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Cracking Risks in Blended Cement-Based Concrete: Mechanisms, Evaluation and Control
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Cracking Risks in Blended Cement-Based Concrete: Mechanisms, Evaluation and Control

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 2652

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yingda Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, China
Interests: blended cement-based concrete; SCMs; prediction model; concrete crack
Dr. Ye Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610106, China
Interests: UHPC; ECC; fiber; concrete-filled steel tubes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zihao Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, 1-1 Hibikino Wakamatsu, Fukuoka 8080135, Japan
Interests: sustainable concrete; geopolymer; fly ash; recycled aggregate

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cracking remains a major challenge in the durable design and construction of modern infrastructure. In particular, cement-based systems incorporating supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), fibers, or other functional components—commonly used in structural concrete, tunnel linings, repair mortars, and high-performance composites—often exhibit complex hydration behavior, volumetric instability, and stress development, which contribute to various forms of cracking. These issues are further complicated by the demands of sustainability, performance, and service life in diverse environmental and loading conditions. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive platform for cutting-edge research on the mechanisms, evaluation techniques, predictive modeling, and control strategies related to cracking in cement-based and composite materials used across infrastructure applications. Topics of interest include but are not limited to hydration heat control, autogenous and drying shrinkage, thermal stress evolution, restrained cracking behavior, creep effects, fiber reinforcement, numerical and analytical modeling approaches, and the role of innovative admixtures and internal curing techniques. Studies addressing both fundamental scientific understanding and practical engineering applications—spanning buildings, bridges, tunnels, pavements, and other critical structures—are encouraged. By bringing together multidisciplinary insights, this Special Issue seeks to advance the knowledge base on crack formation and mitigation, supporting the development of more resilient, sustainable, and long-lasting construction materials and systems.

Dr. Yingda Zhang
Dr. Ye Liu
Guest Editors

Dr. Zihao Liu
Guest Editor Assistant

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Keywords

  • hydration heat control and temperature stress evolution in mass concrete and composite sections
  • autogenous shrinkage, drying shrinkage, and their coupling with mechanical constraints
  • creep–shrinkage interaction and its influence on long-term crack risk
  • cracking behavior in uhpc, ecc, geopolymer concrete, recycled aggregate concrete (rac), and other sustainable materials
  • crack control techniques using internal curing agents, shrinkage-reducing admixtures (sras), expansive agents, and advanced chemical admixtures
  • effect of fiber reinforcement (steel, synthetic, basalt, etc.) on cracking resistance
  • numerical and analytical modeling of crack initiation, propagation, and stress development
  • testing methods for restrained cracking, fracture toughness, and durability under multi-physical loading
  • case studies and field applications in structural, tunnel, and underground engineering

