Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Non-destructive methods to evaluate the self-healing behavior of

engineered cementitious composites (ECC)
Yu Zhu a,d, Zhaocai Zhang a,⇑, Xu Chen b,⇑, Dinghua Zou a, Xuemao Guan a, Biqin Dong c
a
School of Material Science and Technology, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China
b
School of Civil Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Durability for Marine Civil Engineering, The Key Laboratory on Durability of Civil Engineering in
Shenzhen, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
d
State Key Laboratory of Green Building Materials, China Building Materials Academy, Beijing, China

h i g h l i g h t s

EIS is a usefully non-destructive tool to study the self-healing behavior of ECC.

Equivalent circuit model is used to interpret the self-healing of cracks.

Electrochemical parameters (R1 and R2) of EIS can reflect the change in of self-healing process.

EIS has a good agreement with the results of the ultrasonic measurement and sorptivity test.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Research on the self-healing ability of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) with excellent strain
Received 22 September 2018 tensile and multi-cracking capacity is a hot topic. In the paper, both non-destructive methods and
Received in revised form 19 April 2019 destructive method are employed to trace the self-healing process of ECC in wet-dry cycles, which are
Accepted 16 August 2019
ultrasonic measurement, sorptivity test and electrochemical test and direct tensile test, respectively.
The ultrasonic speed, sorptivity coefficient and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) show that
the first five wet-dry cycles have obvious effect on self-healing of ECC. Moreover, EIS has a good agree-
Keywords:
ment with the results of ultrasonic speed, sorptivity coefficient. Additionally, the self-healed cracks are
Engineered cementitious composites
Cracks
filled with the abundant white substances along the crack, which are calcium carbonate and calcium
Self-healing hydroxide. In the predictable future, the non-destructive methods, especially EIS, could be used to mon-
Impedance spectroscopy itor the working status of ECC in harsh environments and prolong the service life in civil engineering.
Non-destructive method Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Engineered cementitious composites (ECC) as a kind of high
performance fiber reinforced cement-based composites, have
excellent strain hardening behavior under tension and multi-
crack capacities. The tensile strain capacity of ECC is 300 times
higher than an ordinary concrete [1]. In the past twenty years, lots
of researchers have done extensive investigation about the effect of
ingredients on the tensile properties of ECC, the interface between
fiber and matrix, and the micro-mechanism of design ECC and so
on [2–4].
⇑ Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: zhangzhaocai@hpu.edu.cn (Z. Zhang), chenxu@hpu.edu.cn
(X. Chen).
The previous references show that even if cracks present in the
civil engineering, ECC still have good coordination with the struc-
ture, and offer promise in significantly extending the life of the
material by autonomically healing the micro-cracks whenever
and wherever they develop [5,6]. When the tensile strain capacity
of ECC is more than 3%, the tight crack width of up 60 lm is main-
tained up to the failure [1]. The establishment of self-healing can
improve the long-term ductility and durability of ECC after crack-
ing, and establish a much more durable civil engineering material
subjected to various environmental conditions. Yang have investi-
gated the effect of wet-dry cycles and temperature on the autoge-
nous healing of ECC, indicating that the tensile strain capacity after
self-healing recovers close to 100% that of virgin specimens with-
out any damage and the temperature leads to increase the ultimate
strength of self-healed ECC [7]. The self-healing properties of ECC
has proved to be effected by curing condition and pre-cracking

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116753
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
2 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753

