Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Special Issue
COST Action TU1404, Early Age Cracking and Serviceability
in Cement-based Materials and Structures
Concrete fracture toughness increase by embedding self-healing
capsules using an integrated experimental approach
Eleni Tsangouri a,⇑, Francisco A. Gilabert b, Nele De Belie c, Danny Van Hemelrijck a, Xingyi Zhu d,
Dimitrios G. Aggelis a
a
Dept. Mechanics of Materials & Constructions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
b
Dept. Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
c
Magnel Lab. for Concrete Research, Dept. Structural Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
d
Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s

The effect of small-size healing capsules on concrete damage resistance is assessed.

Fracture toughness of healing concrete increases by 35% compared to reference.

Acoustic emission is applied to assess the capsules effect on fracture processes.

Digital Image Correlation tracks the crack propagation through the capsules.

The capsules benefit perturbating the crack path and forming multiple microcracks.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An alternative solution to repair cracks in concrete has been recently established, namely autonomous
Received 23 July 2018 healing by embedding repair agent into concrete during casting. The agent is included into small-size
Received in revised form 17 May 2019 capsules that break as cracks form. As the agent is released into the crack void, it solidifies fast permitting
Accepted 21 May 2019
crack sealing and mechanical restoration. Most of literature studies focus on the healing system design
Available online 28 May 2019
and the repair efficiency assessment. However, limited knowledge exists on the effect of the macro-
capsules themselves on concrete mechanical behaviour. This is a crucial subject as the healing mecha-
Keywords:
nism should not compromise the material mechanical properties. The paper investigates the effect of cap-
Concrete
Healing capsules
sules on damage resistance by considering fracture constitutive models. Fracture toughness of samples
Fracture energy with capsules increases up to 35% compared to the reference. Acoustic emission is applied to assess
Fracture process zone the capsules effect on fracture processes. Events localization indicates fracture process zone expansion
AE events by 40%. It is proven that the capsules beneficially contribute as local reinforcement perturbating the crack
AE energy path and forming multiple microcracks (additionally verified by Digital Image Correlation). In summary,
an integrated experimental protocol is developed to highlight the concrete toughness enhancement by
adding capsules.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

1.1. Damage and healing of concrete

Mechanical performance of concrete is characterized by the

material strength and stiffness in healthy state and by the fracture
⇑ Corresponding author. toughness in damaged state respectively. Due to the cement matrix
E-mail address: eleni.tsangouri@vub.be (E. Tsangouri). nature and the wide range of material components size and mainly

