Design and Processes of Structural Changes of Building Materials

Dear Colleagues,

The construction sector consists of a number of interdependent industrial branches, ranging from the preparation of substrates for the production of building materials, through their operation, to proper disposal at the end of the product or building structure life cycle. The sciences dealing with the study of the structure of building materials constituting the basis of construction answer a number of bothering questions.

Building materials are divided into 4 main groups, i.e. concrete, ceramics, glass and steel and the basis of building materials is mainly quartz sand, aggregate and a binder (cement, lime, gypsum). Currently, skyscrapers base their load-bearing structure on steel and glass systems with a small share of reinforced concrete elements. Therefore, these materials are subject to further modifications. In view of the above, it is becoming a matter of fact to analyze microstructural changes taking place in building materials under the influence of environmental changes (e.g. temperature). This is due to the fact that the materials consist of amorphous and crystalline phases, both thermodynamically stable and metastable within the appropriate temperature range. Concrete consists mainly of the amorphous phase, which guarantees its durability, while the proportion of amorphous phases in favor of crystalline ones, e.g. in autoclaved products, is minimal. The amorphous phases tend to crystallize which leads to changes in material properties. C-S-H formation in bricks is minimal, and crystalline analogue of low calcium C-S-H known as tobermorite is produced. It has been reported that when C-S-H is subjected to elevated temperatures it transforms crystalline phases such as tobermorite (with low lime content) or jennite (with a higher lime content) are predicted to form. Numerous modifications most often result in the improvement of the functional properties of materials, however, it is necessary to monitor the modified materials, especially at the present time when climate change can be unpredictable. There are many research methods used to determine physical, chemical, mechanical or structural characteristics and each of them may be appropriate in the designated research area. GEMS-PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute) is one of the newer methods aimed at improving the ecological properties of concretes and other groups of materials and attempting to determine their durability. GEMS is a widely used geochemical modeling program that requires input and mass Gibbs energy minimization to compute phase assemblies (thermodynamic data). For this reason, it could be possible to analyze the durability and possible changes of the material over time.

Due to this aspect, we would like to present to you the Special Issue of the Crystals Journal "Design and processes of structural changes of building materials" and we encourage scientists in the field of construction, environmental protection, chemistry, materials engineering, building physics and related fields to publish their own and certainly unique research results.

Kind Regards,

Prof. Dr. Maciej Sitarz
Assist. Ad Magdalena Balonis
Dr. Anna Stepien
Prof. Jerzy Z. Piotrowski
Prof. Beata Potrzeszcz-Sut
Guest Editors

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• sustainable building
• autoclaved materials
• concrete chemistry
• engineering materials
• structure of building materials
• thermodynamic modeling
• environmental protection
• sustainable construction