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Materials
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Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Concrete: Progress and Prospects
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Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Concrete: Progress and Prospects

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025 | Viewed by 3894

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Seongho Han

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65401, USA
Interests: rheology-based investigation of concrete performance; durability of concrete structure; sustainable cement-based materials; carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) for construction materials; addictive manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing concrete); application of machine learning approach for concrete science
Prof. Dr. Ruben P. Borg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Interests: concrete materials and reinforced concrete structures; durability of materials; waste recycling; sustainable construction and life cycle analysis; structural vulnerability, earthquake engineering, and cultural heritage; quality management systems and product certification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jun Feng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Key Laboratory of Transient Physics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Interests: composite mechanics; impact engineering; machine learning; multiscale modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to contribute to our Special Issue, “Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Concrete: Progress and Prospects”. As the global construction industry shifts towards sustainability, exploring innovative solutions to reduce environmental impact is crucial. This issue focuses on sustainable materials like geopolymers, high-performance concrete, and ultra-high-performance concrete, aiming to lower carbon emissions while maintaining good structural performance.

This research area is vital for addressing global sustainability goals. We can create a more sustainable built environment by advancing CO2 capture, recycling materials, and improving waste management. This issue provides a platform for sharing the latest findings, insights, and experiences in this critical field, aligning with the journal’s focus on civil engineering, materials science, and sustainability.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Novel approaches to low-carbon building materials production;
  • Advances in geopolymers and their applications in structural concrete;
  • Performance optimization of high-performance and ultra-high-performance concrete;
  • Integration of CO2 capture and utilization technologies in building material production;
  • Enhancing the durability of building materials and structures through innovative design and materials selection;
  • Utilization of recycled building materials in structural concrete applications;
  • Strategies for effective waste management in the construction industry;

We look forward to receiving your contributions and working together to advance the field of sustainable high-performance materials in structural concrete.

Dr. Seongho Han
Prof. Dr. Ruben P. Borg
Dr. Jun Feng
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. 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

  • low-carbon building materials
  • geopolymer
  • high-performance concrete
  • ultra-high-performance concrete
  • CO2 capture and utilization for building materials
  • durability of building materials and structures
  • recycled building materials
  • waste management

