Coupled FEM-microstructural X-ray examination of a controlled internal damage approach for concrete samples

One of the critical factors that govern the technology of concrete self-healing evaluation at laboratory scale is the crack induction pattern within the concrete sample. Within the various techniques of inducing artificial cracks, such as the flexural testing or splitting testing methods, there are limitations of inducing the microcracks homogenously throughout the entire volume of the concrete sample. In this study, an innovative technique is utilised to induce the microcracks at a controlled damage level to further study the self-healing phenomena in concrete at the laboratory scale. By placing a concrete sample into an ad-hoc fabricated steel mould and applying fractional compressive strength, the axial-circumferential pressure induces microcracks in the concrete sample, homogenously. A Finite Element Model was also built to investigate the hypothesis on the cracking pattern at various damage levels; jointly, experimental work was conducted with X-ray µCT images to reconstruct the three-dimensional sections at the various damage levels. Qualitative analyses in relation to the two test methods were conducted. Furthermore, quantitative analyses on the individual-artificially generated-cracks were conducted in terms of the crack size crack geometry variation and the orientation of the newly formed cracks. Results revealed that the proposed crack-inducing methodology is highly efficient to induce uniform cracks in the sample, assisting for the evaluation of concrete self-healing process. The novel method can be adapted to identify the optimised strategies for enhancing the structural performance of concrete, thus facilitating the safe operation of concrete infrastructure.