Eugene Corporation Technology Research Institute
Korea’s first application in residential buildings
Eugene Corporation has become the first in Korea to successfully commercialize ‘self-healing concrete’ for use in residential buildings.
Since 2020, the Eugene Corporation Technology Research Institute has been conducting research and development with Sungkyunkwan University’s Self-Healing Eco-Friendly Concrete Research Center (headed by Professor Lee Kwang-myong) to establish a self-healing concrete production system, and it recently succeeded in applying the material in the construction of residential buildings.
To enhance product stability, Eugene Corporation also completed field verification carried out jointly by its own Technology Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University’s Self-Healing Eco-Friendly Concrete Research Center, and the research team of Professor Choi Hyung-gil of Kyungpook National University.
In general, reinforced concrete has the drawback that once cracks occur, moisture penetrates and causes corrosion, degrading the stability of the structure. To address this problem, academia in the field of concrete has pursued research using a variety of materials to secure self-healing performance, including organic and inorganic materials, bacteria, and microcapsules.
The self-healing concrete that Eugene Corporation has now successfully commercialized uses inorganic materials based on expansive agents and crystallization accelerators. Compared with conventional concrete, its waterproofing installation procedure is simpler, and cracks and leaks that occur in reinforced concrete structures can be self-repaired without separate repair or reinforcement work. Given its high cost-effectiveness, the industry expects the use of self-healing ready-mixed concrete to continue to expand.
An official from the Eugene Corporation Technology Research Institute said, “Through the past two years of research and development, we have borne fruit in commercializing self-healing concrete for residential buildings,” adding, “Based on this research, we plan to expand its application in civil engineering fields such as water treatment structures in the future.”