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Innovative Granular Materials in Civil Infrastructure: Characterization and Modeling
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Innovative Granular Materials in Civil Infrastructure: Characterization and Modeling

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 2025 | Viewed by 1407

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jue Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Traffic & Transportation, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China
Interests: road engineering; construction and demolition waste; coarse/fine aggregate; polymer concrete; unbonded granular material; dynamic response; discrete element method
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jian Gong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: geological hazards; landslide; soil–rock mixture; discrete element method; microscale soil mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jiayan Nie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Interests: finite element analysis; discrete element method; granular materials; contact mechanics; soil and rock mechanics; special soil properties; CFD-DEM
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Miao Yu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Transportation and Civil Engineering Materials, Chongqing, China
Interests: road traffic safety; road maintenance decision theory; road infrastructure durability; carbon footprint of road transportation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a Special Issue on "Innovative Granular Materials in Civil Infrastructure: Characterization and Modeling" in the journal Materials. This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research and advancements in the field of innovative granular materials for civil infrastructure.

Granular materials, including soils, aggregates, and mineral waste residue, are the fundamental constituents of many infrastructures in civil engineering. A comprehensive understanding and accurate modeling of the behavior of these granular materials are crucial for the design, construction, and performance evaluation of civil engineering structures, including foundations, pavements, concrete structures, and geotechnical systems.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development and utilization of innovative granular materials to enhance the sustainability, resilience, and cost-effectiveness of civil infrastructure. These include, but are not limited to, recycled aggregates, industrial by-products, and engineered granular composites. The characterization, modeling, and application of these innovative granular materials present significant challenges and opportunities for the civil engineering community.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and comprehensive review papers that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Innovative characterization techniques of granular materials;
  • Advanced testing approaches of bonded or unbonded granular materials;
  • Constitutive modeling and multi-scale numerical approaches;
  • Innovative applications of granular materials in civil infrastructure;
  • Life-cycle assessment using recycled granular materials;
  • Construction and field evaluation of granular materials.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Applied Sciences.

Dr. Jue Li
Dr. Jian Gong 
Dr. Jiayan Nie
Dr. Miao Yu
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

