Biomimetic Materials in Construction Industry: the Necessity of Simulation

Biomimetic materials are a possible solution to tackle the environmental and sustainability concerns of the construction industry. Automation in repairing and self-healing features can increase the durability of brittle materials which are susceptible to cracking. A number of different self-healing technologies have been introduced over the past two decades; however, further research is needed to simulate their behaviour and study their performance. Mathematical models are needed for design and assessment purposes. In this paper the formulation as well as the application of a micromechanical model is presented. This model can capture simultaneous fracture and healing processes. The results from this constitutive formulation can be implemented in finite element framework for simulating the boundary value, and multiscale problems. The model is tested for an encapsulated self-healing cementitious mortar and the results show that it can capture the stiffness recovery with an acceptable accuracy