Acciona Infraestructuras is taking part in the HEALCON and SHINE European projects to develop concrete and road surfaces capable of regenerating themselves, which allows the reduction of maintenance work on infrastructures and leads to cost savings, less pollution and a lower level of noise associated with them.
|
|
(14/05/2015)
The projects are carried out under the Seventh Framework Program of support to research, and their aim is to develop materials that are capable of regenerating their initial properties without the need for external intervention.
The SHINE Project (Self Healing Innovative Elastomers) has led to the creation of a polyurethane in which reversible chemical bonds have been introduced. Following damage or a fracture, the materials can repair themselves and recover 80% of their initial properties within two hours, and practically 100% after one day.
The HEALCON project is developing self-healing types of concrete which incorporate a self-repairing mechanism that is activated when the micro-fissures appear, before they turn into cracks.
 |
Acciona is working on three channels of research. The first one involves successful tests which have been carried out on capsules that become brittle when the micro-fissures occur and release a sealing liquid.
Progress has also been made on the use of polymers capable of absorbing up to 500 times their own weight in water, which can help to seal cracks or help in repair them if they are incorporated into the self-healing concrete.
Finally, research is being carried out into the use of bacteria that are introduced into the concrete in latent form in capsules. When a crack occurs and the water penetrates the concrete, the bacteria are activated and start to produce calcium carbonate, which fills the crack.
Tests
The next phase, planned for 2016, will involve full-scale tests in which Acciona will participate by manufacturing three concrete floor sections in the Demopark at Algete (Madrid). The self-healing bacteria will be incorporated in one of the sections, hydrogels will be added to another, and a third without any self-repairing material will be used for control purposes.
The objective, after obtaining very positive results in the laboratory, is the development of materials that can be commercialized and price-competitive in the medium term, for applications in infrastructures and buildings on an industrial scale.
 |
Self-healing bacteria
|
 |
|
Crack filler |
|
