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Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 21063

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jong-Han Lee

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, Korea
Interests: smart materials; fiber-reinforced cement composites; precast, prestressed, and concrete structures; earthquake engineering; structural assessment using field data and numerical analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cement-based materials are essential to construction but very vulnerable to tensile forces. Therefore, much research has been done to improve the material and mechanical properties of cement-based materials. Currently, smart materials are being applied in civil engineering to increase the functionality and performance of construction materials and structures. Smart technologies combined with smart materials can realize damage recovery and repair, particularly after severe events, including earthquakes, windstorms, and explosions. In addition to these recent research trends in the development of construction materials, most countries have expressed concern about the aging of structures. However, it is challenging to properly evaluate the current state of structures and materials.

It is my great pleasure to invite you to submit to this Special Issue a manuscript on any aspect of the development and applications of construction materials and structures, including smart materials and technologies, that may help us to further develop the technology used in civil engineering.

Prof. Dr. Jong-Han Lee
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. Materials 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 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

cement-based materials
smart materials and structures
aging of materials and structures
damage recovery and repair
modeling and simulation
data-driven assessment

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 9804 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Data-Driven Parameter Selection and Modeling for Concrete Carbonation

by Kangkang Duan and Shuangyin Cao

Materials 2022, 15(9), 3351; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15093351 - 07 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1543

Abstract

Concrete carbonation is known as a stochastic process. Its uncertainties mainly result from parameters that are not considered in prediction models. Parameter selection, therefore, is important. In this paper, based on 8204 sets of data, statistical methods and machine learning techniques were applied to choose appropriate influence factors in terms of three aspects: (1) the correlation between factors and concrete carbonation; (2) factors’ influence on the uncertainties of carbonation depth; and (3) the correlation between factors. Both single parameters and parameter groups were evaluated quantitatively. The results showed that compressive strength had the highest correlation with carbonation depth and that using the aggregate–cement ratio as the parameter significantly reduced the dispersion of carbonation depth to a low level. Machine learning models manifested that selected parameter groups had a large potential in improving the performance of models with fewer parameters. This paper also developed machine learning carbonation models and simplified them to propose a practical model. The results showed that this concise model had a high accuracy on both accelerated and natural carbonation test datasets. For natural carbonation datasets, the mean absolute error of the practical model was 1.56 mm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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17 pages, 5339 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Natural Cellulosic Fiber Reinforced Concrete: Influence of Fiber Type and Loading Percentage on Mechanical and Water Absorption Performance

by Hafsa Jamshaid, Rajesh Kumar Mishra, Ali Raza, Uzair Hussain, Md. Lutfor Rahman, Shabnam Nazari, Vijay Chandan, Miroslav Muller and Rostislav Choteborsky

Materials 2022, 15(3), 874; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15030874 - 24 Jan 2022

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 5459

Abstract

The paper reports experimental research regarding the mechanical characteristics of concrete reinforced with natural cellulosic fibers like jute, sisal, sugarcane, and coconut. Each type of natural fiber, with an average of 30 mm length, was mixed with a concrete matrix in varying proportions of 0.5% to 3% mass. The tensile and compressive strength of the developed concrete samples with cellulosic fiber reinforcement gradually increased with the increasing proportion of natural cellulosic fibers up to 2%. A further increase in fiber loading fraction results in deterioration of the mechanical properties. By using jute and sisal fiber reinforcement, about 11.6% to 20.2% improvement in tensile and compressive strength, respectively, was observed compared to plain concrete, just by adding 2% of fibers in the concrete mix. Bending strength increased for the natural fiber-based concrete with up to 1.5% fiber loading. However, a decrease in bending strength was observed beyond 1.5% loading due to cracks at fiber−concrete interface. The impact performance showed gradual improvement with natural fiber loading of up to 2%. The water absorption capacity of natural cellulosic fiber reinforced concrete decreased substantially; however, it increased with the loading percent of fibers. The natural fiber reinforced concrete can be commercially used for interior or exterior pavements and flooring slabs as a sustainable construction material for the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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17 pages, 12009 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seismic Performance Evaluation of RC Columns Retrofitted by 3D Textile Reinforced Mortars

by Siyun Kim, Sung Jig Kim and Chunho Chang

Materials 2022, 15(2), 592; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15020592 - 13 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1454

