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Advanced Cement-Based Composite Materials and Composite Intelligent Design (2nd Edition)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2026 | Viewed by 1354

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Weichen Tian

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Guest Editor

School of Infrastructure Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
Interests: advanced cement-based composites; common waste large-scale treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Wei Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: winter concrete construction; additive manufacturing; 3D modeling; artificial intelligence in construction materials; finite element method
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Dr. Kunyang Yu

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Guest Editor

School of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: phase-change materials for thermal energy storage; microencapsulation of phase-change materials; heat-stored concrete; high-value utilization of waste in concrete construction; temperature control of concrete
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Dr. Mingzhi Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: lattice boltzmann method (LBM); cellular automata (CA); discrete element method (DEM); fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM); computer vision
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cement-based composite is the most popular artificial material in the world and is ubiquitous in most infrastructures. In the past two decades, rapid progress has been made in terms of scientific research on and the technological development of advanced cement-based composites, which can be endowed with many functionalities (e.g., self-sensing, self-monitoring, thermal energy storage, ultrahigh-strength, self-healing, etc.) by intelligent design, rendering them smarter for service in various applications.

Though diverse advanced cement-based composite materials are expected to benefit construction materials and engineering, there are still many challenges in their development and application. This Special Issue aims to promote excellent research concerning all aspects of advanced cement-based composite materials and artificial intelligence in the concrete construction process, focusing on recent advances, basic properties, research gaps, and new trends in the construction of buildings, roads, tunnels, etc. We welcome submissions of original research and review articles on the following potential topics:

Advanced cement-based composite materials with multifunctional properties;
Heat-stored, cement-based composite materials;
Advanced manufacturing of cement-based composite materials;
Fiber-reinforced and nano-modified cement-based composite materials;
Low-carbon and high-performance cement-based composite materials;
Composition, intelligent design, and performance prediction of cement-based composite materials.

Dr. Weichen Tian
Prof. Dr. Wei Wang
Dr. Kunyang Yu
Dr. Mingzhi Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

advanced cement-based composite materials
concrete in harsh environment
fibers
phase-change materials
artificial intelligence
infrastructure construction
low-carbon fabrication
composition design and performance prediction
additive manufacturing

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 59264 KB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Calcareous Material Particle Size via Separate Grinding on the Burnability and Microstructure Development of Portland Cement Clinker

by Xin Du, Ruizhi Zhang, Suping Cui, Minghao Liu, Wenhai Nie, Yali Wang, Xuyue Liu and Hui Liu

Materials 2026, 19(10), 1935; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19101935 - 8 May 2026

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Abstract

Based on the separate grinding process for raw meals in the cement industry, raw meal samples with different particle size characteristics were prepared by controlling the fineness of calcareous components. The results show that the fineness of the calcareous components has a significant influence on the burnability of the clinker and that a critical threshold exists (80 μm sieve residue (R_80μm) = 15%). When the particle size exceeds this critical value, the particle size effect becomes dominant, leading to a nonlinear and sharp increase in f-CaO content. As the proportion of coarse particles larger than 200 μm increases, the f-CaO content rises markedly, with a greater impact than that of 80 μm particles. Microscopic analysis of the clinker reveals that with coarsening of the calcareous components (increase in R_80μm), alite (C₃S) content decreases, whereas belite (C₂S) and f-CaO contents gradually increase and exhibit enrichment. Based on diffusion-controlled kinetics, a semi-empirical reaction kinetics model,

f - CaO = A \cdot \exp \frac{(E_{a, 0} + k \cdot R_{80 μ m})}{RT} \cdot ({R_{80 μ m})}^{n}

, was developed by introducing the apparent activation energy parameter E_a(R_80μm) as a function of particle size. The model exhibited excellent goodness of fit (R² > 0.95), with an intrinsic activation energy E_a,₀ = 18.7 kJ·mol⁻¹ and an incremental coefficient k = 0.28 kJ·mol⁻¹·%⁻¹. Validation experiments yielded a relative error of 4.3%. This model quantifies the coupled effects of temperature and particle size, providing quantitative guidance for balancing grinding energy consumption and sintering energy consumption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Cement-Based Composite Materials and Composite Intelligent Design (2nd Edition))

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33 pages, 8666 KB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization and Performance Evaluation of Multi-Component Binder-Based Mortars Using Particle Packing Techniques

by Vanga Renuka, Sarella Venkateswara Rao, Tezeswi Tadepalli, Katarzyna Kalinowska-Wichrowska, Krzysztof Granatyr, Marta Kosior-Kazberuk, Małgorzata Franus and Adam Masłoń

Materials 2026, 19(5), 1024; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19051024 - 6 Mar 2026

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 500

Abstract

The use of a multi-component binder (MCB), consisting of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) combined with one or more supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), has gained prominence for enhancing sustainability and improving the performance of cementitious systems. This study provides an integrated approach to optimize both binder composition and aggregate gradation through advanced mixture design and particle packing techniques. The MCB system consists of OPC partially replaced with SCMs such as fly ash (FA), Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS), metakaolin (MK), and silica fume (SF), with particle sizes ranging from micron to sub-micron scale. The D-optimal mixture design (DOD) method is used to determine the optimal material proportions by evaluating the relation between binder composition and wet packing density measured through the wet packing method (WPM). To further enhance packing efficiency, the Modified Toufar Model (MTM) is employed to optimize fine aggregate gradation. The maximum packing density is considered the primary criterion for identifying the optimal mix design, as it reflects the minimum void ratio and the most efficient particle size distribution. The optimized mortar mixes are evaluated for mechanical strength, pozzolanic reactivity, capillary water sorptivity, and drying shrinkage. Results indicate that the optimized MCB and optimized fine aggregate gradation improve the packing density and pozzolanic activity, significantly enhancing strength and durability performance. The incorporation of SCMs offers an effective strategy to improve performance while mitigating carbon emissions. Compared with C100, CFGMS-based systems achieved energy reductions of 35–40% and CO₂ emission reductions of 34–48%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Cement-Based Composite Materials and Composite Intelligent Design (2nd Edition))

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19 pages, 6054 KB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Effects of Blending Basalt Fiber and Polyethylene Fiber on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Mortars

by Jian Gong, Wenwen Zhao, Qian Liu, Qingfeng Chen, Huazhe Jiao, Liuhua Yang and Weizhun Jin

Materials 2026, 19(5), 881; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19050881 - 27 Feb 2026

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Abstract

Fiber reinforcement technology has become one of the effective ways to improve the mechanical properties and deformation capacity of concrete. This study investigated the effects of single-doped and blended-doped basalt fiber (BF) and polyethylene fiber (PEF) on the drying shrinkage and mechanical strength of mortars. Meanwhile, the microstructure and reinforcement mechanism of single-doped and blended-doped BF and PEF mortars were studied. The results show that the mortar with a single-doped 6 mm PEF has the strongest resistance to drying shrinkage, and that blended fibers also effectively enhance the resistance to drying shrinkage of mortars. The compressive strength and flexural strength of the blended-fiber mortars are both higher than those of the single-fiber mortar. When the fiber length was 12 mm and the BF/PEF was 1:1, the compressive strength and flexural strength of the mortar at 28 d were respectively 18.6% and 56.1% higher than those of the mortar without fiber. Furthermore, when the fiber lengths were both 12 mm and 18 mm, the splitting tensile strength of the blended-fiber mortar at 28 d was higher than that of the single-fiber mortar and the mortar without fiber. When the fiber length was 12 mm and the BF/PEF was 1:1, the splitting tensile strength of the blended-fiber mortar was 103.3% higher than that of the mortar without fiber. The BF is randomly distributed in the mortar in the form of single filaments, and it exhibits brittle fracture when the mortar fails. When the mortar is damaged, PEF exhibits the phenomenon that the fibers are pulled out, and its surface is covered with hydration products, demonstrating excellent interfacial bonding performance. BF and PEF can interlock and intertwin with each other, forming a three-dimensional network structure in mortar, and jointly exert a complementary reinforcing effect of rigidity and flexibility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Cement-Based Composite Materials and Composite Intelligent Design (2nd Edition))

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