Bio-Mitigation of Sulfate Attack and Enhancement of Crack Self-Healing in Sustainable Concrete Using Bacillus megaterium and sphaericus Bacteria

Faculty Engineering Year: 2025
Type of Publication: ZU Hosted Pages:
Authors:
Journal: Infrastructures MDPI Volume:
Keywords : Bio-Mitigation , Sulfate Attack , Enhancement , Crack Self-Healing    
Abstract:
Concrete cracks and sulfate degradation severely compromise structural durability, highlighting the need for sustainable solutions to enhance longevity and minimize environmental impact. This study assesses the efficacy of bacterial self-healing technology utilizing Bacillus megaterium (BM) and Bacillus sphaericus (BS) in enhancing the resistance of concrete to sulfate attacks and improving its mechanical properties. Bacterial suspensions (1% and 2.5% of cement weight) were mixed with concrete containing silica fume or fly ash (10% of cement weight) and cured in freshwater or sulfate solutions (2%, 5%, and 10% concentrations). Specimens were tested for compressive strength, flexural strength, and microstructure using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) at various ages. The results indicate that a 2.5% bacterial content yielded the best performance, with BM surpassing BS, enhancing compressive strength by up to 41.3% and flexural strength by 52.3% in freshwater-cured samples. Although sulfate exposure initially improved early-age strength by 1.97% at 7 days, it led to an 8.5% loss at 120 days. Bacterial inclusion mitigated sulfate damage through microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP), sealing cracks, and bolstering durability. Cracked specimens treated with BM recovered up to 93.1% of their original compressive strength, promoting sustainable, sulfate-resistant, self-healing concrete for more resilient infrastructure.
   
     
 
       

Author Related Publications

  • Selem Saleh Elsayed Ahmed Dawod, "Mechanical properties of sustainable concrete comprising various wastes", Springer, 2023 More
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  • Selem Saleh Elsayed Ahmed Dawod, "Correlation the effect of beam size and crack-depth ratio in concrete by using a modified stress intensity factor", Al-Mansoura Engineering International Conference, --- , Sharm Elsheikh, EGYP, 2003 More
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  • Selem Saleh Elsayed Ahmed Dawod, "Sulfate attack on concrete from mixing and curing water", Al-Azhar Engineering Seven International Conference, April 2003, Cairo, EGYPT., 2004 More

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