, and
self-locking) [29, 30, 43–47].
24.8 General Evolution Principles of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete 397
Up-bottom
approach
Bottom-up
approach
Smart and
multifunctional Concrete
member Infrastructure
concrete
Fig. 24.3 Overall framework of infrastructures fabricated with smart and multifunctional concrete
24.8 General Evolution Principles of Smart

The attribute of smart and multifunctional concrete is typically represented by the

adaptability to environments. Its characterizing parameters mainly include accuracy,
sensitivity, persistence, stability, and effectiveness of responses, which reflect the
“smartness and multifunction” degree or “intelligence quotient.” Due to the limitation
of technology and research stage in the field of smart materials and structures, the
existing smart and multifunctional concrete only has some simple functions, i.e., the
“smartness and multifunction” degree or “intelligence quotient” is low. The evolution
degree of smart and multifunctional concrete, i.e., its response or reaction capability to
environment, depends on its effective control capability to entropy. This provides
general principles to evolve smart and multifunctional concrete: bigger complexity,
higher organization level, denser-free energy flux, and smaller entropy increment.
The former two point out the evolution direction of the organization structures
of smart and multifunctional concrete, while the latter two show the direction
for entropy control (i.e., enhancing the capability and efficiency of absorbing and
using negative entropy of systems, and using low-quality energy). Therefore, the
evolution goal of smart and multifunctional concrete includes fast reaction speed,
excellent self-organization capability, high stability, and great autonomy to
environment [48, 49].
24.9 Summary
Smart and multifunctional concrete is a system containing multifunctional parts that

can perform sensing, control, actuation, and other functions. It is a primitive analog
of a biological body. Smart and multifunctional concrete has a very broad category
of materials that include self-compacting, self-expanding, self-curing, self-shaping,
self-sensing, self-healing, self-adjusting, self-cleaning, self-damping, self-heating,
self-light emitting, wear or scour resisting, aircraft arresting, electrically conductive,
light-transmitting, electromagnetic/radiation shield, permeable, non-dispersive
underwater, and energy-harvesting concrete. In addition, smart and multifunc-
tional concrete also has a wide application foreground in civil infrastructures such
as high-rise buildings, highway, bridges, runways for airport, continuous slab-type
sleepers for high-speed trains, dam, and nuclear power plant.
The field of smart and multifunctional concrete is interdisciplinary between science
and technology and combines the knowledge of physics, mathematics, chemistry,
computer science, material, electrical, and civil engineering. It implements human
creativity and innovative ideas to serve human society for such tasks as ensuring
structural integrity and safety, extending the life span of structures, improving the
efficiency of infrastructures, guiding the design of infrastructures, enhancing living
environment comfort, and easing the resource and energy consumption.
Smart and multifunctional concrete is one type of dissipative structure. It can
keep dynamic stability to collapse external damage for preventing its function loss
thought external or internal changes and has contribution to the delay of total
energy degradation. As a result, scarifying a small amount of entropy increment can
eliminate bigger entropy increment of the whole nature system, thus avoiding the
increase of confusion degree and the decrease of usefulness. Therefore, the presence
of smart and multifunctional concrete fully reflects human intelligence to inherit
and create the civilization through the effort of decreasing entropy.
Smart and multifunctional concrete is intelligent, strong, durable, easy to fab-
ricate, recyclable, and eco-friendly, representing the sustainable development
direction of concrete materials. Although most types of smart and multifunctional
concrete are currently being evaluated under laboratory conditions and there still is
a long way to go from the experimental study to field application, it is expected and
believed that smart and multifunctional concrete will bring a deep revolution to the
field of conventional concrete materials and infrastructure. This will have signifi-
cant impacts on economics, society, and environment.
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Baoguo Han · Liqing Zhang

Smart and Multifunctional

Liqing Zhang and

ISBN 978-981-10-4348-2 ISBN 978-981-10-4349-9 (eBook)

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

of concrete have signiﬁcant impact on resources, energy, and environment.

Dalian, China Baoguo Han

Many professional colleagues and friends have contributed directly or indirectly to

1 General Introduction of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete . . . . . 1

3.5 Applications of Self-Expanding Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6.3.4 Non-Intrinsic Self-Sensing Concrete Integrated

8.5 Hydration Heat Self-Adjusting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

12 Aircraft Arresting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

16.3 Mechanisms and Properties of Light-Emitting Concrete . . . .... 286

19.4 Applications of Radiation Shielding Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

23.6 Energy-Harvesting Concrete Based on Photovoltaic Effect . . . . . 387

of the Chinese Society for Vibration Engineering, the Vice-President of the

3DP Three-dimensional printing

HFRCC Hybrid ﬁber-reinforced self-healing concrete

Abstract Smart and multifunctional concrete refers to the structural material

Concrete is a composite composed of aggregate bonded together with fluid binder

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 1

Portland cement. In addition, it should be noted that concrete here is a generalized

Fig. 1.1 Multicomponent, multiphase, and multiscale nature of concrete

1.2 Deﬁnition of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete

Smart and multifunctional concrete is an intelligent system. It has properties dif-

1.3 Classiﬁcation of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete

Fig. 1.2 Element model of materials

Table 1.1 Classiﬁcation of smart and multifunctional concrete in different criteria

Table 1.1 (continued)

1.4 Origin of Smart and Multifunctional Concrete

1.5 Philosophical Foundation of Smart

environment (including mechanical, chemical, and thermal actions). For example,

Performance evolution curve

Performance degeneration curve

Fig. 1.3 Model of stress–strength of materials

materials with inherent intelligence/function that feature self-organization and

Smart and multifunctional concrete integrates smartness or function with their

Abstract Self-compacting concrete is the highly flowable, non-segregating con-

Keywords Concrete Self-compacting Mix-design Test methods

Compaction of concrete is often seen as the Achilles’ heel of traditional concrete.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 11

concrete shapes. Therefore, it is important to develop a concrete with good

2.2 Deﬁnition and Classiﬁcation of Self-Compacting

SCC is also named as self-consolidating concrete, self-leveling concrete, or

Fig. 2.1 Advantages of SCC over NVC

Table 2.1 Classiﬁcation of SCC

2.3 Principles of Self-Compacting Concrete

2.3.1 Raw Material Selection Principles

Fig. 2.2 Role of SP

Table 2.2 Performance indicators of aggregates of SCC in Chinese standard [2]

2.3.2 Mix Design Principles

content of coarse aggregates is an important parameter to control segregation of

Fig. 2.3 Relationship

Fig. 2.4 Mechanism for

Limited Gravel Content 50% of solid volume

Limited Sand Content 40% of mortar in volume

Fig. 2.5 Methods for achieving self-compactability

quantities of raw materials in order to obtain the self-compactability and provides a

2.4 Current Progress of Self-Compacting Concrete

SCC has been described as “the most revolutionary development in concrete