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Intelligent Construction in Civil Engineering: Additive Manufacturing of Cementitious Materials...
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Intelligent Construction in Civil Engineering: Additive Manufacturing of Cementitious Materials and Concrete

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2026 | Viewed by 832

Editors

Prof. Dr. Chengfang Yuan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: cementitious materials; additive manufacturing in concrete; alkali-activated materials and geopolymers; intelligent construction technologies
Prof. Dr. Zhanqi Cheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: concrete; computational mechanics; damage and fracture; peridynamics; cement-based composites; multi-scale modeling; micromechanics; functionally graded materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Intelligent construction serves as the core engine driving the transformation and upgrading of civil engineering, with cement-based materials and additive manufacturing (3D printing) of concrete being key supporting technologies. This Special Issue will focus on this cutting-edge field, publishing the latest advancements in the research and development of printable cement-based materials, rheological property regulation, printing process optimization, integrated structural performance design, numerical simulation, and engineering applications. It will center on core issues such as printability, interlayer interface performance, long-term durability, and intelligent equipment, aiming to gather innovative research from domestic and international universities, research institutes, and enterprises. Our goal is to foster interdisciplinary integration and advance the transition of concrete 3D printing from experimental research to industrial application. The Special Issue will provide an academic exchange platform for research on the additive manufacturing of civil engineering materials, contributing to the intelligent, green, low-carbon, and high-quality development of the construction industry.

Prof. Dr. Chengfang Yuan
Prof. Dr. Zhanqi Cheng
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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

  • intelligent construction
  • additive manufacturing
  • 3D printing
  • cement-based materials
  • concrete

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 6035 KB  
Article
Development of Eco-Efficient Recycled Concrete Incorporating Steel Slag, Ground-Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag, and Fiber: Mechanical Properties and Strength Prediction Based on Artificial Intelligence Techniques
by Shaofeng Zhang, Xue Wang, Ditao Niu, Yan Wang and Daming Luo
Materials 2026, 19(13), 2752; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19132752 - 28 Jun 2026
Viewed by 203
Abstract
Reusing industrial byproducts to prepare recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is a sustainable approach that can protect the ecological environment. This study tested the possibility of preparing an eco-efficient recycled concrete containing steel slag (SS), ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), and polypropylene (PP) fibers to [...] Read more.
Reusing industrial byproducts to prepare recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is a sustainable approach that can protect the ecological environment. This study tested the possibility of preparing an eco-efficient recycled concrete containing steel slag (SS), ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), and polypropylene (PP) fibers to avoid resource waste and depletion and decrease CO2 emissions. To this end, 12 mix proportions were designed to analyze the effects of SS, GGBS, and PP fibers on the macro- and micro-performances of the developed RAC. The experimental results showed that increasing the SS content decreased the RAC mechanical strength, whereas partially substituting SS with GGBS in the RAC improved the mechanical properties, especially at a later stage. Adding PP fibers to the RAC containing SS and GGBS significantly increased the splitting tensile strength. However, it had little effect on the compressive strength as the PP fiber content was less than 0.6%. The microscopic experiment revealed that adding GGBS promoted the degree of hydration of SS, reduced the Ca (OH)2 content, made the ITZ structure more compact, and optimized the pore characteristics of the RAC. Furthermore, according to the raw materials and results of mechanical properties, a hybrid Genetic Algorithm/Artificial Neural Network (GA-ANN) technique was proposed to predict the compressive strength of the RAC containing SS, GGBS, and PP fibers. We found that the proposed GA-ANN model effectively predicts the compressive strength. The findings of this study demonstrate that preparing RAC incorporating SS, GGBS, and PP fibers is promising for the reuse of industrial byproducts and construction waste. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Construction in Civil Engineering: Additive Manufacturing of Cementitious Materials and Concrete)
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31 pages, 25096 KB  
Article
Freeze–Thaw Durability and Anisotropic Damage Evolution of 3D-Printed River-Sediment Engineered Cementitious Composites: Effects of Interlayer Interface Defects
by Lu Yin, Minjie Lv, Nan Ma, Fang Yuan, Jiajia Zhou and Chengfang Yuan
Materials 2026, 19(12), 2559; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19122559 - 12 Jun 2026
Viewed by 288
Abstract
Freeze–thaw durability of 3D-printed engineered cementitious composites (3DP-ECC) is strongly affected by print-induced interlayer defects and anisotropy, particularly in cold regions. This study investigated Cast-ECC and Z-direction 3DP-ECC incorporating Yellow River sediment (YRS) as an equal-mass replacement for quartz sand at 0–100%. Compressive, [...] Read more.
Freeze–thaw durability of 3D-printed engineered cementitious composites (3DP-ECC) is strongly affected by print-induced interlayer defects and anisotropy, particularly in cold regions. This study investigated Cast-ECC and Z-direction 3DP-ECC incorporating Yellow River sediment (YRS) as an equal-mass replacement for quartz sand at 0–100%. Compressive, three-point bending, and four-point bending tests, relative dynamic elastic modulus (RDME), XCT, MIP, SEM–EDS, and Weibull damage modeling were used to evaluate degradation up to 150 freshwater freeze–thaw cycles. Moderate YRS replacement (25–50%) improved particle packing, reduced visible defects, and refined the pore structure, thereby enhancing frost resistance. The R50 mixture showed the best residual performance: after 150 cycles, compressive strength decreased from 55 to 46 MPa in Cast-ECC and from 54 to 44 MPa in 3DP-ECC, corresponding to retention rates of 83.6% and 81.5%, respectively. The residual peak load in four-point bending of 3DP-ECC-R50 was 15.4% lower than that of Cast-ECC-R50, confirming the detrimental role of interlayer defects under loading perpendicular to the layers. RDME-based Weibull fitting described the overall damage evolution (R2 = 0.876–0.994), while XCT, MIP, and SEM–EDS indicated that interlayer discontinuities, pore-structure evolution, and local microstructural degradation governed anisotropic deterioration. The results support durability-oriented design of YRS-based 3DP-ECC in cold regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Construction in Civil Engineering: Additive Manufacturing of Cementitious Materials and Concrete)
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