International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 10 Issue: 03 | Mar 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Review Paper on Investigating the use of Self-Healing Concrete for

Sustainable Infrastructure Development
Satyendra Patel1, Shiv Kumar2, Kartikey Paliya3, Updesh Maurya4, Er. Mohd. Shariq4
B. Tech Students Department of Civil Engineering, Axis Institute of Technology and Management, Rooma
1,2,2,4

Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

5
Head of Department, Department of Civil Engineering, Axis Institute of Technology and Management, Rooma
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

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Abstract - The importance for innovative and state-of-the-art research on a variety of self-healing
sustainable building materials has been brought to light mechanisms, including bacterially induced mineral
by the city's fast development and growing demand for precipitation and encapsulated healing agents, and
robust infrastructure. An essential part of infrastructure, assess how well they work to enhance mechanical
concrete is prone to deterioration and cracking over time, properties and support the development of sustainable
creating maintenance issues as well as environmental infrastructure. This study aims to guide future research
problems. The possibility of self-healing concrete as a attempts and help to the realization of resilient and
viable option for environmentally friendly infrastructure environmentally aware infrastructure systems by
construction is investigated in this study. The inherent offering an overview of the accomplishments and gaps in
capacity of self-healing concrete to self-heal microcracks this sector.
increases its longevity and lessens the need for regular 1.1 Objective
maintenance and repairs. The purpose of this research is
to determine whether encapsulated healing agents and The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility
mineral precipitation caused by bacteria are two and sustainability of the implementation of Self-healing
examples of self-healing processes that may be used to Concrete (SHC) as a sustainable infrastructure
extend the life and improve the mechanical characteristics development solution. The objective of the study is to
of concrete buildings. Laboratory tests are used in the examine the material properties, the durability, and the
study technique to evaluate the mechanical strength, long-term durability of SHC in a wide range of
healing effectiveness, and longevity of self-healing environmental conditions. The study will also look at the
concrete specimens in various environmental settings. In economic and environmental advantages of
addition, the viability from an economic and incorporating SHC into construction practices with the
environmental standpoint of using self-healing concrete in aim of advancing sustainable infrastructure
major building projects will be assessed. development.
Key Words: Self-Healing Concrete, Urbanization,
Resilient Infrastructure, Concrete Degradation, 1.2 Mechanism of self-healing Concrete
Cracking, Durability, Microcrack Repair
When concrete is damaged, it automatically repairs itself
1.INTRODUCTION and regains its structural integrity. Natural Self-Repair
For instance, calcium carbonate secreted by bacteria is
The need for sustainable infrastructure development is activated by water to seal fissures. Natural Self-Healing
becoming more and more apparent in light of the For instance, when honeyed cement particles interact
growing urbanization and need for long-lasting and with water, calcium silicate hydrate gel is created.
environmentally friendly building materials. An Capsules with medicinal ingredients When a capsule
essential component of contemporary infrastructure, ruptures, it can be inserted into the concrete mixture
concrete is prone to deterioration and cracking over and allowed to react with the surrounding components,
time, creating major maintenance issues as well as sealing the fissure. External Self-Repair Fiber-Reinforced
environmental problems. This review explores the Concrete Fibers stop the spread of cracks memory
emerging subject of self-healing concrete as a possible polymers in various shapes Revert to the initial state
way to overcome these obstacles. With its innate shuts crevices Vascular Structures with Incorporated
capacity to self-heal microcracks, self-healing concrete Channels Brimming with Restorative Ingredients
has enormous potential to extend the life of buildings Concrete that mends itself by allowing healing chemicals
and lessen the frequency of repairs. The goal of the to seep into fissures
paper is to thoroughly examine and summarize the

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Volume: 10 Issue: 03 | Mar 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

