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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: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 24139

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yuri Ribakov

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Guest Editor

Chair, Structural Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
Interests: testing and analysis of reinforced concrete structures and elements; high-strength concrete; steel fiber reinforced concrete; two-layer bending elements; earthquake engineering
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern construction technologies incorporate new materials and design technologies that allow efficient use of raw materials and reuse of waste products. Recently, increasing attention has been focused on efforts toward developing sustainable approaches that allow achieving a balance between the natural and built environment. The latter should correspond to human development, considering ecological requirements. From this viewpoint, one of the main solutions for environmentally friendly construction is reuse of waste products. Preferable ways for reusing waste products in building materials should also be based on suitable energy effective technologies.

Developing effective design methodologies, allowing optimal use of natural resources, and reusing waste products in construction has great importance all over the world.

The purpose of this call for papers is to exchange recent scientific results related to reuse of various wastes as raw materials for “Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products”.

Researchers are invited to share their knowledge on the design of effective ecologically friendly construction materials or products that can be used in construction.

Prof. Dr. Yuri Ribakov
Guest Editor

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Keywords

waste products
construction materials
design methodology
structural elements

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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35 pages, 8763 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

New Types and Dosages for the Manufacture of Low-Energy Cements from Raw Materials and Industrial Waste under the Principles of the Circular Economy and Low-Carbon Economy

by Sergio Martínez-Martínez, Luis Pérez-Villarejo, Dolores Eliche-Quesada and Pedro J. Sánchez-Soto

Materials 2023, 16(2), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16020802 - 13 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1655

Abstract

The cement manufacturing industry is one of the main greenhouse gas emission producers and also consumes a large quantity of raw materials. It is essential to reduce these emissions in order to comply with the Paris Agreement and the principles of the circular economy. The objective of this research was to develop different types of cement clinker blends using industrial waste and innovative design to produce low-energy cement. Several types of waste have been studied as alternative raw materials. Their main characteristics have been analyzed via X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Attenuated total reflectance Fourier trans-form infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), thermal analysis (TG-DTG-DSC) and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis (SEM-EDS). The results obtained from the experimental work carried out in this research focused on the study of crude blends for low-energy cement created from industrial waste. The effect of the addition of different industrial waste types, as a substitution for raw materials, in the production of low-energy cement with high dicalcium silicate content has been investigated. Thus, the dosage design has been performed using modified Bogue equations and quality indexes (LSF, AM, and SM). The calculations of both the modified Bogue equations and quality indexes necessitate knowledge of the weight percentages of CaO, SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Fe₂O₃, determined via XRF. In this theoretical design of the different blends, it has been established that a dicalcium silicate ratio of 60–65 wt % and an LSF of 78–83% as the limit are values common to all of them. The calculation basis for the crude blends has been based on calcined materials. Therefore, the chemical composition was established, following this premise. Thus, it was possible to develop cement clinker blends with compositions of 50 wt % and 100 wt % using industrial wastes. This research has shown that the clinkerization process is one of the main options for the valorization of waste and its consideration for inclusion as a raw material within the circularity of the cement industry’s production process. Thus, waste is used as a raw material for the production of a more useful substance, taking into account the fundamental principles of the circular economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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11 pages, 2065 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Fly Ash from Co-Combustion of Paper Mill Wastes and Coal as Supplementary Cementitious Materials

by Ming-Fu Wu and Wei-Hsing Huang

Materials 2022, 15(24), 8931; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15248931 - 14 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1234

Abstract

The applications of waste-derived fuel from paper mills in industrial boilers benefit the reduction of carbon emissions. However, the co-combustion of waste-derived fuel and coal causes significant changes in the characteristics of the ash and brings about the need to find possible means of the utilization of the ash produced. In this work fly, ash samples were collected from circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers co-combusting paper mill wastes with coal and analyzed in detail. The chemical, physical, and thermal characteristics of two different co-combustion fly ashes (CCFA) were investigated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The chemical composition of CCFA is largely affected by the fuel source type. Thermal analyses of CCFA show that the type of desulfurization system used by the boiler influences the form of sulfate present in the fly ash. The presence of calcium sulfite hemihydrate can cause a high loss in the ignition of CCFA. By comparing the physical requirements specified in the ASTM standard for coal fly ash to be used in concrete, the CCFA produced from paper mill wastes was found to show good potential as supplementary cementitious materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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21 pages, 6896 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Designing Efficient Flash-Calcined Sediment-Based Ecobinders

by Mouhamadou Amar, Mahfoud Benzerzour and Nor-Edine Abriak

Materials 2022, 15(20), 7107; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15207107 - 13 Oct 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1576