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.05.138
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433
due to aggregates presence, concrete breaks in a quasi-brittle man-
ner: flaws or defects create a zone of micro-cracks that progres-
sively join to form macro-cracks. As a result, a widely spread
damage zone around the crack is developed that cannot be consid-
ered negligible. The latter named Fracture Process Zone (FPZ), can
be up to 100 mm wide around the crack at the ultimate load and it
permits stresses transfer from the crack to the fracture vicinity [1].
In theory, the strain developed due to cracking is localized into the
FPZ and the rest of the concrete remains crack-free. The FPZ micro-
cracking concentrates the tensile stresses and leads to crack
branching due to aggregate presence [2]. FPZ dominates the crack
nucleation and propagation and introduces the strain-softening
(the stress progressively decreases as the crack widens) phenom-
ena that characterize the post-peak plain concrete response under
mode-I failure.
In this study, the fracture process is investigated in order to
evaluate the effect that small-scale capsules have on the fracture
toughness of plain unreinforced concrete. Capsules are developed
to carry a polyurethane-based adhesive healing agent that can pro-
vide autonomous healing [3]. Self-healing concrete is extensively
discussed in literature and different material models have been
presented during the last decade leading to the optimal capsules
design: thin tubes made by brittle material with good interfacial
bonding to concrete [4,5]. Tubular shape is the optimum, compared
to rectangular, oval or other more complex geometries studied,
since the shape maximizes the chance of capsule rupture under
stress. The capsules diameter is restricted to avoid stress concen-
trations, and respectively a detrimental effect on concrete
homogeneity.
The capsules that carry and store the adhesive agent are then
embedded into concrete during casting. When the hardened con-
crete is under stress and cracks, the capsule is ruptured and the
adhesive agent is released into the crack void. In contact with
air, the agent almost instantly polymerizes providing internal
crack sealing and potential mechanical restoration [6]. In detail,
the polymer agent is of low viscosity, therefore can effectively
penetrate through cracks and in parallel does not leach out of
the crack. As the agent is released and in contact with air, effec-
tively polymerizes in limited time (less than 24 h). During curing,
the polyurethane expands providing full coverage of the crack
void.
Studies evaluating the healing efficiency in laboratory scale
tests have selected borosilicate glass capsules as an easy to manu-
facture and use solution [7]. Glass instantly breaks in brittle mode
under bending in the presence of small-size cracks (<0.1 mm).
However, glass’s durability is in doubt since the material deterio-
rates when embedded into concrete aggressive environment. Addi-
tionally, glass appears a cost-ineffective solution for the design of
healing systems that cover an expanded cracks area (indicatively
for beams with crack zone wider than 1 m, as discussed in [6]).
Cement-based tubes is an alternative recently introduced in lit-
erature that gains ground due to its great interfacial bonding fea-
tures with concrete [8]. In detail, due to materials compatibility,
the tubes are perfectly bonded to the concrete matrix, the latter
ensures effective stress transfer from the concrete to the capsule
in the presence of crack and eliminates interfacial debonding
effects. For the moment, the cement capsules are manually
extruded under hydraulic pressure, however their manufacturing
process can be eventually normalized leading to a cost-effective
material. Extrusion procedure ensures that air pores are
eliminated.
The study aims to elucidate the multi-scale and complex frac-
ture phenomena introduced due to capsules embedment (i.e. cap-
sules rupture, slippage or debonding from surrounding concrete) in
addition to concrete cracking evolution. The analysis should clarify
potential beneficial or harmful effects of capsules on concrete
425
toughness. Beneficial contribution of capsules should be reported
since it will contribute to the self-healing concrete technology
establishment. On the other hand, the capsules can constitute
heterogeneities in the cement matrix causing stress concentrations
and leading to unstable crack growth. If this is the case, the self-
