sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Innovative Materials and Structural Optimization for Resilient Infrastructure

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2022) | Viewed by 12465

Special Issue Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 7E1, Canada
Interests: bridge engineering; smart structures; resilient infrastructure; structural dynamics; finite element modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Major natural hazard events around the world, along with the aging and deterioration of infrastructures, keep increasing the need for the development of innovative materials and the optimization of structures for improved infrastructure resiliency. These natural hazards cause not only physical damage, but cascading social, environmental, and economic impacts that impair community resilience. Innovative materials, alongside structural optimization, is an area that has seen major developments due to the availability of robust numerical simulation frameworks, large experimental facilities, development of advanced materials and construction techniques, optimization frameworks and tools. Despite progress being made, there are many challenges that have yet to be addressed.

This Special Issue invites papers presenting numerical and/or experimental research on innovative materials and structural optimization for resilient buildings and bridges. The purpose of this Special Issue is to promote a wider use of advanced materials and optimization technologies in the design industry and to improve the resilience of our infrastructures. We invite research and development on innovative and advanced materials for resilient infrastructure designs, as well as the use of numerical optimization techniques to design material-efficient or cost-effective structures. The main goal of this issue is to generate a forum for the current state of knowledge, as well as future research directions, in the overall area of innovative materials and structural optimization.

Dr. Muntasir Billah
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. Sustainability 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.

Keywords

  • Innovative materials
  • Smart materials
  • High-performance materials
  • Structural optimization
  • Design optimization
  • Resilient infrastructure
  • Sustainable infrastructure
  • Reliability-based optimization

Published Papers (6 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 39086 KiB  
Article
Effective Hybrid Soft Computing Approach for Optimum Design of Shallow Foundations
by Mohammad Khajehzadeh, Suraparb Keawsawasvong and Moncef L. Nehdi
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1847; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031847 - 06 Feb 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2362
Abstract
In this study, an effective intelligent system based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) and a modified rat swarm optimizer (MRSO) was developed to predict the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations and their optimum design using the predicted bearing capacity value. To provide [...] Read more.
In this study, an effective intelligent system based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) and a modified rat swarm optimizer (MRSO) was developed to predict the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations and their optimum design using the predicted bearing capacity value. To provide the neural network with adequate training and testing data, an extensive literature review was used to compile a database comprising 97 datasets retrieved from load tests both on large-scale and smaller-scale sized footings. To refine the network architecture, several trial and error experiments were performed using various numbers of neurons in the hidden layer. Accordingly, the optimal architecture of the ANN was 5 × 10 × 1. The performance and prediction capacity of the developed model were appraised using the root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R). According to the obtained results, the ANN model with a RMSE value equal to 0.0249 and R value equal to 0.9908 was a reliable, simple and valid computational model for estimating the load bearing capacity of footings. The developed ANN model was applied to a case study of spread footing optimization, and the results revealed that the proposed model is competent to provide better optimal solutions and to outperform traditional existing methods. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 6670 KiB  
Article
Quantifying Crack Self-Healing in Concrete with Superabsorbent Polymers under Varying Temperature and Relative Humidity
by Ahmed R. Suleiman, Lei V. Zhang and Moncef L. Nehdi
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13999; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132413999 - 18 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1957
Abstract
During their service life, concrete structures are subjected to combined fluctuations of temperature and relative humidity, which can influence their durability and service life performance. Self-healing has in recent years attracted great interest to mitigate the effects of such environmental exposure on concrete [...] Read more.
During their service life, concrete structures are subjected to combined fluctuations of temperature and relative humidity, which can influence their durability and service life performance. Self-healing has in recent years attracted great interest to mitigate the effects of such environmental exposure on concrete structures. Several studies have explored the autogenous crack self-healing in concrete incorporating superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) and exposed to different environments. However, none of the published studies to date has investigated the self-healing in concrete incorporating SAPs under a combined change in temperature and relative humidity. In the present study, the crack width changes due to self-healing of cement mortars incorporating SAPs under a combined change of temperature and relative humidity were investigated and quantified using micro-computed tomography and three-dimensional image analysis. A varying dosage of SAPs expressed as a percentage (0.5%, 1% and 2%) of the cement mass was incorporated in the mortar mixtures. In addition, the influence of other environments such as continuous water submersion and cyclic wetting and drying was studied and quantified. The results of segmentation and quantification analysis of X-ray µCT scans showed that mortar specimens incorporating 1% SAPs and exposed to environments with a combined change in temperature and relative humidity exhibited less self-healing (around 6.58% of healing efficiency). Conversely, when specimens were subjected to cyclic wetting and drying or water submersion, the healing efficiency increased to 19.11% and 26.32%, respectively. It appears that to achieve sustained self-healing of cracks, novel engineered systems that can assure an internal supply of moisture are needed. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 5685 KiB  
Article
Propagation of Mouth-Generated Aerosols in a Modularly Constructed Hospital Room
by Mutaz Suleiman, Ahmed Elshaer, Muntasir Billah and Mohammed Bassuony
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11968; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132111968 - 29 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1389
Abstract
Modular construction methods have been widely used in the civil engineering industry due to ease of assembly, the convenience of design, and allowing for flexibility in placement while making the construction more sustainable. With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the capacity of [...] Read more.
Modular construction methods have been widely used in the civil engineering industry due to ease of assembly, the convenience of design, and allowing for flexibility in placement while making the construction more sustainable. With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the capacity of the hospital is decreasing as more intensive care units (ICU) are allocated to COVID-19 cases. This limited capacity can be addressed by using modular construction to provide field hospitals. This paper adopts transient Lagrangian computational fluid dynamics simulations to investigate the importance of having an appropriate ventilation system in place to ensure sustainable infection control against airborne viruses and pathogens within a modular room. The performance of having a ventilation system using 10, 20, and 40 air changes per hour (ACH) was examined. In addition, different room configurations were also compared to provide useful guidelines for air conditioning units placement. It was determined that as the ACH rate increases while maintaining a direct flow field between the inlet and outlet, the rate of aerosol removal increases. Furthermore, the flowfield in which can be controlled by the placement of the inlet and outlet can impact the removal of aerosols, as it dictates how far the droplets travel before being removed from the enclosure. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2915 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation on Axial Compression of Resilient Nail-Cross-Laminated Timber Panels
by Moncef L. Nehdi, Yannian Zhang, Xiaohan Gao, Lei V. Zhang and Ahmed R. Suleiman
Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11257; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132011257 - 12 Oct 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1604
Abstract
Conventional cross-laminated timber is an engineered wood product consisting of solid-sawn lumber panels glued together. In this study, the structural behavior of solid wood panels of Nail-Cross-Laminated Timber (NCLT) panels connected with nails instead of glue was studied. The failure mode and nail [...] Read more.
Conventional cross-laminated timber is an engineered wood product consisting of solid-sawn lumber panels glued together. In this study, the structural behavior of solid wood panels of Nail-Cross-Laminated Timber (NCLT) panels connected with nails instead of glue was studied. The failure mode and nail deformation of the novel NCLT panels under axial compression load using eight full-scale NCLT panels was investigated. The effects of four key design parameters, namely, the nail type, number of nails, nail orientation angle, and nail slenderness ratio on axial compression performance of NCLT panels were also analyzed. In addition, a formula for predicting the axial compression bearing capacity of NCLT panels was developed. For calculation of the slenderness ratio, the moment of inertia of the full section or the effective section was determined based on the nail type, number of nails, angle of nail orientation and number of layers of the plate. Results showed that specimens connected by tapping screws had best compressive performance. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

