Quantification of Self-Healing Effect of Bacillus Subtilis on Cementitious Material

Abstract

The creation of smart self-healing materials and preventativerepair techniques is required due to the growing concern for the safety and sustainability of buildings. Although the development of microcracks rarely affects a building's structural qualities, the increased permeability caused by microcrack networking poses a significant threat to the durability of concrete structures by increasing the likelihood that aggressive materials will enter the structure. This studyevaluates the self-healing capacity of bacterial concrete with that of traditional concrete. Bacterial spores and calcium lactate, a two-component biochemical agent, are released from the particle by crack ingress water upon fracture development. The self-healing agent is embedded into the cement mortar and its behavior is studied. Control and bacterial specimens are cast and the tests like compressive strength, porosity, UPV test, ESEM, EDAX are done. The results were studied for 15,30 and 45 days of healing. After 45 days submerged in water, experimental results revealed crack-healing of up to 7.6% of cracks in bacterial concrete but only up to 2.46% of cracks in control specimens.