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Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions

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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: closed (20 June 2023) | Viewed by 16931

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Prof. Dr. Danuta Barnat-Hunek

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Guest Editor

Department of Construction, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, Poland
Interests: recycled aggregates; materials based on cement; durability; hydrophobizaton; nanopolymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Magdalena Grudzińska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Construction, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, Poland
Interests: low-energy buildings; passive use of solar energy; thermal bridges; building simulations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In buildings exposed to moisture and temperature change, accelerated processes of deterioration of materials and building partitions may occur. These can lead to biological and chemical corrosion and thus increase maintenance and operation costs. Physicochemical properties affect not only the durability of building materials, but also air quality, thermal comfort, and energy consumption. Due to the increase in thermal conductivity of the outer layers, heat losses may increase, influencing the heating demand of residential and public utility buildings.

In recent years, there has been a visible interest in the application of advanced surface protection measures. This includes both chemical protection, by means of hydrophobization, impregnation, painting, etc., and structural protection, thanks to the construction of external elements sheltering the buildings’ envelope from the environmental impacts.

As chemical protection, agents based on aliphatic hydrocarbons, methylsilicone resins, etc. are used quite often. Because anticorrosion protection of external walls is expensive, the selection of effective measures should be based on detailed laboratory tests. At the same time, we should strive to produce better, more effective, and more ecological surface protection substances.

Examples of structural protection may be rainscreen claddings, double-skin facades, glazed balconies, or loggias. They form barriers preventing the direct influence of rain, wind, urban noise, or temperature swings, and delaying the time of natural deterioration or destruction of elevation surface. In some cases, such elements form additional usable space (glazed conservatories), attractive to the inhabitants. They also lower energy demand in the adjacent heated area and reduce the heat losses through thermal bridges. These structures also need a conscious and thorough design, necessary to fully exploit their advantages and to avoid the risk of overheating in the living space during summer.

This Special Edition entitled “Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions” aims to publish original research enriching current knowledge on the durability of porous building materials surfaces and external building partitions.

Critical reviews are also welcome.

Topics include but are not limited to:

Durability of building materials (e.g., chloride attack, sulfate attack, acid attack, carbonation, alkali–silica reaction, freeze/thaw, and biodegradation);
New trends in the design of new hydrophobic agents, impregnations, anticorrosive agents for building materials, anti-graffiti agents, etc.;
Methods of increasing the durability of building materials and external building partitions, facades;
Protection against deterioration thanks to the shielding of the buildings’ envelope from the environmental impacts;
Design of the glazed spaces including their effectiveness during the heating season and summer;
Influence of thermal bridges on the durability of facades.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Danuta Barnat-Hunek
Dr. Magdalena Grudzińska
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

durability of building materials
surface protection of building materials
ecological, biodegradable impregnations
protection of facades
glazed spaces, double-skin facades
thermal bridges
maintenance and operation of buildings

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 3618 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adhesion of Modified Epoxy Resin to a Concrete Surface

by Andrzej Szewczak and Grzegorz Łagód

Materials 2022, 15(24), 8961; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15248961 - 15 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1594

Abstract

The protection of building elements exposed to the weather using hydrocarbon-based agents is a comprehensive group of analyses. These agents are characterized by very high chemical resistance, waterproofness, as well as adhesion to surfaces made of various materials, i.e., concrete, steel, ceramics and wood. Modification of adhesion, which ultimately leads to an increase in the durability of a protective/face coating made of such a material, can lead to a longer life of these layers and a less frequent need for replacement or restoration. The following paper describes an experimental research program on the possibility of increasing the adhesion and durability of epoxy resin modified with the use of powder fillers. The resin can be used as a protective or top coat on the surface of concretes or mortars. The main objective of the study was to increase the adhesion of the resin to the concrete substrate, modified by grinding and sandblasting to increase the roughness. For the series studied, both the changes in physicochemical parameters, which determine how the resin penetrates the irregularities of the substrate and mechanical parameters, which mainly determine the durability of the layer made in this way, were identified. A modified version of the pull-off test was used as a method to directly evaluate the effectiveness of the modified resins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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25 pages, 2965 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Factors Influencing the Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Behavior of Unstabilized Rammed Earth Walls

by Xiang Zhang and Hossein Nowamooz

Materials 2022, 15(24), 8821; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15248821 - 10 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 963

