CRACK HEALING EFFICIENCY OF BACTERIA INDUCED CONCRETE

This paper presents the crack healing efficiency of concrete induced with bacteria ‘Sporosarcina pasteurii'. Strength gain of artificially and realistically cracked concrete specimens due to biogenic treatment is 22.6% this is mainly due to chemical bonding between CaCO3 precipitated by bacterial cells and sand particles which consolidate the crack space. Calcite crust forms an impermeable layer on the surface of the cement mortar sample reducing the surface permeability in case of bacteria treated cement mortar sample. The ultrasonic pulse velocity studies and water permeability studies on crack healed bacteria incorporated concrete specimens indicate crack healing efficiency using MICP process by Sporosarcina pasteurii bacterial strain in improving the pore structure of concrete through calcite precipitation.