A research team led by Professor Admir Masic from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT – USA) analyzed ancient Roman concrete samples from Privernum, which is located near modern-day Rome.

Privernum was a city occupied by the Romans and erected spectacular structures from the 2nd century BC to the 12th century AD.

A cluster of structures in the ancient citadel of Privernum and a spectral image showing the building blocks of “immortal” concrete – Photo: Science Advances.

Roman concrete made up the structures in this citadel as well as many other monuments of an amazingly sustainable empire. For centuries it was believed that this was because the ancients mixed in pozzolanic material from volcanic ash, but why Earth’s “hell material” makes them so durable remains to be seen. difficult to understand.

Romans. Illustration

Ancient material has a ghostly self-healing ability: Microscopic cracks inside the concrete block can heal themselves when reacting with water.

According to Sci-News, scientists have analyzed the small bright white mineral features at the millimeter scale, long recognized as a characteristic and common component of Roman concrete, to solve the mystery of Roman concrete. this hidden.

They are spectroscopically examined and determined to be composed of various forms of calcium carbonate. Of these, many of the species that are evident in the spectrum are produced by extreme temperatures.

However, not ashes from the deep magma flows in the “hell” of the planet.

Quite simply, the Romans used quicklime instead of slaked lime in the mixing process. Quicklime, water and concrete are combined at the same time. The in situ reaction of quicklime and water creates a “hot-mixing” process in which the material becomes a highly reactive, semi-colloidal semi-concrete – as previous studies observed in Roman concrete.

The team tried to re-mix the same material and succeeded. The hot mixing process helps to develop characteristic nanoparticle structures, creating a source of calcium that is easily broken down and reacted in compounds.

As soon as small cracks form in the concrete, this reactive calcium quickly separates and moves through layers of lime, automatically sealing the crack before it can spread.

Quicklime

This discovery not only solves the centuries-old mystery of the strange permanence of the Roman cities, but also opens up new avenues for materials technology. In addition, it was a new wonder of the “timeless” scientific knowledge of the Romans.

The study has just been published in the journal Science Advances.

source: kenhthoisu.net