Sustainable Strategies for Preventing Deterioration and Corrosion Risks in Reinforced Concrete Structures

Dear Colleagues,

In the field of construction materials, it is increasingly evident that traditional environmental parameters (such as global warming potential, gross energy requirement, consumption of natural resources including water) as well as life cycle analyses are necessary, but not sufficient, to define the sustainability of a building material. In fact, it is essential to combine information regarding the material’s performance and durability with the evaluation of its environmental impact. In other words, it is not possible to define a construction material as “green” without a deep investigation of the evolution of its properties in different environments over time. In other words, the sustainability of reinforced concrete structures is strictly correlated with their durability in aggressive environments. In particular, at equal environmental impact, the higher the durability of construction materials, the higher the sustainability. Hence, the present Special Issue will collect the most innovative papers dealing with the possible strategies aiming to produce sustainable and durable reinforced concrete structures in different environments. The Special Issue focuses on innovative approaches to the design of sustainable and durable structures as well as the use of unconventional corrosion-resistant reinforcements, alternative binders for Portland cement and innovative or traditional solutions for reinforced concrete protection and prevention against rebar corrosion such as hydrophobic treatments, corrosion inhibitors, coatings, self-healing admixtures, waterproofing aggregates, self-sensing concretes, and nanoparticle materials for the conservation of cultural heritage.

This Special Issue aims to add evidence to the scientific progress achieved in the research and development in the construction of sustainable and durable structures.

Topics of interest include the following:

• Steel corrosion mechanism in traditional Portland cement concrete and in alternative binder matrices.
• Hydrophobic protections and treatments able to seal capillary pores.
• Organic and polymer-cementitious coatings.
• Self-healing admixtures.
• Corrosion-resistant reinforcements: galvanized steel or epoxy-coated bars, stainless steels and composite materials (fiber-reinforced polymers) reinforcements.
• Corrosion inhibitors.
• Special waterproofing aggregates.
• Innovative design strategy and approach to durability.
• Durability of low-carbon concretes (alkali-activated materials, geopolymers, CSA-based mixtures).
• High-performance multi-functional self-sensing concretes.
• Durable repair strategies of existing reinforced and prestressed concrete structures (electrochemical techniques, UHPFRC jackets and FRCM systems).
• Nanoparticles for conservation of cultural heritage.
• Case history and applications.

Luigi Coppola
Guest Editor

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