Self-healing of dynamic concrete cracks using polymer precursors as encapsulated healing agents

Self-healing concrete aims at the autonomous healing of small cracks, with widths in the order of a few hundreds of micrometers. While the existing research on this topic, based on several different healing agents and mechanisms, focuses mainly on the self-healing of early age cracks, this study aims at assessing the strain capacity of polymers used as healing materials for dynamic cracks and the viability of using their respective polymer precursors as encapsulated healing agents. Loading tests were performed on cracked, healed mortar specimens, along with the acquisition of microscopic images and capillary water absorption tests. The series of tests allowed the identification of healing agents with good flowing properties that resulted in efficient bridging and sealing of cracks and determining the strain capacity of healed cracks, which was shown to be at best between 50 % and 100 % of its initial width