They may affect
appearance only, or they may indicate significant structural distress or a lack of durability. Cracks may represent the total extent of the damage, or they may point to
problems of greater magnitude. Their significance depends on the type of structure, as well as the nature of
the cracking. For example, cracks that are acceptable for
buildings may not be acceptable in water-retaining structures.
The proper repair of cracks depends on knowing the
causes and selecting the repair procedures that take these
causes into account; otherwise, the repair may only be
temporary. Successful long-term repair procedures must
attack the causes of the cracks as well as the cracks
themselves.
To aid the practitioner in pinpointing the best solution
to a cracking problem, this report discusses the causes,
evaluation procedures, and methods of repair of cracks
in concrete.
Chapter 1 presents a summary of the causes
of cracks and is designed to provide background for the
evaluation of cracks. Chapter 2 describes evaluation techniques and criteria. Chapter 3 describes the methods of
crack repair and includes a discussion of a number of
techniques that are available. Many situations will require
a combination of methods to fully correct the problem
Type of Crack
1. Cracking of plastic concrete
2. Settlement cracking
3. Cracking of hardened concrete
5. Reinforcing bar orientation used to effect the
repair
METHODS OF CRACK REPAIR
1. Routing and sealing
2. Stitching
3. Drilling and plugging.
4. Grouting
5. Gravity Filling
6. Drypacking
7. Polymer impregnation
8. Crack arrest
9. Overlay and surface treatments
10. Autogenous healing
