Simulation of Autogenous Self‐Healing in Lime‐Based Mortars

Throughout history, architectural heritage has been constructed using masonry, clay or stone elements, and lime‐based mortars. Over time, old buildings are subjected to different degrees of movement and degradation, leading to the formation of microcracks. Water dissolves and transports lime in mortar, but when the water evaporates, the lime is deposited and heals cracks in a process known as autogenous healing. Lime‐based mortars can regain some mechanical properties due to their healing capacity, given certain conditions. In the present work, a constitutive formulation has been developed to simulate cracking and healing in lime‐based mortars. The proposed model captures the residual displacements within cracks, associated with interacting crack surface asperities, as well as the healing effect on mechanical properties. A new approach is described which expresses these mechanisms mathematically within a micromechanical formulation. The proposed model was validated by comparing the outputs with experimental data. The results show that the new continuum micromechanical damage‐healing model could capture the damage‐healing cycle with good accuracy.