Expansion and degradation of cement paste in sodium sulfate solutions

External sulfate attack is a progressive degradation process that may cause expansion, cracking, loss of binder cohesion and increased permeability in cementitious materials. Crystallization pressure theory has often been referred to as the most likely mechanism. However, thus far the stress causing the expansion has not been quantified. In...

Self-sealing cementitious materials by using water-swelling rubber particles

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...

Experimental and numerical study on cement paste degradation under external sulfate attack

External sulfate attack is one of the situations that may cause gradual but severe damage in cementitious materials, which may lead to cracking, increased permeability and strength loss. In this paper, thin-walled hollow cement paste cylinders with a wall thickness of 2.5mm were made considering the slow penetration process of sulfate ions under...

Micromechanical properties of a new polymeric microcapsule for self-healing cementitious materials

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...

A novel capsule-based selfrecovery system with a chloride ion trigger

Steel is prone to corrosion induced by chloride ions, which is a serious threat to reinforced concrete structures, especially in marine environments. In this work, we report a novel capsule-based selfrecovery system that utilizes chloride ions as a trigger. These capsules, which are functionalized via a smart response to chloride ions, are...

Preparation and characterization of poly (urea-formaldehyde) walled dicyclopentadiene microcapsules

Poly (urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) shelled dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) microcapsules were prepared by in-situ polymerization technology for self-healing concrete applications. It’s found, during the process, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) behaves better in emulsification of DCPD than other surfactant of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and styrene...

Evaluation of a microcapsule based self-healing system for cementitious materials

An international cooperation research project has been financially supported by China Nature Science Foundation, which consists of three relatively independent, but strategically integrated research sub-programs, aiming at the formation of a selfhealing system based on the microcapsule principle for the cementitious composites. In this paper, a...

Design of microcapsule system used for self-healing cementitious material

For a microcapsule based self-healing system in the cementitious material, a fundamental issue is to find and facilitate a suitable microcapsule system, concerning either the material selection or design and manufacture process. In this study, urea formaldehyde resin is used for the shell of microcapsule, and bisphenol – an epoxy resin E-51...