Self-Healing of Cementitious Materials via Bacteria: A Theoretical Study

Abstract

Cracks on the surface of cementitious composites represent an entrance gate for harmful substances—particularly water—to devastate the bulk of material, which results in lower durability. Autogenous crack-sealing is a significantly limited mechanism due to a combination of the hydration process and calcite nucleation, and self-healing cementitious composites are a research area that require a great deal of scientific effort. In contrast to time-consuming experiments (e.g., only the preparation of an applicable bare concrete sample itself requires more than 28 days), appropriately selected mathematical models may assist in the deeper understanding of self-healing processes via bacteria. This paper presents theoretically oriented research dealing with the application of specific bacteria (B. pseudofirmus) capable of transforming available nutrients into calcite, allowing for the cracks on the surfaces of cementitious materials to be repaired. One of the principal objectives of this study is to analyze the sensitivity of the bacterial growth curves to the system parameters within the context of the logistic model in the Monod approach. Analytically calculated growth curves for various parameters (initial inoculation concentration, initial nutrition content, and metabolic activity of bacteria) are compared with experimental data. The proposed methodology may also be applied to analyze the growth of microorganisms of nonbacterial origin (e.g., molds, yeasts).

Recent Advances of Self-Healing Materials for Civil Engineering: Models and Simulations

“…The development of cracks in concrete seriously damages the stability and performance of the structure, but regular inspection and maintenance require entail a significant cost. To address this issue, extensive research has been conducted on self-healing concrete [2,6,[16][17][18][19]. The reparative processes of self-healing materials, especially within concrete, are predominantly divided into autogenous and autonomous healing strategies [17][18][19].…”

Toward Self-Healing Concrete Infrastructure: Review of Experiments and Simulations across Scales

“…Recent research reports a mathematical model for the bacterial transformation of nutrients into calcite that can repair surface cracks in cement . The model enables a user to determine the effects of both external parameters and internal bacterial properties on the growth curves of bacteria.…”

“…Recent research reports a mathematical model for the bacterial transformation of nutrients into calcite that can repair surface cracks in cement. 213 The model enables a user to determine the effects of both external parameters and internal bacterial properties on the growth curves of bacteria. The authors also suggest that the proposed modeling also may be extended to the analysis of the growth of a microorganism of nonbacterial origin, such as models and yeasts.…”