healing concrete design should balance between efficient post-
cracking repair and desirable primary mechanical response. In this
direction, an integrated methodology combining classical fracture
theory models with advanced optical and acoustic monitoring
techniques is developed and extensively discussed in the following
paragraphs.
1.2. Fracture energy
Several constitutive models have been developed exploring the
fracture energy, a quantification of concrete toughness and resis-
tance to cracking (i.e. cohesive crack model of Barenblatt-
Dugdale [9], crack-band model of Bazant [10]). Among them, the
well-established fictitious model introduced by Hillerborg [11] is
recommended by Rilem Technical Committee (Rilem TC 50-FMC)
[12].
In Fig. 1, based on the fictitious model, the loading response of
pre-cracked concrete tested under quasi-static mode-I crack open-
ing is presented by means of two curves:
- the initial linear stress (r)-strain (e) curve (uncracked stage)
representing the elastic response and characterised by flexural
modulus EF;
- the subsequent nonlinear r-crack opening displacement (w)
curve extending beyond crack formation reaching the global
failure.
The r-e curve loses its linearity before reaching the concrete’s
ultimate strength (ft). At this stage microcracks initiate at the
pre-crack vicinity. Those microcracks evolve without giving rise
to significant deformation on concrete and thus the fracture energy
dissipated is limited (Fig. 1) [2,11]. At the stress peak a macro-
crack initiates at the pre-crack zone and propagates. The crack dis-
continuity leads to replacing of strain (e) by the crack opening (w)
as schematically illustrated at the horizontal axis of the graph in
Fig. 1. As crack opening increases the stresses on concrete gradu-
ally decrease (strain softening). The softening phenomena appear
due to local FPZ development. The fracture zone progressively
expands in size building a zone of nonlinear deformations around
Fig. 1. Fracture process in pre-cracked concrete under mode-I fracture; elastic
response given in stress(r)- strain(e) graph followed by the stress(r)- crack
opening(w) graph demonstrating concrete post-cracking response.
426 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433
the crack tip. The width of FPZ depends on the stress field devel-
oped surrounding the crack tip.
Following the concept of work of fracture and considering only
the post-peak softening zone, the specific fracture energy (GF) is
equal to the area under the r-w curve:
Z W
GF ¼ rdw
0
It should be noted that the post-peak GF envelope is consider-
ably greater than the fracture energy built due to initial microc-
racking [13].
Muraldihara [13] and Otsuka [14] experimentally observed that
the FPZ is split in two regions: the inner region into which the main
crack and its macro-branches stand; and the outer region marked
by numerous microcracks that remain not inter-connected and
surround the main macro-crack. It is shown that only the inner
region significantly contributes to the strain softening phenomena,
therefore carries higher energy dissipation. However, up to date,
there is no numerical or experimental tool that reliably demarcates
the inner and outer regions [15].
Rilem Technical Committee 50-FMC considered the established
models (Cohesive crack [11], Size effect [10,16,17], Boundary effect
[18], Fractal concept for size effect [19]) in literature and proposed
a methodology to obtain a size-independent measure of FPZ mag-
nitude [12].
The Rilem protocol quantifies the specific fracture energy, the
energy required to create a crack of unit area. The method assumes
that the total amount of energy is expended to crack formation and
propagation. Additionally, dimensions of the concrete sample are
considered stating that the sample should be large enough (setting
a ligament length-beam depth relation to beam length) to allow
the formation of the whole FPZ. Zhang and Wu proposed an empir-
ical calculation in order to ensure that the sample size is big
enough to obtain the whole FPZ [20]:
FPZ length
 0:77
Ligament length
The FPZ length depends on the fracture energy distribution
along the ligament length. It is shown that fracture energy is lower
at the regions approaching the back boundary (beam top side) and
potentially at the zone surrounding the pre-crack. In between, the
fracture energy remains stabilized. Bilinear and trilinear models
have been developed to describe the fracture energy distribution
