Project 

Current Challenge

The DARPA Bio-inspired Restoration of Aged Concrete Edifices (BRACE) program aims to prolong the serviceability of Department of Defense structures and airfield pavements by integrating a self-repair capability into existing concrete.

Research Goal

Recent years have seen an emergence of so-called living materials, or materials that have the properties of living things. The central hypothesis of BRACE is that concrete can be infused with self-repair capabilities typically found in living organisms, drawing inspiration from vascular systems found in humans and vast networks of filamentous fungi that can span acres of land similar in scale to concrete buildings. Such systems could provide a network of transportation for healing within the depths of the material to repair cracks before they reach the surface and before they cause failure.

Sponsor

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)