The MAPMIT project (polyfunctional sprayed materials for strengthening and monitoring infrastructures of transport) is created with the aim of investigating new materials for the for the repair or retrofitting of transport infrastructures such as tunnels, walls and bridges. And, in this way, get a better use of public funds and increase sustainability, reducing the consumption of raw materials and pollutants.
This project has been carried out by IQE S.A. in collaboration with COMSA S.A.U., the Universitat Politècnica of Catalunya (UPC) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC); and co-funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad in the Call Retos-Colaboración and by the European Union through FEDER funds under the objective of promoting the technological development, innovation and high quality research. (See banner photo)
The MAPMIT project has acted on 5 fundamental pillars:
- Improvement of the materials used, the construction system and the connections with the substrate towards a polyfunctional monolayer solution, which presents better mechanical properties in the short and long term, improving the sustainability of the process and increasing the useful life of the infrastructure.
- Development of new families of accelerators free of alkalis, which present better resistance in the short and long term, allow to reduce the consumption of raw materials (accelerant, cement) and improve the adhesion of shotcrete, especially in environments with water outcrop.
- Development of calculation models that take into account the specificities of the projected material and allow an optimized design of the same in terms of shear behavior, adhesion with reinforcement and creep.
- Improvement of the quality control techniques used and development of non-destructive techniques based on multisensory monitoring to evaluate the behavior of the projected material with and without fibers, especially for a very short-time. (See banner photo)
- Provide multicriteria assessment tools that allow evaluating the behavior of the materials used and globally quantify the sustainability of reinforcement, repair and rehabilitation actions and their need and justification, as well as the impact on society.
As a technological innovation, this project has designed and developed new techniques and non-destructive methodologies for the characterization in the laboratory and in situ of the mechanical characteristics of the projected material. This has led to the design of a prototype for short and long term monitoring of the development of properties in shotcrete using ultrasonic sensors and systems based on wireless networks.
The MAPMIT Project has allowed Industrias Químicas del Ebro S.A. develop and validate new accelerators free of alkalis, comparing their behavior in the applications studied with the products that are referents in the sector: AKF125 and ALNA73.
