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Smart & Sustainable Society INNOVATION
Nano-engineered Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) for enhanced crack control, self-healing and self-curing
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Market Maturity: Tech Ready
These are innovations that are progressing on technology development process (e.g. pilots, prototypes, demonstration). Learn more
Market Creation Potential
This innovation was assessed by the JRC’s Market Creation Potential indicator framework as addressing the needs of existing markets and existing customers. Learn more
Women-led innovation
A woman had a leadership role in developing this innovation in at least one of the Key Innovator organisations listed below.
Go to Market needs
Needs that, if addressed, can increase the chances this innovation gets to (or closer to) the market incude:
  • Secure capital
  • Scale-up market opportunities
Location of Key Innovators developing this innovation
Key Innovators
UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)
This innovation contributes to the following SDG(s)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

The UN explains: "Roughly half the world’s population still lives on the equivalent of about US$2 a day. And in too many places, having a job doesn’t guarantee the ability to escape from poverty. This slow and uneven progress requires us to rethink and retool our economic and social policies aimed at eradicating poverty."

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

The UN explains: "Investments in infrastructure – transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication technology – are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries. It has long been recognized that growth in productivity and incomes, and improvements in health and education outcomes require investment in infrastructure."

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 11
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

The UN explains: "The challenges cities face can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. The future we want includes cities of opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more."

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

The UN explains: "Sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

The UN explains: "Affordable, scalable solutions are now available to enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies. The pace of change is quickening as more people are turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts."

The EU-funded Research Project
This innovation was developed under the Horizon 2020 project ReSHEALience with an end date of 31/12/2021
  • Read more about this project on CORDIS
Description of Project ReSHEALience
The main goal of the project ReSHEALience is to develop an Ultra High Durability Concrete (UHDC) and a Durability Assessment-based Design (DAD) methodology for structures, to improve durability and predict their long-term performance under Extremely Aggressive Exposures (EAE: XS-chloride induced corrosion, XA-chemical attack). The improvement will be supported upgrading Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete with new functionalities. Focus will be on marine structures and infrastructures for geothermal/biomass energy plants, whose severe conditions challenge the performance, lead to quick deterioration and shorten the lifespan, resulting in billions Euro spent each year in repairs. This goal will be achieved through the following activities (variations compared to current reinforced concrete): - Tailoring UHDC to target a 100% enhancement in material durability. - Upgrading experimental methods to validating durability properties of UHDCs in service conditions (cracked state) and validate an enhancement of at least a 30%. - Developing a theoretical model to evaluate ageing and degradation of UHDC structures in EAE with a 75% of accuracy, extending the modelling to predict the lifespan. - Proposing new design concepts DAD, for the use of UHDC and assessing the structures durability and Life Cycle Analysis with a 95% confidence level, to achieve an increase service life of 30%, and a long-term reduction of maintenance costs by at least 50%. - Proving, through long-term monitoring in six full-scale proofs-of concept that UHDC in real conditions has the expected enhancement of 30% in durability for both: repaired and new elements. - Developing a Business Plan per industrial partner analyzing the market niches and sectors where the developments will be exploited. The competence garnered by all the partners will put them in the forefront of the civil engineering field in order to provide sustainable solutions for the most challenging needs of our society.

Innnovation Radar's analysis of this innovation is based on data collected on 31/05/2022.
The unique id of this innovation in the European Commission's IT systems is: 106807