1.3 Bacillus Megaterium as healing Agent current investigation, Bacillus megaterium bacteria from
the Bacillus family were used at a concentration of 108
In the field of construction engineering, using Bacillus CFU. After seven and twenty-eight days of curing, a total
megaterium to create self-healing concrete is a viable of forty-eight specimens were cast and examined for
strategy. One kind of bacteria called Bacillus megaterium mechanical strength and water absorption. In
is well-known for its capacity to use metabolic processes comparison to a conventional M30 grade concrete mix,
to create calcite, or calcium carbonate. When these the test results show that after 28 days of curing, the
bacteria are added to concrete, they can stay dormant compressive, split tensile, and flexural strengths
until cracks appear. When this happens, the bacteria get improved to 12.91%, 10.28%, and 9.02%, respectively. It
activated and start to generate calcite to fill the crevices, was also discovered that the bacterial concrete had a
which allows the concrete to mend itself. lower water absorption value than the conventional
concrete mix. This is because the Bacillus megaterium
2. LITERATURE REVIEW bacteria's production of calcite precipitation causes the
concrete to fill in its fractures. Thus, by decreasing the
Poonam Ghodke et al. (2018) Concrete will always be vacancies, the Bacillus megaterium bacteria of the
an essential part of infrastructure because of its Bacillus family can be efficiently used to increase the
excellent qualities, which include easy availability, mechanical strength.[4]
affordability, strength, durability, and ease of casting.
Although it is resilient to tensile stresses and can Gaikwad, Nikhil Sanjay et al. (2021) An essential
tolerate compressive forces, it is more prone to cracking, component of the construction business is concrete. We
which shortens its lifespan and makes the concrete employ a variety of techniques, materials, and systems
structure more vulnerable. Because of temperature and to produce high-quality, long-lasting concrete. We find
humidity variations, the chance of cracking increases cracks even after taking all necessary precautions
while the concrete cures. [1] throughout the mixing, casting, and curing processes.
Concrete cracking has eventually been accepted as an
Ishraq Mohammad Ali Khattab et al. (2019) The self- inevitable occurrence. Our structure may crack for a
healing technique is the most widely used treatment for number of causes, including changes in temperature and
concrete structures in order to increase the material's the application of large weights. Cracks lengthen the
endurance. The relationship between cracks and seepage, which causes corrosion of the reinforcement
potential self-healing techniques is intricate and takes and reduces the structure's durability and life. [5]
the environment into account. The primary goal of this
study is to review the biological processes of self-healing Victor C. Li at al. (2021) In order to promote
concrete. It also includes a detailed evaluation of sustainable infrastructure, this article presents the idea
previous journal publications on the subject of of self-healing concrete, which minimizes maintenance
biological, natural, and chemical mechanisms of self- and repairs during the use phase. Self-healing must meet
healing concrete. [2] at least six robustness requirements in order to achieve
this goal: long shelf life, ubiquitous, quality, dependable,
Aishwarya S. Dagade, et al. (2021) Because of the adaptable, and repeatable. The robustness criteria are
concrete's poor tensile strength, cracks are a regular used to evaluate five general categories of self-healing
occurrence that led to the early disintegration of the approaches: chemical encapsulation, bacterial
structure due to the transportation of dangerous encapsulation, mineral admixtures, chemical in glass
elements. There are more costly ways to fill in cracks, tubing, and intrinsic healing with self-controlled tight
including as gravity filling, epoxy injection, routing and crack width. [6]
sealing of cracks, drilling and plugging, and dry packing.
Therefore, self-healing concrete is the ideal crack-filling Mugahed Amran et al. (MDPI 2022) Despite its
material in terms of sustainable development. A more propensity for fracture development, concrete is a
recent development in concrete technology is microbial material that is frequently utilized in the building
concrete [3] industry because of its affordability and accessibility. As
a result, there has been a sharp increase in interest in
Arun Kumar Parashar et al. (2021) When cement self-healing materials, especially those with the ability to
concrete is subjected to significant shrinkage and repair in green and sustainable concrete materials. Over
settling, the existence of voids in the material may cause the past 20 years, numerous researchers have presented
a decrease in performance. This study concentrated on various approaches to this problem. But selecting the
using bacteria to decrease concrete voids and increase best strategy is challenging since every research
performance. It was discovered that the Bacillus family organization uses a different set of tests to determine
of bacteria were the concrete's greatest healers. In the how well healing occurs. Self-healing concrete (SHC) has
the ability to mend itself, reducing the need for outside

