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Buildings
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Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Precast Concrete Products
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Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Precast Concrete Products

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 2388

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rita Nogueira

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Guest Editor
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenue Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: construction materials; cement-based materials; sustainable materials and construction; low-CO2 binders; carbonation of concrete wastes; CO2 capture; utilization of waste materials
Prof. Dr. Inês Flores-Colen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenue Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: innovative and sustainable construction; aerogel-based composites; maritime and agricultural wastes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Concrete is an extraordinary material, showing many qualities crucial for the development of modern societies. However, the increasing demand on concrete products raises diverse sustainable issues, namely, depletion of natural resources (for aggregates or for Portland cement production), carbon emissions, and generation of construction and demolition waste. These conditions, in addition to the presently high cost of energy, push the industry to reinvent itself toward the implementation of more sustainable processes from an environmental and economic point of view. This Special Issue aims to publish original research that presents innovative solutions to increase recycling and valorization of waste materials in precast concrete products. The issue will pay particular attention to the sustainability of mix design, namely the incorporation of industrial, agricultural, and maritime solid wastes, and also mix performance in the fresh and hardened state required for a viable technological process for the precast concrete industry.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Rita Nogueira
Prof. Dr. Inês Flores-Colen
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. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 and construction
  • concrete recycling
  • utilization of waste materials in construction
  • alternative binders to Portland cement
  • carbonation as a binding technology low-binder mixtures
  • dry-mix compositions

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 6268 KiB  
Article
Effectiveness of the Concrete Equivalent Mortar Method for the Prediction of Fresh and Hardened Properties of Concrete
by Haruna Ibrahim, George Wardeh, Hanaa Fares and Elhem Ghorbel
Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1610; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061610 - 1 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 772
Abstract
Modern concrete mix design is a complex process involving superplasticisers, fine powders, and fibres, requiring time and energy due to the high number of trial tests needed to achieve rheological properties in the fresh state. Concrete batching involves the extensive use of materials, [...] Read more.
Modern concrete mix design is a complex process involving superplasticisers, fine powders, and fibres, requiring time and energy due to the high number of trial tests needed to achieve rheological properties in the fresh state. Concrete batching involves the extensive use of materials, time, and the testing of chemical admixtures, with various methodologies proposed. Therefore, in some instances, the required design properties (physical and mechanical) are not achieved, leading to the loss of resources. The concrete equivalent mortar (CEM) method was introduced to anticipate concrete behaviour at fresh and hardened states. Moreover, the CEM method saves time and costs by replacing coarse aggregates with an equivalent sand mass, resulting in an equivalent specific surface area at the mortar scale. This study aims to evaluate the performance of fibre in CEM and concrete and determine the relationships between the CEM and the concrete in fresh and hardened states. Steel and polypropylene fibres were used to design three series of mixtures (CEM and concrete): normal-strength concrete (NSC), high-strength concrete (HSC), high-strength concrete with fly ash (HSCFA), and equivalent normal-strength mortar (NSM), high-strength mortar (HSM), and high-strength mortar with fly ash (HSMFA). This study used three-point bending tests and digital image correlation to evaluate load and crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) curves. An analytical mode I crack propagation model was developed using a tri-linear stress–crack opening relationship. Post-cracking parameters were optimised using inverse analysis and compared to actual MC2010 characteristic values. The concrete slump is approximately half of the CEM flow; its compressive strength ranges between 78% and 82% of CEM strength, while its flexural strength is 60% of CEM strength. The post-cracking behaviour showed a significant difference attributed to the presence of aggregates in concrete. The fracture energy of concrete is 28.6% of the CEM fracture energy, while the critical crack opening of the concrete is 60% of that of the CEM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Precast Concrete Products)
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16 pages, 1859 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Carbon Storage Potential of Portuguese Precast Concrete Industry
by Vitor Sousa, André Silva and Rita Nogueira
Buildings 2024, 14(2), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14020384 - 1 Feb 2024
Viewed by 982
Abstract
The concrete sector is known for its significant contribution to CO2 emissions. There are two main contributing factors in this situation: the large amount of concrete consumed per year on the planet and the high levels of CO2 released from the [...] Read more.
The concrete sector is known for its significant contribution to CO2 emissions. There are two main contributing factors in this situation: the large amount of concrete consumed per year on the planet and the high levels of CO2 released from the manufacture of Portland cement, the key binding agent in concrete. To face the consequent sustainability issues, diverse strategies involving the carbon capture and storage potential of cementitious materials have been explored. This paper addresses the potential of storing CO2 in concrete during the curing stage within the context of the precast Portuguese industry. To this end, it was assumed that CO2 will become a waste that will require an outlet in the future, considering that carbon capture will become mandatory in many industries. This work concluded that, in terms of carbon retention, the net benefit is positive for the process of storing carbon in concrete during the curing stage. More specifically, it was demonstrated that the additional emissions from the introduction of this new operation are only 10% of the stored amount, returning a storage potential of 76,000 tonnes of CO2 yearly. Moreover, the overall net reduction in the concrete life cycle averages 9.1% and 8.8% for precast elements and only non-structural elements, respectively. When a low-cement dosage strategy is coupled with carbonation curing technology, the overall carbon net reduction is estimated to be 45%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Solutions towards Sustainable Precast Concrete Products)
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