Numerical assessment of concrete's self-healing potential for promoting durability

摘要

Transport of harmful substances through pore space of concrete can give rise to the deterioration of concrete structure or to the corrosion of steel reinforcement. Internal and external influences will additionally lead to the formation of myriads of tiny cracks in the virgin state. These cracks can have detrimental impact on concrete durability. Cement particle nuclei left unhydrated in concrete after complete maturation can provide under favourable conditions self-healing capability to microcracked concrete. Basically, the self-healing capability can be expected depending on the amount of unhydrated cement, however, also on the number and spacing of the nuclei of unhydrated particles. Therefore, the concurrent algorithm-based computer simulation system with the acronym SPACE has been employed. The impact of principal design parameters of concrete (cement fineness, water to cement ratio) on maximum healable microcrack opening is emphasised in this paper.