01-11-2014, 02:14 PM
Abstracts: Concrete is one of the main materials used in the construction industry, from the foundation of buildings to the structure of bridges and underground parking lots. The problem with traditional concrete however is the formation of cracks. This has negative consequences for the durability of the material. As the water enters in the cracks and corrode the reinforcement used in structural member which not only decrease the life of structure but also increases the maintenance cost of member, so to overcome this drawback of concrete an novel approach should be taken and i.e., nothing but BACTERIAL CONCRETE. This project is on BACTERIAL CONCRETE, which combines the two field of science i.e., biology and civil engineering. A bacterial concrete concept defines that a specific bacteria called BACILLUS PASTEURII is added in concrete mix-design with specific concentration in controlled environment. This bacteria is under category of EXTREMOPHILES i.e., bacteria which can survive under high temperature and pH. So the work of this bacteria is to remain alive within the concrete throughout the life of concrete and comes in action when cracks appears on concrete member, as soon as the crack appears water penetrates in the cracks and this bacteria reacts with water or consume it and produces (CaCO3) (calcium carbonate) which consequently fills the cracks respectively. This novel type of self-healing concrete will lead to enormous savings on maintenance and repair costs. Also the sustainability of concrete will increase dramatically, because of a lower demand for natural resources such as cement. This will lead to lower CO2 emissions and change our way of reasoning. Instead of building against nature, biological materials and processes will be integrated into traditional engineering materials and processes.