time [8]. The self-healing products have been analyzed by SEM to

verify the self-healing in preloaded ECC [6]. Meanwhile, the cracks
of ECC can be self-healed in freeze-thaw cycles [9]. In the above
reference, not only destructive method, but also non-destructive
method are employed to study the self-healing behavior of pre-
cracked ECC, such as direct tensile test, four-point bending test,
ultrasonic pulse measurement, sorptivity test, penetration test
and so on. The self-healing degree and mechanical recovery can
be effectively evaluated by the above methods which are also used
to compare the properties among the precracked ECC, self-healing
ECC and virgin ECC without damage. Recently, the resistivity meter
has been used to analyze the electrical behavior of cementitious
composites, indicating that the measured impedance can sensi-
tively response to single crack and crack width [10]. Therefore, in Fig. 1. Specimen geometry (dimension in mm).
this paper, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is
employed to monitoring the self-healing process of pre-cracked
ECC. The ECC after curing 28 days are firstly preloaded to different predetermined
In this paper, the objective is to study the self-healing behavior tensile strain levels of 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 2.5%, respectively. Table 2 displays the
average number of cracks and average residue crack width of ECC with different
by ultrasonic pulse test, sorptivity test, electrochemical test and
tensile strain capacity. Meanwhile, in order to highlight the effect of crack width
direct tensile test. The emphasis is to examine the impedance on the self-healing of ECC, the maximum crack width is also shown in Table 2. It
behavior of ECC under the wet-dry cycles, giving a special attention is noted that the crack width of a loaded crack is much larger than that of the
to the features of spectra. Changes in the resistance are monitored unloaded crack. Therefore, all crack width in this paper is measured from the
unloaded specimens after the tensile test. Finally, the pre-cracked ECC specimens
carefully as a function of wet-dry cycle regimes. A typical equiva-
are exposed to the wet-dry cycles for self-healing.
lent circuit model is developed for interpreting the changes of
impedance in the self-healing of cracks. Combination with the
2.3. Evaluated methods for ECC self-healing
destructive measurements of direct tensile test, the impedance
spectroscopy should, therefore, prove to be a usefully non- For the preloaded ECC samples exposed to the wet-dry cyclic regimes, three
destructive tool in the study of self-healing behavior in ECC. Mean- kinds of non-destructive methods, which are ultrasonic test, sorptivity test and
while, the ultrasonic measurement and sorptivity test are invited electrochemical test, are used to evaluate the self-healing capacity of cracks in
ECC. Meanwhile, in order to examine the mechanical recovery of self-healed ECC,
to study the self-healing behavior of ECC.
the direct tensile test is also employed in this paper.

2. Experimental programs 2.3.1. Ultrasonic pulse test

The experimental programs include the preparation of the preloaded speci-
mens, the direct tensile test, ultrasonic test, sorptivity test and electrochemical
impedance spectroscopy test, respectively. Five categories of preloaded strain
capacity are produced in ECC specimens, which are 0, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 2.5%,
respectively.
2.1. Wet-dry environmental condition for self-healing
In this paper, ECC specimens used for self-healing are exposed to the wet-dry
environment. The cyclic regime subjects the prepared or pre-cracked specimens
to submission in water at 20 °C for 24 h and air at 20 °C for another 24 h. The num-
ber of periodic cycles is 10 times of wet-dry regime. In this paper, the condition of
the wet-dry cycles is used to simulate a high humidity outdoor environment in
rainy days of autumn season.
2.2. Preparation for ECC specimens
The raw materials used for preparing ECC specimens include PO 42.5 cement;
I-Grade FA; microsilica with an average grain size and maximum grain size of
150 lm and 300 lm, respectively; water; polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers; and a
polycarboxylated-based high range water reducing admixture (HRWR). The mix
proportion of ECC used in this paper is listed in Table 1. The water-binder materials
ratio (W/B) is kept at 0.25. The mass fraction of fly ash replacing cement is 50% in
the mix proportion.
The mixing procedures are as follows: Firstly, before adding water, all solid
ingredients, including cement, fly ash and microsilica are mixed dry for about
2 min. Water and HRWR are mixed together and then added into the dry mixture
and mixed for another 2 min. Finally, PVA fibers are slowly added into the mortar
matrix until all fibers are uniformly distributed. The mixtures are then cast into
the irregular shaped (dog bone) molds, as shown in Fig. 1. Demolded after 24 h,
ECC are cured in standard curing room with 20 ± 2 °C and RH 90 ± 5% for 28 days.
The ultrasonic pulse test can be seen as a valid measurement of internal dam-
age/healing in cementitious materials [9]. In this paper, during the self-healing pro-
cess, the ultrasonic transmission speed of each sample is determined, as well as
after every wet-dry cycle, as displayed in Fig. 2.
2.3.2. Sorptivity (absorption) test
The sorptivity test is based on ASTM C1585 [11]. Only one surface of the spec-
imen is allowed to be in contact with water, with the depth of water between 3 and
5 mm, as shown in Fig. 3. Before absorption water test, all ECC specimens are dried
for 3 days in the drying oven at about 60 °C until constant mass. Then, the speci-
mens are partially coated by epoxy resin. The sorptivity coefficient is calculated
by the cumulative water absorption per unit area of ECC specimens up to 6 h.
2.3.3. Electrochemical test
In this paper, in order to minimize the point contact resistance resulting from
poor contacts between the electrodes and matrix, the two-point electrodes are
placed into the irregular moulds when ECC specimens are produced. The two
electrodes are made by special metal which can resist the high alkaline
environment of cementitious composites. Before and after direct tensile test, the
impedance data are collected by Parstat 2273 PowerSuite in the self-healing
process. The measurement conditions are following: The sinusoidal amplitude is
10 mV, and the frequency ranges from 10 kHz to 1 Hz. The test equipment and
connection diagram are shown in Fig. 4.
2.3.4. Direct tensile test
In order to measure the tensile strain capacity of ECC, the specimens are preload
by direct tensile test to use for self-healing and to evaluate the recovered mechan-
ical properties of self-healed ECC. In this paper, a series of direct tensile tests are
performed using a WDW-100D electronic universal testing machine. The specimens
are loaded with a constant speed of 0.2 mm/min. The loading force and elongation
are measured. The typically tensile strain-stress curves of ECC at 28 days are dis-
played in Fig. 5. The tensile strain of ECC is in the range of 1.8–3.0%.

