A review on autogenous self-healing behavior of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC)

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is well known for its superior workability, strength, ductility as well as durability, but its intrinsic self-healing ability is rarely valued and developed. This review focuses on the inherent potential or superiority, characterization, and mechanism of autogenous healing UHPFRC, aiming to obtain fundamental data for its mixture innovation, design, and application. High potentialities of autogenous self-healing UHPFRC depend on its excellent component requirements (fiber; abundant binding particles), mix design (high cementitious materials content, low water-binder ratio, moderate fiber content), rehydration capacity, and shrinkage or loading-initiated cracking features. Meantime, the generation of cracks makes the internal substances include active ingredients exposed to the external environment such as air, water, and temperature, which induces physical, chemical, and mechanical interaction between them at cracks. Intrinsic partial or entire sealing of the multiple cracks in UHPFRC has been proven to improve the safety and durability of UHPFRC infrastructures. A higher healing rate exists in cracks with a width of 75–175 μm, which is connected with crack healing kinetics, and the width of total healing cracks can reach up to 162 μm, which is mainly filled with calcium carbonate. Continuous accumulation of healing products at cracks can effectively improve the mechanical properties and suppress the decay of transport performance and steel fiber corrosion. Furthermore, mild fiber corrosion contributes to the partial restoration of flexural strength during the self-healing process.