{"id":1821,"date":"2026-07-15T14:34:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/?page_id=1821"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:55:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:55:56","slug":"modelling-the-self-healing-process-of-concrete-micro-fractures-through-calcite-precipitation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/en\/research\/modelling-the-self-healing-process-of-concrete-micro-fractures-through-calcite-precipitation\/","title":{"rendered":"Modelling the self-healing process of concrete micro-fractures through calcite precipitation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Concrete micro-fractures can become preferential pathways for water and dissolved reactive substances such as chlorides and carbon dioxide. Their presence can accelerate degradation of the cement matrix and promote corrosion of steel reinforcements. At the same time, concrete containing freshly formed micro-fractures has the capacity, albeit limited, to seal these cracks through autogenous self-healing. While debris-blocking and swelling of the cement phase also contribute to aperture reduction, calcite precipitation constitutes one of the main mechanisms responsible for long-term self-healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this process, calcium carbonate precipitates on the fracture surfaces and gradually reduces the open space available for water flow. However, the efficiency of this process varies strongly with fracture geometry and hydraulic conditions. Self-healing is not controlled by calcite precipitation alone. It results from the interaction between water flow, solute transport, aqueous equilibrium reactions, mineral dissolution and precipitation, as well as changes in fracture aperture. These processes influence each other continuously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A better understanding of these mechanisms is important for evaluating when self-healing can significantly reduce water flow and improve the durability of concrete structures. It may also help explain why apparently similar fractures can show very different healing behaviour. In particular, the spatial distribution of the fracture aperture has a decisive influence on the self-healing capabilities, since flow tends to be concentrated in relatively wide and well-connected regions of the fracture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerical modelling helps to study and understand these interactions. It allows individual parameters to be varied independently in order to assess their impact on the process in its entirety. Quantities that are difficult to measure experimentally, such as local pH, aqueous species concentrations, mineral reaction rates, and the spatial development of calcite deposits, can be evaluated throughout the fracture. The model therefore complements experimental investigations by providing an insight into the coupled processes within the fracture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our model represents the micro-fracture as a spatially resolved two-dimensional fracture plane. The governing hydraulic, transport, and chemical processes are coupled through an operator-splitting approach. Water flow is described using a cubic-law-based formulation, in which the local permeability depends on the fracture aperture. The flow and transport equations are solved with FEniCS while Reaktoro is used to calculate the local aqueous equilibrium and carbonate speciation. Separate kinetic laws describe the dissolution of portlandite and the precipitation of calcite.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Funding<\/strong>: Internal funding of chair; since 01.04.2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researcher<\/strong>: Lukas Blumenreuter; PI<\/strong>: Anozie Ebigbo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project partners:<\/strong>  Sylvia Ke\u00dfler, Daniel Lahmann (HSU<\/abbr>\/UniBw H)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Project publications:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Project-related presentations:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  • Blumenreuter, L.: Impact of portlandite dissolution and aperture distribution on the self-healing of concrete microfractures by calcite precipitation. Poster presentation at the InterPore Conference, May 2026, Nantes, France.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    \"HSU\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Concrete micro-fractures can become preferential pathways for water and dissolved reactive substances such as chlorides and carbon dioxide. Their presence can accelerate degradation of the cement matrix and promote corrosion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2592,"featured_media":0,"parent":114,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1821","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2592"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1840,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1821\/revisions\/1840"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hsu-hh.de\/hmech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}