Autogenous Self-Healing Capacity of Early-Age Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

This paper analyzes the autogenous self-healing capacity of early-age Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced concretes (UHPFRCs) by measuring the crack closure and the possible mechanical recovery on healed specimens. The main parameters considered in this research were the healing exposure conditions (humidity chamber, immersion in tap water, immersion in seawater and heat curing) and the precracking levels (microcracks and macrocracks). For the microcrack level, four-point bending tests were performed on prismatic specimens (100 x 100 x 500 mm(3)) obtaining a multiple cracking pattern characterized by crack widths ranged from 10 to 20 mu m. Whereas for the macrocrack level (behavior after crack localization), splitting tests were carried out on notched cubic specimens (100 x 100 x 100 mm(3)) obtaining crack widths of up to 0.4 mm. For both precracking levels, specimens were precracked at two days and were cured for one month in the mentioned exposure conditions. Healing products were analyzed on the specimen surface and also inside the cracks; to this purpose, their microstructure was analyzed by means of SEM and EDS analyses. The results have shown that the highest crack closure values were obtained for the heat-cured specimens and for the specimens immersed in water (tap water and seawater) whereas the less efficient condition was the humidity chamber.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the autogenous self-healing capacity of early-age UHPFRCs and finds that the highest crack closure values were obtained for the heat-cured specimens and for the specimens immersed in water, while the less efficient condition was the humidity chamber.