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Infrastructures
Special Issues
Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials
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Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 October 2022) | Viewed by 19604

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dan Bompa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Interests: hybrid structural components; composite systems; recycling and reuse; sustainable construction; innovative construction materials; reinforced concrete; dissipative steel elements; FRP composites; elevated temperature; cyclic loading; heritage structures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Construction is one of the largest consumers of natural resources and generates significant levels of waste, and the production of new materials is associated with high carbon emissions. In the context of increased urbanisation and population growth, material demand and the pressure on existing resources are high. “Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing” end-of-life materials and infrastructure components becomes essential to meet carbon emission targets. These targets can be achieved through more sustainable materials, efficient material usage and optimised structural components. On the other hand, adapting and reusing existing buildings and infrastructure can reduce environmental damage and carbon footprint associated with demolition and reconstruction while enabling energy savings and maintaining social value.

This Special Issue covers topics at the intersection between innovative materials incorporating recycled elements and the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and infrastructure. Papers could include investigations on the performance of construction materials with recycled elements, typically incorporated in concrete, such as crushed glass, tyre rubber, plastic fibres and granules, concrete and brick aggregates and asphalt pavement, among others. Studies on recycled timber fibre, plastic–timber elements and other novel composites are also strongly encouraged. Composites in which the recycled elements contribute to enhancing the properties of the material are particularly sought.

Studies on the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and wider infrastructure could focus on retrofitting schemes to meet modern demands such as new loading, functions and performance requirements. Practical case studies and parametric investigations at both the material and structural level are highly welcomed, and all papers should incorporate some elements of broader sustainability standards indicating how they can contribute towards achieving a more sustainable built environment.

Dr. Dan Bompa
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

  • recycling
  • adaptive reuse
  • retrofitting
  • sustainable materials
  • composite materials
  • existing infrastructure

