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Multi-functional Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC)

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Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC)

Abstract

To support smart infrastructure development in smart cities, it is natural to expect that modern concrete can do more than just carrying load. While offering enhancements in infrastructure resilience, durability, and sustainability, Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) can also offer multifunctionalities. Multifunctional ECCs have the ability to adapt and respond to the changing external environment.

In this chapter, thermal adaptive ECC, self-healing ECC, photo-catalytic ECC, and self-sensing ECC are described. Self-sensing and self-healing ECC can support infrastructure service-life extension with minimal inspection and maintenance. The material detects damage so that repair is applied only when and where it is needed. Even better, self-healing restores its mechanical and transport resistance without any external intervention, thus maintaining durability on a continuous basis. After a major load event, such smart ECC can assist in rapid recovery of infrastructure functions, leading to improved community resilience. Thermal adaptive ECC offers the possibility of reducing building energy use by adapting its thermal capacity in response to external temperature change. Photo-catalytic ECC offers the possibility of maintaining aesthetics and even purifying the surrounding air of the infrastructure in an autogenous fashion. These multifunctions enable operational values of the infrastructure while retaining the basic load carrying functions. They contribute directly to the sustainability of civil infrastructure.

This last chapter of the book offers a glimpse of building smart functions into a two-century-old concrete material. It serves as a preview of future infrastructures of smart cities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Victor C. Li

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  1. Victor C. Li
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Li, V.C. (2019). Multi-functional Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC). In: Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-58438-5_10

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