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In May 1978, the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), in association with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) sponsored a 3-day conference in Ottawa, ON, Canada, on the use of superplasticizers in concrete. Selected papers from the conference were published as ACI SP-62. In 1981, CANMET, again in association with ACI, sponsored a second 3-day international conference in Ottawa on the use of the superplasticizers in concrete. Proceedings of the conference were published as ACI SP-68. The purpose of the third international conference in Ottawa in 1989 was to review the progress made since the meetings in 1978 and 1981, and to bring together representatives of the chemical admixtures, cement, and concrete industries to exchange information and delineate new areas of needed research. The scope of this conference was expanded to include chemical admixtures other than superplasticizers. Proceedings of the conference were published as ACI SP-119. In October 1994, CANMET in association with ACI and several other organizations sponsored the fourth conference in Montreal, QC, Canada. The objective of this conference was to bring attention to new developments in chemical admixture since the last conference in 1989. The proceedings of the conference were published as ACI SP-148. In October 1997, the Committee for the Organization of CANMET/ACI International Conference, (ACI Council), in association with ACI and several cement and concrete organizations in Italy, sponsored the fifth conference in Rome, Italy. The conference was aimed at transferring technology in the fast-moving field of chemical admixtures. The proceedings of the conference were published as ACI SP-173. In October 2000, Committee for the Organization of CANMET/ACI International Conferences, (ACI Council), in association with several organizations in Canada and France, sponsored the sixth conference in Nice, France. More than 50 papers from more than 20 countries were received and reviewed by an ACI review panel, and 37 were accepted for publication in the proceedings of the conference. The proceedings were published as ACI SP-195. In October 2003, the Committee for the Organization of CANMET/ACI International Conferences (ACI Council) in association with several organizations in Canada and Germany, sponsored the seventh conference in Berlin, Germany. The conference attracted more than 275 delegates and proceedings of the conference consisting of 39 papers, were published as ACI SP-217. In October 2006, the Committee for the Organization of CANMET/ACI International Conferences, (ACI Council), sponsored the eighth conference in Sorrento, Italy. More than 60 papers from more than 25 countries were received, and peer reviewed by the CANMET/ACI review panel in Budapest, and 36 were accepted for publication as ACI SP-239. In October 2009, the Committee for the Organization of International Conferences (COIC) (formerly CANMET/ACI International Conferences) sponsored the ninth ACI International Conference in Seville, Spain. More than 50 papers from more than 20 countries were received and peer reviewed, and 35 were accepted for publication in the proceedings of the conference. The proceedings were published as ACI SP-262. In October 2012, COIC sponsored the Tenth International Conference on Superplasticizers and Other Chemical Admixtures in Concrete in Prague, Czech Republic. More than 70 papers from all over the world were peer reviewed, and 33 were accepted for publication in the proceedings of the conference. The proceedings were published as ACI SP-288. In July, 2015, the COIC in association with ACI sponsored the Eleventh International Conference on Superplasticizers and Other Chemical Admixtures in concrete in Ottawa, ON, Canada. More than 60 papers from the world over were peer reviewed, and 28 were accepted for publication in the proceedings of the conference. Also, additional papers were presented at the conference that were published in the Supplementary Papers Volume. In October 2018, the Chinese Ceramic Society and the China Academy of Building Research (CABR), Beijing China, in association with ACI, sponsored the Twelfth International Conference on Superplasticizers and other Chemical Admixtures in Concrete in Beijing China. More than 80 papers from all over the world were received and peer reviewed. A total of 36 refereed papers were accepted for publication in the proceedings of the conference. The proceedings were published by as ACI SP-329. The proceedings were published as ACI SP-302. Also, 54 additional papers were presented at the conference, and were published in the Supplementary Papers Volume. In July, 2022, after a postponement for the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACI Italy Chapter and the University of Bergamo, Italy, sponsored the Thirteenth International Conference on Superplasticizers and Other Chemical Admixtures in Concrete in Milan, Italy. The proceedings of the conference consisting of 35 refereed papers were published by ACI as SP-354. In addition to the refereed papers, about 20 other papers were presented at the conference, and were published in a supplementary papers volume. The main topics of the papers presented at the conference are related to superplasticizers, accelerating admixtures, retarding admixtures, air-entraining agents, shrinkage-reducing agents, superabsorbent polymers, and self-healing admixtures, and their influence on the properties of the concrete in fresh and hardened state. These properties include: workability, slump-loss, time of setting, heat of hydration, strength, durability, shrinkage, and creep of the concrete mixtures. Thanks are extended to the reviewers for the valuable efforts in reviewing all the manuscripts published in the conference proceedings and in the supplementary volume. The guidance from Dr. V. M. Malhotra and Prof. M. Collepardi, the Honorary Chairpersons of the conference, is sincerely appreciated. Also, acknowledged is the support of ACI International for the publication of the proceedings (ACI SP-354). The Editors Dr. Denny Coffetti Prof. Luigi Coppola Dr. Terence Holland

