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Functional Cement-Based Composites for Civil Engineering (Volume II)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 November 2024 | Viewed by 2484

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Computing, School of Engineering, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd CF37 1DL, UK
Interests: low-carbon technology; sustainability; cement; concrete; bricks; blocks; geopolymers; soil stabilization; suppression of expansion; freezing and thawing; waste utilization; microstructural analysis; life cycle inventory; ground granulated blastfurnace slag; pulverized fuel ash; silica fume
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The production of cement-based construction and building is set to continue increasing as demand worldwide continues to increase, especially where emerging economies need cement-based materials for housing and infrastructure. In the context of increased regulations to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry and to limit greenhouse gas emission associated with cement production, this Special Issue will bring together cutting-edge and economically viable new construction and building materials made from alternative cement replacement materials, even though construction cost and technical barriers, such as insufficient durability data and differentiation for different applications, still hinder the global promotion and utilization of new sustainable construction and building materials development. Within the scope of this research topic, emphasis will be focused on fundamental, experimental, numerical, validation, and application research, inducing proven results in state-of-the-art solutions for sustainable construction. Various single-focused approaches or multidisciplinary combinations are also expected to add to the Special Issue. In general, traditionally, the most widely used construction and building materials are produced with Portland cement (PC); however, there have been some sustainability concerns as it is expensive to make and transport, and the manufacturing process is environmentally destructive, accounting for about 8% of global CO2 emissions. This has led to the use of several new sustainable alternative materials for PC replacement with significant benefits, to mitigate the environmental damage caused by PC. This Special Issue will also bring together techniques and concepts from various distinct works, to examine, explore, and critically engage with issues and advances in sustainable construction and building materials, that can provide several environmental benefits but also can lead to cost-effective products. The papers collected in this Special Issue can help researchers and practicing engineers, construction and building material scientists, low carbon and sustainability practitioners to find more advanced techniques and alternative approaches towards sustainable construction and building material development.

Dr. Jonathan Oti
Guest Editor

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

  • sustainable materials
  • building materials
  • durability
  • recycled materials
  • cement
  • concrete
  • stabilization
  • life-cycle assessment
  • bricks
  • block
  • mortar
  • geo-polymer
  • steel
  • timber
  • green building materials
  • eco-friendly materials
  • nano- and fiber composites
  • ceramics
  • limes
  • PFA
  • GGBS

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 4340 KiB  
Article
Mechanical and Microstructural Investigation of Geopolymer Concrete Incorporating Recycled Waste Plastic Aggregate
by Blessing O. Adeleke, John M. Kinuthia, Jonathan Oti, Duncan Pirrie and Matthew Power
Materials 2024, 17(6), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17061340 - 14 Mar 2024
Viewed by 537
Abstract
The effective use of waste materials is one of the key drivers in ensuring sustainability within the construction industry. This paper investigates the viability and efficacy of sustainably incorporating a polylactic acid-type plastic (WP) as a 10 mm natural coarse aggregate (NA) replacement [...] Read more.
The effective use of waste materials is one of the key drivers in ensuring sustainability within the construction industry. This paper investigates the viability and efficacy of sustainably incorporating a polylactic acid-type plastic (WP) as a 10 mm natural coarse aggregate (NA) replacement in geopolymer concrete. Two types of concrete (ordinary Portland cement—OPC and geopolymer) were produced for completeness using a concrete formulation ratio of 1:2:3. The ordinary concrete binder control was prepared using 100% OPC at a water/binder ratio of 0.55, while the geopolymer concrete control used an optimum alkaline activator/precursor—A/P ratio (0.5) and sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide—SS/SH volume ratio (1.2/0.8). Using the same binder quantity as the control, four concrete batches were developed by replacing 10 mm NA with WP at 30 and 70 wt% for ordinary and geopolymer concrete. The mechanical performance of the developed concrete was assessed according to their appropriate standards, while a microstructural investigation was employed after 28 days of curing to identify any morphological changes and hydrated phases. The results illustrate the viability of incorporating WP in geopolymer concrete production at up to 70 wt% replacement despite some negative impacts on concrete performance. From a mechanical perspective, geopolymer concrete indicated a 46.7–58.3% strength development superiority over ordinary concrete with or without WP. The sample composition and texture quantified using automated scanning electron microscopy indicated that adding WP reduced the presence of pores within the microstructure of both concrete types. However, this was detrimental to the ordinary concrete due to the low interfacial zone (ITZ) between calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) gel and WP, resulting in the formation of cracks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Cement-Based Composites for Civil Engineering (Volume II))
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15 pages, 3609 KiB  
Article
Wet–Dry Cycles and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Subgrade Treated with Sustainable Cementitious Waste Materials
by Samuel J. Abbey, Samuel Y. O. Amakye, Eyo U. Eyo, Colin A. Booth and Jeremiah J. Jeremiah
Materials 2023, 16(8), 3124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083124 - 15 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1463
Abstract
This work presents an experimental study on the physico-mechanical and microstructural characteristics of stabilised soils and the effect of wetting and drying cycles on their durability as road subgrade materials. The durability of expansive road subgrade with a high plasticity index treated with [...] Read more.
This work presents an experimental study on the physico-mechanical and microstructural characteristics of stabilised soils and the effect of wetting and drying cycles on their durability as road subgrade materials. The durability of expansive road subgrade with a high plasticity index treated with different ratios of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and brick dust waste (BDW) was investigated. Treated and cured samples of the expansive subgrade were subjected to wetting–drying cycles, California bearing ratio (CBR) tests, and microstructural analysis. The results show a gradual reduction in the California bearing ratio (CBR), mass, and the resilient modulus of samples for all subgrade types as the number of cycles increases. The treated subgrades containing 23.5% GGBS recorded the highest CBR value of 230% under dry conditions while the lowest CBR value of 15% (wetting cycle) was recorded for the subgrade treated with 11.75% GGBS and 11.75% BDW at the end of the wetting–drying cycles, both of which find useful application in road pavement construction as calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) gel was formed in all stabilised subgrade materials. However, the increase in alumina and silica content upon the inclusion of BDW initiated the formation of more cementitious products due to the increased availability of Si and Al species as indicated by EDX analysis. This study concluded that subgrade materials treated with a combination of GGBS and BDW are durable, sustainable and suitable for use in road construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Cement-Based Composites for Civil Engineering (Volume II))
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