Using of TRC for research of crack evolution and the effect of autogenous healing

Abstract

Cracks in the concrete part of substructure are a problem in terms of penetration of water into the building. The best way is to prevent their development or support autogenous healing of concrete as much as possible. It is suitable to create many small specimens for research of crack evolution in various boundary conditions. TRC is applicable material for this research due to its compact dimensions and the ability to create a lot of cracks in relatively small area of the specimen. There are two basic methods how to create cracks in this material, tensile and bending loading. Each method provides different crack shapes.