A team from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Politecnico di Milano has designed new ultra-resistant and self-repairing concrete materials, according to a university press release.

The material has 30% more durability when compared to the traditional high-performance concrete in cracking situations. When a crack occurs, it is capable of repairing itself automatically using self-repairing techniques

Another benefit of these new cementitious materials is cutting down both ordinary and extraordinary maintenance work, enabling them to exceed the usual 50-year limit of current design codes. The application of the material is specifically suitable for infrastructures subjected to severe environments, such as constructions located near the sea and for geothermal power plants.

“These properties are possible mainly thanks to the design of the mixture and the use of components such as crystalline additives, alumina nanofibers and cellulose nanocrystals, which are capable of improving the ability of the material to repair itself”, says Pedro Serna, researcher of the Institute of Concrete Science and Technology (ICITECH) of the Universitat Politècnica de València.