Abstract

Waterproof capacity, thermal isolation, and pushover strength are the main characteristics when an unstabilized rammed earth (URE) wall is constructed. In this paper, a comprehensive numerical simulation model is built to evaluate the effect of 15 different factors on those three aforementioned properties of URE walls. The simulation results show that the hydraulic, thermal, and mechanical properties of the wall are interconnected. It is found that the waterproof capacity of the wall can be mainly improved by increasing the dry density, decreasing the rising damp effect, and reducing the fine content value of the wall. The thermal insulation characteristic of the wall can be ameliorated by increasing the wall thickness and reducing the rising damp effect, fine content, and dry density. In addition, the pushover capacity of the wall can be strengthened by increasing the wall width, fine content, wall thickness, and vertical load and decreasing the rising dampness and wall height. In addition, time has a positive effect on the waterproof capacity, thermal insulation, and mechanical strength of URE walls. These properties change significantly in the first 100 days and then stabilize after 180 days for a typical URE wall. Eventually, a new theoretical approach is proposed to predict the long-term THM behavior of URE walls by considering the 15 factors in its framework. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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17 pages, 2994 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating the Feasibility of Using Brick Powder and Clay Powder in Cement Replacement

by Patryk Rumiński, Maciej Szeląg and Paulo de Matos

Materials 2022, 15(22), 8127; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228127 - 16 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1111

Abstract

The cement industry generates very large amounts of CO₂ into the atmosphere. In recent years, there has been a search for alternative cementitious materials and micro-fillers that could partially or fully replace cement in cement composites without compromising their durability. This paper investigates the possibility of using brick powder (BP) and clay powder (CP) as a partial replacement for cement (up to 20% by weight) in cement paste. The raw materials were characterized, and the physical and mechanical properties of the modified cement pastes were studied, as well as their resistance to a short-term thermal shock at 250 °C. The study was supplemented by intelligent modelling of compressive strength using the support vector machine (SVM) algorithms. The results indicated a significant increase in tensile strength (up to 100%) and an increase in thermal resistance of cement pastes modified with BP and CP. The proposed SVM model had high accuracy (R² = 0.90), indicating its suitability to predict the compressive strength of the modified cement matrix. This study complements the knowledge in the field of inter alia, the effect of a short-term thermal shock at elevated temperature on the properties of BP and CP modified cement paste, and the effect of BP, which, due to its grain size, plays more the role of a microfiller than a pozzolanic additive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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27 pages, 7016 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Water with Oxygen and Ozone Micro-Nano Bubbles on Concrete Physical Properties

by Małgorzata Grzegorczyk-Frańczak, Danuta Barnat-Hunek, Kalina Materak and Grzegorz Łagód

Materials 2022, 15(22), 7938; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15227938 - 10 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1504

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of using mixing water containing O₂ and O₃ micro-nano bubbles (M-NBs) in concrete technology was investigated. In particular, the effect of micro-nano bubbles on the durability and frost resistance of concrete was analyzed. Concretes with two types of micro-nano bubbles were studied. The physical properties of both the modified concretes and the reference concrete were determined, i.e., specific and apparent density, porosity, weight absorption and coefficient of water absorption. Mechanical parameters based on compressive and flexural strength were tested after 14 and 28 days of curing. Concrete durability was determined on the basis of frost resistance and resistance to salt crystallization. The pore distribution in the cement matrix was determined based on porosimetry studies. The use of water with micro-nano bubbles of O₂ and O₃, among others, contributed to a reduction in the water absorption coefficient from 42.7% to 52.3%, in comparison to the reference concrete. The strength characterizing the concrete with O₃ increased by 61% after 28 days, and the frost resistance after 150 F-T cycles increased by 2.4 times. Resistance to salt crystallization improved by 11% when water with O₃ was used. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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15 pages, 5985 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Alkali-silica Reaction Elimination Potential of High-Performance Concrete Containing Glass Powder

by Diana Mariaková, Klára Anna Mocová, Kristina Fořtová, Tereza Pavlů and Petr Hájek

Materials 2022, 15(19), 6574; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15196574 - 22 Sep 2022

Viewed by 1025

Abstract

This study is mainly concerned with the assumption that glass powder can eliminate the potential alkali-silica reaction in high performance concrete. Glass is often land filled, produced as a secondary raw material or as a by-product of production. Chemical analyses were carried out, and the ecotoxicity of the material was investigated, serving as a basis for testing a potential alkali-silica reaction. High performance concrete (HPC) containing different types of waste powder (secondary raw material from production (SGP), jewelry production (SGJ), container waste glass (CWG), and glass from used photovoltaic panels (GPP)) are tested according to the international standard ASTM C1260 and the Czech technical condition TP 137. Newly designed mixtures are innocuous from the ASR point of view in the most cases, except SGP HPC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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20 pages, 4385 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Static Analysis of Skew Functionally Graded Plate Using Novel Shear Deformation Theory

by Jitendra Singh, Ajay Kumar, Małgorzata Szafraniec, Danuta Barnat-Hunek and Barbara Sadowska-Buraczewska

