Published Paper Details:

Concrete is a widely used construction material all over the world due to its high strength properties and relatively low cost. With a variety of advanced features, self-compacting concrete has been used for a variety of constructions and infrastructures as a new smart building material. However, the formation of cracks in concrete is inevitable. For this reason, fiber reinforced bacterial concrete is used to avoid cracks. The fibers reduce the crack width by the action of bridging and bacteria can develop a filling material in that bridging portion. Thus, a composite material is formed which can heal the cracks, thus improving the strength and durability of concrete. In this paper, coupled effect of bacillus subtilis bacteria and steel fibers on self-compacting mortars was examined. The replacement of cement in self-compacting mortars with supplementary cementitious materials, such as fly ash, GGBS, silica fume results in reducing the heat of hydration, decreasing efflorescence and producing cost-effective and eco-friendly concrete. The coupled effect of bacteria and fiber resulted in better mechanical properties, durability properties and improved self-healing/repairing efficiency due to the formation of CaCO3. The results also confirmed the presence of calcium carbonate precipitate, which has been analyzed by micro-structural studies viz., SEM and EDS.