Date of Publication

8-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering

Subject Categories

Civil Engineering

College

Gokongwei College of Engineering

Department/Unit

Civil Engineering

Honor/Award

None

Thesis Advisor

Jason Maximino C. Ongpeng

Defense Panel Chair

Bernardo A. Lejano

Defense Panel Member

Andres Winston C. Oreta
Lessandro Estelito O. Garciano
Michael Angelo B. Promentilla
Ernesto J. Guades

Abstract (English)

The economic viability of bacterial-based geopolymer materials relies on their ability to self-heal, which can reduce the need for expensive repair and maintenance costs of structural members in a building. This research investigated the development of geopolymer mortar with polypropylene fibers and bacterial co-culture as a strengthening material in Unreinforced Masonry (URM) under ambient conditions. Self-healing parameters and a complete factorial design were employed to determine the optimal fly-ash-based geopolymer mortar that can be used as an infill material to strengthen the URM brick wall. Two primary metrics were used to analyze the efficacy of the strengthening method in unreinforced masonry (URM), which are the improvement of the pseudo-ductility ratio and the total shear capacity of the reinforcements derived from the provisions of ACI 549.4R. A positive self-healing percentage was observed only in the bacterial samples, which was linked to increased calcite formation, as confirmed by SEM-EDX analyses. The incorporation of polypropylene fiber and co-culturing of bacteria as reinforcement in URM contributed to an increase in pseudo-ductility by 73%. The analytical model, based on ACI 549.4R-13, exhibits a good correlation with experimental results, with ratios (Vexperimental/Vanalytical) ranging from 0.570 to 0.9997. Notably, the unreinforced specimen T1 (control) exhibits excellent agreement, with a value of 0.9997. The combination of bacteria and polypropylene fiber notably increased the ultimate shear stress and strength regain ratio of unreinforced masonry wallettes. These findings highlight the potential application of bacterial geopolymer materials for sustainable construction, which can reduce maintenance costs while also increasing longevity due to their intrinsic self-healing properties.

Abstract Format

html

Abstract (Filipino)

None

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Keywords

Inorganic polymers

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Embargo Period

8-2026

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