Da dove deriva la robustezza delle infrastrutture costruite nell’antica Roma? Secondo un team di ricercatori del MIT la risposta sarebbe nei clasti di calce, precedentemente ritenuti impurità, che miscelati a caldo nel calcestruzzo danno al materiale la capacità di “guarire”, fermando e colmando le rotture.

During the hot mixing process, the lime clasts develop a characteristically brittle nanoparticulate architecture, creating an easily fractured and reactive calcium source, which, as the team proposed, could provide a critical self-healing functionality. As soon as tiny cracks start to form within the concrete, they can preferentially travel through the high-surface-area lime clasts. This material can then react with water, creating a calcium-saturated solution, which can recrystallize as calcium carbonate and quickly fill the crack, or react with pozzolanic materials to further strengthen the composite material. These reactions take place spontaneously and therefore automatically heal the cracks before they spread. Previous support for this hypothesis was found through the examination of other Roman concrete samples that exhibited calcite-filled cracks.

Questa scoperta potrebbe portare alla commercializzazione di nuovi tipi di calcestruzzo e aumentare la vita utile degli edifici.

To prove that this was indeed the mechanism responsible for the durability of the Roman concrete, the team produced samples of hot-mixed concrete that incorporated both ancient and modern formulations, deliberately cracked them, and then ran water through the cracks. Sure enough: Within two weeks the cracks had completely healed and the water could no longer flow. An identical chunk of concrete made without quicklime never healed, and the water just kept flowing through the sample. As a result of these successful tests, the team is working to commercialize this modified cement material.

Ne parlano anche questi articoli di Scientific American e di Focus.