STUDY ON SELF-HEALING PROPERTY OF CONCRETE

REPLACED WITH FLY ASH AND SILICA FUME

Abhinav1 ,Anantalakshmi V2 Prasoon Kumar3 Shashank B S4((0000-0001-5759-1831)
1,.Student Dept of Civil Engineering R V college of Engineering Bengaluru Karnataka India
abhinav.cv16@rvce.edu.in
2,.Student Dept of Civil Engineering R V college of Engineering Bengaluru Karnataka India
anantalakshmi1024@gmail.com
3,.Student Dept of Civil Engineering R V college of Engineering Bengaluru Karnataka India
prasoonkumar.cv16@rvce.edu.in
4.Assistant professor Dept of Civil Engineering R V college of Engineering Bengaluru Karnataka India
E-mail: shashankbs@rvce.edu.in Mob: 9901729657

Abstract
Concrete is the most commonly used material in the field of construction but it is not safe against the
generation of cracks and is one of the greatest weakness of concrete. Concrete is much stronger in
compression in comparrision to tension. Due to this small crack may get developed in the concrete
whenever tensile or excessive compressive force acts on the concrete. These cracks increase in size with
the passage of time and may lead to failure of the structure, so to prevent the structure from failure these
cracks should be filled so to prevent the entering of water and minerals in the concrete. These cracks can
be filled either using traditional methods or modern methods.

Traditional methods have some disadvantages in comparison to modern methods. The modern method
basically uses the bacteria to fill those cracks. Concrete which uses bacteria for purpose of healing the
cracks is called self-healing concrete. For the preparation of self-healing concrete, we add special kind
of bacteria called Bacillus subtilis along with nutrient required for the growth of bacteria. These bacteria
remain in the dormant period of more than 200 years and whenever crack get generated inside the
concrete and provides a way for water and sunlight to enter into the concrete, bacteria come out of its
dormant state and starts producing calcium carbonate which helps in the filling of the cracks.

1. INTRODUCTION:

Since concrete is weak in tension, it is reinforced with steel, cracks in concrete provide passage for water
to flow inside the concrete and may rust the steel and causes damage to a structure [3]. Many micro
cracks get developed in the concrete which is not visible and difficult to assess the location of these
crack in the concrete [1]. Inspection and maintenance of these cracks are difficult and repair techniques
are based on the chemical method which is both expensive and hazardous to the environment.

At present time there are few methods of crack filling like secondary hydration of underrated cement,
encapsulation of polymers and microbial produced calcium carbonate. In comparison with other
methods microbial produced calcium carbonate is better as calcium carbonate is more compatible with
concrete and environment-friendly [5]. Here we incorporate calcium producing bacteria in the concrete
which produce calcium carbonate while coming in contact with air and water and this precipitate heals
the crack.

1.2. About calcifying bacteria

Self-healing concrete consists of calcifying bacteria which produces an enzyme calledurease which
converts urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide.[4]

Carbon dioxide produced from the above reaction now react with the calcium hydroxide present in the
concrete to produce calcium carbonate

Above reaction is exothermic which will produce calcium carbonate along with water. Water will
evaporate and leaves calcium carbonate as solid residue which will help in healing the crack present in
the concrete

1.3. Bacteria:

Figure 1.1 Classification of bacteria

Classification:-

Bacteria used in the experiment:

1. Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis are rod-shaped bacteria which are naturally found in soil and vegetation. Bacillus
subtilis required the temperature of 25-30 degree Celsius [7]. These bacteria have developed some kind
of defence mechanism which protects them during harsh condition like starvation, high PH, etc. These
bacteria produce single endospore which can remain viable for decades. It has the cell wall which is
made up of peptidoglycan (polymer of sugar and amino acid). This cell wall protects the bacteria from
the harsh condition and can survive in the high PH of 10-12 [6]. These bacteria become popular in the
civil industry due to its calcifying nature and ability to resist high PH, since concrete has the PH in the
range of 10-12. The un-identified bacteria is procured from the curing tank of civil department of
R.V.C.E and is being cultured in the biotechnology department. This un-identified bacteria can resist
higher PH and after analysing its function with concrete, it is to be identified.

1.4.Need for study and scope for work

The traditional method of crack filling required a large amount of time and money and also it is a
cumbersome process [12]. Crack filling using traditional is limited to superstructure only not for
substructure. In the traditional method, we need to locate the crack which is quite difficult work since
the size of crackmay be so small that it can't be visible through naked eyes [15]. In the modern era, there
are many methods of crack filling and most of them are chemical based which are not good for the
environment, so there is a need to found new ways of crack filing which are both economical as well as
environment-friendly. Filling the concrete using bacteria is one of the breakthroughs in this field and a
lot of researches are going on to make it economical and effective in the field of civil industry [9].

1.5. Objective of the project:

The objective of the project is to understand the effect of bacteria and its concentration on various
properties like compressive,. on the M20 and M40 Grade concrete with fly ash and silica fume as
replacement

The compressive and tensile strength of bio-concrete is compared with normal concrete is checked using
a different concentration of cells of bacteria Bacillus subtilis found in R.V.C.E. Concentration of cells
used are (106,107,108) cells per ml.
2 METHODOLOGY

Fig:2.1 Flow chart showing methodology

The methodology is divided into three phases -:

1. Preparation of bacteria for concrete

2. To study the strength behaviour of concrete
3. The self-healing capacity of concrete

The first phase involves the procurement of bacteria, culturing of bacteria, sub culturing, preparation of
broth, and measurement of cells. In order to study the strength properties of concrete, different
specimens have cast for conduction of tests like compressive strength, flexural strength, and split tensile
strength of concrete. The third phase involves generation of cracks, measurement of cracks width,
injection of prepared broth of bacteria into cracks generated, curing after the injection of broth, and
observation of healing after month.
2.1 Culturing of bacteria

Culturing of a pure colony of bacteria is done in R.V.C.E laboratory by restricting the growth of other
bacteria in the media and which is prepared using different types of chemicals suitable for the growth of
bacteria.

