Doctoral candidate Fabian Malm from the Chair of Non-destructive Testing is calibrating the sensors. (Photo: Werner Bachmeier / TUM)
Bridges, tunnels and roads: Concrete is the main component of our infrastructure. And when the structural elements need to be repaired, it often leads to long traffic jams. At the Annual Meeting of the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) in Washington, D.C. Prof. Christian Grosse from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and other experts talked about smart materials for sustainable infrastructure. Small cracks can form in concrete due to permanent loading or variations in temperature. As Prof. Christian Grosse from the Chair of Non-destructive Testing (NDT) at TUM explains, the cracks do not usually pose any direct threat to the stability of structures: "However, water and salts can penetrate the concrete and damage the affected components." - Video: self-healing concrete (Youtube). Three healing mechanisms - Repairing infrastructure is expensive and can result in long traffic jams. In the EU research project HealCON, an international team of researchers is working toward the development of concrete that can repair itself.
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