A Experimental Study on Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) Incorporated with Sporosarcina pasteurii

Microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) has been successfully applied to self-healing concrete with improved mechanical properties, while the performance of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) incorporated with bacteria is still lacking. In this study, Sporosarcina pasteurii, which has a strong ability to produce calcium carbonate, was introduced into engineered cementitious composites (ECC) with mechanical properties analyzed in detail. A multiscale study including compression, tension and fiber pullout tests was carried out to explore the Sporosarcina pasteurii incorporation effect on ECC mechanical properties. Compared with the control group, the compressive strength of S.p.-ECC specimens cured for 7 days was increased by almost 10% and the regained strength after self-healing was increased by 7.31%. Meanwhile, the initial crack strength and tensile strength of S.p.-ECC increased by 10.25% and 12.68%, respectively. Interestingly, the crack pattern of ECC was also improved to some extent, e.g., bacteria seemed to minimize crack width. The addition of bacteria failed to increase the ECC tensile strain, which remained at about 4%, in accordance with engineering practice. Finally, matrix/fiber interface properties were altered in S.p.-ECC with lower chemical bond and higher frictional bond strength. The results at the microscopic scale explain well the property improvements of ECC composites based on the fine-scale mechanical theory.