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Buildings
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Sustainability in Building Structures: Optimization, Strengthening and Rehabilitation
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Sustainability in Building Structures: Optimization, Strengthening and Rehabilitation

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 2338

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Xue Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Interests: structural analysis; reinforced concrete; structural engineering; earthquake engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The built environment is the area of human activities that uses the most energy and resources. With climate change threatening ecosystems, biodiversity, and human life, research on energy-efficient structures has become critical. In recent decades, numerous structures and transport infrastructure projects have been built and are now increasingly unsustainable due to various factors. The optimization of these building structures is a measure of economic and environmental improvement. This Special Issue invites high-quality research studies on sustainability in building structures, including optimization, strengthening, and rehabilitation. Related innovative research articles focused on the sustainability of the construction of buildings and transportation infrastructure are also welcomed. Both experimental and modeling studies will be considered. Submitted studies must clearly identify their novelty and contribution to the state of the art.

Dr. Xue Zhang
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. 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

  • seismic performance
  • sustainability
  • confinement
  • reinforced concrete
  • structural health monitoring

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 14895 KiB  
Article
Shear Strengthening of Stone Masonry Walls Using Textile-Reinforced Sarooj Mortar
by Yasser Al-Saidi, Abdullah H. Al-Saidy, Sherif El-Gamal and Kazi Md Abu Sohel
Buildings 2024, 14(7), 2070; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14072070 - 6 Jul 2024
Viewed by 395
Abstract
Most historical buildings and structures in Oman were built using unreinforced stone masonry. These structures have deteriorated due to the aging of materials, environmental degradation, and lack of maintenance. This research investigates the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the local building materials. [...] Read more.
Most historical buildings and structures in Oman were built using unreinforced stone masonry. These structures have deteriorated due to the aging of materials, environmental degradation, and lack of maintenance. This research investigates the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the local building materials. It also presents the findings of an experimental study on the in-plane shear effectiveness of a modern strengthening technique applied to existing stone masonry walls. The technique consists of the application of a textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) on one or two faces of the walls. Shear loading tests of full-scale masonry samples (1000 mm width, 1000 mm height, and 350 mm depth) were carried out on one unreinforced specimen and six different cases of reinforced specimens. The performances of the unreinforced and reinforced specimens were analyzed and compared. We found that strengthened specimens can resist in-plane shear stresses 1.5–2.1 times greater than those of the unreinforced specimen; moreover, they demonstrate ductility rather than sudden failure, due to the presence of fiberglass and basalt meshes, which restrict the opening of cracks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Building Structures: Optimization, Strengthening and Rehabilitation)
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20 pages, 12663 KiB  
Article
Interface Characteristics between Fiber-Reinforced Concrete and Ordinary Concrete Based on Continuous Casting
by Minjin Cai, Hehua Zhu, Timon Rabczuk and Xiaoying Zhuang
Buildings 2024, 14(7), 2062; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14072062 - 5 Jul 2024
Viewed by 430
Abstract
Economic limitations often hinder the extensive use of fiber-reinforced concrete in full-scale structures. Addressing this, the present study explored localized reinforcement at critical interfaces, deploying a novel synchronized casting mold that deviates from segmented casting interface studies. The research prioritized the flexural, compressive, [...] Read more.
Economic limitations often hinder the extensive use of fiber-reinforced concrete in full-scale structures. Addressing this, the present study explored localized reinforcement at critical interfaces, deploying a novel synchronized casting mold that deviates from segmented casting interface studies. The research prioritized the flexural, compressive, and shear characteristics at the interface between fiber-reinforced concrete and ordinary concrete with continuous casting. The results demonstrated that polyethylene (PE) fibers significantly enhance anti-cracking capabilities, surpassing steel fibers in all mechanical tests. PE fibers’ high modulus of elasticity and tensile strength considerably augmented the interface’s bending resistance, facilitating better load transfer and capitalizing on the fibers’ tensile properties. Additionally, their low density and greater dispersion negated the sinking behavior typical of steel fibers, thereby strengthening the compressive capacity of the interface. Although a 0.75% PE fiber volume is ideal for ductility, volumes as low as 0.25% or 0.5% are economically viable if dispersion is optimal. Conversely, steel fibers, prone to sinking and clustering, offer inferior shear resistance at the interface than PE fibers, marking a significant finding for structural applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Building Structures: Optimization, Strengthening and Rehabilitation)
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16 pages, 5350 KiB  
Article
Development and Field Analysis of a Novel Servo Concrete Bracing System for Deep Foundation Pit Excavation
by Shaochun Wang, Lei Xu, Xuehui Zhang, Luyuan Long and Xiaoying Zhuang
Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1674; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061674 - 5 Jun 2024
Viewed by 473
Abstract
This study demonstrates the design and field implementation of an innovative servo concrete bracing system in foundation pit excavation. The bracing system comprises concrete struts, revised purlins, and hydraulic jacks, and its field performance is evaluated in a deep foundation pit project in [...] Read more.
This study demonstrates the design and field implementation of an innovative servo concrete bracing system in foundation pit excavation. The bracing system comprises concrete struts, revised purlins, and hydraulic jacks, and its field performance is evaluated in a deep foundation pit project in Shanghai, China. The field measurements demonstrate that the servo bracing system effectively reduces the maximum lateral displacement of the retaining wall by up to 31%. Moreover, the servo jacks modify the wall’s flexural behavior by introducing local inflection points at certain depths and driving the displacement peak upward. Furthermore, the system’s performance varies with strut configuration, and servo forces influence not only the corresponding acting strut but also the adjacent struts’ behavior, implying that the monitoring scope should be expanded when applying the servo bracing system in actual engineering. This study provides a meaningful technical reference for future servo concrete bracing system applications in foundation pit engineering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Building Structures: Optimization, Strengthening and Rehabilitation)
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23 pages, 7293 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Analysis of Ferrocement-Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Beam
by Darko Živković, Predrag Blagojević, Danijel Kukaras, Radovan Cvetković and Slobodan Ranković
Buildings 2024, 14(4), 1082; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14041082 - 12 Apr 2024
Viewed by 614
Abstract
Starting with the premise that the choice of the optimal method for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) structures is a complex task and that ferrocement strengthening is comparable to other advanced strengthening technologies due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of construction, and durability, this paper [...] Read more.
Starting with the premise that the choice of the optimal method for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) structures is a complex task and that ferrocement strengthening is comparable to other advanced strengthening technologies due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of construction, and durability, this paper presents a comparative study of the flexural bearing capacity of RC beams strengthened with ferrocement strips applied by gluing. An overview of the life cycle assessment (LCA) based on embodied energy or CO2 is presented in the introduction, based on the existing literature review. The research includes tests of 15 RC beams of identical cross-sections (150/250 mm) and a span of 3000 mm. Strengthening was conducted by applying four types of ferrocement strips (different widths and wire mesh layers). Two factors were examined: the verification of the comprehensive FEM numerical model against the experimental results and the applicability of existing simplified calculation methods for sufficiently accurate results which could be used in regular practice. The results show that the failure forces obtained from numerical models and experimental models differ by no more than 3.94%. The increase in the bearing capacity of the strengthened models is up to 21.4%. The transformed area method for the cracked section showed good results when compared to the FEM and experimental models. The analytically calculated failure force is contingent upon the partial factor for variable action, which was explored within the 1.5–1.7 range. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Building Structures: Optimization, Strengthening and Rehabilitation)
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