An Experimental Analysis Property of Bacterial Silica Flume Concrete

Civil Engineering

The work is involved with the use of Ureolytic bacteria in concrete which could make it more durable. The bacteria present in the concrete rapidly sealed freshly formed cracks through calcite production. The bacterial concentration was optimized to 105 cfu/ml .In concrete mix, cement was replaced with silica fume in 5%, 10% and 15% by weight of cement. The experiments were carried out to estimate the effect of bacteria on the compressive strength, water absorption, porosity, rapid chloride permeability and sorptivity of concrete made with silica fume up to the age of 28 and 56 days. The test result shows that inclusion of bacteria enhanced the compressive strength by 12%, reduced the porosity, water absorption and sorptivity by upto 55% of the silica fume concrete. The improvement in compressive strength was due to deposition of calcite precipitated by bacteria within the pores which was scanned by electron microscopy and characterized by XRD and revealed calcium carbonate precipitation. This precipitation also reduced the chloride permeability in concrete with silica fume. The bacteria improve the impermeability of concrete by improving its pore structure and thereby enhancing the life of concrete structure.

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