Measuring the crack-repair efficiency of steel fiber reinforced concrete beams with microencapsulated calcium nitrate

Abstract Self-healing concrete through microencapsulated calcium nitrate was evaluated for its crack-sealing efficiency. The evaluated variables in this study were the microcapsule size, concentration (by weight of cement), and capsule shell properties. The production parameters for the microcapsule preparation were adjusted to control the shell properties and mean particle diameter accordingly. The results showed that all microcapsule-containing specimens had significantly higher healing efficiencies than the control groups after 21 and 42 days of healing. As the crack sizes increased, the microcapsule-containing specimens maintained a higher healing efficiency than the control groups.