Construction Engineering Applications Research Articles

The Effect of Oil Contaminated on Collapse Pattern in Gypseous Soil Using Particle Image Velocimetry and Simulation

Gypseous soil covers approximately 30% of Iraqi lands and is widely used in geotechnical and construction engineering as it is. The demand for residential complexes has increased, so one of the significant challenges in studying gypsum soil due to its unique behavior is understanding its interaction with foundations, such as strip and square footing. This is because there is a lack of experiments that provide total displacement diagrams or failure envelopes, which are well-considered for non-problematic soil. The aim is to address a comprehensive understanding of the micromechanical properties of dry, saturated, and treated gypseous sandy soils and to analyze the interaction of strip base with this type of soil using particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement and Plaxis 3D simulation. The results showed that high-resolution digital cameras captured soil deformation using PIV, displacement fields, and velocity vectors were generated, which helped identify different sand movement zones. Further, PIV showed punching and general shear failure in uncontaminated and soaked contaminated gypsum soils, respectively. Moreover, the Plaxis results corresponded well with the PIV, as material behavior models are essentially simplified representations of the actual behavior of footing and soil. Understanding soil deformation behavior is crucial for accurate engineering calculations and designs, making these findings valuable for geotechnical and construction engineering applications. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-07-016 Full Text: PDF

Application of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) process in concrete self-healing and environmental restoration to facilitate carbon neutrality: a critical review.

Soil contamination, land desertification and concrete cracking can have significant adverse impacts on sustainable human economic and societal development. Cost-effective and environmentally friendly approaches are recommended to resolve these issues. Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is an innovative, attractive and cost-effective in situ biotechnology with high potential for remediation of polluted or desertified soils/lands and cracked concrete and has attracted widespread attention in recent years. Accordingly, the principles of MICP technology and its applications in the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated and desertified soils and self-healing of concrete were reviewed in this study. The production of carbonate mineral precipitates during the MICP process can effectively reduce the mobility of heavy metals in soils, improve the cohesion of dispersed sands and realize self-healing of cracks in concrete. Moreover, CO2 can be fixed during MICP, which can facilitate carbon neutrality and contribute to global warming mitigation. Overall, MICP technology exhibits great promise in environmental restoration and construction engineering applications, despite some challenges remaining in its large-scale implementation, such as the substantial impacts of fluctuating environmental factors on microbial activity and MICP efficacy. Several methods, such as the use of natural materials or wastes as nutrient and calcium sources and isolation of bacterial strains with strong resistance to harsh environmental conditions, are employed to improve the remediation performance of MICP. However, more studies on the efficiency enhancement, mechanism exploration and field-scale applications of MICP are needed.

KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION TRAJECTORY OF BIM IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

In recent years, the construction industry worldwide has shown significant interest in Building Information Modeling (BIM). This study aims to analyze the dissemination of knowledge about BIM in construction engineering applications using Main Path Analysis (MPA). The research sample comprises 3,761 papers related to BIM’s application in the construction industry, sourced from the ISI Web of Science database. Initially, we investigate trends in paper publications, conduct country and journal analyses, and examine author statistics. Subsequently, we calculate traversal counts along the search path links to reveal the development trajectory of BIM. The trajectory of BIM’s evolution in the construction industry can be divided into four stages as identified through the global key-route main path analysis: 1) BIM standardization; 2) Integration of completed building projects using BIM; 3) BIM applications in precast construction projects; and 4) BIM applications in land management. These findings provide a clear understanding of how BIM has been applied and evolved within the construction industry.

Surfactants-styrene butadiene latex synergistic enhancement of bamboo scraps/magnesium oxychloride light composite interface compatibility

Combining bamboo processing residues with lightweight magnesium oxychlorides can produce new composite building materials that increase the utilization rate of bamboo and also improve the performance of lightweight magnesium oxychlorides. However, the incompatible interface between the two materials leads to the poor performance of the resulting composites, which limits their application in construction engineering. In this paper, a synergistic effect between surfactants and styrene-butadiene latex was used to enhance the interfacial compatibility between bamboo scraps and lightweight magnesium oxychlorides. The structure formed between the two acted as a “bridge” that enhanced the cross-linking between bamboo scraps and lightweight magnesium oxychloride, thus forming a more stable bamboo fiber-lightweight magnesium oxychloride network. The lightweight composite material obtained in this paper showed a maximum compressive stress of 6.5 MPa and a softening coefficient of 0.75.It shows great development potential in the application of light weight, high strength and water resistance building decoration materials.

