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Green Construction Materials and Structures in the Circular Economy
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Green Construction Materials and Structures in the Circular Economy

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 5049

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Antonio Telesca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Università della Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Interests: blended cements; low-CO2; fluidized bed combustion; materials engineering; environmental engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Marroccoli Milena

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Interests: cement building materials compressive strength; concrete durability; concrete technologies; concrete material technology; construction materials; sustainable construction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction industry has been under pressure to shift towards sustainability by manufacturing materials in a more energy-saving way and/or by developing alternative products whose manufacturing process emits less carbon dioxide.

In fact, green construction is a key area for achieving energy saving and emission reduction, environmental protection, in addition to sustainable development. Building materials and structures are particularly important as basic building components that enhance the energy efficiency of buildings. Moreover, the sustainability of building materials and the durability of building structures directly affect the service life of buildings. Extensive research is, therefore, promptly required to find practical, economical, durable and environmentally friendly solutions for construction materials from a circular economy perspective. This Special Issue is aimed at providing an overview on the latest efforts in the development and application of green construction materials and structures in the circular economy. More specifically, research on sustainable construction materials and structures, alternative binders and aggregates, recycled aggregates, phase change materials, functional nanocomposites, recycling, reuse of wastes and byproducts, use of biomaterials, self-healing materials, CO2 emissions, and energy consumption reduction are of particular interest. The influence on environmental sustainability should be considered not only in terms of life cycle assessment, but also pollutant release, or even in terms of materials capable of removing pollutants.

Topics:

  • Circular economy;
  • Sustainability;
  • Green materials;
  • Construction materials;
  • Industrial wastes;
  • Recycled aggregates;
  • Raw materials;
  • Secondary raw materials;
  • Supplementary cementitious materials;
  • Self-healing materials;
  • Structural health monitoring;
  • Healthy buildings;
  • Durability energy consumption reductions and CO2 capture;
  • CO2 reduction;
  • Life cycle assessment.

Dr. Antonio Telesca
Prof. Marroccoli Milena
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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 7690 KiB  
Article
Improvement of Subsurface Thermal Characteristics for Green Parks
by Muawia Dafalla and Ahmed Al-Mahbashi
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(22), 12508; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132212508 - 20 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 643
Abstract
The ground surface of green parks in arid and semi-arid areas may not be comfortable at specific times during the day and night due to the sun and the rate at which the subsoil gains or loses heat. Knowledge of the subsurface soil’s [...] Read more.
The ground surface of green parks in arid and semi-arid areas may not be comfortable at specific times during the day and night due to the sun and the rate at which the subsoil gains or loses heat. Knowledge of the subsurface soil’s thermal properties can provide designers with convenient and comfortable settings. Design focus is generally directed toward stability, density, and hydraulic conductivity. An assessment of the thermal properties of clay–sand mixtures of 10%, 20%, and 30% clay content is conducted. The proposed clay–sand layers are subjected to three different thermal gradients of 30, 20, and 10 degrees of magnitude. The profile of temperature changes was monitored using 5TE sensors and data loggers. The mixtures were also subjected to cooling at room temperature. The results indicate that the clay type and the clay content govern the response of subsurface clay–sand liners to temperature gain and loss. Two field sections with clay–sand layers of 15% and 20% clay were examined for temperature changes over an extended period. In winter, green areas rich in clays were found to keep heat for several hours and provide relatively warm evenings. In summer, the mixture retains a cool temperature for some time during the day. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Construction Materials and Structures in the Circular Economy)
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17 pages, 1871 KiB  
Article
Technical-Economic Opportunities of Mixture Optimization and Recycled Aptitude at a Pre-Casting Concrete Plant
by Jesús Montero and Jorge Cervera-Gascó
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(13), 7782; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13137782 - 30 Jun 2023
Viewed by 771
Abstract
Cost optimization is a key factor in the competitiveness of construction companies. Hence, in the case of a concrete manufacturing plant, the technical-economic optimization of the process involved in producing concrete is a determining factor in its activity being more competitive than that [...] Read more.
Cost optimization is a key factor in the competitiveness of construction companies. Hence, in the case of a concrete manufacturing plant, the technical-economic optimization of the process involved in producing concrete is a determining factor in its activity being more competitive than that of other companies. Thus, the main objective of this experimentation is the optimization of the different concrete dosages used in a pre-casting plant. The cement volume, the water/cement (W/C) ratio, the influence of an accelerator additive and replacing coarse aggregate with recycled aggregate were analysed. As an application of the economic results, three different hypotheses were analysed for different mix combinations in a real concrete structure model. The results show that it is essential to monitor the actual initial moisture state of aggregates and the perfect definition of the effective water/cement ratio of the dosage (Wef/C) in manufacturing in order to obtain more homogeneous production. It is proposed to simplify the number of different mix proportions and reduce cement by 10–20% without decreasing resistance and functional capabilities. Regarding additive optimization, the results show that using low rates of accelerator additive significantly improves compressive strength. Replacing natural aggregates with recycled aggregates obtained from the concrete waste of non-conforming elements is suited to manufacturing recycled concrete using replacement rates of 50% and 100%. The cost analysis for a real industrial building applying the different dosing options studied shows that a cost reduction of up to 17.8% can be achieved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Construction Materials and Structures in the Circular Economy)
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16 pages, 5268 KiB  
Article
Study on Dynamic Impact Mechanical Properties of UHPC with High-Content and Directional Reinforced Steel Fiber
by Kewei Sun, Ye Wu, Senlin Li, Yan Feng and Longhai Feng
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3753; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063753 - 15 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1542
Abstract
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is a kind of building material with ultra-high strength, toughness, and durability. However, under the conditions of ordinary molding technology, most of the fibers cannot play a bridging role in the direction of force. In this study, UHPC specimens with [...] Read more.
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is a kind of building material with ultra-high strength, toughness, and durability. However, under the conditions of ordinary molding technology, most of the fibers cannot play a bridging role in the direction of force. In this study, UHPC specimens with different steel fiber contents (0%, 2%, 4%, and 6% by volume) and directional reinforced fiber were prepared. Based on the split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB), the influence of directional distributed steel fiber on the dynamic impact mechanical properties of the UHPC specimen were systematically investigated. The stress–strain curves, stress peaks, dynamic increase factor (DIF), and ductile energy absorption properties of the specimens at different strain rates were obtained. The results showed that oriented steel fiber significantly increases the dynamic property of UHPC. The dynamic impact peak strain, peak stress, and DIF of the UHPC specimen with 2% oriented steel fiber were 35.78%, 8.8%, and 12.6% higher than that prepared by normal molding technology, respectively. Moreover, with the increase of fiber content, the peak stress, energy absorption, and multiple-impact compression resistance of the specimen were greatly improved. When the fiber content was 6%, the dynamic impact peak strain, dynamic impact compressive strength ratio, and energy absorption capacity of the specimen were 3.09, 1.45, and 4.1 times the reference group, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Construction Materials and Structures in the Circular Economy)
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17 pages, 6433 KiB  
Article
Shear Strength of Reproduced Soil Mixtures Based on Samples from Rammed Earth Walls from Eastern Croatia
by Jelena Kaluđer, Ivan Kraus, Ana Perić and Lucija Kraus
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11708; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211708 - 17 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1513
Abstract
Earthen architecture largely supports the concept of sustainable building. In the seismically active area of eastern Croatia, there is a large number of rammed earth houses, many of which are over 100 years old. All these houses were built using empirical knowledge, i.e., [...] Read more.
Earthen architecture largely supports the concept of sustainable building. In the seismically active area of eastern Croatia, there is a large number of rammed earth houses, many of which are over 100 years old. All these houses were built using empirical knowledge, i.e., without applying national design standards. In order to support the preservation of ethnic villages and traditional rammed earth houses, a field survey was conducted. Parts of the walls of traditional rammed earth houses were collected, and the material was thoroughly analyzed. Samples of rammed earth were reproduced, and tests were carried out with the aim of determining the shear strength to subsequently determine the seismic behavior of Croatian traditional earthen architecture. This paper presents the results of shear strength tests on samples with different particle size distributions, lime content, the straw of different cereals but also hemp fibers. An increase in shear strength was observed with the addition of natural fibers to the samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Construction Materials and Structures in the Circular Economy)
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