Table 1
Mix proportion of ECC mixtures/kg/m3.

W/B Cement Fly ash Sand Water HRWR Fiber

0.25 636.0 636.0 462 318 18.0 26
 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753 3

Table 2 As shown in Fig. 6, all self-healed ECC specimens still present

Crack characteristic of preloaded ECC specimens. the strain-hardening behavior. However, the tensile strain of self-
Tensile Crack Average crack Maximum crack healed samples decrease as the preloaded strain changes from
strain/% number width/lm width/lm 1.0% to 2.5%. In addition, the first cracking strength falls below that
1.0 11 37 42 of corresponding ones without any damage. Meanwhile, the ulti-
1.5 15 43 80 mate tensile strength is also below that of the average value of
2.0 18 46 75 ECC without damage at 28 days.
2.5 19 53 130
As expected, the tensile strain capacity and first cracking
strength of the self-healed ECC with preloaded strain capacity of
1.0% can recovery as well as those in preloading curves. As the pre-
loaded tensile strain increase from 1.0% to 2.5%, the tensile strain
capacity become worse and then first cracking strength decrease
much obviously compared to that in preloading curves. For
example, as for the preload strain is 1.0%, the first crack strength
of self-healed specimens is 96% compared to the corresponding
preloading one. However, as the preload strain is 2.5%, the first
crack strength of self-healed specimens is only 65% compared to
the corresponding preloading one.

