Development of Smart Self-healing Cementitious Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure

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The proposed research is a significant initiative to develop new crack- and maintenance-free construction materials with enhanced durability at reduced cost. The long-term objective is to develop and implement a novel methodology to induce self-sensing and healing functions in concrete that may prevent further damage and result in recovery of the concrete's original characteristics. The short-term objectives are to: (i) conduct an experimental investigation to assess the effectiveness of several existing techniques, with a primary focus on the use of capillary tubes and micro/nano-tubes, and bacterial and ethyl cyanoacrylate-based concrete as self-healing agents; (ii) develop, using both the discrete element method (DEM) and the discrete lattice beam method (DLBM), a suitable numerical modeling technique that simulates self-healing and is capable of capturing the microscopic and macroscopic responses of the system; and (iii) investigate the practical issues of expanding lab-scale self-healing processes in full-size, industrial-scale structural members to achieve sufficient flexibility in the newly developed materials and ensure they perform adequately in initial casting with a reasonably distributed network of self-healing agents. The proposed research will include in-depth experimental and theoretical/numerical investigations that address key issues of self-healing systems, as well as techniques, and damage and healing characterization under various mechanical and environmental conditions. The work will also closely examine effective means of transferring suitable self-healing laboratory techniques to real-life structural components. It will provide a better understanding of self-healing techniques and processes through refined and calibrated numerical simulation modeling that will serve as a reliable tool for future analysis of the composite system. This research will bring about groundbreaking advances: the knowledge gained will enhance durability, minimize rehabilitation costs, reduce the use of construction materials and increase the life cycle of concrete infrastructure; participating students will gain essential knowledge and skills that will qualify them to make significant contributions in both industry and academia.