ABSTRACT
Penetration of moisture is one of the most important damage mechanisms that could lead to the deterioration of building materials such as mortar and concrete. The capillary water absorption of sound mortar and concrete has already been studied in depth (Hall 1989, McCarter et al. 1992), but considering concrete in a perfect, uncracked state is usually not realistic. In most cases concrete is cracked and this can significantly accelerate ingress of water into the matrix. A possible way to repair the cracks consists of autonomous crack healing by means of encapsulated healing agents (Van Tittelboom 2011).