  • granular materials
  • innovative technologies
  • civil infrastructure
  • characterization and modeling
  • testing and evaluation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6988 KiB  
Article
Discrete Element Method (DEM) Studies on Correcting the Particle Size Effect on the Shear Behaviors of Gravelly Soils
by Xiaolei Zhang, Zhenping Wu, Houyun Han, Yifeng Gao, Zhuofeng Li and Peng Xia
Materials 2025, 18(9), 2024; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18092024 - 29 Apr 2025
Viewed by 27
Abstract
The presence of overlarge gravel particles poses significant challenges for laboratory testing on prototype gravelly soils due to sample size limitations. To address this issue, replacement techniques, such as substituting overlarge particles with finer materials, offer practical solutions. However, the impact of these [...] Read more.
The presence of overlarge gravel particles poses significant challenges for laboratory testing on prototype gravelly soils due to sample size limitations. To address this issue, replacement techniques, such as substituting overlarge particles with finer materials, offer practical solutions. However, the impact of these techniques on the mechanical behavior of gravelly soils, particularly shear strength and stiffness, remains poorly understood. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by investigating the particle size effect on the shear behaviors of binary mixtures using a series of Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations. Updated scaling relations, based on Iai’s generalized scaling relations, were proposed to correct for particle size effects. DEM simulations, including drained triaxial tests and shear modulus measurements, were performed to validate the proposed law. The results indicate that the gravel replacement technique has a minor effect on peak shear strength but significantly reduces soil stiffness, especially at high gravel contents. The scaling relations effectively correct for the particle size effect, enabling the accurate prediction of shear behaviors of the prototype gravelly soils from those of the model gravelly soils. These validations demonstrate that for addressing the soil deformation problem instead of the stability problem in ultimate state, the developed scaling relations are highly effective for correcting the particle size effect. Based on the developed scaling relations, engineers can predict prototype-scale shear behaviors of gravelly soils with overlarge particles using scaled laboratory models, reducing reliance on costly large-scale equipment. Additionally, future studies, through both DEM simulations and laboratory experiments, are recommended to further validate and refine the proposed method across diverse soil conditions and loading scenarios, such as cyclic loadings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Granular Materials in Civil Infrastructure: Characterization and Modeling)
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23 pages, 5755 KiB  
Article
Discrete Element Damage Constitutive Model of Loess and Corresponding Parameter Sensitivity Analysis Based on the Bond Rate
by Hui Qi, Xiaoyan Liu, Haining Wang and Chao Hu
Materials 2025, 18(8), 1726; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18081726 - 10 Apr 2025
Viewed by 256
Abstract
This study introduces a novel discrete element method (DEM) model for compacted loess, incorporating a bond rate parameter within a linear contact bond model to simulate constitutive damage behavior. This enhancement significantly improves the characterization of structural damage from repeated wet–dry cycles, offering [...] Read more.
This study introduces a novel discrete element method (DEM) model for compacted loess, incorporating a bond rate parameter within a linear contact bond model to simulate constitutive damage behavior. This enhancement significantly improves the characterization of structural damage from repeated wet–dry cycles, offering a quantitative method for predicting damage progression. Unlike existing DEM models, our model directly uses a bond rate parameter to quantitatively describe inter-particle bond deterioration, reflecting reduced bonding strength due to pore structure development and the weakening effect of water. Rigorous calibration and validation were performed using comparative experiments. A key innovation is the systematic analysis of microscopic parameters (contact stiffness, friction coefficient, contact strength, and bond rate) and their impact on macroscopic mechanical behavior. Our findings show that decreasing the bond rate significantly reduces the macroscopic mechanical properties, providing valuable insights into the micro–macro relationship. We comprehensively evaluated prediction sensitivity to these parameters. This methodology offers a new perspective on using DEM for predicting crucial civil engineering material properties, providing a valuable reference for incorporating bond rate parameters into future modeling, particularly for long-term geotechnical material behavior under environmental degradation. The model’s accurate representation of wet–dry cycle effects on loess strength improves earth structure design and safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Granular Materials in Civil Infrastructure: Characterization and Modeling)
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16 pages, 11748 KiB  
Article
Research on the Correlation Between the Chemical Components and the Macroscopic Properties of Asphalt Binder
by Zhihao Li, Xuejuan Cao, Jue Li and Xiaoyu Yang
Materials 2025, 18(3), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18030610 - 29 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 679
Abstract
The chemical composition of asphalt binder is closely related to its macroscopic properties, and as an important road building material, its performance directly affects the service performance of asphalt binder pavement. Saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene are the four most common chemical components [...] Read more.
The chemical composition of asphalt binder is closely related to its macroscopic properties, and as an important road building material, its performance directly affects the service performance of asphalt binder pavement. Saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene are the four most common chemical components of asphalt binders, collectively known as the SARA components. The SARA components are used to establish the corresponding relationship between the chemical composition and the macroscopic properties of asphalt binder, which is of great significance for further research on and development of high-performance asphalt pavement materials. This study used eight types of virgin asphalt binders as raw materials, labeled A–H. Firstly, the thin-layer chromatography–flame ionization detection (TLC-FID) method was used to test the SARA contents of the different asphalt binders. Then, the conventional, rheological, and low-temperature properties of the different binders were tested. Finally, gray relational analysis (GRA) and Pearson correlation analysis (PCA) were used to study the correlation between the asphalt binder’s SARA content and its macroscopic properties. The results indicate that the contents of asphaltenes and resins are crucial in determining the high-temperature performance of asphalt binder. By adjusting the ratio of these components, the high-temperature performance of asphalt binder can be optimized. An increase in the content of heavy components, particularly asphaltenes, negatively affects the low-temperature performance of asphalt binder. In contrast, a higher aromatic content enhances its low-temperature performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Granular Materials in Civil Infrastructure: Characterization and Modeling)
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