Special Issue "Functional Cement-Based Composites for Civil Engineering"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jonathan Oti
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Faculty of Computing, School of Engineering, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd CF37 1DL, UK
Interests: low-carbon technology; sustainability; cement; concrete; bricks; blocks; geopolymers; soil stabilization; suppression of expansion; freezing and thawing; waste utilization; microstructural analysis; life cycle inventory; ground granulated blastfurnace slag; pulverized fuel ash; silica fume
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The production of cement-based construction and building is set to continue increasing as demand worldwide continues to increase, especially where emerging economies need cement-based materials for housing and infrastructure. In the context of increased regulations to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry and to limit greenhouse gas emission associated with cement production, this Special Issue will bring together cutting-edge and economically viable new construction and building materials made from alternative cement replacement materials, even though construction cost and technical barriers, such as insufficient durability data and differentiation for different applications, still hinder the global promotion and utilization of new sustainable construction and building materials development. Within the scope of this research topic, emphasis will be focused on fundamental, experimental, numerical, validation, and application research, inducing proven results in state-of-the-art solutions for sustainable construction. Various single-focused approaches or multidisciplinary combinations are also expected to add to the Special Issue. In general, traditionally, the most widely used construction and building materials are produced with Portland cement (PC); however, there have been some sustainability concerns as it is expensive to make and transport, and the manufacturing process is environmentally destructive, accounting for about 8% of global CO2 emissions. This has led to the use of several new sustainable alternative materials for PC replacement with significant benefits, to mitigate the environmental damage caused by PC. This Special Issue will also bring together techniques and concepts from various distinct works, to examine, explore, and critically engage with issues and advances in sustainable construction and building materials, that can provide several environmental benefits but also can lead to cost-effective products. The papers collected in this Special Issue can help researchers and practicing engineers, construction and building material scientists, low carbon and sustainability practitioners to find more advanced techniques and alternative approaches towards sustainable construction and building material development.

Dr. Jonathan Oti
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 papers will be 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 2000 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

  • sustainable materials
  • building materials
  • durability
  • recycled materials
  • cement
  • concrete
  • stabilisation
  • life-cycle assessment
  • bricks
  • block
  • mortar
  • geo-polymer
  • Steel
  • Timber
  • green building materials
  • eco-friendly materials
  • nano- and fiber composites
  • ceramics
  • limes
  • PFA
  • GGBS

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Effects of Thermal Conductive Materials on the Freeze-Thaw Resistance of Concrete
Materials 2021, 14(15), 4063; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14154063 - 21 Jul 2021
Viewed by 434
Abstract
To solve the problem of black ice, many studies are being carried out. The key in recent days is enhancing the thermal conductivity of concrete. In this study, to improve the thermal conductivity, silicon carbide was used to substitute 50% and 100% of [...] Read more.
To solve the problem of black ice, many studies are being carried out. The key in recent days is enhancing the thermal conductivity of concrete. In this study, to improve the thermal conductivity, silicon carbide was used to substitute 50% and 100% of the fine aggregate. In addition, steel fiber is not only for enhancing the mechanical properties but could enhance thermal conductive material. Hence, the arched-type steel fiber was used up to a 1% volume fraction in this study. Furthermore, graphite was used for 5% of the volume fraction for enhancing the thermal conductivity. However, thermal damage would occur due to the difference in thermal conductivity between materials. Therefore, the thermal durability must be verified first. The target application of the concrete in this study was its use as road paving material. To evaluate the thermal durability, freeze–thaw and rapid cyclic thermal attacks were performed. The thermal conductivity of the specimens was increased with the increase in thermal conductive materials. Graphite has already been reported to have a negative effect on mechanical properties, and the results showed that this was the case. However, the steel fiber compensated for the negative effect of graphite, and the silicon carbide provided a filler effect. Graphite also had a negative effect on the freeze–thaw and rapid cyclic thermal attack, but the steel fiber compensated for the reduction in thermal durability. The silicon carbide also helped to improve the thermal durability in the same way as steel fiber. Comprehensively, the steel fiber enhanced all of the properties of the tests. Using 100% silicon carbide was considered the acceptable range, but 50% of silicon carbide was the best. Graphite decreased all the properties except for the thermal conductivity. Therefore, the content of graphite or using other conductive materials used should be carefully considered in further studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Cement-Based Composites for Civil Engineering)
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