Advanced Materials for Modern Methods of Construction: Innovations, Challenges, and Sustainable Building Applications

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 311

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Thornton Tomasetti, New York, NY 10271, USA
Interests: non-destructive evaluation; concrete; finite element analysis

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Guest Editor
College of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China
Interests: high-performance and sustainable cement-based materials; fracture mechanics; durability of concrete under harsh conditions
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Guest Editor
School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Interests: steel–concrete composite structures; steel structures; concrete structures; artificial intelligence
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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Interests: ultra-high-performance and fiber-reinforced concrete; multifunctional composites; durability; AI-driven property prediction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern methods of construction (MMC) are reshaping the building industry by emphasizing speed, sustainability, and enhanced performance. Key enablers of these advancements are development and integration of advanced materials, including ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), engineered cementitious composites (ECC), low-carbon cementitious systems, 3D-printed concrete, and fiber-reinforced concrete. These materials offer superior mechanical strength, durability, ductility, and environmental performance compared to conventional alternatives.

This Special Issue seeks to bring together cutting-edge research focused on the design, optimization, and implementation of advanced materials for MMC. Emphasis will be placed on innovations that support sustainability, structural health monitoring, and smart design approaches, including the use of machine learning, digital fabrication techniques like 3D-printed concrete (3DPC), and computational modeling.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Advanced material development (UHPC, ECC, and low-carbon binders);
  • Mechanical and durability performances;
  • Fracture and failure mechanics;
  • Machine learning and AI-driven material optimization;
  • Structural health-monitoring systems;
  • Sustainable applications and environmental impacts;
  • Digital construction and 3D printing in MMC;
  • Case studies and field implementations.

Original research papers, review articles, and case studies are invited to highlight the potential of advanced materials in revolutionizing sustainable construction.

We look forward to your submissions.

Dr. Mehran Khan
Dr. Tonghao Zhang
Dr. Chaopeng Xie
Dr. Mizan Ahmed
Dr. Abasal Hussain
Guest Editors

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. Buildings 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

  • modern methods of construction (MMC)
  • ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC)
  • engineered cementitious composites (ECC)
  • low-carbon cement
  • 3D-printed concrete
  • fiber-reinforced concrete
  • machine learning in construction
  • structural health monitoring
  • digital construction
  • sustainable building materials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 3747 KiB  
Article
Elastic–Plastic Fracture Analysis on Defective Q345 Steel in the Process of Small-Scale Creep Crack Propagation
by Huajing Guo, Wenjie Tang, Xiaolong Tong and Bin Sun
Buildings 2025, 15(10), 1662; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15101662 - 15 May 2025
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Abstract
Q345 steel is usually used on structures working under high temperature where creep deformation could endanger their structural integrity. In order to support the application of steel structures made of Q345 under high temperature, a fracture analysis on defective Q345 steel in the [...] Read more.
Q345 steel is usually used on structures working under high temperature where creep deformation could endanger their structural integrity. In order to support the application of steel structures made of Q345 under high temperature, a fracture analysis on defective Q345 steel in the process of small-scale creep crack propagation has been performed. Three-dimensional finite element models with a semi-elliptical surface crack have been established, and the crack propagation process of Q345 steel has been simulated at 400 °C. The constraint effect near the crack tip in the process of creep crack propagation has been analyzed using the J-A2 two-parameter method in which the influence of the crack aspect ratio, loading level, and biaxial loading ratio was studied. The previously developed constraint-based R6 procedure was adopted to assess the structural integrity of the cracked structure under small-scale creep conditions. The results showed that small-scale creep crack propagation behavior exhibits great influence on both crack tip fields and a constraint effect near the crack tip. The increase in the biaxial loading ratio, loading level, and aspect ratio of the crack could lead to an increase in the J integral, an enhancement of the constraint effect, and a decrease in the safe area in the failure assessment diagram for the cracked structure in the process of small-scale creep crack propagation. Full article
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