[13].
1.3. Acoustic signals energy correlation to fracture energy
As a crack forms and propagates acoustic waves are emitted
originating from the damage source and propagate through the
concrete reaching the surface. An array of Acoustic Emission (AE)
transducers attached to the material surface can capture the waves
and transform them to electrical signals. AE is a well-established
structural health monitoring technique since it can effectively
assess the crack propagation through the signals magnitude,
energy and frequency features, but also accurately localize in space
and in time the wave source [21]. In the pioneering work of Landis,
the energy of the fracture process in concrete is correlated with the
release of elastic strain energy in the form of acoustic waves [22].
The following studies correlated the AE events number and distri-
bution to the evolution and size of fracture process zone respec-
tively [22–26]. Specifically, the cumulative absolute energy is
selected as the AE signal feature that can be associated to the speci-
fic fracture energy GF [13]. Several studies have shown that the FPZ
size is defined by AE events localization as the area into which 95%
of total AE energy is released [14,23]. The AE events distribution
histogram measured as a horizontal events projection occurring
at the post-peak softening is used to define the FPZ length along
the ligament length [15].
2. Materials and methods
ð1Þ 2.1. Concrete composition
Two component (polymer and water-based catalyst) polyur-
ethane agent is encapsulated into a pair of hollow tubes 75 mm
long. In contact with air, the released agent polymerizes in less
than 24 h and expansive foam is developed. The foam has high ten-
sile strength and elastically deforms as the crack reopens [7,8]. The
agent fills the crack void, seals the damaged area and provides
mechanical continuum.
Thin borosilicate glass tubes are cost-effective, break in time (as
the crack forms) but suffer from debonding effects at the concrete-
glass interphase [4]. To overcome this issue, thicker (greater thick-
ness, same internal diameter) glass and thin cementitious-based
tubes are considered. The cementitious tubes perform better when
used in concrete since the interfacial bonding is great due to mate-
rials compatibility (both same cementitious nature). The capsules
design is summarized in Fig. 2b. The capsules number (7, 4, 5 in
Thin Glass, Thick Glass, Cement series respectively) varies to
ensure that the capsules always carry the same volume of agent
(sufficient to fill up the void when the crack opening is up to
0.3 mm).
Normal strength concrete with water/cement/sand mass ratio
of 1/2.07/4.28 was chosen. The maximum aggregate size was
13 mm. Before casting, the capsules were filled up with agent,
sealed and placed at the bottom of the mould where the tensile
zone is developed in concrete under bending loads. The capsules
were attached to the wooden mould supported by low in stiffness
plastic wires (Fig. 2a). Then concrete was cast and consequently
vibrated. The absence of reinforcement guarantees pure crack
opening phenomena under bending. One day after casting the
ð2Þ
hardened concrete samples were removed from the mould and
placed in water for 13 days. The samples were tested under
three-point bending the 14th day after casting (as concrete
strength was sufficiently gained).
2.2. Test procedure
The sample dimensions are chosen according to the Rilem TC
50-FMC recommendation report [12]. Prismatic beams 840 mm
long, 100 mm wide and 100 mm high are prepared and schemati-
cally presented in Fig. 2c. A notch is formed at the bottom of the
sample by a Teflon strip. The notch is created at the middle section
and its presence is compulsory in order to induce crack formation
at the middle of the beam. The notch covers the width of the beam
and its cross-section is 3 mm wide and 10 mm high.
A Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) device is posi-
tioned over the notch to provide a precise display of the crack
opening. Prior to testing, the CMOD gauge is calibrated on
10.00 mm amplitude. The concrete beam is loaded under deflec-
tion control (rate 0.04 mm/min) up to crack opening of 0.3 mm.
Based on TC 50-FMC protocol, the fracture energy GF is given by
the equation:
W O þ mgdo
GF ¼ ð3Þ
Alig
where the symbols stand for:
Wo = area under the load-deflection envelope (Nm)
m = weight of sample (kg)
 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433 427

