Microbial self-healing concrete: computational approaches and material advancements

Self-healing concrete represents a sustainable approach to enhancing the durability of infrastructure by enabling autonomous crack repair through microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation. Recent advancements extend beyond material design to computational models that simulate bacterial growth, ureolysis, and CaCO3 precipitation, offering predictive insights into healing efficiency under varying conditions. Key parameters such as nutrient type, pH, and temperature strongly influence bacterial viability and the recovery of compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths. Diverse bacterial delivery strategies, including microcapsules, hydrogels, and lightweight aggregates, have been developed to enhance reliability. Despite these advancements, significant challenges remain in demonstrating long-term performance, ensuring cost-effective scalability, and evaluating environmental impacts. Future research directions focus on synthetic biology-based bacterial engineering for strain optimization and data-driven modeling that couples laboratory data with machine learning frameworks for predictive optimization. Establishing standardized testing protocols and incorporating smart sensors for real-time monitoring will be crucial for the widespread adoption of microbial self-healing concrete in sustainable construction.