REVIEW ON BIODEGRADABLE CONCRETE

Mohini R. Shelke

doi:10.3759/josem.v5i3.1377

Abstract

Concrete is one of the strongest construction materials used all over the world and usually considered as indestructible because of their longer service life as compared with the most constructional products. However, they can get destroyed for a variety of reasons including the material limitations, poor quality design and construction practices, as well as the hard exposure conditions. Degradation mechanisms of concrete often depend on the way potentially aggressive substances can penetrate into the concrete, possibly causing damage. The permeability of the concrete depends on the porosity and on the connectivity of the pores. The more open the pore structure of the concrete, the more vulnerable the material is to degradation mechanisms caused by penetrating substances. The deterioration of concrete structures usually involves movement of aggressive gases and/or liquids from the surrounding environment into the concrete, followed by physical and or chemical reactions within its internal structure, possibly leading to irreversible damage. The durability of concrete structures can be determined by many different ways to evaluate chemical and physical mechanisms but bio-chemical process is very complex so new ways of concrete design are required, substantial work is being done all over world to protect concrete from bio-deterioration. Microbial concrete is one of the emerging solutions to get rid of bio-deterioration.