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A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811). This special issue belongs to the section "Infrastructures Materials and Constructions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 19588

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Salvatore Verre

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci 39B, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy
Interests: bond; direct-shear test; fiber strain; flexural strengthening; steel–FRCM composite; temperature; analytical modeling; columns; confinement; masonry; numerical modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last two decades, composite materials have been used to strengthen and repair reinforced concrete and masonry structural members. The strengthening systems widely used are the following: fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), fabric-reinforced mortar (FRCM), textile-reinforced mortar (TRM), composite-reinforced mortar (CRM), and steel-reinforced grout (SRG). Research in this field is still at an early stage. The behavior of these new composite materials depends on countless factors, such as the interaction between the different substrate involved (reinforced concrete, masonry) and the strengthening system, the interaction between the external layer and the fabric mesh, the external environment, the type of strengthened system used to produce the new material, and the application of the composite material. Another fundamental aspect that describes the behavior of the composite material is the numerical and analytical model. The theoretical interpretation has been recently addressed by new techniques such as the design-oriented (DOM), analysis-oriented model (AOM), and artificial neural network (ANN). Meanwhile, numerical approaches are still only beginning to describe the external reinforcements and strengthened elements. Currently, only one reference to the macro model approach can be found in the literature. New papers in this field are welcome for submission to this Special Issue, which aims to provide an international forum to highlight and discuss the recent advances and future perspectives regarding the use of composite materials in terms of analytical, numerical, and experimental aspects.

Dr. Salvatore Verre
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. Infrastructures 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 1800 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

composite materials
experimental campaign
numerical model
analytical model

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 8862 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strength Enhancement of Interlocking Hollow Brick Masonry Walls with Low-Cost Mortar and Wire Mesh

by Panuwat Joyklad, Nazam Ali, Muhammad Usman Rashid, Qudeer Hussain, Hassan M. Magbool, Amr Elnemr and Krisada Chaiyasarn

Infrastructures 2021, 6(12), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6120166 - 24 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3065

Abstract

Cement–clay Interlocking Hollow Brick Masonry (CCIHBM) walls are characterized by poor mechanical properties of bricks and mortar. Their performance is observed to be unsatisfactory under both gravity and seismic loads. There is an urgent need to develop sustainable, environmentally friendly, and low-cost strengthening materials to alter the structural behaviour of brick masonry walls in terms of strength and ductility. The results of an experimental investigation conducted on the diagonal compressive response of CCIHBM walls are presented in this study. In this experimental study, a total of six CCIHBM walls were constructed using cement–clay interlocking hollow bricks. One was tested as a control or reference wall, whereas the remaining walls were strengthened using cement mortar. In some walls, the cement mortar was also combined with the wire mesh. The research parameters included the type of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) (Type 1 and Type 2), thickness of cement mortar (10 mm and 20 mm), and layers of wire mesh (one and three layers). The experimental results indicate that control or unstrengthened CCIHBM walls failed in a very brittle manner at a very low ultimate load and deformation. The control CCIHBM wall, i.e., W-CON, failed at an ultimate load of 247 kN, and corresponding deflection was 1.8 mm. The strength and ductility of cement mortar and wire mesh-strengthened walls were found to be higher than the reference CCIHBM wall. For example, the ultimate load and deformation of cement-mortar-strengthened wall were found to be 143% and 233% higher than the control wall, respectively. Additionally, the ultimate failure modes of cement mortar and wire mesh strengthened were observed as ductile as compared to the brittle failure of reference wall or unstrengthened CCIHBM wall, which increased by 66% and 150% as compared with the control wall. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Building Materials and Structures)

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12 pages, 4958 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on the Out-of-Plane Behavior of Brick Masonry Walls Strengthened with Mortar and Wire Mesh: A Pioneer Study

by Panuwat Joyklad, Nazam Ali, Salvatore Verre, Hassan M. Magbool, Amr Elnemr, Muhammad Irshad Qureshi, Qudeer Hussain and Krisada Chaiyasarn

Infrastructures 2021, 6(11), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6110165 - 22 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2769