Concrete and cement-based materials inherently possess an autogenous self-healing capacity, which is even higher in High- and Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (HPC, UHPC) because of the high content of cement and supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) and low water/binder ratios. In this study, quantitative correlation through statistical models have been investigated based on the meta-data analysis. The employed approaches aim at establishing a correlation between the mix proportions, exposure type, and time and width of the initial crack against suitably defined self-healing indices. This study provides a holistic investigation of the autogenous self-healing capacity of cement-based materials based on extensive literature data mining. This is also intended to pave the way towards consistent incorporation of self-healing concepts into durability-based design approaches for reinforced concrete structures. The study has shown that the exposure type and duration, crack width size, and chemical admixtures have the most significant promotion on self-healing indices. However, other parameters, such as fibers and mineral admixtures have less impact on the autogenous self-healing of UHPC. The study also proposes suitably built design charts to quickly predict and evaluate the self-healing efficiency of cement-based materials which can significantly reduce, in the design stage, the time and efforts of laboratory investigation.

The production of cement by calcination of limestone releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. Development of concrete quality lead to optimize the sustainability and maintenance phases of concrete structures, so, using supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) is one of the methods adapted to reduce the environmental impact of cement production. In addition, self-healing of concrete appears as a process to considerably improve the durability of a damaged structure [1]. As revealed by most analyses, mineral additions can be used to improve the autogenous healing ability of cementitious materials [2].

In this study, the influence of using a combination of SCMs, such as ground granulated blast furnace slag and metakaolin, on the mechanism of autogenous crack healing was assessed in ternary formula. Self-healing evolution was characterised by means of mechanical tests carried out on notched mortar samples with different substitution ratios. The mechanical recovery was investigated after the healing period. Moreover, the micro-chemical structure of the healing products was determined using various techniques (TGA, SEM/EDS and XRD). The primary results showed that using metakaolin and ground granulated blast furnace slag together greatly improve the healing efficiency.

The design of building structures and infrastructures is mainly based on four concepts: safety, serviceability, durability and sustainability. The latter is becoming increasingly relevant in the field of civil engineering. Reinforced concrete structures are subjected to conditions that produce cracks which, if not repaired, can lead to a rapid deterioration and would result in increasing maintenance costs to guarantee the anticipated level of performance. Therefore, self-healing concrete can be very useful in any type of structure, as it allows to control and repair cracks as soon as they to occur. As a matter of fact, the synergy between fibre-reinforced cementitious composites and selfhealing techniques may result in promising solutions. Fibres improve the self-healing process due to their capacity to restrict crack widths and enable multiple crack formation. In particular, cracks smaller than 30-50 μm are able to heal completely. Moreover, in the case of High Performance Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Composites (HPFRCC), high content of cementitious/pozzolanic materials and low water-binder ratios are likely to make the composites naturally conducive to self-healing. In this framework the main goal of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, a state-of-the-art survey on self-healing of fibre-reinforced cementitious composites will be provided. This will be analysed with the goal of providing a “healable crack opening based” design concept which could pave the way for the incorporation of healing concepts into design approaches for FRC and also conventional R/C structures. On the other hand, the same state-of-the-art will be instrumental in identifying research needs, which still have to be addressed for the proper use of self-healing fibre-reinforced cementitious composites in the construction field.

Cracks in concrete can be mitigated by autogenous healing. Major mechanisms for self-healing of concrete include calcium carbonate formation, continued hydration, sedimentation of particles, swelling of the cement matrix, and admixture effects. In this article, authors describe a test method for examining a degree of sealing of cracks and its application for performance evaluation of a crack-sealing chemical admixture. The test method characterizes the self-sealing performance of concrete by directly measuring flow rates through cracks.