Theoretical estimation of the elastic moduli of self-healing concrete relevant to the evolution of cracks closing due to crystallization- and precipitation-based mechanism

Abstract

A micromechanical model is presented to simulate the physical configuration of self-healing process of concrete due to the mechanism of crystallization and precipitation based on the double inclusion method, by which the homogenized mechanical properties are estimated. The effect of the number of cracks healed and the mechanical nature of healing components are investigated under varying conditions of healing. The results show that 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm are critical crack widths for abruptly change of the recovered modulus for the same age of healing. The moisture supply has a greater effect than temperature on the healing, particularly at higher temperatures. For narrow cracks (e < 0.1), the recovered mechanical properties solely depend on whether the crack faces are attached by healing, irrespective of the moduli of the healing components. However, the mechanical nature of the healing components has a more significant effect on healing of wider cracks. Finally, the experimental results validate the theoretical calculations.