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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2024 | Viewed by 6922

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Dr. Carlos López-Colina

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Guest Editor

Department of Construction, Campus de Gijón, University of Oviedo, 33203 Gijón, Spain
Interests: steel structures; steel joints; steel hollow sections; recycled concrete
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Fernando Lopez Gayarre

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Guest Editor

Department of Construction, Campus de Gijón, University of Oviedo, 33203 Gijón, Spain
Interests: sustainable construction materials; recycled aggregates; concrete technologies; ultra-high-performance concrete; computational modeling of concrete
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is well known that structural steel is an inherently recyclable material. Disassembly and reuse of steel structures is made possible through proper joint design. In the case of the other main structural material, concrete, the use of waste or recycled materials acting as aggregates, cementitious substances or additives is currently an important field of research. In addition, the reuse of precast concrete pieces is also possible in some specific cases.

Any work that addresses these subjects or any other environmental or sustainability considerations in steel or concrete structures is welcomed for submission to this Special Issue.

Dr. Carlos López-Colina
Prof. Dr. Fernando Lopez Gayarre
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

steel structures
steel joints
recycled concrete
sustainability
reuse
recycled aggregates

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2255 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Embodied Energy Optimization of Prestressed Concrete Road Flyovers by a Two-Phase Kriging Surrogate Model

by Lorena Yepes-Bellver, Alejandro Brun-Izquierdo, Julián Alcalá and Víctor Yepes

Materials 2023, 16(20), 6767; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16206767 - 19 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1011

Abstract

This study aims to establish a methodology for optimizing embodied energy while constructing lightened road flyovers. A cross-sectional analysis is conducted to determine design parameters through an exhaustive literature review. Based on this analysis, key design variables that can enhance the energy efficiency of the slab are identified. The methodology is divided into two phases: a statistical technique known as Latin Hypercube Sampling is initially employed to sample deck variables and create a response surface; subsequently, the response surface is fine-tuned through a Kriging-based optimization model. Consequently, a methodology has been developed that reduces the energy cost of constructing lightened slab bridge decks. Recommendations to improve energy efficiency include employing high slenderness ratios (approximately 1/28), minimizing concrete and active reinforcement usage, and increasing the amount of passive reinforcement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Steel Structures and Concrete for Sustainable Applications)

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15 pages, 7714 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fatigue Crack Propagation of Corroded High-Strength Steel Wires Using the XFEM and the EIFS

by Jianchao Zhu, Zhiyu Jie, Chao Chen, Hao Zheng and Weiguo Wang

Materials 2023, 16(13), 4738; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16134738 - 30 Jun 2023

Viewed by 787

Abstract

A fatigue test and numerical simulation on corroded high-strength steel wires with multiple corrosion pits were conducted. A new approach combining the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) and the Equivalent Initial Flaw Size (EIFS) was proposed to investigate three-dimensional fatigue crack growth and life prediction. The EIFS values for the steel wires were determined under various stress ranges and corrosion pit conditions. The fatigue crack propagation path, the fatigue life, and the stress variation under different pit types and depths were investigated. The results reveal a significant linear relationship between the maximum principal stress range and the fatigue life in logarithmic coordinates for steel wires with various pit types. Additionally, the EIFS is found to be dependent on the stress range and the pit depth. All the predicted outcomes fall within a range of twice the margin of error. The accuracy of this novel method is further verified by comparing predicted results with the test data. This research contributes to a better understanding of the fatigue performance of corroded high-strength steel wires and can assist in the design and maintenance of notched components. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Steel Structures and Concrete for Sustainable Applications)

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18 pages, 7505 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interpretable Predictive Modelling of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete Splitting Tensile Strength Using Ensemble Machine Learning Methods and SHAP Approach

by Celal Cakiroglu, Yaren Aydın, Gebrail Bekdaş and Zong Woo Geem

Materials 2023, 16(13), 4578; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16134578 - 25 Jun 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1143

Abstract

Basalt fibers are a type of reinforcing fiber that can be added to concrete to improve its strength, durability, resistance to cracking, and overall performance. The addition of basalt fibers with high tensile strength has a particularly favorable impact on the splitting tensile strength of concrete. The current study presents a data set of experimental results of splitting tests curated from the literature. Some of the best-performing ensemble learning techniques such as Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), Random Forest, and Categorical Boosting (CatBoost) have been applied to the prediction of the splitting tensile strength of concrete reinforced with basalt fibers. State-of-the-art performance metrics such as the root mean squared error, mean absolute error and the coefficient of determination have been used for measuring the accuracy of the prediction. The impact of each input feature on the model prediction has been visualized using the Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) algorithm and individual conditional expectation (ICE) plots. A coefficient of determination greater than 0.9 could be achieved by the XGBoost algorithm in the prediction of the splitting tensile strength. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Steel Structures and Concrete for Sustainable Applications)