Abstract

The paper investigates the seismic performance of rectangular RC columns retrofitted by a newly developed 3D Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) panel. The 3D-TRM used in this study consists of two components: self-leveling mortar and 3D textiles. Firstly, the flexural capacity of the 3D-TRM panel was investigated through the four-point flexural test. Secondly, a total of five specimens were constructed and experimentally investigated through static cyclic loading tests with constant axial load. One specimen was a non-seismically designed column without any retrofit, while the others were strengthened with either the 3D-TRM panel or conventional Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) sheets. Experimental results in terms of hysteretic behavior, ductility ratio, and energy dissipation are investigated and compared with the cases of specimens with conventional retrofitting methods and without any retrofit. The maximum lateral force, ductility, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation of RC columns with 3D-TRM panels were significantly improved compared with the conventional RC column. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed retrofitting method can improve the seismic performance of non-conforming RC columns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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15 pages, 5138 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Local Behavior of Lap-Spliced Deformed Rebars in Reinforced Concrete Beams

by Agha Syed Muhammad Gillani, Seung-Geon Lee, Soo-Hyung Lee, Hyerin Lee and Kee-Jeung Hong

Materials 2021, 14(23), 7186; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14237186 - 25 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1851

Abstract

Twelve full-scale reinforced concrete beams with two tension lap splices were constructed and tested under a four-point loading test. Half of these beams had shorter lap splices than that recommended by American Concrete Institute Building Code ACI 318-19; they failed by bond loss between steel and concrete at the lap splice region before rebar yielding. The other half of the beams were designed with a lap splice length slightly exceeding that recommended by ACI 318-19; they failed by rebar yielding and exhibited a ductile behavior. Several strain gauges were attached to the longitudinal bars in the lap splice region to study the local behavior of deformed bars during loading. The strain in a rebar was maximum at the loaded end of the lap splice and progressively decreased toward the unloaded end because the rebar at this end could not sustain any load. Stress flow discontinuity occurred at the loaded end and caused stress concentration. The effect of this concentration was investigated based on test results. The comparison of bond strengths calculated by existing equations and those of tested specimens indicated that the results agreed well. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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13 pages, 3953 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Low-Level Cyclic Loading on Bond Behavior of a Steel Bar in Concrete with Pre-Existing Damage

by Chongku Yi, Jeeho Lee and Kee-Jeung Hong

Materials 2021, 14(22), 7080; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14227080 - 22 Nov 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

Understanding the bond behavior of steel rebar in concrete is important in order to determine the performance of a reinforced concrete structure. Although numerous studies have been carried out by many researchers to develop a robust model for numerical analysis, no consensus has been reached as the bond behavior depends on hysteresis. In this study, the bond behavior of a steel bar in concrete with pre-existing damage is investigated under low-level cyclic loading. Based on the experimental bond stress and slip curve, a numerical model for finite element analysis to simulate the effect of low-level cyclic loading is proposed. The results from the numerical analysis show good agreement with the experimental data, including accumulated damage on stiffness and strength throughout entire load cycles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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13 pages, 2360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fire Resistance of High-Volume Fly Ash RC Slab Inclusion with Nano-Silica

by Mohamed H. Mussa, Noor Azim Mohd Radzi, Roszilah Hamid and Azrul A. Mutalib

Materials 2021, 14(12), 3311; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14123311 - 15 Jun 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2214

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the fire performance of reinforced concrete (RC) slab fabricated from high volume fly ash inclusion with nano-silica (HVFANS) under ISO 834 load curve. The HVFANS concrete slab with dimensions of 1850 mm × 1700 mm × 200 mm was tested via an electrical furnace under an exposing temperature of 1100 °C for 120 min. The slab behaviour was evaluated in terms of residual compressive strength, temperature distribution along its thickness, spalling, and cracks. The results revealed that the slab was capable of maintaining 62.19% of its original compressive strength at room temperature after exposure to the above temperature. Moreover, the distribution of temperature revealed that the temperature of concrete cover and bottom reinforcement was less than 300 °C with a maximum spalling depth of 11 mm within the temperature range of 680 to 840 °C. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity index (K) of the HVFANS concrete was determined, and results indicated that thermal conductivity equalled 0.35 W/mK which is considered low, as compared with other concretes tested in current and previous studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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Review

Jump to: Research

26 pages, 5872 KiB

Open AccessReview

Concrete Strengthening by Introducing Polymer-Based Additives into the Cement Matrix—A Mini Review

by Weronika Kujawa, Ewa Olewnik-Kruszkowska and Jacek Nowaczyk

Materials 2021, 14(20), 6071; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14206071 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5687

Abstract

The modern types of concrete are a mixture of aggregates, cement, water and optional additives and admixtures. In particular, polymer additives seem to be a promising type of component that can significantly change concrete and mortar properties. Currently, the most popular polymer additives include superplasticizers, latexes and redispersible powders. Moreover, in order to improve the properties of concrete-based composite admixtures, which enhance the resistance to cracking, polymer fibres and recycled polymers have been researched. All the types of polymeric materials mentioned above are broadly used in the construction industry. This work summarizes the current knowledge on the different types of popular polymeric additives. Moreover, it describes the correlation between the chemical structure of additives and the macro-behaviour of the obtained concrete. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance and Applications of Construction Materials and Structures)

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