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 8729 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Resin Volume Fraction on Selected Properties of Polymer Concrete
by Jakub Smoleń, Krzysztof Stępień, Mateusz Kozioł, Mateusz Włodarczyk, Tomasz Pawlik, Małgorzata Safuta, Krzysztof Groń, Klaudiusz Fross and Piotr Olesik
Materials 2024, 17(24), 6142; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17246142 - 16 Dec 2024
Viewed by 751
Abstract
Polymer concrete is a promising material with applications in construction and architecture; however, guidelines for its design and optimization are not well-established in the literature. This study aimed to evaluate how resin volume fraction and aggregate size distribution affect key properties of polyester [...] Read more.
Polymer concrete is a promising material with applications in construction and architecture; however, guidelines for its design and optimization are not well-established in the literature. This study aimed to evaluate how resin volume fraction and aggregate size distribution affect key properties of polyester polymer concrete, including flexural strength, compressive strength, water absorption, and material cost. Three types of quartz aggregates with different particle size distributions were used, as follows: small (below 0.5 mm, quartz dust), medium (0.2–2.0 mm, quartz sand), and large (2.0–10.0 mm, quartz gravel). The resin volume content varied from 5% to 30%. Differences in apparent density, open porosity, water absorption, flexural strength, compressive strength, and material cost were analyzed as functions of resin volume content and aggregate size. The results showed that apparent density and mechanical properties are positively correlated with resin content for small and medium aggregates; however, in the case of large aggregates, flexural strength decreased when the resin volume content exceeded 20%. A significant reduction in material porosity and water absorption (to ~0.4% and ~0.2%, respectively) was observed at high resin volume fractions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Concrete: Progress and Prospects)
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19 pages, 9760 KiB  
Article
Projectile Penetration into Calcareous Sand Subgrade Airport Runway Pavement with Genetic Algorithm Optimization
by Chucai Peng, Jingnan Huang, Xichen Sun, Yifei Nan, Yaohui Chen, Kun Chen and Jun Feng
Materials 2024, 17(23), 5696; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17235696 - 21 Nov 2024
Viewed by 850
Abstract
As an important civil and military infrastructure, airport runway pavement is faced with threats from cluster munitions, since it is vulnerable to projectile impacts with internal explosions. Aiming at the damage assessment of an island airport runway pavement under impact, this work dealt [...] Read more.
As an important civil and military infrastructure, airport runway pavement is faced with threats from cluster munitions, since it is vulnerable to projectile impacts with internal explosions. Aiming at the damage assessment of an island airport runway pavement under impact, this work dealt with discrete modeling of rigid projectile penetration into concrete pavement and the calcareous sand subgrade multi-layer structure. First, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is introduced to model concrete and calcareous sand granular material features, like cohesive fracture and strain hardening due to compression, with mesoscale constitutive laws governing the normal and shear interactions between adjacent particles. Second, the subsequent DEM simulations of uniaxial and triaxial compression were performed to calibrate the DEM parameters for pavement concrete, as well as subgrade calcareous sand. Prior to the multi-layer structure investigations, penetration into sole concrete or calcareous sand is validated in terms of projectile deceleration and depth of penetration (DOP) with relative error ≤ 5.6% providing a reliable numerical tool for deep penetration damage assessments. Third, projectile penetration into the airport runway structure with concrete pavement and calcareous sand subgrade was evaluated with validated DEM model. Penetration numerical simulations with various projectile weight, pavement concrete thickness as well as striking velocity, were performed to achieve the DOP. Moreover, the back-propagation (BP) neural network proxy model was constructed to predict the airport runway penetration data with good agreement realizing rapid and robust DOP forecasting. Finally, the genetic algorithm was coupled with the proxy model to realize intelligent optimization of pavement penetration, whereby the critical velocity projectile just perforates concrete pavement indicating the severest subsequent munition explosion damage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Concrete: Progress and Prospects)
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Review

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37 pages, 8016 KiB  
Review
Second Life for Recycled Concrete and Other Construction and Demolition Waste in Mortars for Masonry: Full Scope of Material Properties, Performance, and Environmental Aspects
by Vadim Grigorjev, Miguel Azenha and Nele De Belie
Materials 2024, 17(20), 5118; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17205118 - 19 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1618
Abstract
This review presents the scope of current efforts to utilize recycled construction and demolition waste in mortars for masonry. More than 100 articles are divided into groups pertaining to the type of mortar, different binder systems, the type of construction and demolition waste [...] Read more.
This review presents the scope of current efforts to utilize recycled construction and demolition waste in mortars for masonry. More than 100 articles are divided into groups pertaining to the type of mortar, different binder systems, the type of construction and demolition waste (CDW), and its utilization specifics. Cement-based mortars dominate this research domain, whereas recycled concrete is the main material employed to replace virgin aggregates, followed by recycled masonry and recycled mixed waste aggregates. Such application in cement-based mortars could increase water demand by 20–34% and reduce strength by 11–50%, with recycled concrete aggregates being the most favorable. Natural aggregate substitution is disadvantageous in strong mortars, whereas weaker ones, such as lime-based mortars, could benefit from this incorporation. The extent of this topic also suggests possibilities for different recycled material use cases in mortars for masonry, although the available literature is largely insufficient to infer meaningful trends. Nonetheless, the most relevant knowledge synthesized in this review offers promising and environment-conscious utilization pathways for recycled concrete and other construction and demolition waste, which brings opportunities for further research on their use in mortars for masonry and industrial-scale applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Concrete: Progress and Prospects)
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