Abstract

In the past, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been extensively used to modify the structural response of masonry brick walls. The promising advantages of FRP composites are easy application, lightweight, and very high tensile strength. However, FRP composites are very expensive, and their availability is an issue, especially in developing countries. The use of bricks is widespread in developing countries due to their low price and easy availability. Recent earthquakes and research results have demonstrated the vulnerability of existing masonry structures. In this study, we aimed to investigate the use of low-cost and readily available strengthening materials, i.e., cement-sand mortar and wire mesh, to enhance the flexural capacity of cement-clay interlocking brick (CCIB) masonry walls. The proposed strengthening materials were applied in different configurations and thicknesses. The experimental results indicated that using CS mortar and wire mesh is promising to enhance the flexural capacity of CCIB masonry walls. The flexural capacity and energy absorption capacity of the CCIB masonry wall (strengthened with 20 mm thick CS mortar and three layers of wire mesh) were 87% and 46% higher than the reference CCIB masonry wall. The results of this study can be used to improve the performance of masonry structures against earthquakes in the developing regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Building Materials and Structures)

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29 pages, 17074 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Defining the Thermal Features of Sub-Surface Reinforcing Fibres in Non-Polluting Thermo–Acoustic Insulating Panels: A Numerical–Thermographic–Segmentation Approach

by Kaixin Liu, Stefano Perilli, Arsenii O. Chulkov, Yuan Yao, Mohammed Omar, Vladimir Vavilov, Yi Liu and Stefano Sfarra

Infrastructures 2021, 6(9), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6090131 - 10 Sep 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1523

Abstract

Natural fibres present ozone-friendly solutions in the field of construction. The attenuation of the sound and heat losses is an important feature in such type of materials above all, when used in non-woven fabrics and fibre-reinforced composites. Hemp fibres show robust insulation performance; this research work should be considered beneficial to the development of a non-destructive thermographic methodology, which can address the thermal barrier (typically applied on multi-layer panel) effects. The intent is to assess the integrity of the sub-surface reinforcing glass fibres; such integrity state will help confer the rigidity and the resistance to mechanical stresses. The testing proposed in this study can be further developed in a laboratory right after the manufacturing process of similar type of components. The testing needs preliminary numerical simulations to help guide the selection of the appropriate pre- and post-processing algorithms combined with or without segmentation operators. A set of numerical and experimental tests were performed through controlled thermal stimulation while recording the thermal responses. The study also highlights the advantages, disadvantages, and future development of the presented technique and methodologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Building Materials and Structures)

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17 pages, 3497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

BAT Algorithm-Based ANN to Predict the Compressive Strength of Concrete—A Comparative Study

by Nasrin Aalimahmoody, Chiara Bedon, Nasim Hasanzadeh-Inanlou, Amir Hasanzade-Inallu and Mehdi Nikoo

Infrastructures 2021, 6(6), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6060080 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2896

Abstract

The number of effective factors and their nonlinear behaviour—mainly the nonlinear effect of the factors on concrete properties—has led researchers to employ complex models such as artificial neural networks (ANNs). The compressive strength is certainly a prominent characteristic for design and analysis of concrete structures. In this paper, 1030 concrete samples from literature are considered to model accurately and efficiently the compressive strength. To this aim, a Feed-Forward (FF) neural network is employed to model the compressive strength based on eight different factors. More in detail, the parameters of the ANN are learned using the bat algorithm (BAT). The resulting optimized model is thus validated by comparative analyses towards ANNs optimized with a genetic algorithm (GA) and Teaching-Learning-Based-Optimization (TLBO), as well as a multi-linear regression model, and four compressive strength models proposed in literature. The results indicate that the BAT-optimized ANN is more accurate in estimating the compressive strength of concrete. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Building Materials and Structures)

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Review

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35 pages, 4385 KiB

Open AccessReview

Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

by Kamel Mohamed Rahla, Ricardo Mateus and Luís Bragança

Infrastructures 2021, 6(4), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6040049 - 24 Mar 2021

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 8549

Abstract

A growing concern is given to the environmental impacts caused by the construction industry. Waste generation, resource consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions are the main drawbacks of the rapid urbanization that the world is witnessing. As a response to these pressing issues, policymakers and academia are exploring the concept of Circular Economy (CE) to manage resources better and achieve resource efficiency while eliminating waste. One of the strategies to implement CE in the built environment is to select the appropriate building materials and components from the early stages to carry out the concept’s principles along the value chain and create a closed-loop system. Therefore, this study aims at identifying selection criteria for building elements according to CE principles through a review of the latest research. Results have shown that little has been concretely achieved in terms of a paradigm shift to CE since the main focus of the literature is still the use of recycled products and the recyclability of building materials and components at their end-of-life. Although the present study is solely focused on the technical aspect of building materials and components, it outlines current adopted criteria to bring about a circular built environment and highlights the need for a more innovative approach to attain higher circularity levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Building Materials and Structures)

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