Materials 2022, 15(13), 4633; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15134633 - 01 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1400

Abstract

In this article, the static response of a functionally graded material (FGM) plate is studied via hybrid higher-order shear deformation theory which uses hyperbolic and polynomial shape functions and includes the effect of thickness stretching. The composition of the plate comprises metallic and ceramic phases. The ceramic volume fraction varies gradually along with the thickness following the power law. The mechanical properties of the FGM plate are determined by the rule of mixtures and the Mori–Tanaka homogenization scheme. The displacement fields are defined to satisfy the requirement of traction-free boundary conditions at the bottom and top surfaces of the plate surface removing the need for determination of shear correction factor. A C⁰ continuity FE model is developed for the present mathematical model. Nine-node isoparametric elements with eight nodal unknowns at each node are developed. The present model comparison with existing literature is completed and found to be coherent. Inhouse MATLAB code is developed for the present work. Sinusoidal and uniformly distributed loading is analyzed in the present work. The parametric study is undertaken to explore the effect of the side-to-thickness ratio, aspect ratio, thickness, and volume fraction index on stresses and transverse displacements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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14 pages, 3394 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Utility of Recycled Rice Husk-Reinforced PVC Composite Profiles for Façade Cladding

by Ewa Sudoł, Ewelina Kozikowska and Emilia Choińska

Materials 2022, 15(10), 3418; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15103418 - 10 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1444

Abstract

The production process of construction profiles from natural fibre-reinforced polymer composites, as well as their assembly, generates considerable amounts of waste. The study analysed the possibility of utilising the said waste to produce profiles with the same intended use as products made from the primary material. The analysis involved the recycling of rice husk-reinforced PVC profiles. As a result of the applied post-processing, a composite of higher homogeneity and better filler dispersion than the product made of primary material was obtained. A slight improvement in thermal properties was observed. From the DSC test, Tg values of 78 °C and nearly 80 °C were obtained, while from the TGA test, mass loss values of 0.6% and 0.4% and the decomposition temperatures of 211 °C and 217 °C were noted for profiles of primary and secondary material, respectively. A softening temperature of 75 °C was obtained for primary material profiles, while nearly 77 °C was obtained for secondary. The more favourable mechanical properties of recycled profiles were also maintained. The higher value of flexural strength, flexural modulus, impact strength and hardness by 31%, 24%, 48% and 40% were obtained, respectively. After hydrothermal cycling, the same properties were higher for secondary material profiles by 35%, 20%, 68%, and 67%, respectively. The recorded level of performance properties of recycled products, better than those of primary material standard construction products’, allows us to conclude that profiles made of waste are useful for façade claddings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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21 pages, 7693 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Forced Carbonisation on the Binding Properties of Sludge with a High β-Belite Content

by Aleksandr Bakhtin, Nikolay Lyubomirskiy, Stanisław Fic and Tamara Bakhtina

Materials 2021, 14(24), 7899; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14247899 - 20 Dec 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1547

Abstract

Alternative binders activated by forced carbonisation are regarded as one of the potential solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water, and energy consumption. Such binders, in particular those based on nepheline sludge (a by-product of alumina production), cured in carbon dioxide with subsequent hydration, are clinkerless building materials. The development of such binders contributes to the involvement of multi-tonnage solid industrial waste in the production cycle. This type of waste is capable of binding man-made CO₂ and transforming it into stable insoluble compounds, having binder properties. The optimum technological parameters of the forced carbonisation of the nepheline slime binder was determined by the mathematical planning of the experiment. The novelty of the research is the expansion of the secondary raw material base that can bind the man-made CO₂ with obtaining the construction products of appropriate quality. It was revealed that the process of active CO₂ absorption by the minerals of nepheline slime is observed in the first 120 min of the forced carbonization. Immediately after carbonisation, the resulting material develops compressive strength up to 57.64 MPa, and at the subsequent hydration within 28 days this figure increases to 68.71 MPa. Calcium carbonate is the main binder that determines the high mechanical properties of the samples. During the subsequent hydration of the uncoated belite, gel-like products are formed, which additionally harden the carbonised matrix. Thus, after the forced carbonisation and the following 28 days of hardening, the material with compressive strength in the range 4.38–68.71 MPa and flexural strength of 3.1–8.9 MPa was obtained. This material was characterised by water absorption by mass in the range of 13.9–23.3% and the average density of 1640–1886 kg/m³. The softening coefficient of the material was 0.51–0.99. The results obtained enables one to consider further prospects for research in this area, in terms of the introduction of additional technological parameters to study the process of forced carbonisation of nepheline slime. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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17 pages, 4419 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal and Optical Properties of the Sunspace Casing as Factors Influencing Temperature Rise in Greenhouse Systems

