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Durability Studies on the Concrete and Related Composites (Second Edition)
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Durability Studies on the Concrete and Related Composites (Second Edition)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2025) | Viewed by 3062

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Ślosarczyk

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Poznan University of Technology, Faculty of Civil and Transport Engineering, Instutute of Building Engineering, 60-965 Poznań, Poland
Interests: Building materials, concrete technology, nanotechnology, nanomaterials, chemical technology, fibre-reinforced concrete, durability, sustainable construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is well known that the production of materials based on cement, especially concrete, is associated with high greenhouse gas emissions, mainly CO2, and a large carbon footprint. Therefore, in recent years, the cement and concrete industry has increasingly paid attention to the search for new material solutions that will contribute to the greater durability of this material. Durability is a very broad term, usually equated with a high strength material that will guarantee the long service life of cement-based materials. However, it is important to note that durability in this sense will also be affected by external factors acting on the material and determining its performance. These factors may be chemical in nature, such as carbonation, chloride or acid attack, or physical in nature, such as cyclic frost or abrasion, etc. This makes it important to take a complete look at the production of cement-based materials, taking into account the correlation between chemical composition, microstructure and external environmental factors, which will ensure high material durability and performance and will result in a lower environmental impact, thus contributing to more sustainable construction.

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

  • Materials design and characterization for enhanced durability;
  • Concrete and cementitious composites including advanced nanomaterials;
  • Durability of concrete and cement-based materials (e.g., chloride attack, carbonation, sulfate attack, acid attack, alkali-silica reaction, freeze/thaw, abrasion, etc.);
  • Possibility of reusing old and recovery building materials or by-products in concrete in the aspect of durability and sustainable development;
  • Durability and sustainability assessment.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest research and advances in this area, particularly on the microstructures and durability of concrete and cementitious materials in the aspect of sustainable development. Original research papers, state-of-the-art reviews, communications, and discussions are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Ślosarczyk
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. 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

  • concrete
  • supplementary materials
  • cementitious-like composites
  • durability
  • environmental factors
  • nanotechnology in concrete
  • sustainable development
  • by-products
  • recycling concrete

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 10975 KiB  
Article
Alkali-Activated Binder of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Bottom Ash at Lower pH Levels
by Gintautas Tamošaitis and Danutė Vaičiukynienė
Materials 2025, 18(5), 1076; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18051076 - 27 Feb 2025
Viewed by 383
Abstract
This paper focuses on the alkaline activation of municipal waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash to create a dense, non-porous composite structure. Normally, high pH solutions are used to activate MSWI bottom ash, but this has the side effect of creating residual effects in [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on the alkaline activation of municipal waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash to create a dense, non-porous composite structure. Normally, high pH solutions are used to activate MSWI bottom ash, but this has the side effect of creating residual effects in the bottom ash. Due to the uniqueness of the incineration process, the bottom ash retains metallic aluminum, which reacts with the alkali to produce hydrogen gas, which forms a porous structure in the sample during the hardening of the composite. This study demonstrates a method of eliminating this effect by lowering the pH of the alkaline activator below 12.5. An alkali-activated binder was prepared from ground MSWI bottom ash as a precursor and a triple alkali activator: NaOH solution, soluble glass (SG) and silica gel waste (SW). The highest compressive strengths of about 20 MPa were achieved for alkali-activated MSWI bottom ash with triple alkali activators such as sodium hydroxide, soluble glass and silica gel waste. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability Studies on the Concrete and Related Composites (Second Edition))
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16 pages, 6247 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties of Thermally Conductive High-Strength Concrete
by Xiaojun Li, Shenglei Jia, Longgang Chen, Rongjian Shen, Yang Liu and Ruifeng Mou
Materials 2025, 18(3), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18030642 - 31 Jan 2025
Viewed by 740
Abstract
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is considered one of the future building materials due to its excellent performance. UHPC with good thermal conductivity has potential high-value applications in large-scale bridges and nuclear facilities. As a by-product of the coal gasification process, coal gasification slag (CGS) [...] Read more.
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is considered one of the future building materials due to its excellent performance. UHPC with good thermal conductivity has potential high-value applications in large-scale bridges and nuclear facilities. As a by-product of the coal gasification process, coal gasification slag (CGS) can replace sand in traditional UHPC. In this paper, based on the preparation of UHPC by CGS, silicon carbide (SiC) was added to improve the thermal conductivity of specimens. The application of CGS and SiC as alternatives to quartz sand with varying mix ratios in UHPC was studied. The impact of the substitution ratios of CGS and SiC on fluidity, mechanical properties, and thermal performance was analyzed. The compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of five different kinds of specimens were tested at 7 d, 14 d, and 28 d. The compressive strength and mass loss rate of specimens with five different ratios were also determined under five different temperature conditions (110 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, 400 °C, and 500 °C). The results show that the maximum compressive strength of 28 d can reach 159.5 MPa and the splitting strength is 15.30 MPa. The addition of SiC can improve the thermal conductivity and thermal stability of concrete. The compressive strength of all specimens is improved after high-temperature treatment. When substitution rate of SiC reaches 100%, the compressive strength of the specimens is up to 182.2 MPa. With the increase in temperature, the concrete burst phenomenon occurs above 300 °C. It is observed that the high-temperature burst resistance of the specimens with low strength is better than that of the specimens with high strength. Two specimens were scanned with Industrial Computerized Tomography (ICT) and the microstructures of the specimens were compared. It was found that the samples with higher SiC substitution rates had more minor total pore defects and larger pores. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability Studies on the Concrete and Related Composites (Second Edition))
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19 pages, 6005 KiB  
Article
Chloride Corrosion Process of Concrete with Different Water–Binder Ratios under Variable Temperature Drying–Wetting Cycles
by Lei Wang, Chunhong Chen, Ronggui Liu, Pinghua Zhu, Hui Liu, Hongwei Jiang and Jiang Yu
Materials 2024, 17(10), 2263; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17102263 - 11 May 2024
Viewed by 1335
Abstract
In this paper, four water–binder ratios (w/b) of 0.29, 0.33, 0.39, and 0.46 were designed. A variable test temperature was implemented in the drying–wetting cycle test according to the temperature fluctuations in the actual service environment, and the constant temperature test was established [...] Read more.
In this paper, four water–binder ratios (w/b) of 0.29, 0.33, 0.39, and 0.46 were designed. A variable test temperature was implemented in the drying–wetting cycle test according to the temperature fluctuations in the actual service environment, and the constant temperature test was established as the control group. The mechanical properties and chloride corrosion resistance of concrete with different w/b ratios under variable temperature drying–wetting cycles, as well as the microstructure changes, phase composition, and damage mechanism inside the concrete, were investigated. The results showed that the mechanical properties of concrete increased first and then decreased with drying–wetting cycles increasing, whereas the chloride corrosion resistance continued to decline. A higher w/b exacerbated the deterioration of the concrete performance. A higher w/b increased the porosity, chloride diffusion depth, and chloride content, thus reducing the resistance of chloride corrosion. Compared with w/b = 0.29, the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, mass, and relative dynamic elasticity modulus of w/b = 0.46 exposed to 60 drying–wetting cycles decreased by 54.50%, 52.44%, 0.96%, and 6.50%, respectively, while the porosity, peak chloride content, and erosion depth increased by 45.12%, 70.45%, and 45.00%. Compared with the drying–wetting cycle with a constant temperature, the cumulative damage caused by the drying–wetting cycle with a variable temperature was greater, resulting in more severe deterioration of concrete performance. The increase in the test temperature significantly accelerated the diffusion rate, penetration depth, and chemical binding capacity of chloride ions. After 60 drying–wetting cycles, the peak chlorine content and erosion depth of w/b = 0.46 under variable temperature cycles were 15.38% and 10.32% higher than those under a constant temperature, while the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, mass, and relative dynamic elastic modulus were reduced by 7.76%, 14.81%, 0.33%, and 2.40%, respectively. Microscopic analysis confirmed that higher w/b and variable temperature cycles accelerated the decay of mechanical properties and the decline of chloride corrosion resistance. According to the numerical fitting analysis, the w/b should be 0.29~0.39 under the condition that the mechanical properties and chloride corrosion resistance of concrete are met. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability Studies on the Concrete and Related Composites (Second Edition))
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