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14 pages, 6185 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Evaluation of Flexural Toughness of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Beams

by Hyun-Do Yun, Ki-Bong Choi and Won-Chang Choi

Materials 2023, 16(10), 3789; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16103789 - 17 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1192

Abstract

Specifications are available to quantify flexural performance of steel-fiber reinforced concrete beams with several parameters. Each specification provides different results. This study comparatively evaluates existing flexural beam test standards that are used to evaluate the flexural toughness of SFRC beam specimens. Two standards, EN-14651 and ASTM C1609, were followed to test SFRC beams under the three-point bending test (3PBT) and the four-point bending test (4PBT), respectively. Both normal tensile strength steel fiber (1200 MPa) and high tensile strength steel fiber (1500 MPa) in high-strength concrete were considered in this study. The reference parameters recommended in the two standards, which include equivalent flexural strength, residual strength, energy absorption capacity, and flexural toughness, were compared based on the tensile strength (normal or high) of the steel fiber in high-strength concrete. The 3PBT and 4PBT results indicate that both standard test methods yield similar results to quantify the flexural performance of SFRC specimens. However, unintended failure modes were observed for both standard test methods. The adopted correlation model shows that the flexural performance of SFRC is similar for 3PBTs and 4PBTs, but the residual strength obtained from the 3PBTs tends to be greater than that obtained from 4PBTs with an increase in the tensile strength of steel fiber. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Steel Structures and Concrete for Sustainable Applications)

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17 pages, 5779 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Numerical Study of a Rebar-Prestressed Cylinder Concrete Pipe (RPCCP) under Internal Load

by Yueyang Sun, Yiqun Huang, Yangyang Yin, Yang Wang and Shaowei Hu

Materials 2022, 15(21), 7771; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15217771 - 04 Nov 2022

Viewed by 905

Abstract

In order to study the load-bearing failure characteristics of a RPCCP under internal load, a field prototype test was designed, and a finite element model was established. An internal load was applied up to 2.0 MPa step by step and the force variation law of each part was obtained. During the production of the RPCCP, by wrapping prestressed steel bars around the concrete core with a cylinder, the core was subjected to an initial precompression stress. In the loading process, the protective cover cracked first, from where the concrete core gradually changed from the initial compression state to a tension state, finally cracking from the inner and outer diameter. The stresses of the cylinder and steel bars increased steadily with the internal load and did not yield. The finite element calculation results were in good agreement with the test results, and the influence characteristics of the tension control stress of the steel bar and the concrete strength on the failure of the RPCCP under internal load were discussed. The results showed that the internal load of the protective cover was independent of the tension control stress, but decreases with a decrease in concrete strength, while the load corresponding to the concrete core entering plasticity is related to the tension control stress and the concrete strength, and the relationships were basically linear. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Steel Structures and Concrete for Sustainable Applications)

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24 pages, 8551 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanical Property Analysis and Calculation Method Modification of Steel-Reinforced High-Strength Concrete Columns

by Wenze Sun and Shiping Li

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6863; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15196863 - 02 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1288

Abstract

The existing studies lack research on the ductility of steel-reinforced high-strength concrete (SRHC) columns and current specifications restricted the use of high-strength concrete in steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) columns. To compensate for the shortcomings of the existing research and promote the application of high-strength concrete in SRC structures, we test six SRHC columns and one SRC column to examine the effects of the steel content, eccentric distance, and slenderness ratio on the ductility, bearing capacity, and failure mode of SRHC columns. Further, Abaqus finite element models are established to predict the influences of more parameters on post-peak ductility and analyze the relationship between strain development of the concrete and the decrease in bearing capacity of SRHC columns. The results show that the penetration of cracks into aggregate during failure is the primary reason for the poor ductility of the SRHC columns. Improving the confinement effect of the stirrups on concrete is the most effective measure to enhance the ductility of the SRHC columns. The decline in the stirrup spacing from 100 mm to 50 mm increased the ductility coefficient from 1.47 to 5.56. The effect of the steel content, stirrup strength, and slenderness ratio on the ductility coefficient of SRHC columns is less than 30%. After analyzing the reason for the error of current specifications, a modified formula with an error of less than 5% is developed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Steel Structures and Concrete for Sustainable Applications)

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