Mechanical responses of microencapsulated self-healing cementitious composites under compressive loading based on a micromechanical damage-healing model

The cementitious composites with microencapsulated healing agents have become a class of hotspots in the field of construction materials, and they have very broad application prospects and research values. The in-depth study on multi-scale mechanical behaviors of microencapsulated self-healing cementitious composites is critical to quantitatively account for the mechanical response during the damage-healing process. This paper proposes a three-dimensional evolutionary micromechanical model to quantitatively explain the self-healing effects of microencapsulated healing agents on the damage induced by microcracks. By virtue of the proposed 3 D micromechanical model, the evolutionary domains of microcrack growth (DMG) and corresponding compliances of the initial, extended and repaired phases are obtained. Moreover, the elaborate studies are conducted to inspect the effects of various system parameters involving the healing efficiency, fracture toughness and preloading-induced damage degrees on the compliances and stress-strain relations. The results indicate that relatively significant healing efficiency, preloading-induced damage degree and the fracture toughness of polymerized healing agent with the matrix will lead to a higher compressive strength and stiffness. However, the specimen will break owing to the nucleated microcracks rather than the repaired kinked microcracks. Further, excessive higher values of healing efficiency, preloading-induced damage degree and the fracture toughness of polymerized healing agent with the matrix will not affect the compressive strength of the cementitious composites. Therefore, a stronger matrix is required. To achieve the desired healing effects, the specific parameters of both the matrix and microcapsules should be selected prudently.