3.2. Ultrasonic pulse test

Fig. 7(a) and (b) display ultrasonic pulse velocity as a function of

Fig. 2. Ultrasonic measurement for ultrasonic velocity in ECC.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Tensile stress-strain curves of pre-cracked and self-healed ECC
Fig. 6 displays the reloading tensile stress-strain relations of
self-healed ECC after 10 times of wet-dry cycles, as well as the pre-
loaded tensile stress-strain curves of corresponding specimens,
respectively. In the Fig. 6, the permanent residual strain introduced
in the preloading stage is not accounted for the stress-strain curves
of self-healed ECC during the reloading stage, which can give a con-
servative measurement of the strain capacity of self-healed
specimens.
wet-dry cycles and preloaded tensile strain levels, respectively.
As shown in Fig. 7(a), it can be seen that the transmission speed
of the preloaded ECC specimens gradually recovers under cyclic
wet-dry conditions. Even if the ultrasonic veloctity of ECC without
damage slightly changes, however, the velocity of the preloaded
samples increases obviously in the self-healing process. After 10
cycles, the ultrasonic speed of preloaded specimens with strain
capacity of less than 2% can recovery as well as that of virgin
ECC. Generally, the transmission speed can reach the maximum
value after 4–6 wet-dry cycles, about accounting for 95% compared
to the self-healed ones after 10 cycles. Additionally, when the pre-
loaded tensile strain increase from 1.0% to 2.5%, the ultrasonic
velocity of self-healed ones decrease. Especially, after 10 cycles,
the self-healed ECC with 2.5% preloading strain has the lowest
ultrasonic pulse velocity, which indicates that the seal-healing
degree is worst among the self-healed ECC with different pre-
loaded levels.
The extent of self-healing ECC specimens is shown in Fig. 7(b).
As displayed in Fig. 7(b), when the preloaded strain is less than
1.5%, the ultrasonic speed of self-healed ECC is higher than those
with preloaded strain of 2.0% and 2.5%. Moreover, when the
preloading tensile strain increases from 1.0% to 2.5%, the recovery
of ultrasonic speed becomes lower. For example, the transmission
speed of self-healed ECC is 106%, 98%, 69% and 66% of correspond-
ing virgin specimens, respectively. Additionally, the transmission
speed of self-healed ECC is 1.29–1.42 times of preloaded ECC
before self-healing, indicating that the cracked samples can self-
heal in different degree in wet-dry cycles.

Fig. 3. Measurement of water capillary sorption.

4 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753

Electrochemical Data processing system

work station

1
2
3
4
Self-made electrodes

Noted 1 and 2 are work electrodes 3 is reference electrode 4 is counter electrode.

Fig. 4. Diagram of electrochemical impedance measurement.

ing sine wave current is measured at different frequencies. In this

6
case, the mathematic complex is used to express as follows:

5 Z ¼ Zre  i Zim
Tensile stress (MPa)

4 whereas Zre and Zim represent the real and imaginary part,
3
ECC1
ECC2
2 The impedance curve is obtained to represent the characterization
ECC3
1
ECC4
0 of the real axis and Nyquist curves in the high frequency region
0 1 2 3
Tensile strain (%)
Fig. 5. Tensile stress-strain curves of ECC at 28 days.
3.3. Sorptivity test
Sorptivity test is conducted to determine how wet-dry cyclic
condition effecting the capillary suction (absorption) preloaded
and self-healed of ECC specimens. Fig. 8 displays the relationship
between the preloaded strain and the sorptivity coefficient over
6 h in the self-healed ECC specimens after 10 wet-dry cycles. Cor-
responding sorptivity coefficient for virgin ECC specimens without
any damage is also included in the plots of Fig. 8.
As shown from Fig. 8, the sorptivity coefficient of self-healed ECC
is smaller than that of preloaded specimens without self-healing.
The sorptivity coefficient of self-healed ECCs with preloaded strain
of less than 1.5% is close to that of controlled ECC without damage,
indicating that the preloaded specimens can reach to the highly
self-healing extent and recovery as well as that of controlled one.
However, when the preloaded tensile strain is more than 1.5%, the
sorptivity coefficient of self-healed ECC is much higher than those
in self-healed ECC with preloaded strain of less than 1.5%, although
the sorptivity coefficient of the former is lower than those of corre-
sponding preloaded ECC before self-healing. The higher sorptivity
values of self-healed ECC with preloaded strain of more than 1.5%
indicate that the self-healing degree of cracking ECC is limited, due
to the serious pre-damaged degree.
3.4. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of ECC
During the EIS testing, the sine wave voltage signals are applied
to the samples. With the changes of the frequency, the correspond-
respectively.
The collection of the complex impedance measured at different
frequency is painted in the complex plane, where Zre is the real
axis, Zim is the imaginary axis, and each measured value is a point.
of the sample. Typical impedance diagram is displayed in Fig. 9(a),
named by Nyquist plot.
The key parameters of impedance R1 and R2, the intersection
4 5 and low frequency region, respectively, can be got from Nyqusit
plot. The physical meaning of R1 is the total equivalent resis-
tance of the solid and pore solution phases in parallel, which
is in positive proportion to the resistance of pore electrolyte
and inversely proportional to total porosity [12]. R2 stands for
the impedance caused by charge transfer procedure, which is
also inversely proportional to pore structure and ionic concentra-
tion in the pore solution [13]. The increase of (R1 + R2) represents
the pore gradually blocked by hydration products [14]. In this
paper, the cracks in ECC specimens can be considered as special
shape pores.
The Nyquist diagrams of ECC with preloading tensile strain of
1.0% and 2.0%, submission to wet-dry cycles are shown in Fig. 10
(a) and (b), respectively. Because the highest frequency in Parstart
2273 is 10 kHz, it is difficult to obtain the high frequency semi-
circle in this paper. Therefore, the equivalent Randles circuit as dis-
played in Fig. 9(b) is employed to calculate R1 and R2 stimulated by
ZSimpWin software, as listed in Table 2.
As shown in Fig. 10(a) and (b), compared to the virgin ECC, the
Nyquist diagram of two preloaded specimens are moved to the left.
Moreover, when the preloaded tensile strain level increases from
1.0% to 2.0%, the moving distance to the left side of x axis becomes
more obviously. Increasing the preloaded tensile strain leads to
increase the original internal pore volume, and also generate some
new pores and cracks which can be considered as special slim
pores inside cement paste matrix [15]. Since R1 and R2 are inver-
sely proportional to total porosity, area of cracks and other defects
within the samples, the value of R1 and R2 decrease with increase
of preloading tensile strain levels, which has been proved by the
stimulated results in Table 3.
In the self-healing process, as the wet-dry cycles increase
from 1st to 10th times, the Nyquist plots move to the right side
of x axis. When the preloaded tensile strain changes from 1.0% to
 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753 5

