Identifier

etd-06072017-212559

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Engineering Science (Interdepartmental Program)

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Self-healing is a term that has not been used for building material until a few decades ago. The concept of developing a material that mimics what living organisms do, such as identify and repair damage, rather than interesting, constitutes a necessity in today’s deteriorated infrastructure. Concrete is one of the main building blocks that support our society’s roads, buildings, and dams. Increasing the service life of such structures will have an important socio-economic benefit in our society. Self-healing methods in concrete have been studied in order to minimize human intervention in maintenance procedures. Previous research in this area has provided different self-healing strategies. These strategies include both internally and externally supplied encapsulation of healing agents, internally supplied microcapsules, expansive agent and mineral admixtures, bacteria, and shape memory materials. The presented research evaluated the self-healing effects of integration of microcapsules and shape memory alloys. The combined self-healing mechanisms in concrete were evaluated by developing a procedure to microencapsulate calcium nitrate and integrating them with Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), as a substitution for conventional steel reinforcement. In order to evaluate the structural behavior and healing efficiency, the initial stiffness, peak strength, and deformation were measured and compared with post-healing measurements. Furthermore, the study conducted crack monitoring in order to evaluate crack-healing over time, This procedure would be followed by performance analysis, using Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in order to quantify the healing components in the cracked areas. Lastly, the current research conducted a life cycle cost analysis, using a probabilistic approach to evaluate the long-term economic efficiencies of self-healing concrete pavements as the competing alternatives to conventional pavements.

Date

2017

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Hassan, Marwa Mohamed

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.4344

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