Development of an axial constitutive model for alkali-activated slag recycled concrete–filled circular steel tube columns

Alkali-activated slag recycled concrete (ASRC) effectively utilises slag and construction waste; nevertheless, its poor mechanical properties limit its popularization and application in construction engineering. Therefore, the ASRC–filled circular steel tube column structure (ASRC–FCSTC) is innovatively proposed, and its mechanical properties and constitutive model are studied. The influence of steel ratio and coarse aggregate type, the failure mode, bearing capacity, deformation capacity, and constitutive relationship of core concrete were investigated. The research results show that the failure of ASRC-FCSTC was caused by the shear failure of the core alkali-activated slag recycled concrete, resulting in the overall component failure. In addition, the steel ratio increasing can increase the bearing capacity of ASRC–FCSTC by 47.6-125.4%, and increase the ductility coefficient by 41.6-76.6%. Using recycled coarse aggregate can reduce the bearing capacity of ASRC–FCSTC by 3.3-22.2%. Moreover, the axial compression constitutive model of ASRC–FCSTC core concrete is established considering the effect of steel ratio. Last, the finite element model is established and verified, and the parameter extension analysis is carried out.

Development and Performance Evaluation of UHPC and HPC Using Eco-Friendly Additions as Substitute Cementitious Materials with Low Cost

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) and high-performance concrete (HPC) are widely used in construction engineering applications. The quality and economy of this type of concrete are the main challenges in real construction systems due to their expensive cost. In the present investigation, the performances of UHPC and HPC were improved using eco-friendly additives from natural sources or industrial wastes. Accordingly, different kinds of concrete mixtures were prepared with the addition of various eco-friendly materials, such as metakaolin (10, 15, and 20%), silica fume (2.5, 5, 10, and 15%), cement kiln dust (CKD) (0, 5, and 10%), and 1 vol.% of steel and polypropylene fibers. All of these materials were subjected to efficient treatment and purification processes. The results indicated that the prepared UHPC was characterized by high compression and flexural strengths. The prepared UHPC (sample CR-2) with metakaolin (10%), CKD (10%), and 1 vol.% of steel fibers provided the highest compressive strength of 135 MPa at 28 days. Moreover, the results showed that reducing the cement amounts to 750, 500, and 250 kg/m3 provided concrete with efficient structural requirements and specifications and can be characterized as UHPC and HPC. Also, the mixture (sample CM15) with a metakaolin addition of 15%, CKD of 100 kg/m3, and 1 vol.% of steel fibers showed the highest flexural strength of 19.14 MPa at 28 d. Moreover, the highest splitting tensile strength of the prepared UHPC cylinders was 9.6 MPa at 28 d for the MSS1000 sample, which consisted of 15% metakaolin, a cement content of 1000 kg/m3, silica fume of 10%, and steel fibers of 1% vol. The prepared UHPC mixtures will reduce the amount of consumed cement and the production cost, with a high performance in comparison to classical concrete. Finally, it was clear that the prepared UHPC and HPC concrete with green additions can serve efficiently in specific construction applications, with high performance, economic feasibility, and safe environmental impacts.

Unsaturated Polyester Resin Filled with Cementitious Materials: A Comprehensive Study of Filler Loading Impact on Mechanical Properties, Microstructure, and Water Absorption.

In recent years, cheaply available cementitious materials (CMs) are increasingly finding useful applications in construction engineering. This manuscript focused on the development and fabrication of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR)/cementitious material composites to be potentially useful in a variety of construction applications. For this purpose, five types of powders from widely available fillers, i.e., black cement (BC), white cement (WC), plaster of Paris (POP), sand (S), and pit sand (PS), were used. Cement polymer composite (CPC) specimens were prepared by a conventional casting process with various filler contents of 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt %. Neat UPR and CPCs were investigated mechanically by testing their tensile, flexural, compressive, and impact properties. Electron microscopy analysis was used to analyze the relation between the microstructure and mechanical properties of CPCs. The assessment of water absorption was conducted. The highest tensile, flexural, compressive upper yield, and impact strength values were recorded for POP/UPR-10, WC/UPR-10, WC/UPR-40, and POP/UPR-20, respectively. The highest percentages of water absorption were found to be 6.202 and 5.07% for UPR/BC-10 and UPR/BC-20, while the lowest percentages were found to be 1.76 and 1.84% for UPR/S-10 and UPR/S-20, respectively. Based on the finding of this study, the properties of CPCs were found to depend on not only the filler content but also the distribution, particle size, and combination between the filler and the polymer.