by Magdalena Grudzińska

Materials 2021, 14(23), 7411; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14237411 - 03 Dec 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1171

Abstract

In sunspaces, there is an observable temperature rise above the external air temperature, caused by solar gains and the buffering effect of their enclosure. In addition, their external partitions form a barrier preventing the direct influence of the external environment and delaying the natural deterioration of elevation surface. In the paper, the temperature rise in a glazed balcony attached to a typical flat in a multifamily building, together with the energy demand in the living zone, were assessed with the use of dynamic computer simulations. Ten variants of the sunspace casing were analysed, with different thermal and solar energy transmittance of the glazing (which is a novel subject in the research area). This enabled us to evaluate average values of the temperature reduction factor during the year and to choose the most efficient variant of the sunspace external partitions. It turned out to be an insulated, double-glazed casing with a spectrally selective coating (type O 21), combining high insulative properties with high solar transmittance. These features allowed the temperature in the sunspace to rise by almost 10°C (compared with the external air) and lower total energy demand in the flat by 33% (compared with a flat with an open balcony). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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16 pages, 5264 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Biodegradable Release Oils on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Light-Colored Architectural Concrete

by Danuta Barnat-Hunek and Małgorzata Szafraniec

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4630; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164630 - 17 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2390

Abstract

In the article, unique formulations of biodegradable, non-toxic, edible oil-based release oils were developed and tested on architectural concrete. The produced agents have physicochemical properties similar to diesel fuel, but at the same time, are renewable and biodegradable products. An ultrasound was used to properly combine the liquid phase of edible oil and the liquid phase of glyceryl trioleate and/or water. Based on the PN-B-19305 standard, seven-component configurations were designed and then tested. The wettability of the concrete was determined by contact angle (CA) analysis. After the application of the formulations produced, the architectural concrete still had good wettability. The vapor permeability test showed that the tested release agents did not inhibit water vapor diffusion from the tested samples. The O65G35 (65% unique edible oil formula and 35% glyceryl trioleate) concrete had the best absorption. In this case, the CA was 56° after oil application and 46° before. The new agents did not impair the adhesion of the plaster to concrete. The O90W10 concrete showed the best adhesion of plasters made with it—51.9 kN/m². The study also showed that the concrete surface had excellent paint absorption despite the use of release agents. The architectural concrete was evenly covered with paint without any problem. There were no difficulties in applying it, e.g., greasy places preventing the concrete from being coated with emulsion. The suitability of the produced release oils for lightweight architectural concrete structures intended for facades was confirmed. The best results were obtained after using formulations O65T35 and O90W10. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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14 pages, 3361 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Assessment of Strength of Cementitious Materials Impregnated Using Hydrophobic Agents Based on Near-Surface Hardness Measurements

by Martyna Nieświec and Łukasz Sadowski

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4583; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164583 - 15 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1485

Abstract

Recently, the surfaces of concrete structures are impregnated to protect them against the environment in order to increase their durability. It is still not known how the use of these agents affects the near-surface hardness of concrete. This is especially important for experts who use the near-surface hardness of concrete for estimating its compressive strength. The impregnation agents are colorless and, thus, without knowledge of their use, mistakes can be made when testing the surface hardness of concrete. This paper presents the results of investigations concerning the impact of impregnation on the subsurface hardness concrete measured using a Schmidt hammer. For this research, samples of cement paste with a water–cement ratio of 0.4 and 0.5 were used. The samples were impregnated with one, two, and three layers of two different agents. The first agent has been made based on silanes and siloxanes and the second agent has been made based on based on polymers. The obtained research results allow for the conclusion that impregnation affects the near-surface hardness of concrete. This research highlights the fact that a lack of knowledge about the applied impregnation of concrete when testing its near-surface hardness, which is then translated into its compressive strength, can lead to serious mistakes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability and Surface Protection of Porous Materials and External Building Partitions)

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