Abstract
This study proposed a method of applying coating on uncracked surfaces of test specimens in the electrical migration–diffusion test for the evaluation of the chloride penetration resistance of cracked cement-based composites. It was shown that, by applying the proposed method, the recovery of the chloride penetration resistance from self-healing of cracks can be evaluated more accurately because the application of surface coating reduces the test time and the error introduced by over-simplification. Based on observations of the self-healing-induced recovery of chloride penetration resistance, a phenomenological model for predicting the progress of crack self-healing in cement-based composites was suggested. This model is expected to evaluate the chloride penetration resistance more accurately in actual concrete structures with cracks.
Highlights
Concrete is a construction material with very high durability and excellent mechanical properties but is vulnerable to the formation of cracks owing to various physicochemical actions
Concrete is essentially capable of naturally healing cracks; when moisture is supplied through a crack, it will heal through the hydration of unhydrated cement and the carbonation of calcium hydroxide via a process known as natural healing [5]
This study proposed a method of applying coating on uncracked surfaces of test specimens in the electrical migration-diffusion test to improve the evaluation of the recovery of chloride penetration resistance from the self-healing of cracks in cement-based composites
Summary
Concrete is a construction material with very high durability and excellent mechanical properties but is vulnerable to the formation of cracks owing to various physicochemical actions. Concrete is essentially capable of naturally healing cracks; when moisture is supplied through a crack, it will heal through the hydration of unhydrated cement and the carbonation of calcium hydroxide via a process known as natural healing [5]. This process, will only heal very fine cracks [6,7]. They absorb the water that comes through the crack and expand to physically block the crack They are known to further improve healing performance by accelerating the hydration of unhydrated cement through the slow discharge of absorbed water [21,22,23]. Bacteria spores and nutrients dissolve into water that are infiltrated through cracks and the spores subsequently initiate metabolic activity [24,25]
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