a) b)

c)

AE transducer
Y

X Z

Magnetic holder

AE preamplifier

Fig. 2. a) Capsules embedded into the concrete mould. Picture taken during casting; b) Capsules design; c) Concrete beam tested under three-point bending. The sensors are
attached and fixed using magnetic holders.

Table 1
g = acceleration due to gravity (9,81 m/s2) AE transducers position (coordinate system set in Fig. 2c).
do = maximum deflection (mm) # Transducer X (mm) Y (mm) Z (mm)
Alig = projection of the fracture zone on a plane perpendicular to
1 345 25 0
the beam axis (90 mm  100 mm). 2 335 75 0
3 450 50 0
Furthermore, the areas under the bilinear curve are measured 4 445 0 25
by means of triangles covering the area under the loading envel- 5 355 0 75
6 335 50 100
ope (shown in Fig. 1). Empirical fracture studies show that the
7 465 75 100
first and the second triangle are equivalent to the energy absorp- 8 475 25 100
tion corresponding to crack formation till the top (back bound-
ary) of the beam and crack widening till final failure
respectively [11]. The fracture energy is measured for the follow-
2.3. Acoustic Emission (AE) and Digital Image Correlation (DIC)
ing cases:

Eight AE resonant transducers are attached on the concrete sur-

- reference beams in which capsules are not added;
face by means of Vaseline coupling and magnetic holders (Fig. 2c).
- beams carrying thin glass capsules;
The transducers are positioned surrounding the middle pre-
- beams carrying thick glass capsules;
cracked section (Table 1, coordinate system: X horizontal axis, Y
- beams carrying capsules cast in cement.
vertical axis, Z in depth axis as shown in Fig. 2c).
428 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433
AE-win software captures the hits emitted and stores the
respective wave features (amplitude, energy, duration, frequencies,
rise time, etc.). Additionally, the damage source is localized in
space (x, y, z; in mm) and time (t; in sec) based on triangulation
method (at least four AE hits arrival times are required to locate
in 3D space and in time an AE event) and considering as a priori
input the wave propagation velocity (3500 m/s) [21].
In parallel, a pair of high resolution cameras are placed horizon-
tally at a tripod facing the beam’s side in angle 30°. The cameras
capture images of an area that is covered with black and white ran-
domly introduced speckle pattern. The DIC set-up builds up a
stereovision system of view of the painted concrete surface [27].
The cameras capture pairs of images periodically (every 2 s) during
testing. VIC-SNAP software stores the images digitally. The VIC-3D
software provides deformation and strain profiles of the surface
(software from Correlated Solutions, Inc):
- U, V, W (in mm) deformation maps according to the coordinate
system given in Fig. 2c;
- Exx, Eyy, Exy respective plane strain maps (in %).
Lenses of 23 mm focal length are used. Artificial white light is
added to enhance the pattern contrast. DIC monitors the rectangu-
lar area (100 mm high and 40 mm long) around the pre-crack since
this is the place where cracking is expected.
3. Results
3.1. Mechanical response
In Fig. 3, representative load-crack opening plots derived from
reference and healing (carrying capsules) series are given. Addi-
tionally, in Fig. 4 and representatively for the reference case, the
DIC horizontal displacement (U) and strain (Exx) maps covering
the middle zone surrounding the pre-notch are presented at dis-
crete loading points (points A to G given at the load-crack opening
drawing). It is shown that in all cases, concrete elastically responds
until almost the peak of load (pre-peak stage). This part of the test
is fully controlled by matrix mechanical response, identical to all
cases (Fig. 3).
The crack is generated at the pre-cracked region at the bottom
of the beam (Fig. 4, point C). As the peak load is reached, a unique
crack forms potentially triggering the capsules to rupture (Fig. 4,
point D). The unique crack propagates progressively and in stable
mode along the beam’s height. The ultimate load is almost the
same for all cases, while slightly higher and lower load is obtained
in the Thick Glass and Cementitious series respectively (Fig. 3).
At the post-peak stage, strain softening occurs: stress decreases
as the crack widens. According to the theoretical model mentioned
above, the transition knee indicates the end of crack formation
(Fig. 4, point E). Beyond that point, the crack only widens (beyond
Fig. 3. Load-crack opening (w) curve of reference (no capsules), thin glass, thick glass and cementitious capsules series.
point F, Fig. 4). The transition knee is less distinct at the healing
cases due to the capsules contribution to toughness. On the
instances when capsules rupture, the load drops building up sev-
eral knees on the loading graph (marked with red dots in Fig. 3).
Acoustic Emission and Digital Image Correlation analyses per-
formed in previous studies extensively investigate the capsule rup-
ture phenomena [7,28]. The greatest load jumps are shown in the
Thick Glass capsule series, while the phenomenon is almost negli-
gible in the Cement capsules case. The latter can be attributed to
the interfacial bonding between the capsules and the matrix: the
cementitious capsules develop great adhesion to the concrete