Abstract

To ensure the optimum navigation of boats and protection against flooding, waterways and ports are regularly dredged. The volume of dredged materials represents 56 million m³ in France and 300 million m³ in Europe. These materials show a high potential for a use as supplementary cementitious material (SCM). In this paper, sediments treated by the flash calcination method (STFC), which is based on a low-energy consumption process, are utilized as a mineral admixture in a cementitious matrix. The results of the physical, chemical, and mineralogical characterization prove that this heat treatment has an interesting impact on the final properties of the sediments. Mortars based on the flash-calcined product have comparable mechanical properties to control mortar. For a substitution rate below 10%, the performances are even equivalent to a metakaolin (MK80)-based mortar. Calorimetry testing demonstrated that calcined materials also improve hydration processes in the cement matrixes by generating additional heat release due to sediment pozzolanic activity. Across this study, it is shown that waste material including sediment can be transformed after optimized heat treatment into a valuable resource for the building and infrastructure sector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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18 pages, 4045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of the Compressive Strength of Waste-Based Concretes Using Artificial Neural Network

by Mouhamadou Amar, Mahfoud Benzerzour, Rachid Zentar and Nor-Edine Abriak

Materials 2022, 15(20), 7045; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15207045 - 11 Oct 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1665

Abstract

In the 21st century, numerous numerical calculation techniques have been discovered and used in several fields of science and technology. The purpose of this study was to use an artificial neural network (ANN) to forecast the compressive strength of waste-based concretes. The specimens studied include different kinds of mineral additions: metakaolin, silica fume, fly ash, limestone filler, marble waste, recycled aggregates, and ground granulated blast furnace slag. This method is based on the experimental results available for 1303 different mixtures gathered from 22 bibliographic sources for the ANN learning process. Based on a multilayer feedforward neural network model, the data were arranged and prepared to train and test the model. The model consists of 18 inputs following the type of cement, water content, water to binder ratio, replacement ratio, the quantity of superplasticizer, etc. The ANN model was built and applied with MATLAB software using the neural network module. According to the results forecast by the proposed neural network model, the ANN shows a strong capacity for predicting the compressive strength of concrete and is particularly precise with satisfactory accuracy (R² = 0.9888, MAPE = 2.87%). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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14 pages, 4496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using Experimental Statistical Models for Predicting Strength and Deformability of Self-Compacting Concrete with Ground Blast-Furnace Slag

by Vadim Zhitkovsky, Leonid Dvorkin, Dmyrto Kochkarev and Yuri Ribakov

Materials 2022, 15(12), 4110; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15124110 - 9 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1220

Abstract

Ground blast-furnace slag is one of the waste products available in Ukraine and other countries. It is obtained at metallurgical enterprises in huge quantities and can be efficiently used for concrete production. The article is devoted to obtaining experimental-statistical models of the influence of technological factors that determine the composition of self-compacting concrete (SCC) based on ground blast-furnace slag and polycarboxylate superplasticizer on compressive strength, tensile strength, prismatic strength, elastic modulus and crack resistance. Analysis of the investigated factors’ influence on the specified SCC properties is carried out and positive influence of blast-furnace slag and superplasticizer simultaneous action on durability and deformation characteristics is studied. A design method of SCC composition design using the obtained mathematical models is developed. It allows for the consideration of a set of necessary parameters simultaneously. A numerical example is given. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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18 pages, 4254 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Orthogonal Experimental Study on Concrete Properties of Machine-Made Tuff Sand

by Dunwen Liu, Wanmao Zhang, Yu Tang, Yinghua Jian and Yongchao Lai

Materials 2022, 15(10), 3516; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15103516 - 13 May 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1723

