Team:Newcastle/cracks in concrete
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(New page: ===Reasons Cracks are bad!=== # Allows water to reach and corrode steel reinforcements # Weakens concrete structures # Difficult to repair Work in this area has already been started: ...)
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(New page: ===Reasons Cracks are bad!=== # Allows water to reach and corrode steel reinforcements # Weakens concrete structures # Difficult to repair Work in this area has already been started: ...)
Newer edit →
Revision as of 11:01, 19 July 2010
Reasons Cracks are bad!
- Allows water to reach and corrode steel reinforcements
- Weakens concrete structures
- Difficult to repair
Work in this area has already been started: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyBR3PDPa-c Bio-concrete]
This project is different to ours in that it cannot repair existing structures and bacillus subtilis cells only remain viable in the bio-concrete for a short period of time. This is not a concern for our project as we don't want the cells to survive for long periods of time, just long enough to fix the crack!
How our project helps
- Reduces corrosion rate of the steel reinforcements
- Reduces the need to demolish and rebuild concrete structures
- Reduces cement production
How our project is novel
- Filamentous cells- like steel fibers
- Getting the Bacteria to produce the gel/glue that holds it all together.
- Environmental kill switch
- We are working with a well known strain Bacillus subtilis 168 (previous work required specific stains)