Sustainable Construction Materials, Structures, and Buildings

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 June 2024) | Viewed by 2039

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
Interests: advanced characterization; simulation and testing of civil engineering materials; smart technologies for transportation materials and resilient structures; sustainable and energy-efficient structural materials
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Guest Editor
School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
Interests: civil engineering material; structural engineering

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Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
Interests: sustainable infrastructure materials; rubberized concrete; fiber-reinforced concrete; utilization of MSW; asphalt concrete materials; material macro and micro characterizations; FEM fracture analysis
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Institute of Civil Engineering Materials, School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Interests: geopolymer; microstructure; drying shrinkage; mechanical properties; durability of cement-based composites
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable construction materials, structures, and buildings, with a specific focus on sustainable concrete and cementitious materials, as well as mass timber. It aims to provide a platform for interdisciplinary research that connects materials science and structural engineering, hopefully inspiring further innovation and contributing to global efforts towards creating a more sustainable built environment. Topics of interest include the development and performance analysis of sustainable concrete using alternative cementitious materials and industrial by-products, low-carbon cementitious materials, and mass timber structural systems. Additional areas of interest encompass the life cycle assessment, durability, and adaptability of structures built with sustainable materials. By showcasing case studies, design strategies, and methodologies for integrating sustainable materials and structural systems, this Special Issue aims to highlight the potential benefits of sustainable construction materials and techniques, both for the environment and for structural/material performance. Expected topics include: 1) the development and performance analysis of sustainable concrete using alternative cementitious materials and industrial by-products; 2) innovations in low-carbon cementitious materials, exploring the potential of novel binders and supplementary cementitious materials; 3) a comparative life cycle assessment of traditional and sustainable cementitious materials, with acknowledgment of environmental, social, and economic implications; 4) structural optimization and innovative design techniques using mass timber for low-carbon resilient buildings; 5) innovations in cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing processes, with a focus on the potential for reducing embodied carbon and enhancing resource efficiency; 6) design principles and best practices for creating sustainable buildings with cross-laminated timber (CLT) structural systems; 7) structural design and performance evaluation of cross-laminated timber (CLT) buildings under various loading conditions, including seismic and wind loads; 8) design strategies and tools for integrating recycled materials, such as crushed glass or waste tires, into sustainable building construction; 9) an evaluation of the long-term durability and adaptability of structures built with sustainable materials under various environmental and climatic conditions; and 10) methodologies for selecting and integrating sustainable materials and structural systems in building design and construction to minimize environmental impacts.

Prof. Dr. Qingli (Barbara) Dai
Dr. Yunxiang Ma
Dr. Jiaqing Wang
Dr. Ruizhe Si
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.

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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 construction materials 
  • sustainable concrete
  • alternative cementitious materials
  • mass timber
  • cross-laminated timber (CLT)
  • structural optimization
  • durability
  • adaptability 
  • low-carbon materials
  • recycled materials
  • industrial by-products 
  • structural engineering
  • environmental impacts 
  • material performance

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

30 pages, 9931 KiB  
Article
The Structural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams Made with Locally Produced Recycled Aggregate in the UAE
by Abdullah M. Sagheer, Sami W. Tabsh and Sherif Yehia
Buildings 2023, 13(10), 2597; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13102597 - 14 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1511
Abstract
In this study, the feasibility of utilizing locally produced coarse recycled aggregate (RA) from demolition waste in the UAE for structural applications was investigated. A comprehensive literature review on the subject showed that the shear and flexural responses of reinforced beams utilizing aggregate [...] Read more.
In this study, the feasibility of utilizing locally produced coarse recycled aggregate (RA) from demolition waste in the UAE for structural applications was investigated. A comprehensive literature review on the subject showed that the shear and flexural responses of reinforced beams utilizing aggregate from concrete demolition waste are greatly dependent on the aggregate replacement ratio and the quality of the recycled aggregate. The experimental program in this study consisted of three phases. Phase I focused on the evaluation of the physical and mechanical characteristics of the RA, Phase II addressed the mix design and fresh and hard properties of the concrete, and Phase III dealt with the flexural and shear behavior of structural members. The research involved twelve 150 mm × 300 mm reinforced concrete beams with a length of 1500 mm or 2000 mm that were made with 0% (control), 50%, or 100% recycled coarse aggregate, replacing natural coarse aggregate (NA). Two target concrete compressive strengths, 25 and 35 MPa, were considered in the investigation. The results showed that the recycled aggregates had lower crushing and LA abrasion values by 40% and 18–28%, respectively, whereas the absorption capacity was 40–300% higher compared to the natural aggregate. In addition, the mechanical properties of the concrete made with different replacement ratios (R%) of RA were either similar or slightly less than those of the control mix. The shear beam tests with fc = 25 MPa showed that the 50%- and 100%-replacement-ratio beams demonstrated closely matched normalized shear strength values that exceeded their corresponding NA beam by 12.5%, while the shear beam tests with fc = 35 MPa showed that the NA beam exhibited normalized shear strength surpassing the 50% RA and 100% RA beams by 12.5% and 17.5%, respectively. In the flexural beam tests, the flexural strength exhibited minimal disparities for the beams that shared the same RA% but differed in their compressive strength targets, and overall, the variation in the RA% had a marginal impact on the flexural strength of the beams. Further, an increase in the RA% corresponded to an increase in the shear ductility index, which was in contrast with the findings on the flexural ductility index. Furthermore, predictions of flexural strength using the ACI318-19 code and shear strength using the strut-and-tie model yielded comparable results to the experimental ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Construction Materials, Structures, and Buildings)
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