6 6

5 5

Tensile stress (MPa)

Tensile stress (MPa)

4 4

3 3

2 Pre-loading 1.0% 2 Pre-loading 1.5%

Re-loading after preloading 1.0% Re-loading after preloading 1.5%

1 1

0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Tensile strain (%) Tensile strain (%)
a) 1.0% b) 1.5%
6 6

5 5

Tensile stress (MPa)

Tensile stress (MPa)

4 4

3 3
Pre-loading 2.5%
2 Pre-loading 2.0% 2 Re-loading after preloading 2.5%
Re-loading after preloading 2.0%
1 1

0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Tensile strain (%) Tensile strain (%)
c) 2.0% d) 2.5%
Fig. 6. Tensile stress-strain curves of ECC before and after self-healing under wet-dry cycles.

4 Befroe preloading
Before self-healing
Ultrasonic pulse velocity (mm/ µs)

Afer self-healing
Transmission speed (mm/µs)

3
3

2
2
0%
1.0%
1 1
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Wet-dry cycles Preloaded tensile strain (%)
(a) Transmission speed (b) Recovery degree
Fig. 7. Self-healing process of ECC under cyclic wet-dry measured by ultrasonic method.

2.0%, the moving distance to the right side becomes small. How- ECC, which has a good agreement with the results of ultrasonic
ever, for those two ECC specimens with preloaded tensile strain test and sorptivity test in this paper. According the above results,
1.0% and 2.0%, respectively, the moving distance during the it can be concluded that electrochemical impedance spec-
firstly five cycles is more than in the other five cycles, indicating troscopy can be used to efficiently evaluate microstructure of
that the first five cycles have obvious effect on self-healing of the cementitious materials as a non-destructive method.
6 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753

30 products are calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and calcium hydroxide

10 (mm/ sec )
1/2

(Ca(OH)2).
25
4. Conclusions
Before wet-dry cycles
-4

20 After wet-dry cycles In this paper, three kinds of non-destructive methods (ultra-
sonic pulse test, sorptivity test and electrochemical test) are used
15 to monitor the self-healing process of ECC in wet-dry cyclic regime,
Sorptivity coefficient

and to analyze the self-healing degree as well as the direct tensile

test as a kind of destructive method. Based on the related experi-
10
mental results, the following conclusions can be obtained.