matrix since both materials have common nature. In contrast,
smooth glass surfaces cannot adhere well to concrete and as result
easily detach from concrete [4]. Summarizing the observations
based on the mechanical response and the DIC crack evolution
maps, there is a clear influence of capsules on the strain softening
behaviour of concrete.
3.2. Fracture energy
Based on the fictitious model, the post-peak stage is analysed
further and represented by bilinear fitting at which the knee point
defines the transition from crack propagation to crack widening
stage. The two parts of this bilinear fitting are schematically pre-
sented with triangle shapes covering the area under the post peak
r-w curve in Fig. 5a and b for the Reference and the Thin Glass
Capsules series respectively. The thin glass capsule case is repre-
sentatively discussed in this section since it is up to date the most
popular healing encapsulation solution.
The reference sample response fits well to the bilinear post-
peak model. In the glass capsules series and at the load peak, there
is a part of the loading graph that cannot fit into the bilinear model
and is schematically presented by a box coloured in horizontal
stripes. Furthermore, the first triangle of the bilinear fitting is big-
ger in size than the second one. This is due to capsules rupture
(verified by load jumps and AE energy analysis [28]) that act locally
as reinforcement, increase the toughness of the material and there-
fore enhance the material resistance to crack propagation.
Quantitatively, the fracture energy (GF) measured according to
Rilem TC 50-FMC protocol is given in Table 2. It is measured that
the fracture energy increases in the presence of capsules and gets
significantly greater when thin glass or cementitious capsules are
used.
3.3. Fracture process zone size
The FPZ size is measured using Acoustic Emission events local-
ization analysis. Fig. 6 demonstrates the total number of AE events
projected on a plane view of the beam side. Representative sam-
ples from the reference (Fig. 6a) and thin glass capsules (Fig. 6b)
series are chosen for this analysis. An overview of findings that
 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433
Fig. 4. DIC horizontal deformation (U) and strain (Exx) maps visualising the zone surrounding the pre-crack. Representatively, the reference case is shown. Discrete loading
points A to G are marked on the load-w graph.
Fig. 5. The post-peak load-crack opening response of a) Reference; b) Thin Glass capsule series. The bilinear fitting is schematically presented considering two triangles
highlighted with stripe lines.
Table 2
Average and standard deviation values of fracture energy (GF).
Series Samples N GF (N/m)
Reference 6 134 ± 22
Thin glass 6 181 ± 28
Thick glass 3 156 ± 15
Cement 3 175 ± 23
cover the other capsule series are enlisted in Table 3. The events
are sorted in ascending order based on their corresponding energy
value. The 95% of events population are considered eliminating the
5% of events standing at the lowest energy range [14]. The crack
cannot be visually detected, but the FPZ surrounding the crack is
defined by the distribution of the localized AE events. The DIC
strain map (Fig. 6) is projected below the AE localization map to
indicate the position of the macro-crack but also to highlight the
agreement between DIC and AE. As expected, the majority of
events is concentrated at the zone above the pre-crack. The num-
ber of events progressively decreases from the middle height
towards the beam upper side reaching the back boundary (beam
top).
In a step further, the AE events distribution is projected along
the sample length and height in the histograms presented in Figs. 7
429
and 8. The first observation obtained from events analysis is that
the total number of events significantly increases in the presence
of capsules (see Table 3).
The events distribution plots are given for reference and glass
capsules cases in Fig. 7a. The mean and standard deviation is mea-
sured 381 ± 21.5 mm and 394.3 ± 34.2 mm for the events popula-
tion in reference and glass capsules series respectively. The zone
carrying 68% of the events population is highlighted. For compar-
ison purposes, the theory of Haidar is considered as well according
to which the FPZ is defined by eliminating the 20% of the events
population [29]: the FPZ length is calculated 55 and 70 mm for ref-
erence and glass capsules case respectively.
Comparing these distributions, one observes that the events are
wider distributed along the length of the sample indicating that
the FPZ is enlarged. This can be attributed to the fact that the crack
propagates through the concrete but its path is influenced by the
capsules. In micro-scale, capsules stand as boundaries into con-
crete introducing interfacial layers that break the homogeneity of
concrete material.
Capsules may have the size of aggregates but their bonding to
concrete is significantly weaker: capsules are not mixed and
homogenized with the other concrete components. As a result,
the capsules may attract stress concentrations and trigger debond-
ing on concrete-capsule interface. Potentially debonding occurs
430 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433

