Self-healing in cementitious materials: Materials, methods and service conditions

In this paper, mechanisms of self-healing in cementitious materials, i.e. autogenous self-healing, self-healing based on mineral admixtures, self-healing based on bacteria and self-healing based on adhesive agents, are reviewed. Literature shows that all mechanisms of self-healing are effective, to some extent, under some particular conditions. It reveals that not any particular method of self-healing is the best, but one can be the most suitable for a particular situation. For better application of self-healing concept in engineering practice, favorable situations for self-healing in cementitious materials are summarized. The required environmental conditions for each self-healing mechanism are analyzed. Additional costs for realizing self-healing in concrete structures are also-discussed. Based on the aforementioned aspects of self-healing in cementitious materials, perspectives for further research on application of self-healing in engineering practice are proposed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.