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Smart Building Materials which Prevent Damage or Repair Themselves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Carolyn M. Dry
Carolyn M. Dry*
Affiliation:
Assoc. Prof., University of Illinois, School of Architecture, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois 61820
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Abstract

We developed designs in which hollow porous fibers filled with chemicals release them into a matrix over time. A coating covering the fibers is degraded by chemicals, pH change, or broken by structural loading, thus, releasing the chemicals. These stimuli for release are the very agents of environmental attack.

The design to alleviate cracking consists of hollow porous fiberglass fibers containing crack-closing chemicals. The chemicals are released from the fibers when the outer sheath cracks or the fibers flex due to loading. This is the ideal situation in which the agent of environmental degradation, namely loading, is the stimulus to release the repair chemical.

The design to prevent corrosion consists of an anticorrosion chemical in hollow porous polypropylene fibers. Change in chloride ion concentration dissolves the polyol coating and allows the chemical to be released from the fiber wall. The cause of deterioration, change in chloride level which causes corrosion, is the sensor (coating deterioration) and also the activator for the remedial or preventive action (release of anticorrosion chemical).

These are distributed systems responding to environmental stimuli for sensing and repairing when and where they are needed. The control of the amount of chemical released is being researched mainly as a function of coating design and also fiber type.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 276: Symposia U/Y – Smart Materials Fabrication and Materials for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems , 1992 , 311
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

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References

REFERENCES

1. Materials Research Society call for papers, Spring '92 meeting, p. 12.Google Scholar
2. Carolyn, Dry, “Alteration of Matrix Permeability and Associated Pore and Crack Structure by Timed Release of Internal Chemicals,” Proceedings: Advances in Cementitious Materials, American Ceramic Society, Inc., co-sponsored by National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD meeting held July 23–26, 1990, pp. 729–767.Google Scholar
3. Carolyn, Dry, “Passive Smart Materials for Sensing and Actuation,” Proceedings: Conference on Recent Advances in Adaptive and Sensory Materials and Their Applications, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 27–29, 1992.Google Scholar
4. Carolyn, Dry, Univ. of Illinois and Victor Li, Univ. of Michigan, Proposal to National Science Foundation, “Passive Smart Cementitious Composites for Dynamic Control of Structures: Internal Timed Release of Chemicals for Self-Repair of Crack Damage,” May, 1992.Google Scholar
5. “TONE™ Polyols for High-Performance Adhesives,” promotional literature by Union Carbide Corp. Specialty Polymers and Composites Div., 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, Conn., June, 1985.Google Scholar
6. Janney, Wiss, Elstner Associates, Inc., Testing and Instrumentation Services, Northbrook, Illinois. Google Scholar
7. Carolyn, Dry, “Passive Smart Materials for Sensing and Actuation,” Proceedings: Conference on Recent Advances in Adaptive and Sensory Materials and Their Applications, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 27–29, 1992.Google Scholar