The project started the 1st January with a deep review of the state of the art. Different scientific papers on self-healing of cementitious materials were read and analysed. Furthermore, it was improved the researcher’s background on structural dynamics by reading several scientific books on the topic, such as, “Dynamic of Structures” by Ray W. Clough and Joseph Penzien, or “Structural Dynamics” by Mario Paz and William Leigh. Furthermore, it was made an online course entitled “Fundamentals of Engineering Structural Dynamics with Python” instructed by Dr. Seán Carroll. The course extended for 7 hours and it was finished the 19th January, 2021.
Following this, the focus was a virtual meeting with the researcher’s supervisors, Prof. Paulo Lourenço and Prof. Miguel Azenha, together with the supervisor at the first secondment, Prof. Nele de Belie, from the University of Ghent. For the purpose, it was made a thorough summary of the state of the art on self-healing of cementitious materials and a detail planning of the project for the first year and the first secondment. The meeting took place the 9th February through the Teams platform. Fruitful discussion was derived from it that encouraged the researcher to continue her work with some numerical simulation.
The numerical simulations focused on modelling the healing effect of a simple supported beam of natural hydraulic lime mortar. First, she validated the model by comparing the resulting modes of vibration to the analytical results after application of formulas of structural dynamics. Then, she modelled different configurations: a beam without notch, another one with a centred notch and, finally, others with two notches at different positions. The objective was to study the expected natural frequency of vibration of the specimen to be tested under the new EMM-ARM method to be developed during the project. The range of first natural frequencies obtained varied from 93.373 Hz to 142.76 Hz, depending on the beam configuration.
Once the numerical part of the project was finished, the experimental one was started. Six wooden molds were fabricated with the dimensions obtained from the numerical simulations to test various beams with the new experimental method.
Unfortunately, due to unexpected circumstances a suspension of the project had to be applied the 24th June, 2021. However, the methodology applied in the numerical models as well as the molds fabricated could be used to study the self-healing capacity of similar materials at the University of Minho. More especifically, two master students are working on the self-healing of stabilized soils and mortars. It is likely that a publication with the procedure and the main results is prepared soon.