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3055 KiB  
Article
Role of Sugarcane Juice as a Natural Admixture on Setting Time and Hardened Properties of Cementitious Materials
by Suvash Chandra Paul, Adewumi John Babafemi, Md Jihad Miah, Md Abdul Basit, Noor Md. Sadiqul Hasan and Sih Ying Kong
Infrastructures 2022, 7(10), 145; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7100145 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3350
Abstract
Admixtures are an integral part of modern cementitious materials, as they significantly enhance the rheological, mechanical, and durability properties of the material. Though manufactured admixtures are mainly used in concrete production, they are expensive. Therefore, this research investigated the effect of sugarcane juice [...] Read more.
Admixtures are an integral part of modern cementitious materials, as they significantly enhance the rheological, mechanical, and durability properties of the material. Though manufactured admixtures are mainly used in concrete production, they are expensive. Therefore, this research investigated the effect of sugarcane juice (SCJ), as a natural admixture, on the properties of concrete. Various percentages of SCJs were used to investigate the initial and final setting time, workability, compressive strength, and splitting tensile strength of concrete. Furthermore, the effect of different cement-sand ratios (c/s) and water-cement ratios (w/c) on the setting time of different cement mortar mixes was studied. Experimental results have shown that the setting time measured by the Vicat’s apparatus reduces significantly, up to a certain percentage of SCJ in the mortar mixes. Setting time is also reduced as the c/s and w/c ratios are reduced in the mortar mix. From the results, it was found that, based on the c/s ratio, with the addition of 20% SCJ in the mix, the initial setting time of mortar can be reduced to 10% from 79%. In the case of mechanical strength, compared to the control mix (0% SCJ), more than 29% higher compressive strength in concrete was achieved by adding 10% SCJ to the mix. For the splitting strength, this increment was more than 4%. The ANOVA analysis also proved that the higher percentages of SCJ produced a compressive strength that was not statistically different from the control concrete mix. Finally, the research outcome showed that the dosages of SCJ can greatly alter the setting time and mechanical strength of cementitious materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials)
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14 pages, 2651 KiB  
Article
Thermally Treated Waste Silt as Geopolymer Grouting Material and Filler for Semiflexible Pavements
by Abbas Solouki, Piergiorgio Tataranni and Cesare Sangiorgi
Infrastructures 2022, 7(8), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7080099 - 23 Jul 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2349
Abstract
Considering the future shortage of natural aggregates, various researchers have promoted the recycling of by-products into various asphalt pavement types. This paper promoted a double-recycling technique, where thermally treated waste silt was used as a filler for the bituminous skeleton and grouting material [...] Read more.
Considering the future shortage of natural aggregates, various researchers have promoted the recycling of by-products into various asphalt pavement types. This paper promoted a double-recycling technique, where thermally treated waste silt was used as a filler for the bituminous skeleton and grouting material of a geopolymer-based semiflexible pavement. Semiflexible pavements (SFP) inherit the flexibility of common asphalt pavements and simultaneously benefit from the rigidity of cement concrete pavements. For this purpose, waste silt obtained from a local asphalt plant was thermally treated at 750 °C and was used as the filler to produce the porous skeleton. Two different materials, including conventional cement-based and a geopolymer-based cement, were used as the grouting material. The geopolymer grout was produced by mixing metakaolin (MK), potassium-based liquid hardener and calcined silt as filler. The porous and grouted samples were characterized in terms of indirect tensile strength (ITS), the indirect tensile strength modulus (ITSM) and moisture sensitivity. The use of thermally treated waste silt as filler in porous asphalt demonstrated promising results and was comparable to the control samples produced with limestone as the filler. However, the control samples grouted with cement-based material outperformed the geopolymer grout in all aspects. Moreover, the addition of calcined silt improved the low-temperature fatigue performance of porous and grouted asphalt pavements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials)
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14 pages, 3091 KiB  
Article
Mortars with CDW Recycled Aggregates Submitted to High Levels of CO2
by Ricardo Infante Gomes, David Bastos, Catarina Brazão Farinha, Cinthia Maia Pederneiras, Rosário Veiga, Jorge de Brito, Paulina Faria and António Santos Silva
Infrastructures 2021, 6(11), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6110159 - 5 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3019
Abstract
Construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are generated at a large scale and have a diversified potential in the construction sector. The replacement of natural aggregates (NA) with CDW recycled aggregates (RA) in construction materials, such as mortars, has several environmental benefits, such as [...] Read more.
Construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are generated at a large scale and have a diversified potential in the construction sector. The replacement of natural aggregates (NA) with CDW recycled aggregates (RA) in construction materials, such as mortars, has several environmental benefits, such as the reduction in the natural resources used in these products and simultaneous prevention of waste landfill. Complementarily, CDW have the potential to capture CO2 since some of their components may carbonate, which also contributes to a decrease in global warming potential. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the influence of the exposure of CDW RA to CO2 produced in cement factories and its effect on mortars. Several mortars were developed with a volumetric ratio of 1:4 (cement: aggregate), with NA (reference mortar), CDW RA and CDW RA exposed to high levels of CO2 (CRA). The two types of waste aggregate were incorporated, replacing NA at 50% and 100% (in volume). The mortars with NA and non-carbonated RA and CRA from CDW were analysed, accounting for their performance in the fresh and hardened states in terms of workability, mechanical behaviour and water absorption by capillarity. It was concluded that mortars with CDW (both CRA and non-carbonated RA) generally present a good performance for non-structural purposes, although they suffer a moderate decrease in mechanical performance when NA is replaced with RA. Additionally, small improvements were found in the performance of the aggregates and mortars with CRA subjected to a CO2 curing for a short period (5 h), while a long carbonation period (5 d) led to a decrease in performance, contrary to the results obtained in the literature that indicate a significant increase in such characteristics. This difference could be because the literature focused on made-in-laboratory CDW aggregates, while, in this research, the wastes came from real demolition activities, and were thus older and more heterogeneous. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials)
