Improved Autogenous Healing of Concrete with Superabsorbent Polymers Evaluated Through Coupled and Air-Coupled Ultrasound
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Raw Materials and Sample Preparation
2.2. Ultrasonic Transmission Measurements
2.3. Microscopic Measurements of the Crack Width
3. Results
3.1. Introduction to the Raw Data and Analysis Procedure
3.2. Ultrasonic Transmission Measurements
3.3. Microscopic Analysis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- The new air-coupled set-up established within this research, using a coupled piezoelectric emitter and an air-coupled laser interferometer as a receiver, showed its potential for self-healing evaluation, after a comparison with coupled ultrasonic measurements. Not only the trends, but also the absolute values of wave velocity measured by air-coupled ultrasound were comparable to the traditional coupled measurements.
- Microscopic analysis revealed the partial closure of cracks over a 28-day healing period through a reduction in the average crack width per specimen.
- The difference between reference and SAP concrete was noticed in the rate of recovery of the ultrasonic velocity, i.e., the velocity restored strongly within the first week of wet–dry curing for reference concrete specimens, while for SAP cubes, the fast recovery was limited to the first three days, most likely due to the blockage of the crack by SAP swelling, and continued more gradually later on. On the other hand, microscopic analysis proved the benefit of SAP addition for self-healing through a significant reduction in average crack width compared to the reference mix.
- A comparison between specimens cured in wet–dry cycles and samples kept in ambient conditions demonstrated the necessity of water availability for self-healing purposes: both the ultrasonic results and the microscopic pictures indicated a much lower restoration for dry cured specimens compared to wet–dry cycling.
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
SAP | Superabsorbent polymer |
US | Ultrasound |
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Lefever, G. Improved Autogenous Healing of Concrete with Superabsorbent Polymers Evaluated Through Coupled and Air-Coupled Ultrasound. Buildings 2025, 15, 1691. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15101691
Lefever G. Improved Autogenous Healing of Concrete with Superabsorbent Polymers Evaluated Through Coupled and Air-Coupled Ultrasound. Buildings. 2025; 15(10):1691. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15101691
Chicago/Turabian StyleLefever, Gerlinde. 2025. "Improved Autogenous Healing of Concrete with Superabsorbent Polymers Evaluated Through Coupled and Air-Coupled Ultrasound" Buildings 15, no. 10: 1691. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15101691
APA StyleLefever, G. (2025). Improved Autogenous Healing of Concrete with Superabsorbent Polymers Evaluated Through Coupled and Air-Coupled Ultrasound. Buildings, 15(10), 1691. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15101691