5 (1) The self-healed ECC specimens still present the strain-

0 can still be about 2.0%. However, when the preloaded tensile
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Preloaded tensile strain (%)
Fig. 8. Sorptivity coefficient of ECC before and after self-healing.
3.5. Self-healed cracks in ECC
The cracks in self-healed ECC with different preloaded tensile
strain levels are observed by optical microscope, as displayed in
Fig. 11(a) and (b).
As shown in Fig. 11, it can be obviously seen that there is a
kind of abundant white substance produced along the crack lines
after wet-dry cycles, when the preloaded level is 1.0%. However,
for ECC with preloaded tensile strain level of 2.0%, the cracks
can’t fill with abundantly self-healing products, as displayed in
Fig. 10(b). Further, according to the analysis results from XRD
(as displayed in Fig. 12), it is found that the self-healing
hardening behavior. The tensile strain of self-healed ECC
2.0 2.5 strain increases from 1.0% to 2.5%, the capacity of tensile
strain become worse. Meanwhile, the first cracking strength
of self-healed ECC falls below that of the corresponding vir-
gin ones without any damage. Additionally, when the pre-
load strain is 2.5%, the first crack strength of self-healed
ECC is only 65% compared to the corresponding preloading
one.
(2) The ultrasonic velocity of preloaded ECC gradually recovers
under cyclic wet-dry conditions. The ultrasonic speed of
self-healed samples becomes lower as the preloaded tensile
strain increase from 1.0% to 2.5%. However, for ECC with
strain capacity of less than 2%, the ultrasonic speed of self-
healed ECC can recovery as well as the virgin specimens.
Meanwhile, the transmission speed can reach the maximum
value after 4–6 wet-dry cycles, about accounting for 95% of
the self-healed ones.
(3) The sorptivity coefficient of self-healed ECC is smaller than
that of preloaded specimens without self-healing. The sorp-
tivity coefficient of self-healed samples with preloaded

Fig. 9. The typical Nyquist curve (a) and equivalent Randles circuit (b).

Table 3
Electrochemical parameters of impedance spectra (Unit: Ohm).

States R1 R2 R1 + R2
Preloaded tensile strain 1.0% Control 2183 5551 7734
Preload 1560 2790 4350
Self-healing 1274 5600 6874
Self-healed 2996 7257 10,253
Preloaded tensile strain 2.0% Control 3019 6317 9336
Preload 920 2630 3550
Self-healing 1164 3489 4653
Self-healed 1376 4095 5471
 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753 7

100000 100000

80000 80000

60000 60000

Zim (Ohm)
Zim (Ohm)

40000 40000

Control ECC Control ECC

20000 20000
Pre-loaded ECC 1.0% Pre-loaded ECC 2.0%
Self-healing ECC (5 cycles) Self-healing ECC (5 cycles)
0 Self-healed ECC 0 Self-healed ECC
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000
Zre (Ohm) Zre (Ohm)
(a) 1.0% (b) 2.0%
Fig. 10. Nyquist plots of ECC samples with different preloading tensile strains.

(a) Preloaded tensile strain of 1.0% (b) Preloaded tensile strain of 2.0%
Fig. 11. The cracks in self-healed ECC of by optical microscope.

(4) EIS results show that the first five cycles have obvious effect
on self-healing of ECC, which has good agreement with the
results of ultrasonic test and sorptivity test in this paper.
In the self-healing process, the value of R1 and R2 obtained
from the equivalent Randles circuit decrease with increase
of preloading tensile strain levels, due to R1 and R2 inversely
proportional to total porosity, and area of cracks. Moreover,
The generated new cracks in preloaded ECC can be self-
healed in wet-dry cycles and fill with the abundant white
substance produced along the crack, which are (CaCO3)
and Ca(OH)2 by XRD results.

Declaration of Competing Interest

Fig. 12. XRD analysis of white self-healing products.

The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest.

strain of less than 1.5% can recovery as well as the control
ECC without damage, indicating that the samples can reach
to the highly self-healing extent. The higher sorptivity val-
ues of ECC specimens with preloaded strain of 2.0% and
2.5% indicate that the self-healing degree is limited, due to
the serious pre-damaged degree.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the foundation of Natural Science
Foundation of Henan Province (182300410249), China Postdoc-
toral Science Foundation (2016M600113), the State Key Laboratory
of Green Building Materials and National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China (No. U1604117).
8 Y. Zhu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 230 (2020) 116753

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