1. Fundamental principles: adhesion and compatibility

One of the engineer's primary concerns when designing the repair of a concrete structure is to optimize the bond generated between the filler material and the original concrete, especially with regard to the durability of the bond. This requires a good understanding of the forces involved when contact occurs between two phases. And these forces are ultimately reduced (with the exception of purely mechanical forces, which are the subject of macroscopic study) to molecular interactions, of a physico-chemical nature