SELF HEALING CONCRETE

(BACTERIAL CONCRETE)

A SEMINAR REPORT

Submitted by,
RITESH KUMAR SHARMA
ROLL NO:-10301316066
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Under the guidance of

Mrs. SHREYASHI MITRA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

HALDIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (103)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am grateful to Almighty for giving me the strength to successfully complete my report

I thank him for sustaining my efforts which many times did oscillate.

I feel deeply indebted to my school friend Sudeep Singh Awal without whose constructive
feedback this project would not have been a success

The valuable advice and suggestions for the corrections,

Modification and improvement did enhance the perfection in performing my job well.

I show my gratitude to Mrs. Shreyashi Mitra our teacher for providing the best of facilities and
environment to bring out our innovation, talent and spirit of inquiry through this project
 Commented [1]:

INTRODUCTION
 Concrete is a vital building material that is an absolute essential component because its
tensile strength without Reinforcement is considerably low relative to its compressive
strength.
 It is also very brittle material with low tolerance for strain, so it is commonly expected to
crack with time. These cracks, do expose the steel reinforcement to the elements like air,
water etc. leading to the corrosion which increases the maintenance cost and
compromises structural integrity over long period of time.
 That being said, Concrete is a high maintenance material. It cracks and suffers serious
wear and tear over decades of its expected term of service life. It is not flexible and
cannot handle significant amounts of strain.
 Self-healing concrete in general seeks to rectify these flaws in order to extend the service
life of any given concrete structures.
 There is a material in the realm of self-healing concrete in development now that can
solve many of the problems commonly associated with standard concrete.
 This material is bacterial self-healing concrete. Self-healing concrete consists of a mix
with Bacteria called BACILLUS SUBTILUS incorporated into concrete and CALCIUM
LACTATE food to support those bacteria when they become active.
 The bacteria feeding on the provided food source, heal the damage done and can also
reduce the amount of damage sustained by the concrete structure in place.
 Formation of cracks in concrete is a common phenomenon that allows water and many
chemicals to seep inside, leading to the decrease in the durability and the strength of the
concrete.
 As per ACI (American concrete institute), even the best construction and concreting
cannot prevent the cracking in concrete. 0% cracks is an unrealistic thing.
 Many research works are being carried out in the world for the modification of the
concrete to make it durable, strong and user friendly and environmental friendly.
 Many different materials are combined with concrete like carbon fibers, fly ash, blast
furnace slag, etc. to increase concrete performance.
 The world is getting advanced in the field of construction. Research are being carried out
to improve the concrete behavior by addition of Micro-organism.
 This paper will also explain, in-depth, the processes that are behind bacterial self-healing
in concrete will describe the many components that are included in the process and how
they work independently and collectively.
 The paper will also delve into practical applications of this self-healing method, including
real world integrations in currently standing structures.
BACTERIAL CONCRETE
 Self-healing concrete also known as bacterial concrete is a concrete that heals itself
(repairs its cracks) when it comes in contact with air and water.

 Self-Healing concrete is an artificial or synthetically created substance that

Has ability to repair the damage or cracks without any external diagnosis
Or human intervention.

 Ingredients of self-Healing concrete:-

1. Ordinary Portland cement

2. Crushed Aggregates of size 20mm
3. Fine Aggregates (Sand)
4. Water

 The two most important ingredient are CALCIUM

LACTATE and the micro-organism BACILLUS
SUBTILUS.

 In 1877, Ferdinand Cohn claimed that with a bacteria called BACILLUS

SUBTILUS concrete could be healed.