26 pages, 12348 KiB  
Article
CO2 Emission Optimization of Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular Rectangular Stub Columns Using Metaheuristic Algorithms
by Celal Cakiroglu, Kamrul Islam, Gebrail Bekdaş, Sanghun Kim and Zong Woo Geem
Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10981; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131910981 - 03 Oct 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1628
Abstract
Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns have been assiduously investigated experimentally and numerically due to the superior structural performance they exhibit. To obtain the best possible performance from CFST columns while reducing the environmental impact, the use of optimization algorithms is indispensable. Metaheuristic optimization [...] Read more.
Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns have been assiduously investigated experimentally and numerically due to the superior structural performance they exhibit. To obtain the best possible performance from CFST columns while reducing the environmental impact, the use of optimization algorithms is indispensable. Metaheuristic optimization techniques provide the designers of CFST members with a very efficient set of tools to obtain design combinations that perform well under external loading and have a low carbon footprint at the same time. That is why metaheuristic algorithms are more applicable in civil engineering due to their high efficiency. A large number of formulas for the prediction of the axial ultimate load-carrying capacity Nu of CFST columns are available in design codes. However, a limitation of the usage of these design formulas is that most of these formulas are only applicable for narrow ranges of design variables. In this study a newly developed set of equations with a wide range of applicability that calculates Nu in case of rectangular cross-sections is applied. In order to optimize the cross-sectional dimensions, two different metaheuristic algorithms are used, and their performances are compared. The reduction in CO2 emission is demonstrated as a function of cross-sectional dimensions while considering certain structural performance requirements. The outcome of the more recently developed social spider algorithm is compared to the outcome of the well-established harmony search technique. The objective of optimization was to minimize CO2 emissions associated with the fabrication of CFST stub columns. The effects of varying the wall thickness as well as the concrete compressive strength on CO2 emissions are visualized by using two different optimization techniques. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 9002 KiB  
Article
CO2 Emission and Cost Optimization of Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular (CFST) Columns Using Metaheuristic Algorithms
by Celal Cakiroglu, Kamrul Islam, Gebrail Bekdaş and Muntasir Billah
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 8092; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13148092 - 20 Jul 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2309
Abstract
Concrete-filled steel tubular columns have garnered wide interest among researchers due to their favorable structural characteristics. To attain the best possible performance from concrete-filled steel tubular columns while reducing the cost, the use of optimization algorithms is indispensable. In this regard, metaheuristic algorithms [...] Read more.
Concrete-filled steel tubular columns have garnered wide interest among researchers due to their favorable structural characteristics. To attain the best possible performance from concrete-filled steel tubular columns while reducing the cost, the use of optimization algorithms is indispensable. In this regard, metaheuristic algorithms are finding increasing application in structural engineering due to their high efficiency. Various equations that predict the ultimate axial load-carrying capacity (Nu) of concrete-filled steel tubular columns are available in design codes as well as in the research literature. However, most of these equations are only applicable within certain parameter ranges. To overcome this limitation, the present study adopts a recently developed set of equations for the prediction of Nu that have broader ranges of applicability. Furthermore, a newly developed metaheuristic algorithm, called the social spider algorithm, is introduced and applied in optimizing the cross-section of circular concrete-filled steel tubular columns. The improvement of the structural dimensioning under the Nu constraint is demonstrated. The objective underlying the optimization presented here is to minimize the CO2 emission and cost associated with the fabrication of concrete-filled steel tubular stub columns. In this context, the relationships between the cross-sectional dimensioning of circular concrete-filled steel tubular columns and the associated CO2 emissions and cost are characterized and visualized. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop