materials-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Structural, Physical and Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Concrete, Novel Cementitious Composites and Other Brittle Construction Materials

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 2025 | Viewed by 280

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Lublin University of Technology, Nadbystrzycka 40 Street, 20-618 Lublin, Poland
Interests: fracture toughness and fracture processes of concrete composites; concretes with mineral additives; concretes with fly ash addition exposed to various types of loads (mechanical, thermal, corrosion); nanotechnology in concrete; concrete made with ternary
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the field of modern concrete technology, scientists and practical engineers are greatly interested in the possibility of modifying the microstructure of cement-based materials with active mineral additives and admixtures. Additionally, the use of nanoparticles has been integral to the development of improved construction and building materials in recent years. Both traditional concrete additives and the nanoadditives that are part of modern cement matrix composites are referred to as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The use of SCMs in the production of novel concrete composites promotes sustainability in the concrete industry. Moreover, advanced nanomaterials and modern nanotechnology play an increasingly important role in the field of concrete and reinforced concrete structures. However, these materials clearly change the structure, mechanical parameters, and brittleness of the concrete. they also affect one other important property of concrete, i.e., its fracture toughness. Fracture toughness is an extremely important parameter that determines the properties of a given material, especially of a construction material.

To this end, experimental research, mathematical descriptions, and numerical analyses have been carried out over many years to obtain concrete composites with the highest fracture toughness. Recently, the material modification of concrete with SCMs has developed quite rapidly. More and more advanced techniques are also being used to detect and analyze the development of cracks in these materials, e.g., digital image correlation.

This Special Issue will compile recent developments in the field of novel materials that modify the structure of concrete to improve both its physical and mechanical parameters, with special attention paid to the fracture toughness of such composites. Articles on new devices and measuring techniques for analyzing cracks in brittle composites and the assessment of the microstructure of damaged composites are also very welcome.

Prof. Dr. Grzegorz Ludwik Golewski
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 composite
  • concrete structures
  • materials with brittle matrixes
  • material modification
  • microstructure
  • experimental testing
  • fracture toughness
  • crack
  • interfacial transition zone (ITZ)
  • modeling

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

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

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

25 pages, 4294 KiB  
Article
The Investigation of Shear Fracture Toughness and Structure of ITZ of Limestone Concrete with Different Aggregate Grain Size
by Grzegorz Ludwik Golewski
Materials 2025, 18(17), 3954; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18173954 (registering DOI) - 23 Aug 2025
Abstract
Due to the shortage of construction aggregates, carbonate rock aggregates—including mainly limestone aggregates—have long been used in structural concrete in many countries worldwide. On the other hand, earlier tests on the shear fracture toughness of concretes with limestone aggregates were very limited and [...] Read more.
Due to the shortage of construction aggregates, carbonate rock aggregates—including mainly limestone aggregates—have long been used in structural concrete in many countries worldwide. On the other hand, earlier tests on the shear fracture toughness of concretes with limestone aggregates were very limited and were even abandoned for many years. For the above reasons, in this paper, completely new fracture toughness tests were performed according to the mode II fracture for limestone concretes with different grain size distributions. Two types of aggregate grain were used, i.e., two with maximum grain sizes of 8 mm (M1 series concrete) and 16 mm (M2 series concrete). During the experiments, the critical stress-intensity factor (KIIc) and critical unit work of failure (JIIc) were determined. Based on the conducted studies, it was found that higher values of fracture mechanics parameters were noted as the grain sizes of the aggregate used increased. The increases in the analyzed fracture mechanics parameters were noticeably greater in the M2 series concrete compared to the results for the M1 series concrete, specifically by 27% for KIIc and 35% for JIIc. In addition to macroscopic tests, detailed microstructural analyses of the ITZ area between the coarse aggregate grains and the cement matrix were conducted. Based on the captured images, it was determined that, in the M1 series concrete, the contacts between the aggregate grains and the cement paste exhibit a loose structure with visible microcracks. In contrast, the M2 series concrete showed no visible damages within the ITZ area itself nor at their displacement at a distance of approximately a few μm away from this area. This microstructure of both materials resulted in the M1 series concrete being more prone to rapid and sudden fracture propagation, leading to its brittle behavior during the fracture process. In contrast, the large, well-developed limestone aggregate grains in the M2 series concrete facilitated improved stress transfer beyond the ITZ area into the cement matrix, preserving the continuity of the material structure and consequently leading to quasi-plastic behavior of the concrete during the fracture process. The novelty and utilitarianism of the research undertaken result from the fact that exploring the properties of concretes with limestone aggregates using mode II fracture is an important aspect of evaluating the durability and safety of concrete structures subjected mainly to shear forces. Full article
Back to TopTop