Abstract

Machine-made sand instead of natural sand has become an inevitable choice for the sustainable development of the concrete industry. Orthogonal experiment and grey correlation analysis were used to investigate the performance of machine-made tuff sand concrete. The optimal concrete mix ratio of machine-made sand was obtained by orthogonal test and its working performance was verified. Grey correlation analysis was applied to compare the factors affecting the mechanical properties of the machine-made sand concrete. The test results show that the sand rate has the greatest degree of influence on slump and slump expansion. The mineral admixture has the greatest effect on the 7-day compressive strength of the concrete. Additionally, the water–cement ratio has the greatest influence on the 28-day compressive strength. The mechanical and working properties of the machine-made sand concrete reach the optimum condition when the mineral admixture is 20%, the sand rate is 46%, the stone powder content is 10% and the water–cement ratio is 0.30. Comparing different fine aggregate concretes of similar quality, we conclude that the mechanical and working properties of tuff sand concrete and limestone sand concrete and river sand concrete are similar. The compressive strengths of the mechanism concrete show the greatest correlation with roughness and the least correlation with stone powder content. The stone powder content has almost no effect on the compressive strength of concrete when the stone powder content does not exceed a certain range. The results of the study point out the direction for the quality control of concrete with machine-made sand. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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20 pages, 4253 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Selected Properties of Self-Compacting Concrete with Recycled PET Aggregate

by Justyna Jaskowska-Lemańska, Milena Kucharska, Jakub Matuszak, Paweł Nowak and Wojciech Łukaszczyk

Materials 2022, 15(7), 2566; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15072566 - 31 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1582

Abstract

In this paper, the issue of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with the addition of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycled aggregate is addressed. The PET utilized was a waste fraction in the PET-bottle-recycling process. The implementation of waste in concrete mixes has a positive impact on their environmental and social profile; however, technical requirements are not necessarily met. In this investigation, PET was used as a substitute for fine aggregate in quantities ranging from 0 to 20% in increments of 5%. Both the flow properties of SCC mixes and the hardened SCC properties (compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and Poisson ratio) were investigated. Additionally, non-destructive tests (ultrasound and sclerometric) were performed to determine the correlation curves. The research revealed that both the flow properties and the parameters of the hardened concrete deteriorated with the PET content. Concrete with 20% PET replacement did not meet the self-compacting requirements and its compressive strength decreased by almost 50%. However, it was noted that replacing fine aggregate with PET aggregate in the amount of 5% did not significantly alter the concrete parameters and could be an attractive alternative to traditional concretes. Based on non-destructive testing, correlation curves were constructed that could be applicable to the future quality assessment of self-compacting concretes with recycled PET aggregate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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19 pages, 4108 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combining an Intensive Green Roof with Seismic Retrofitting of Typical Reinforced Concrete Buildings in Israel

by Svetlana Pushkar, Ido Halperin and Yuri Ribakov

Materials 2022, 15(3), 889; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15030889 - 24 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1980

Abstract

This study suggests an intensive green roof as part of a sustainable and hazard-resistant conceptual design for the retrofitting of old buildings in Israel. The roof is suggested to be built with waste-based materials. A five-story reinforced concrete residential building was retrofitted with: Case 1: concrete wall strengthening (CWS)-conventional concrete + conventional green roof; Case 2: CWS-waste-included concrete + waste-based green roof; Case 3: seismic isolation columns (SIC)-conventional concrete + conventional green roof; and Case 4: SIC-waste-included concrete + waste-based green roof. Palekastro, Nuweiba, Tabas, and Erzincan ground motions were used for a structural dynamic time-history analysis of the retrofitted buildings. Life cycle assessments of cases 1–4 were performed using ReCiPe 2016 midpoint and endpoint evaluations. A two-stage analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the ReCiPe endpoint results. According to the seismic results, Case 3 and Case 4 were much more preferable to Case 1 and Case 2, whereas according to the environmental evaluations, Case 4 was the most preferable to the other cases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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17 pages, 49703 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shear Strength Characteristics of Recycled Concrete Aggregate and Recycled Tire Waste Mixtures from Monotonic Triaxial Tests

by Katarzyna Gabryś, Algirdas Radzevičius, Alojzy Szymański and Raimondas Šadzevičius