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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 10 Issue: 03 | Mar 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

assistance in identifying and fixing internal damage

STORE OF CREAKED CONCRETE
(such as cracks). [7]
FOR SELF HEALING
Ismael Justo Reinoso et al. (2023) The environmental
impact of bacteria-based self-healing concretes
(BBSHCs), in which non-uratolytic bacterial endospores
CONCLUSION
are encased in porous calcium silicate granules, is
assessed in this work using life cycle assessment (LCA).
Results show that 1 m3 of BBSHC has an overall
environmental effect that is 85% higher than that of 4. CONCLUSION
similar conventional concrete. This is mainly because to
the presence of polyvinyl acetate and calcium nitrate. In general, research into the application of self-healing
Moreover, BBSHC has a 51% bigger water footprint (260 concrete for sustainable infrastructure has the potential
L) and a 36% larger embodied carbon footprint (120 kg to completely transform the way we plan, construct, and
CO2 eq).However, depending on the impact category, maintain infrastructure, making the built environment
sustainability improvements ranging from 12% to 50% more robust, effective, and ecologically friendly for
can be achieved by strategically incorporating BBSHC in coming generations.
particular areas of reinforced concrete structures,
utilizing its innate self-healing properties to
5. FUTURE SCOPE
purposefully allow wider crack widths, and With continuous research and development efforts
subsequently reducing the amount of non-structural focused at developing the technology and increasing its
steel needed to control early-age cracking. Accordingly, applications, self-healing concrete has a huge future
a BBSHC-structure's embodied carbon footprint might potential. The following are some possible future paths
be lowered by 12%, averting the release of 51 kg of CO2 and opportunities:
equivalents [8].
 Better self-healing mechanisms: Investigating
3. METHODOLOGY new bacterial strains, streamlining nutrient delivery
systems, and improving encapsulation techniques
The primary focus of methodology is the gathering of are some ways to improve the effectiveness and
materials. To ensure that this project is successful, the efficiency of concrete's self-healing processes and
following processes must be followed during project guarantee prompt and comprehensive fracture
work: repair.

 Integration of smart materials: By combining

sensing technologies and smart materials with self-
healing concrete, it may be possible to monitor the
COLLECTION OF MATERIAL structural health of a structure in real time and
activate repair mechanisms automatically in
response to damage or deterioration that is
detected, increasing resilience and lowering
SELECTION AND PREPRATION OF maintenance costs.
HEALING AGENT
 Customization for particular uses: Adapting
self-healing concrete formulations and methods to
suit the needs of various infrastructure kinds and
MIX PROPORTION AND CASTING environmental circumstances; examples include
OF CONCRETE high-performance concrete for transportation
infrastructure in challenging environments, offshore
structures, and bridges.
CURING OF CONCRETE REFERENCES

[1] Poonam Ghodke, Swarda Mote, (2018) “The Self-

Healing Concrete” Journal - International Journal
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST
of Advances in Engineering & Technology
AND CALCULATION
[2] Ishraq Mohammad Ali Khattab, CORE (2019)

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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 10 Issue: 03 | Mar 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

[3] Aishwarya S. Dagade, Sumit R. Thakur, (2020)

“Use of Bacillus Bacteria in Self-Healing Concrete”
Journal- (International Research Journal of
Engineering and Technology Volume 7)

[4] Arun Kumar Parashar, Ankur Gupta, (2021)

“Experimental study of the bacillus megaterium
on cement concrete” Journal - IOP Conference
Series: Material Science and Engineering

[5] Nikhil Sanjay Gaikwad (International Research

Journal of Engineering and Technology

[6] Victor C. Li (Journal of Advanced Concrete

Technology 2021)

[7] Mugahed Amran (MDPI 2022)

[8] Ismael Justo Reinoso (Journal Prep roof 2023):

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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
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