Self-healing concrete using encapsulated healing agent has shown great potential in enhancing concrete durability. However, the capsules are expensive to make and can lower the mechanical properties of concrete. In this study, a new type of manufactured aggregate that employs waste-derived fly ash cenosphere as a carrier of healing agent (SH-CS) was designed and produced. The effect of SH-CS incorporation on hydration, engineering properties and self-healing efficiency of cement mortar was systematically evaluated, with a special focus on self-healing mechanism through the analysis of the mineral composition of the healing product. The results indicate that the prepared SH-CS has good stability in and compatibility with cement mortar. The addition of SH-CS has small influence on the fresh properties of cement mortar and less negative effect on compressive strength at the hardened stage compared to the existing study. By replacing 3 wt.% of fine aggregate with SH-CS, up to 71% of the crack opening area of mortar specimens with a crack width of about 0.3 mm was self-healed after 28 days of water exposure. The self-healing behaviour of SH-CS led to a maximal 41% drop in water adsorption and contributed to the recovery of flexural strength. The healing products precipitated on the fracture surface were mainly composed of amorphous C-S-H and Calcite. It can be estimated that incorporating SH-CS in concrete would result in only a moderate (∼29%) rise in cost for C40 concrete.

The particle size distribution (PSD) has a significant influence on the fresh and final properties of cement and its derived products. In this paper, CSA cements with three different mean diameters (D₅₀), ranging from 6.04 to 26.62 μm were prepared by milling. The pre-hydration behavior was quantitatively analyzed, including the degree of pre-hydration, the dynamic change of mineral assemblage and the morphology of the prepared CSA cement exposed to 57%, 75% and 97% relative humidities (RHs) for up to 90 days. Hydration kinetics, porosity, and compressive strength of the cement paste made with fresh and pre-hydrated CSA cement with different PSD were also characterized. The results show that pre-hydration of CSA cement at RH higher than 75% has detrimental effects on the hydraulic activity and strength gain of CSA cement. However, coarser CSA cement (D₅₀ = 26.62 μm) does not only show better resistance to pre-hydration, but also higher compressive strength and lower porosity.

The use of CSA cement in practice has been hindered by its unstable performance and short shelf-life caused by the prehydration of CSA clinker. In this study, the effect of ambient humidity on the prehydration rate and process of CSA clinker was investigated. The prehydration degree, ageing progress, and the dynamic change of mineral composition of CSA clinker exposed to five different relative humidities (ranging from 23% to 98%) for up to 180 days were studied. Experiments revealed that the ambient humidity of 60% RH can be considered a threshold value for storage of CSA clinker. Exposure of CSA clinker to RH higher than 60% will not only result in a significant decrease of hydraulic reactivity, but also in agglomeration of the clinker. Although the exposure of CSA clinker to RH lower than 60% has little effect on the hydraulic reactivity, the main hydration peak was found to be slightly delayed with the increase of RH.

Water ingress into cracked concrete structures is a serious problem, as it can cause leakage and reinforcement corrosion and thus reduce functionality and safety of the structures. In this study, the application of water-swelling rubber particles for providing the cracked concrete a self-sealing function was developed. The feasibility of applying water-swelling rubber particles and the influence of incorporating water-swelling rubber particles on the mechanical properties of concrete was investigated. The self-sealing efficiency of water-swelling rubber particles with different content and particle size was quantified through a permeability test. The sealing effect of the water swelling rubber particles was monitored by X-ray computed tomography. The experimental results show that, by using 6% of these water swelling rubber particles as a replacement of aggregates in concrete, up to 64% and 61% decrease of water permeability was realized for 0.7 mm and 1.0 mm cracks. Furthermore, when the concrete cracks, the water swelling rubber particles can act as a crack bridging filler, preventing the crack from fully separating the specimens in two pieces.

Self-healing cementitious materials containing a microencapsulated healing agent are appealing due to their great application potential in improving the serviceability and durability of concrete structures. In this study, poly(phenol-formaldehyde) (PF) microcapsules that aim to provide a self-healing function for cementitious materials were prepared by an in situ polymerization reaction. Size gradation of the synthesized microcapsules was achieved through a series of sieving processes. The shell thickness and the diameter of single microcapsules was accurately measured under environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The relationship between the physical properties of the synthesized microcapsules and their micromechanical properties were investigated using nanoindentation. The results of the mechanical tests show that, with the increase of the mean size of microcapsules and the decrease of shell thickness, the mechanical force required to trigger the self-healing function of microcapsules increased correspondingly from 68.5 ± 41.6 mN to 198.5 ± 31.6 mN, featuring a multi-sensitive trigger function. Finally, the rupture behavior and crack surface of cement paste with embedded microcapsules were observed and analyzed using X-ray computed tomography (XCT). The synthesized PF microcapsules may find potential application in self-healing cementitious materials.