Materials 2021, 14(23), 7400; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14237400 - 2 Dec 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1637

Abstract

Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is a promising substitute for natural aggregates and the reuse of this material can benefit construction projects both economically and environmentally. RCA has received great attention in recent years in the form of aggregate as well as a geotechnical material of sand size. Next to RCA, another recycled material, which reduces the waste volume and is a part of the present challenges in civil engineering, is tire waste. Despite the good engineering properties of recycled tire waste (RTW), its use is still limited, even after almost 30 years since they were first introduced. To broaden the applicability of reused concrete and rubber, a further understanding of their properties and engineering behavior is required. For this reason, the main subject of this paper is composite materials that consist of anthropogenic soil recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and crushed pieces of recycled tire waste (RTW). In this study, a series of isotropic consolidated drained triaxial tests were undertaken to characterize the shear strength of eight mixtures of variable grain-size distribution, rubber inclusion (RC), and fine fraction (FF) content. The results show that the introduction of rubber waste leads to changes in the strength parameters of the tested mixtures. Improvements in RCA shear strength were observed, the largest for the mixture M7 with 10% of recycled tire waste. Similarly, the effect of fine fraction content on the angle of internal friction and cohesion was found. Dilation characteristics were observed in all analyzed composites. Based on the results of all tests performed, including physical, geometric, chemical, and mechanical properties of the created composites, it can be stated that the samples would meet local road authority requirements for sub-base applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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16 pages, 5845 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rheology of Alkali-Activated Blended Binder Mixtures

by Biruk Hailu Tekle, Ludwig Hertwig and Klaus Holschemacher

Materials 2021, 14(18), 5405; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14185405 - 18 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1665

Abstract

Alkali-activated cement (AAC) is an alternative cement that has been increasingly studied over the past decades mainly because of its environmental benefits. However, most studies are on heat-cured AACs and are focused on mechanical properties. There is a lack of research on the fresh properties of ambient-cured AAC systems. This study investigates the rheological properties of ambient-temperature-cured alkali-activated blended binder mixtures activated with sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solutions. The influence of binder amount, alkaline solid to binder ratio (AS/B), sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide solids ratio (SS/SH), and total water content to total solid (from the binding materials) ratio (TW/TS) on the rheological properties are investigated. The effect of borax as an admixture and silica fume as a replacement for fly ash is also investigated. The results showed that both the yield stress and plastic viscosity are mainly affected by the binder content and TW/TS ratio decreasing with the increase of each parameter. The yield stress increased with the increase of the SS/SH ratio. Borax significantly reduced the yield stress, while silica fume’s effect was dependent on its dosage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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Review

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22 pages, 1193 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Recycling of Mining Waste in the Production of Masonry Units

by Nicoleta Cobîrzan, Radu Muntean, Gyorgy Thalmaier and Raluca-Andreea Felseghi

Materials 2022, 15(2), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15020594 - 13 Jan 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 7028

Abstract

Masonry units made of clay or Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) are widely used in constructions from Romania and other countries. Masonry units with superior mechanical and thermal characteristics can improve the energy efficiency of buildings, especially when they are used as the main solutions for building envelope construction. Their production in recent years has increased vertiginously to meet the increased demand. Manufactured with diversified geometries, different mechanical and/or thermal characteristics have a high volume in the mass of the building and a major influence in their carbon footprint. Starting from the current context regarding the target imposed by the long-term strategy of built environment decarbonization, the aim of the paper is to analyze the potential of reusing mining waste in the production of masonry units. Mining waste represents the highest share of waste generated at national level and may represent a valuable resource for the construction industry, facilitating the creation of new jobs and support for economic development. This review presents the interest in integrating mining wastes in masonry unit production and the technical characteristics of the masonry units in which they have been used as raw materials in different percentages. Critical assessment framework using SWOT analysis highlights the key sustainability aspects (technical, environmental, social, economic) providing a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the advantages and disadvantages regarding the integration of mining waste as secondary raw materials into masonry units production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling and Development of New Building Materials or Products)

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