Fig. 6. Concrete beam side view at which AE events are projected: a) Reference; b) Thin glass capsules series.

Table 3 that the crack evolution is affected by the presence of the capsules.
Events X position (mean ± standard deviation) and FPZ length. The unique crack of the reference case is in this case replaced by a
Series Events X position (mm) FPZ length (mm) series of microcracks that search for the most energy efficient way
Reference 381 ± 21.5 55
to cross the capsules leading to stress redistribution and extension
Thin Glass capsules 394 ± 34.2 70 of the fracture process zone. Finally, one of the micro-crack
Thick glass capsules 412 ± 29 60 branches passes through the capsule. The capsule is ruptured, the
Cementtious capsules 388 ± 25 62 stresses are redistributed and a unique macro-crack propagates
further higher along the ligament length. Beyond the first layer
of capsules, the crack propagates as in the reference case until
along the whole length of the capsule introducing microcracks and the next level of capsules is reached. This local resistance to
shear deformation along the the FPZ length. fracture build up around the capsules at different heights is the
DIC strain analysis verifies this supposition. As shown in Fig. 7b mechanism behind the fracture toughness enhancement and the
and the Exx strain distribution at the peak of load, there exist sev- fracture process zone enlargement. DIC strain maps provide a qual-
eral crack branches standing between the pre-crack and the cap- itative view of strains concentration around the capsules. The AE
sule (drawn with a black rectangular bar shape). DIC indicates ligament length events projection quantifies this change in fracture

a)
250 68% events

200
At load-peak
Events population

150

Thin glass capsules

100

Reference
50
End of test

(no capsules)

0
300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500
Beam length (mm)
Exx (%)
Capsules position 0 0.1 0.2