 The bacteria is a rod shaped and it is found

In the digestive tract of human beings and
In nature it is found in air, soil and water
 ACTION OF BIO-CONCRETE
 When the concrete is mixed with bacteria (bacillus subtilus), the bacteria go into a
dormant state, a lot like seeds.
 All the bacteria need is exposure to the air to activate their functions. Any cracks that
provide the necessary exposure.
 When the cracks form, bacteria very close proximity to the crack, starts precipitating calcite
crystals. When a concrete structure is damaged and water starts to seep through the cracks that
appear in the concrete, the spores of the bacteria germinate on contact with the water and
nutrients.
 Having been activated, the bacteria start to feed on the calcium lactate nutrient. Such
spores have extremely thick cell walls that enable them to remain intact for up to 200
years while waiting for a better environment to germinate.
 As the bacteria feeds oxygen is consumed and the soluble calcium lactate is converted to
insoluble limestone. The limestone solidifies on the cracked surface, thereby sealing it
up.
 Oxygen is an essential element in the process of corrosion of steel and when the bacterial
activity has consumed it all it increases the durability of steel reinforced concrete
constructions.
 Tests all show that bacteria embedded concrete has lower water and chloride permeability
and higher strength regain than the surface application of bacteria.
 The last, but certainly not least, key component of the self-healing concrete formula is the
bacteria themselves. The most promising bacteria to use for self-healing purposes are
alkaliphilic (alkali-resistant) spore-forming bacteria.
 The bacteria, from the genus Bacillus subtilus is adopted for present study. It is of great
concern to the construction industry whether or not these bacteria are “smart” enough to
know when their task is complete because of safety concerns.
 The bacteria, from the genus Bacillus subtilus is adopted for present study. It is of great
concern to the construction industry whether or not these bacteria are “smart” enough to
know when their task is complete because of safety concerns.
 Bacillus Subtilus which is a soil bacterium is harmless to humans as it is non-pathogenic
microorganism.
 In Bio-concrete or self-healing concrete, when water seeps through the cracks, the
bacteria get activated from its stage of dormancy. When Bacteria becomes active it starts
to feed on calcium lactate. This in turn produces Calcium carbonate through its metabolic
activities which acts as a healing material. The reaction is as follow;

 Ca(C3H5O2)2 + 7O2 → CaCO3 + 5CO2 + 5H2O

(Calcium Lactate) (Lime)
PEPARATION OF BIOCONCRETE
BACTERIAL CONCRETE CAN BE PREPARED IN TWO WAYS:-
1. BY DIRECT APPLICATION.
2. BY ENCAPSULATION IN CLAY PELLETS.

1. BY DIRECT APPLICATION
 In this method bacterial spores and calcium lactate is added to concrete directly when
mixing of the concrete is done. When water comes in contact with the bacteria, the
bacteria germinate and feed on calcium lactate and produce limestone thus healing the
concrete
2. BY ENCAPSULATION METHOD
 In encapsulation method, the bacteria and its food i.e. Calcium Lactate are placed inside
treated Clay pellets and the Concrete is prepared. About 6% of the clay pellets are added
for making Bacterial concrete or Self- healing Concrete.
ADVANTAGES
 Improvement in compressive strength of the concrete.
 Reduction in Permeability of the Concrete.
 It increases the service life of the Structure than the expected life.
 It helps in reduced maintenance and repair cost of the RC Structures.
 BACILLUS SUBTILUS is harmless to human beings and hence it can be used
effectively

DISADVANTAGES
 Skilled labor is required
 The cost of the self-healing concrete is about double that of conventional concrete which
is presently about Rs 6720 per cubic meter
 Design of mix concrete with bacteria is not available in IS code or any other code.
 Availability of raw materials is not easy.

APPLICATIONS

 Construction of underground retainers for hazardous waste material.

 Construction of building in seismic zones & high rise structures.

 Water retaining structures.

 Self-healing concrete can be used for sectors such as tunnel-lining, structural

basement walls, highways, bridges, concrete floors and marine structures.
 This is new technology can provide ways to durable roads.
.
 It can be used by oil and gas industries, which can stop small cracks firm becoming
spillways.
 It can be used to strengthen any kind of Structural building, both existing and new.
 It can be effective in the regions where buildings undergo freezing and thawing
frequently.
 It can prove to be economical in case of irrigation works, dams etc.
 CONCLUSION

 Self-healing concrete is eco-friendly.

 Enhance compressive strength, reduce permeability & reduce corrosion in bio

concrete

 Bacterial concrete technology has proved to be better than many conventional

technologies.

 Cementation by this method is very easy & convenient for use.

 This technique has proved to be better because of its increased durability and
eco-friendly nature.

 There has been large amount of reduction in permeability of concrete, hence

improving the life of structure.

 This has opened a new dimension of research, calling the focus on application
of bio-technology in the field of building materials.

 The cost of applying the bacteria and other types of bacteria need more
consideration for finding out viable type of concrete, both technically and
economically

 In UNITED KINGDOM, it is estimated that 20 billion dollar are spent in each

year on structural maintenance and most of these are concrete structures.By
using self-healing concrete, this amount can br reduced dramatically and can
save lot of money, time, Man Power.