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 8057 KB  
Article
Experimental and Numerical Investigations on the Influences of Target Porosity and w/c Ratio on Strength and Permeability of Pervious Concrete
by Fei Liu, Zhe Li, Bowen Liu, Zhuohui Yu, Zetong Li, Mengyuan Zhu, Yanjie Wang and Xizhou Ding
Materials 2025, 18(17), 3951; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18173951 - 22 Aug 2025
Viewed by 1065
Abstract
Pervious concrete is a promising sustainable pavement material for sponge city construction. The incorporation of Steel Slag Aggregate (SSA) as a substitute for natural aggregates has the double role of clean production with significant economic and environmental benefits. While the strength and permeability, [...] Read more.
Pervious concrete is a promising sustainable pavement material for sponge city construction. The incorporation of Steel Slag Aggregate (SSA) as a substitute for natural aggregates has the double role of clean production with significant economic and environmental benefits. While the strength and permeability, known as two critical design parameters of pervious concrete, are closely linked to its porosity, there is limited research on the influence of the porosity on the mechanical properties of pervious concrete. In this paper, both experimental and numerical investigations were performed, focusing on the influence of target porosity on the strength and permeability of pervious concrete with and without SSA. Three different target porosities (15%, 20%, and 25%), five distinct water-to-cement (w/c) ratios (0.25, 0.28, 0.30, 0.33, and 0.35), and five SSA replacement ratios (0, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were considered in this study. A two-dimensional (2D) finite-element (FE) model was developed, with which the failure mode and the strength variation of pervious concrete under different target porosities were analyzed and verified with the experimental results. The results showed that the porosity had a significant influence on both the strength and permeability of pervious concrete, while the influence of the w/c ratio is marginal. There existed an optimal w/c ratio of 0.3, for which pervious concrete with porosities of 15%, 20%, and 25% achieved 28-day compressive strengths of 27.8, 20.6, and 15.6 MPa and permeability coefficients of 0.32, 0.58, and 1.02 cm/s, respectively. Specifically, at the lowest porosity of 15%, the replacement of 100% SSA resulted in the largest improvement in the compressive strength up to 37.86%. Based on the regression analysis, a series of empirical equations correlating the porosity, strength and permeability of pervious concrete was formulated and validated against the experimental data. The findings presented herein are expected to provide references to the practical evaluation of the optimal mix proportion of previous concrete, considering specific and demanding engineering requirements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cracking Risks in Blended Cement-Based Concrete: Mechanisms, Evaluation and Control)
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21 pages, 3477 KB  
Article
Effects of Temperature-Control Admixtures on Shrinkage and Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash Concrete: Experiments and Modeling
by Yingda Zhang, Haiyang Li, Haojie Zhang, Xianliang Zhou, Ziyi Xu and Zihao Liu
Materials 2025, 18(16), 3757; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18163757 - 11 Aug 2025
Viewed by 471
Abstract
The mitigation of early-age shrinkage and thermal cracking remains a pressing challenge in mass concrete structures. This study introduces a novel temperature-control admixture (TCA), formulated with gel-forming inorganic compounds, designed to suppress internal temperature rise while improving the mechanical stability of fly ash [...] Read more.
The mitigation of early-age shrinkage and thermal cracking remains a pressing challenge in mass concrete structures. This study introduces a novel temperature-control admixture (TCA), formulated with gel-forming inorganic compounds, designed to suppress internal temperature rise while improving the mechanical stability of fly ash concrete. Four concrete mixes with TCA dosages of 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15% were experimentally evaluated under controlled environmental conditions. Results show that the optimal dosage of 0.10% achieved a 27.3% reduction in shrinkage and a 12.2% increase in compressive strength at 28 days compared to the control. Furthermore, existing shrinkage models (Eurocode 2, fib Model Code 2010, AS 3600, Bazant B4) consistently overestimated shrinkage by up to 294% due to their inability to capture TCA-induced modifications in hydration and moisture transport. To address this, a modified prediction model incorporating admixture and fly ash–dependent correction factors was proposed, reducing the mean prediction error to just 10% and achieving a coefficient of variation as low as 0.08. This work provides a semi-empirical modeling approach that captures the influence of microencapsulated TCAs on concrete shrinkage and offers useful insights for the design and optimization of advanced concrete systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cracking Risks in Blended Cement-Based Concrete: Mechanisms, Evaluation and Control)
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15 pages, 2001 KB  
Article
Study on the Impact of Lithium Slag as an Alternative to Washed Sand on Mortar Properties
by Xianliang Zhou, Wei Dai, Xi Zhu and Xiaojun Zhou
Materials 2025, 18(15), 3490; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153490 - 25 Jul 2025
Viewed by 382
Abstract
Lithium slag (LS), a by-product of lithium extraction processes, poses a significant disposal challenge during the rapid development of new energy technologies. In this study, LS was used to replace partially washed sand in the process of mortar production to compensate for the [...] Read more.
Lithium slag (LS), a by-product of lithium extraction processes, poses a significant disposal challenge during the rapid development of new energy technologies. In this study, LS was used to replace partially washed sand in the process of mortar production to compensate for the content of stone powder in sand. Five mortar mixes containing varying proportions of LS were prepared, and the macroscopic performance was evaluated. A comprehensive microscopic analysis, including microstructure observations, hydration product identification, and pore structure analysis, was conducted. The impact of LS on the chloride ion permeability of mortar was also investigated in this study. The results indicate that an increase in LS content gradually reduces the workability of the mortar, with a 39.29% decrease in fluidity when 40% of the sand is replaced with LS. Moreover, the compressive and flexural strengths of the mortar initially increase and then decrease with higher LS content. Microscopic tests reveal that 20% LS substitution significantly optimizes the pore structure of the mortar, resulting in a lower chloride ion permeability coefficient. Consequently, 20% LS substitution is recommended as the optimal dosage for use as fine aggregate in mortar. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cracking Risks in Blended Cement-Based Concrete: Mechanisms, Evaluation and Control)
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