Increase in repair and replacement costs and poor performance of so-called conventional concrete materials force engineering society to pay serious attention to the durability issues. Many researchers agree on the general idea that cracking is vitally important if durability is…
Increase in repair and replacement costs and poor performance of so-called conventional concrete materials force engineering society to pay serious attention to the durability issues. Many researchers agree on the general idea that cracking is vitally important if durability is of concern. Cracking of concrete under service conditions is inevitable due to several external factors and/or mechanisms occurring in concrete material itself. Therefore, elimination or minimization of cracking through various techniques arises great interest. One of the most effective techniques in eliminating cracks is self-healing phenomenon, which is commonly related with on-going hydration reactions or crystal formation in concrete. It is believed that the use of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) may greatly promote the attainment of substantial self-healing, and accordingly increase the long term performance of concrete structures. In this study, the effects of self-healing on the durability performance of ECC were investigated in terms of mechanical property enhancement, chloride ion penetrability and frost resistance. The research results indicate that due to intrinsic self-controlled tight crack width, many durability challenges confronting concrete can be overcome by using ECC. The superior durability performances of micro-cracked ECC as a result of self-healing phenomenon are expected to contribute substantially to improving civil infrastructure sustainability by reducing the amount of repair and maintenance during the service life of the structure.