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16 pages, 5796 KiB  
Article
Development of Concrete Incorporating Recycled Aggregates, Hydrated Lime and Natural Volcanic Pozzolan
by Natividad Garcia-Troncoso, Bowen Xu and Wilhenn Probst-Pesantez
Infrastructures 2021, 6(11), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6110155 - 2 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3100
Abstract
Recycling of construction and demolition waste is a central point of discussion throughout the world. The application of recycled concrete as partial replacement of mineral aggregates in concrete mixes is one of the alternatives in the reduction of pollution and savings in carbon [...] Read more.
Recycling of construction and demolition waste is a central point of discussion throughout the world. The application of recycled concrete as partial replacement of mineral aggregates in concrete mixes is one of the alternatives in the reduction of pollution and savings in carbon emissions. The combined influence of the recycled crushed concrete, lime, and natural pozzolana on the mechanical and sustainable properties of concrete materials is firstly proposed in this study. In this research, unconventional construction materials are employed to produce concrete: the recycled crushed concrete is used as coarse aggregate, while lime and natural pozzolana are used as a partial replacement for cement. Substitutions of 10%, 20%, 50% of gravel are made with recycled aggregates, and 2%, 5%, 10% of cement with lime and natural pozzolan. Tests on the fresh and hardened properties, destructive (compressive strength) and non-destructive tests (sclerometer rebound and ultrasound) of mixtures are carried out. It is shown that the use of recycled materials can provide an increase in compressive strength of up to 34% with respect to conventional concrete. Life cycle cost and sustainability assessments indicate that concrete materials incorporating recycled aggregate possess good economic and environmental impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials)
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19 pages, 2856 KiB  
Article
Mechanical and Fresh Properties of Multi-Binder Geopolymer Mortars Incorporating Recycled Rubber Particles
by Ahmed Abdelmonim and Dan V. Bompa
Infrastructures 2021, 6(10), 146; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6100146 - 14 Oct 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2792
Abstract
This paper examines the performance of multi-binder conventional geopolymer mixes (GCMs) with relatively high early strength, achieved through curing at ambient temperature. Mixes incorporating ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash (FA) and microsilica (MS) and sodium metasilicate anhydrous, were assessed in terms [...] Read more.
This paper examines the performance of multi-binder conventional geopolymer mixes (GCMs) with relatively high early strength, achieved through curing at ambient temperature. Mixes incorporating ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash (FA) and microsilica (MS) and sodium metasilicate anhydrous, were assessed in terms of workability, mechanical properties and embodied carbon. A cement mortar was also prepared for the sake of comparison. The best performing GCM was then used as a reference for rubberised geopolymer mixes (RuGM) in which the mineral aggregates were replaced by recycled rubber particles in proportions up to 30% by volume. Experimental results were combined with embodied carbon estimations in a multi-criteria assessment to evaluate the performance of each material. A mix with a 75/25 GGBS-to-FA ratio, in which 5% MS was added, had the best performance in terms of strength, workability, water absorption and environmental impact. The compressive strength was above 50 MPa, similar to that of the cement mortar. The latter had significantly higher embodied carbon, with factors ranging between 3.48 to 4.20, compared with the CGM mixes. The presence of rubber particles reduced the mechanical properties of RuGM proportionally with the rubber amount, but had similar workability and embodied carbon to CGMs. Finally, a strength degradation model is validated against the tests from this paper and literature to estimate the compressive strength of RuGM, providing reliable predictions over a wide range of rubber contents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials)
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20 pages, 22827 KiB  
Article
Performance of Polymer Cementitious Coatings for High-Voltage Electrical Infrastructure
by Bowen Xu, Hui Li, Dan V. Bompa, Ahmed Y. Elghazouli and Jiangbo Chen
Infrastructures 2021, 6(9), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6090125 - 2 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2940
Abstract
This paper investigates the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties as well as the environmental performance of polymer cementitious composites (PCCs) as sustainable coating materials for underground power cables and as high-voltage insulators. Particular focus is placed on the optimised mix design and the [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties as well as the environmental performance of polymer cementitious composites (PCCs) as sustainable coating materials for underground power cables and as high-voltage insulators. Particular focus is placed on the optimised mix design and the effect of the manufacturing method on the performance of PCCs, incorporating liquid styrene and acrylic (SA) monomers, wollastonite and muscovite. Microstructural investigations, together with results from strength tests, indicate that the manufacturing method is a key performance parameter. Experimental results show that PCC mixes containing 25% SA emulsion, 12.5% wollastonite and no muscovite provide the most favourable dielectric properties from the mixes investigated. The PCC material has a dielectric strength up to 16.5 kV/mm and a dielectric loss factor lower than 0.12. Additional experiments also show that PCC has good thermal stability and thermal conductivity. The mechanical strength tests indicate that PCC specimens possess reliable strengths which are applicable in structural design. Environmental assessments also show that PCCs possess significantly lower embodied energy and embodied carbon than conventional plastic insulating materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing Infrastructure: Components and Construction Materials)
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