Since we required media to be in solid form, agar agar nutrient was used and to get proper homogeneity
media was kept in an incubator. After incubation, the ph. of media is adjusted to the required value and
is kept for autoclaving along with a pettry plate and test tube to kill the microorganism present water.
Autoclaving was done for 45 min and during this time inside pressure will be developed and the
temperature was about 118 ℃. After 45 min, the pressure will get down within 15 min of switch off
autoclave and specimens kept in the autoclave were taken out and allowed for cooling. Liquid media
was transferred to plates and tubes in the laminar air flow.

2.2 Inoculation of bacteria

Once the media which is shown in the figure 2.1 was transferred into Petridis plates and tubes, media has
become solid because of agar content. Bacteria were inoculated with the help of inoculating needle
usually called nichrome and which is made of nickel and chromium. Initially, inoculation was done in
the laminar airflow for only one or two Petridis plates to check the growth of a pure colony of bacteria
and kept for incubation for 24 hours at the room temperature. Once the pure colony of bacteria was
obtained, sub culturing was done with the inoculation of pure colony bacteria into other Petridis plates.
From these plates, inoculation was done for test tubes and kept for incubation.

Fig. 2.1 Media of Bacillus subtilis and Un-identified bacteria

2.3 preparation of broth

For preparation of broth same nutrient is taken and except agar and broth will be in the liquid state as
agar is not added. After adding all nutrient in distilled except agar the solution was kept in the shaker
for proper mixing of nutrients and adjusted to required ph. After pH setting, the broth was sealed with a
cotton plug and which was kept for the autoclave as explained in the preparation of media. Inoculation
of bacteria was done in the laminar airflow and kept in the shaker for 24 hours or more. After, one or
two days, Bacterial growth was observed with more turbidity and growth of bacterial cells was checked
in the microscope.

2.4 Mix Design

Mix design of concrete used for preparation of self- healing is given in the table 2.1

slno Grade of Water in kgs Cement in kgs Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate in
concrete in kgs kgs
1 M20 197 394 750 1037
2 M40 180 450 625 1085

Table 2.1 Mix design

2.5 Mixing and casting of concrete specimens

All the material required for preparation of concrete is procured from nearby sources and all the field
test are conducted on them. Before adding aggregate all the equipment is oiled and then all other
materials are mixed properly and then concrete cubes are prepared which are used for testing. These
cube blocks are kept for curing and are used for testing after 28 and 56 days of curing.

2.6 Cracks generation and measurement

The first part of the project is to study the strength enhancement of concrete and the second part is to
study the healing efficiency of concrete. In order to find the healing efficiency of concrete, initially,
cracks have to be generated for a concrete cube specimen using a compression testing machine which is
shown in the fig 2.2. Here specimens were load with 50 to 60 % of their total capacity at the rate of
loading 4 kN/second. Once cracks have been generated, crack width of all specimens have measured
with the help of Brunel’s microscope which is shown in the figure 2.3.

Fig. 2.2 crack pattern on specimen

 Fig. 2.3 Brunel’s Microscope

2.7 Different tests conducted on the concrete specimens

Different tests have conducted on both fresh and hardened concrete specimens are as follows.

1. Compressive strength test

Compressive strength of concrete for different mix and different cell concentration is tabulated in
table 2.2
Table 2.2 compressive strength of concrete

56
Mix 28 Days 28 Days 56 Days 28 Days 56 Days 28 Days 56 Days
Days
Bacteria (106cells/ml) Bacteria (107cells/ml)
Without Bacteria Bacteria (105cells/ml)
10% FA
28.2 27.1 27.15 28.17 29.6 30.6 27.8 28.19
M20
M40 49.1 48.8 49.9 51.9 53.4 56.4 60.5 66.6
20% FA
26.5 26.9 25.1 27.6 28.64 29.36 29.23 30.9
M20
M40 50.1 49.8 54 53.4 55.6 57.4 63.5 67.6
10% FA +
5% SF 23.1 26.4 25.4 25.6 25.2 27.5 27.8 28.29
M20
M40 48.1 48.6 49.5 51.5 53.2 54.4 58.5 59.6
20% FA +
5% SF 29.2 30.1 32.15 33.17 32.16 33.6 34.8 35.19
M20
M40 51.1 54.8 56.9 58.9 60.4 63.5 65.5 67.8
30% FA +
5% SF 30.12 31.41 30.42 33.3 32.26 34.0 33.4 36.5
M20
M40 52.1 54.1 55.9 57.9 58.4 59.4 66.5 68.6
10% FA +
10% SF 35.2 36.1 34.15 35.37 36.6 36.6 34.8 35.19
M20
 M40 55.1 58.8 59.9 61.9 63.4 66.4 70.5 71.6
20% FA +
10% SF 29.2 30.5 25.5 26.8 29.8 30.3 27.8 28.9
M20
M40 54.1 56.8 57.9 58.9 59.4 60.4 62.5 67.6
FA: Fly Ash SF: Silica fume

3.0 CONCLUSION

Based on the several mix proportion and cell concentration experimental investigation following
conclusions can be made,

 Compressive strength for 10% Fly ash + 10% Silica fume with 107 cell concentration for M20
and M40 grade concrete increased to good amount compared to other combinations of concrete.
 There is no considerable change in tensile strength of concrete .
 Micro cracks developed are healed at very later days more than 56 days with this permeability of
concrete is decreased
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