Fig. 7. a) The AE events distribution projected along the beam length (focus at the middle zone, where 400 mm stand for the middle pre-cracked section); b) DIC strain maps
at the load peak and at the end of test.
 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433
150
120
Events population
90
60
30
0
0 10 20
Fig. 8. AE events distribution projected along the ligament length: a) reference; b) glass capsules series.
process due to capsules. As shown in Fig. 8, the events population
derived from the reference sample is almost stabilized for a certain
distance and progressively degrades at the upper side reaching the
top boundary (top of the beam). This is not the case for the sample
carrying the capsules at which the events distribution has one peak
just below the first layer of glass capsules and a second peak above
the second layer of capsules. The fact that the second events peak
stands further from the second layer of capsules indicates the
presence of localization accuracy errors attributed to wave
scattering and distortion effects due to cracking saturated areas
(extensively discussed in [30]). In both cases Eq. (2) (see Sec-
tion 1.2) is verified with the FPZ being much smaller than the liga-
ment length.
3.4. AE energy distribution
One should examine if the increase of toughness due to capsules
is not accompanied by early instant collapse of concrete as the cap-
sules are ruptured. In this direction, AE energy distribution at the
post-peak loading stage is measured and the cumulative distribu-
tion is given in Fig. 9. It is shown that the reference sample devel-
ops progressive increase of AE absolute energy interrupted by few
jump points at which the energy instantly increases. It is expected
that in the absence of reinforcement and capsules, a crack in con-
Fig. 9. AE absolute energy cumulative distribution at the post-peak loading stage for the reference (in grey) and glass capsules series (in red). (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
431
Capsules position
Thin glass capsules
Reference
(no capsules)
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Beam height (mm)
crete propagates in discrete steps. Despite this generally the strain
softening dominates at the post-peak stage.
The AE absolute energy distribution of the glass capsule series
carries numerous but lower in magnitude energy jumps. AE local-
ization proves that jumps in energy occur each time that a capsule
is ruptured [28]. These jumps seem almost equal in size through-
out the post-peak loading stage. In other words, damage accumu-
lation does not lead to higher jumps that can be indicative of
unstable crack evolution.
A last remark should be noted regarding the amount of AE
absolute energy. Energy values are given in red and grey at
the axes at the right of the graph for the capsules and reference
series respectively (Fig. 9). Energy emitted in capsules series is
two scales of magnitude higher than the reference case. This
observation agrees with the fracture energy measurements: the
energy emitted during fracture of the sample increases in the
presence of capsules.
The great difference in AE energy values can be attributed to
micro-scale phenomena such as capsule rupture and debonding/
slippage. AE is quite efficient and sensitive on detecting microfrac-
ture compared to fracture theory models designed assuming a
homogenized concrete composition. It is therefore recommended
that fracture mechanics calculations are accompanied by continu-
ous monitoring using advanced experimental techniques sensitive
AE Absolute Energy (aJ)
Load (kN)
432 E. Tsangouri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 424–433
to micro-fracture. In this direction, this study has shown that AE
appears a first promising candidate.
As a last comment and concerning the theory of inner/outer
fracture process zones of [14], one can correlate the AE energy
dominant increase to the internal morphology of the FPZ. Applying
the model of [14] it is concluded that the outer FPZ is expanded
carrying greater number and more severe micro-cracks that emit
significant amount of AE energy. On the contrary, the inner FPZ size
does not vary in the presence of capsules since the fracture energy
is invariable [14,15].
4. Discussion-Conclusion
4.1. The beneficial contribution of capsules to the toughness of
concrete
The effect of encapsulated healing systems on the fracture
toughness of concrete is evaluated considering the bending
response of small-scale and pre-notched concrete beams. Based
on Rilem TC 50-FMC protocol, the fracture energy is measured
in the reference case (no capsules are embedded into concrete)
and in the cases that thin/thick glass and cementitious capsules
are used. AE is applied as a monitoring method that aims to shed
light on the micro-level fracture process. AE events localization is
used to measure the size of fracture process zone in concrete. The
crack evolution is visualized using Digital Image Correlation
deformation and strain maps. It is concluded that the capsules
act beneficially on the loading response and contribute as local
reinforcement in concrete enhancing its resistance to damage.
Apparently, the autonomous healing design, not only provides
autonomous repair of cracks (by means of healing agent release
and sealing of the open cracks [5]), but also improves concrete
response to cracking. The latter observation contributes to the
establishment of the breakthrough autonomous healing technol-
ogy. This study proves that capsules embedment into concrete
has no detrimental effect on the concrete performance. On the
other hand, in all capsules series fracture energy, AE activity
and total AE energy are greater than the respective ones of the
reference series. This statement comes in contradiction to the
analyses previously done on concrete samples carrying super-
absorbent polymers [31,32] or bacteria [33] that aim to provide
additional autogenous healing. The design of autogenous healing
systems needs to consider potential detrimental effect of addi-
tives on concrete strength and research is focused on additives
that with the minimum volume can provide crack repair.
4.2. Multi-scale integrated fracture analysis
Measuring the size of the FPZ has proven that the area that is
affected by the crack propagation is enlarged in the presence of
capsules. The FPZ size is controlled by the concrete mechanical
behavior but also the length of the embedded capsules. The cap-
sules used in this study are 75 mm long and subsequent FPZ zone
is at least 180 mm long, enlarged by at least 50% compared to ref-
erence case. Enlargement of fracture process zone can be only ben-
eficial to the concrete toughness since it can be indicative of strain
redistribution that enhances the strain softening behavior at the
post-peak stage.
It is also shown that the embedment of capsules with micro
dimensions (thin glass capsules have a thickness of 175 lm) have
a significant effect on macro-fracture processes. There is extensive
literature discussing the effect of aggregates dimensions on FPZ
and fracture energy of concrete [1,14,34]. This is one of the first
studies that assess capsules performance as supplementaries that
provide both toughness increase and can be carriers of healing
agent material that provide autonomous crack repair at damaged
state [35].
4.3. Future perspective
At a next step, the influence of long capsules on fracture pro-
cesses of concrete that develops multiple cracks should be studied.
The latter is of utmost importance since the most promising self-
healing system design considers numerous long capsules embed-
ded into concrete forming three-dimensional vascular capsules
networks [8,36]. In this direction, the outcome of the present work
contributes as a calibration methodology towards the development
of a fracture measurement tool for complex self-healing concrete
systems.
In parallel to experimental studies, the effect of the capsules on
material performance is recently assessed using numerical simula-
tions [37]. Future numerical models should focus on the bonding
conditions between concrete and capsules and clarify the condi-
tions under which a capsule is ruptured. The cooperative numerical
work should verify potential capsules slippage and the moment
that debonding occurs.
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
Acknowledgements
Financial support from the Strategic Initiative Materials-Flan-
ders (Engineered Self-Healing materials (SHE)-project SECEMIN)
is gratefully acknowledged. Eleni Tsangouri is a postdoctoral fellow
of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO, project number 28976)
and acknowledges its support.
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