Development of testing system for self-healing evaluation

Abstract

The research topic of self-healing concrete has and continues to attract the attention of research groups worldwide. Compared with about ten years ago, the experiments have become more abundant and the evaluation criteria are also gradually improved with increasing standardization levels. In order to contribute to this research field with a self-healing evaluation system, capillary water absorption is also a parameter reflecting the effectiveness of self-healing in concrete or mortar samples. Cracks created using 3-point bending can control the size (width) and are held in place through the specimen holder-clamp kit. In this study, the sample clamp-retainer kit was improved compared to the previous version used in many laboratories, with the main feature of keeping the two crack faces parallel. For the test to prevent water flow directly through the crack, a versatile test system with the ability to flexibly replace many sample sizes and easily adjust the parameters for investigation according to the Hagen-Poiseuille equation. The water flow and capillary water absorption tests were verified on the new kit, and comparisons of the results with other research groups were also made.