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Sustainable Solutions in Civil Engineering: From Materials to the Structural Scale

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Building".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13386

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Quoc-Bao BUI

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Interests: sustainable construction materials; soil-based materials; rammed earth; sustainable buildings; alkaline-activated materials; graphene-based materials; non-destructive testing; dynamic of structures; earthquake performance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Civil engineering is one of the domains which have a significant impact on the environment. These impacts mainly relate to energy consumption, CO₂ emission, and natural resource depletion. Different solutions have been explored to reduce environmental impacts of the civil engineering sector, from the material scale, such as using low-embodied energy materials (“eco-materials”) and new sustainable binders, through the component scale, such as developing high thermal insulations and positive hygrothermal behavior components, to the structure scale, such as energy-efficient buildings with zero or negative energy consumption thanks to the integration of renewable energies and/or the creation of new concepts in the architectural and structural designs, to optimize energy consumption and living comfort. In the context of a circular economy, solutions related to renewability, recyclability, reusability, and reusable design should be identified.

This Special Issue is the third edition on this topic edited by the Guest Editor, after the first Special Issue published in 2018 and the second one published in 2019, both by Sustainability with remarkable success. The issue is a collection of different approaches contributing to the sustainability of civil engineering sector, from sustainable materials to intelligent solutions in structural design, and the development of new technologies (3D printing, BIM, etc.) to create, analyze, and assess sustainable materials and structures.

Dr. Quoc-Bao BUI
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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
low embodied energy materials
bio-based materials
soil-based material
new sustainable binders
energy-efficient materials
energy-efficient buildings
energy-efficient solutions
life cycle assessment (LCA)
tools for sustainability assessment
sustainable principles in architecture
multicriteria in sustainable design
3D printing
BIM
case studies

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 8931 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Refined Simulation Study on the Effect of Scour Environments on Local Scour of Tandem Bridge Piers

by Pengcheng Gao, Xianyou Mou and Honglan Ji

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7171; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097171 - 25 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1080

Abstract

Ice cover is a natural phenomenon unique to rivers in cold regions, and its existence is one of the reasons for the collapse of structural foundations of bridge piers across rivers. In order to understand the influence of different scouring environments on the hydrodynamics and sand bed morphology in the local scour holes around bridge pier foundations, this paper simulates the dynamic evolution process of the local scouring of tandem combination piers under open-flow and ice-cover environments, based on a turbulence model using the Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) method and a sediment transport model considering the slope collapse effect, respectively. This study also takes the vortex flow and shear stress distribution at different characteristic moments of the pier perimeter section as the penetration point to analyze the effect of the influence law of the scouring environment on the morphology and relative time scale of the scour hole, and makes a detailed comparison with the results of the indoor flume test. The results of this study show that: for local scouring in open-flow conditions, sediment initiation is doubly inhibited and the hydrodynamic forces in the scouring hole are weakened; the local scouring caused by ice cover contributes to the total scouring of the submerged pier within its coverage area, which significantly increases the depth and range of the local scouring hole; and, although the interaction of turbulent eddies and shear stress on the pier side is the main dynamic mechanism of the scouring generated around the pier, the two have a strong correlation. The results of this study, obtained by accurately quantifying the amount of eddies and shear stress around the pier, are the basis for the reasonable estimation of the maximum local scouring depth, which can provide a reference for the study of the evolution of the riverbed around submerged structures in cold areas and is essential to avoid structural damage to the piers and reduce the economic loss of traffic.. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Solutions in Civil Engineering: From Materials to the Structural Scale)

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18 pages, 957 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying and Assessing the Critical Criteria for Material Selection in Storm Drainage Networks: A Stationary Analysis Approach

by Ahmed Farouk Kineber, Saeed Reza Mohandes, Mohammed Magdy Hamed, Atul Kumar Singh and Soha Elayoty

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 13863; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142113863 - 25 Oct 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1381

Abstract

Recent years have seen a rise in the frequency and severity of extreme rainstorm events, which have caused widespread damage and death in numerous cities. The manufacture and use of storm drainage materials result in numerous environmental concerns in the construction industry. Green materials for storm drainage networks are environmentally friendly compared to their traditional counterparts. Identifying and assessing sustainability criteria for green materials for storm drain networks has been challenging. This study aims to determine the critical criteria for selecting green materials for storm drainage networks using a stationary analysis approach. To this end, a questionnaire survey was administered to Egyptian storm engineers to assess their importance based on a selection criteria 29 green materials. From the results obtained, “Operation and maintenance cost” and “Use of local material” were seen to be the “stationary materials”. The obtained findings in this research pave the way for the Egyptian storm industry towards becoming environmentally friendly, which will in turn improve the functioning mechanism of sewer networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Solutions in Civil Engineering: From Materials to the Structural Scale)

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Review

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38 pages, 8419 KiB

Open AccessReview

Compressive Strength of Sustainable Geopolymer Concrete Composites: A State-of-the-Art Review

by Hemn Unis Ahmed, Azad A. Mohammed, Serwan Rafiq, Ahmed S. Mohammed, Amir Mosavi, Nadhim Hamah Sor and Shaker M. A. Qaidi

Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13502; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413502 - 07 Dec 2021

Cited by 125 | Viewed by 10418

Abstract

The building industry, which emits a significant quantity of greenhouse gases, is under tremendous pressure due to global climate change and its consequences for communities. Given the environmental issues associated with cement production, geopolymer concrete has emerged as a sustainable construction material. Geopolymer concrete is an eco-friendly construction material that uses industrial or agricultural by-product ashes as the principal binder instead of Portland cement. Fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, rice husk ash, metakaolin, and palm oil fuel ash were all employed as binders in geopolymer concrete, with fly ash being the most frequent. The most important engineering property for all types of concrete composites, including geopolymer concrete, is the compressive strength. It is influenced by different parameters such as the chemical composition of the binder materials, alkaline liquid to binder ratio, extra water content, superplasticizers dosages, binder content, fine and coarse aggregate content, sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate content, the ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide, the concentration of sodium hydroxide (molarity), curing temperature, curing durations inside oven, and specimen ages. In order to demonstrate the effects of these varied parameters on the compressive strength of the fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, a comprehensive dataset of 800 samples was gathered and analyzed. According to the findings, the curing temperature, sodium silicate content, and alkaline solution to binder ratio are the most significant independent parameters influencing the compressive strength of the fly ash-based geopolymer concrete (FA-BGPC) composites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Solutions in Civil Engineering: From Materials to the Structural Scale)

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