What if cracks in concrete could fix themselves? - Congrui Jin

Translator: Arofat Akhundjanova Reviewer: Nazarbek Nazarov

Concrete is the most widely used

Beton dunyodagi eng keng tarqalgan

construction material in the world.

qurilish materiali hisoblanadi.

It can be found in swathes of city pavements,

Ko'pgina shaharlarning qatnov yo'lkalari,

bridges that span vast rivers,

keng daryolar uzra o'tgan ko'priklar va eng baland

and the tallest skyscrapers on earth.

osmono'par binolari betondan qurilgan.

But this sturdy substance

Biroq bu chidamli materialda bir

does have a weakness:

kamchilik bor: unga shikast

it’s prone to catastrophic cracking

yetsa, qattiq yorilib ketishi

that costs tens of billions of dollars

mumkin, uni ta'mirlashga har yili

to repair each year.

milliardlab dollar sarflanadi.

But what if we could avoid that problem,

Ammo o'z-o'zini tiklovchi betonni

by creating concrete that heals itself?

yaratish muammoga yechim bo'lsa-chi?

This idea isn’t as far-fetched

G'oya g'alati tuyulishi mumkin,

as it may seem.

ammo unday emas.

It boils down to an understanding

Avvaliga beton yaratish jarayonini

of how concrete forms,

o'rganish va uni o'z maqsadimizga

and how to exploit that process

qanday bo'ysundirishni

to our benefit.

bilish lozim.

Concrete is a combination of coarse stone

Beton shag'al va qum aralashmasidan

and sand particles, called aggregates,

iborat agregatlarni loy va ohaktoshning

that mix with cement, a powdered blend

kukunli aralashmasi bo'lgan sementga

of clay and limestone.

qorishtirish orqali tayyorlanadi.

When water gets added to this mix,

Qorishmaga suv qo'shilgach,

the cement forms a paste and

sement quyuqlashib, agregatlar

coats the aggregates, quickly hardening

bilan qoplanadi va gidratatsiya deb ataluvchi

through a chemical reaction

kimyoviy reaksiya tufayli

called hydration.

tezda qotib qoladi.

Eventually, the resulting material

Natijada, yuzlab metr balandlikka

grows strong enough to prop up buildings

ko'tariluvchi binolarni qurish uchun

that climb hundreds of meters

mustahkam material

into the sky.

hosil bo'ladi.

While people have been using

Odamlar 4000 yildan

a variety of recipes to produce cement

buyon sement yaratishning turli usullarini

for over 4,000 years,

qo'llab kelishganiga qaramay,

concrete itself

beton u qadar uzoq

has a surprisingly short lifespan.

vaqt saqlanib turmaydi.

After 20 to 30 years,

20-30 yil ichida

natural processes like concrete shrinkage,

sementning tirishishi, kuchli muzlash,

excessive freezing and thawing,

qizish va og'ir yuklar ta'sirida

and heavy loads can trigger cracking.

yoriqlar paydo bo'ladi.

And it’s not just big breaks that count:

Gap faqat katta yoriqlar haqida ketmayapti,

tiny cracks can be just as dangerous.

arzimas darz ketishlar ham xavfli bo'lishi mumkin.

Concrete is often used

Beton ko'pincha po'lat armatura

as a secondary support

atrofida yordamchi tayanch

around steel reinforcements.

sifatida ishlatiladi.

In this concrete, even small cracks

Bunday holda hatto mayda yoriqlardan ham suv,

can channel water, oxygen,

kislorod, karbonat angidrid o'tishi mumkin.

and carbon dioxide that corrode the steel

Bu po'lat zanglashini keltirib chiqarib,

and lead to disastrous collapse.

imorat qulashiga olib keladi.

On structures like bridges and highways

Ko'prik va magistral yo'llar singari

that are constantly in use,

doimiy yuk ostida bo'lgan inshoot-

detecting these problems

larda bunday muammolarni

before they lead to catastrophe

falokatdan oldin aniqlash ancha

becomes a huge and costly challenge.

qimmatga tushadi va ko'p vaqt talab etadi.

But not doing so

Ammo qo'l qovushtirib o'tirish

would also endanger thousands of lives.

minglab kishilar hayotini xavf ostiga qo'yadi.

Fortunately, we’re already experimenting

Hayriyatki, biz allaqachon betonning o'zini qayta

with ways this material

tiklashiga imkon beruvchi

could start fixing itself.

metodlar ustida ishlamoqdamiz.

And some of these solutions

Ularning ba'zilari beton-

are inspired by concrete’s

ning o'zini o'zi tiklashining

natural self-healing mechanism.

tabiiy mexanizmiga asoslangan.

When water enters these tiny cracks,

Kichik yoriqlar ichiga suv kirganida,

it hydrates the concrete’s calcium oxide.

u beton tarkibidagi kalsiy oksidini to'yintiradi.

