MICROSTRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF BIO ENGINEERED CONCRETE UNDER THE CONCEPT OF SELF HEALING

Abstract

The aspects of the durability of concrete that need significant attention in the current world demand the intense focus towards inventions in self-repairable materials. Bioengineered concrete using Bacillus sphaericus is one such novel trial. One needs to arrive at such an optimum combination of materials that involve the contribution of bacteria to resolve the issues of repair and rehabilitation effectively. The inherent properties of Bacillus sphaericus paved the way to arrive at the compatible combination of bacteria with nutrients in concrete to achieve self-repairable bioengineered concrete. Since the repairing agent used here performs at a micro level to precipitate stable calcite there is an indeed study carried out through SEM, XRD, EDAX, and Digital microscopic images to come out with an ideal solution for concrete repair work at the micro-level along with standard tests such as compressive strength. The results of these different tests on the bioengineered concrete using four Bacillus species of bacteria show that the best performance both in strength and durability is attained by bacteria Bacillus sphaericus with calcium lactate as a nutrient medium.