Structure Analysis of Microbe-Repaired Concrete Using Scanning Electron Micrographs

Abstract

As one of the most popular materials used in construction, concrete is prone to superficial flaws, such as crack, due to the load-bearing and external environment. This research manually made cracks of 2 mm with 100 mm length and 30 mm depth on concrete vessels as specimens. Subsequently, bacteria, specifically B. pasteurii, was used in crack rehabilitation to enhance the compression strength of the repaired concrete. The mixture of microbes, urea medium, and urea-CaCl2 medium was added to a sludge and fine aggregate with a weight ratio of 0.6:1:1 to be the repairing material for crack rehabilitation. Crack rehabilitation was conducted by injected the mixture into the test samples after 90 days curing in saturated lime solution. In addition to the traditional test – compression test, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the structure composition of the microbe-repaired concrete for calcium carbonate crystal formation. Various rectangular and polygonal crystals were observed in the SEM photographs of the microbe-repaired concrete samples with high bacterial concentrations demonstrated that bacteria can induce calcium carbonate precipitation to complete crack rehabilitation. The results prove that high concentration of bacterial broth induced a great amount of calcium carbonate precipitate and improved the concrete strength of the microbe-repaired samples.