SMART CONCRETE: SELF-HEALING MATERIALS FOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY IN EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS

Abstract

This study investigates the performance of self-healing concrete under extreme weather conditions, focusing on its crack repair efficiency, compressive strength, water permeability, and durability in freeze-thaw cycles. The results demonstrate that self-healing concrete exhibits superior properties compared to traditional concrete, particularly in terms of crack reduction, water absorption, and compressive strength retention. After exposure to simulated freeze-thaw cycles, self-healing concrete showed a 75% reduction in crack width, significantly outperforming traditional concrete, which displayed only a 43% reduction. Furthermore, self-healing concrete exhibited a 37.6% decrease in water absorption, compared to a 23.3% decrease in traditional concrete. The total durability decreased by 6.4% in self-healing concrete compared to traditional concrete which decreased by 15.7%. Tests under freeze-thaw conditions displayed superior performance by self-healing concrete since it retained 87% durability after three cycles whereas traditional concrete dropped to 70%. The experimental results demonstrate that self-healing concrete has capacity to increase durability and sustainability of weather-exposed infrastructure because it outperforms standard concrete alternatives at reducing costs while fostering structural reliability. Self-healing technologies in civil engineering demonstrate significant promise according to this research so future projects can implement these solutions in actual infrastructure applications.