Comparative Study of Mechanical Properties of Concrete Using Commercially Available Bacterial Strains

Abstract

Bacteria impregnated concrete is a recent advancement in concrete technology which is being studied extensively by different researchers all around the world. This study aims to study the effect of bacteria on different parameters of concrete and compare the results from compressive test, split tensile test and flexure test with that of a normal mix concrete. The main objective of this research was to study the mechanical properties of concrete upon adding commercially available Bacillus Subtilis (5 billion cells/gm)  and laboratory cultured Bacillus Cohnii (10⁵ cells/ml) to the concrete mix. Both the bacterial concretes are mixed with calcium lactate and are cured in Calcium Chloride solution. This particular study confirms that commercially available Bacillus Subtilis imparts better concrete properties compared to laboratory cultured Bacillus Cohnii