The resulting calcium hydroxide

Havoda hosil bo'lgan kalsiy gidroksidi

reacts with carbon dioxide in the air,

karbonat angidrid bilan reaksiyaga kirishadi va

starting a process called

autogen tiklanish jarayoni

autogenous healing, where

boshlanadi: kalsiy karbonatining

microscopic calcium carbonate crystals

mayda kristallari hosil bo'lib,

form and gradually fill the gap.

bo'shliqlarni to'ldira boshlaydi.

Unfortunately, these crystals

Afsuski, bu kristallar

can only do so much, healing cracks

0,3 mm gacha hajmdagi

that are less than 0.3mm wide.

yoriqlarnigina yopishi mumkin. Materialshunos olimlar

Material scientists have figured out how

beton aralashmasiga yashirin yelim

to heal cracks up to twice that size by

qo'shib, yoriqlarni ikki baravar

adding hidden glue into the concrete mix.

katta o'lchamda to'ldirish mumkinligini aniqladilar.

If we put adhesive-filled fibers

Agar qorishmaga yopishqoq modda bilan

and tubes into the mixture,

to'ldirilgan tola va naychalar

they’ll snap open when a crack forms,

qo'shilsa, yoriqlar paydo bo'lganda, ular yorilib,

releasing their sticky contents

o'zidan teshiklarni to'ldiradigan

and sealing the gap.

yopishqoq modda ajratib chiqaradi.

But adhesive chemicals often behave

Biroq, yopishqoq moddalar reaksiyasi

very differently from concrete,

betonnikidan farq qilib,

and over time, these adhesives

vaqt o'tishi bilan yanada ko'proq

can lead to even worse cracks.

yoriqlarga sabab bo'lishi mumkin.

So perhaps the best way to heal

Ehtimol, katta yoriqlarni tuzatish-

large cracks is to give concrete

ning eng yaxshi yo'li betonga o'zini o'zi

the tools to help itself.

tiklashi uchun zarur vositalarni berishdir.

Scientists have discovered that

Olimlar ba'zi bakteriya

some bacteria and fungi

va zamburug'lar autogen tiklanish

can produce minerals,

jarayonida ishtirok etuvchi

including the calcium carbonate

kalsiy karbonat kabi minerallarni

found in autogenous healing.

ishlab chiqarishini aniqladilar.

Experimental blends of concrete

Eksperimental beton qorishmalar

include these bacterial or fungal spores

shunday bakteriya yoki qo'ziqorin sporalaridan

alongside nutrients in their concrete mix,

iborat bo'lib, ular ozuqa moddalari bilan

where they could lie dormant

o'ralgan holda yuz yillab

for hundreds of years.

"uyquda" yotishi mumkin.

When cracks finally appear

Yoriqlar paydo bo'lib,

and water trickles into the concrete,

suv betonga kirganida,

the spores germinate, grow, and consume

sporalar uyg'onib, o'sadi va atrofdagi

the nutrient soup that surrounds them,

ozuqaviy minerallarni yutib,

modifying their local environment

atrof-muhitni o'zgartiradi va

to create the perfect conditions

kalsiy karbonatning shakllanishi

for calcium carbonate to grow.

uchun ideal sharoit yaratadi.

These crystals gradually fill the gaps,

Bu kristallar asta-sekin bo'shliqlarni

and after roughly three weeks,

to'ldirib, taxminan uch haftada

the hard-working microbes

mehnatsevar mikroblar

can completely repair cracks

deyarli 1mm kenglikdagi

up to almost 1mm wide.

yoriqlarni to'liq tuzata oladi.

When the cracks seal,

Yoriqlarni yamagach,

the bacteria or fungi will make spores

bakteriya va zamburug'lar spora hosil qilib,

and go dormant once more—

yangi yoriqlar paydo bo'lganida

ready to start a new cycle of self-healing

o'z-o'zini tiklashning yangi siklini boshlash

when cracks form again.

uchun yana uyquga ketadi.

Although this technique

Mazkur metod har

has been studied extensively,

jihatdan tadqiq etilganiga qaramay,

we still have a ways to go

uni ommaviy beton ishlab

before incorporating it

chiqarish jarayoniga

in the global production of concrete.

joriy qilinishiga shoshmaslik zarur.

But, these spores have huge potential

Nima bo'lganda ham bu sporalar betonni yanada

to make concrete

ishiq va mustahkam

more resilient and long-lasting—

qilish uchun katta imkoniyatlarga ega.

which could drastically reduce

Bu beton ishlab chiqarishning

the financial and environmental cost

moliyaviy va ekologik xarajatlarini sezilarli

of concrete production.

darajada kamaytirish mumkin.

Eventually, these microorganisms

Kun kelib bu mikroorganizmlar

may force us to reconsider

bizning tosh o'rmonimizga

the way we think about our cities,

jon kiritib, shaharlar haqidagi

bringing our inanimate concrete jungles

tasavvurlarimizni o'zgartirib

to life.

yuborishi mumkin.