DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL

ENGINEERING

Year 2017
Self Healing Concrete
Bacterial Concrete
Concrete is a vital building material for construction.
It is also a very brittle material expected to crack with
time.
Leading to corrosion. So heightens maintenance costs.
Self-healing concrete heals concrete crack , hence
extended service life.
Self-healing concrete(SHE) consists bacteria
incorporated into the concrete.
Cracks with widths range .05 to 1mm observed
completely sealed under dry/wet condition.
Potentially cheaper and more sustainable
Beneficial for both economy and environment.
 Preparation of bacterial
concrete
1.Direct application:

Bacteria and calcium lactate are directly added to

concrete while mixing.

2. Encapsulation of lwa:

Part of CA is replaced by LWA filled with twice

Calcium lactate and Bacteria (Approx. 6% healing agent)

And the concrete is mixed.

The concrete is mixed with bacteria called Bacillus
Pseudofirmus or Sporosarcina Pasteurii.

It is also mixed with an organic nutrient called calcium

lactate.
Can lie dormant for up to 200 years.

After it cracks , the water gets into the concrete ,

activating bacteria inside.

The bacteria then stats producing limestone to fill in

crack naturally.
 So the cracks are now sealed with limestone .
The cracks are fixed in only 3 weeks.
 APPLICATION
CaCO3 For Strength Improvement:

Increase of 28 day comp. strength with 9 to 25% when

mixed with bacterial cells into mortar or concrete.

Development of a liquid to fix cracks in convention

concrete , contains same bacteria.

Protection of bridges, roads, tunnels & conc. Structure

 Advantages & disadvantages
Advantages:
Incorporation of the agent is relatively cheap as well
as easy.

Helps in reduced maintenance and repair costs RCC.

Corrosion of reinforcement can be reduced (Bacteria

feeds o2)

Formation of crack will be healed in the initial stage

itself , increased service life.
Better resistance towards Freeze Thaw attack (reduced
permeability so freezing reduces)

Disadvantages:
Cost of SHE is double than conventional conc.(Dr. Henk
Jonker 2011)

Growth of Bacteria is not good in any atm. and media.

Design of mix conc. with bacteria , there is no

available any IS code or any other code.

Investigation of calcite precipitation is costly study.

 References
Wikkipidia

Google
•Antonopoulou, S. Self healing in ECC materials with high content of different microfibers
and micro particles, MSc Thesis, Delft University of Technology, 2009.

•Jonkers, HM & Schlangen, E. (2009a). Bacteria-based self healing concrete. International

journal of restoration of buildings and monuments, 15(4), 255-265

Jonkers, HM, Thijssen, A, Muijzer, G, Copuroglu, O & Schlangen, E. (2009b). Application

of bacteria as selfhealing agent for the development of sustainable concrete. Ecological
engineering, 1-6