Vinyl acetate polymers modified by siloxane for improving reinforced concrete: Water proofness and anticorrosion

Concrete, which is commonly destroyed by erosion in adverse environments, cannot satisfy the demands of foundation construction engineering applications. The optimal wayto ensure concrete's durability is to cover its surface with a barrier coating that prevents potentially harmful particles from penetrating the inside. Vinyl acetate polymers were applied as coatings owing to excellent flexibility and strong adhesion to the substrate. However, their hydrophilicity and low hardness will inevitably limit the usage in various areas, in particular the construction materials field. In this study, a method of modifying vinyl acetate polymers (PVAc) by vinyl triethoxysilane (VTES) and vinyl neononanoate (VeoVa-9), vinyl neodecanoate (VeoVa-10) in tertiary vinyl carbonates was reported to enhance the anticorrosion of concrete, where the former VTES could act a coupling agent, while the latter tertiary vinyl carbonates provide shielding against invasion through steric effect. Following modification, the hydrophilic PVAc becomes a hydrophobic coating with a contact angle as high as 98°; the coating's water absorption rate in one week is merely 1.25%; higher hardness and modulus were validated by nanoindentation measurements, while sandpaper friction and lap-shear trial indicated an enhancement in wear resistance and adhesion; three-electrode electrochemical analysis revealed that the modified coating has a 98% anti-corrosion efficacy, and its excellent anticorrosion performance is further confirmed by 480-hour salt spray test on reinforced concrete models.

Studies of eutectic hydrated salt/polymer hydrogel composite as form-stable phase change material for building thermal energy storage

The inorganic phase change material (PCM) is a promising energy storage material in the construction field because of their characteristics, such as high latent heat, low price and nonflammability. However, from the perspective of construction engineering applications, conventional inorganic phase change materials have some inherent performance defects, such as high phase change temperature, phase separation and leakage. To overcome these performance deficiencies, a novel eutectic hydrated salt/polymer hydrogel composite form-stable phase change material (HP-FSPCM) suitable for building thermal storage was developed, which used Na2SO4·10H2O–Na2CO3·10H2O eutectic salt (SCES) as PCM, sodium polyacrylate (PAAS) as thickener and packaging material, borax as nucleating agent and flake graphite as thermal conductivity enhancer. The phase change temperature and crystal structure characteristics of SCES were analyzed by means of step cooling curve method and X-ray diffraction technique (XRD). The microstructure and thermal properties of HP-FSPCM were tested and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and transient planar thermal conductivity instrument. The test results showed that the cross-linked network formed by PAAS can eliminate the phase separation and leakage of SCES, and the latent heat value, melting temperature and crystallization temperature of HP-FSPCM were 165.5 J/g, 22.4 °C and 13.8 °C, respectively. The thermal cycle reliability of HP-FSPCM was tested, the latent heat loss of HP-FSPCM was only 2.2% after 300 thermal cycles.

Analysis on the Mechanical Properties of Viscoelastic Damper and Its Application in Construction Engineering

With the deepening of the structural vibration control technology and theory, all kinds of energy dissipation and vibration reduction equipment have been more and more used in engineering. Using SAP2000 software, the elastic-plastic time period before and after the installation of viscoelastic damper is calculated, and it is compared, which provides a useful example for the future application in high-rise buildings.

Effect of calcination pretreatment on mechanical properties of alkali-activated artificial stone incorporating Yellow River silt

The resource utilization of the Yellow River silt is one of the key issues for the protection and management of the Yellow River in China. One of the effective methods for this goal is to prepare artificial stones using the Yellow River silt as the main raw materials. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of calcination pretreatment on the mechanical properties of artificial stone incorporating Yellow River silt. The artificial stone was fabricated via the alkali-activation and pressure-forming method. The compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of fabricated artificial stone specimens with different alkali dosages, fly ash contents and curing ages were measured. The microstructures of alkali-activated artificial stone specimens were observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that the mechanical properties of the artificial stone incorporating Yellow River silt can be improved obviously by calcination pretreatment. Moreover, it can be found that alkali dosages, fly ash contents and curing ages play important roles in the level of improvement on the mechanical properties. The highest compressive strength of the artificial stones at 90 days is 16.6 MPa, and the corresponding splitting tensile strength is 1.4 MPa. The main reason for the increase of strength is that calcination pretreatment facilitates the production of alkali-activated products, that is, hydration calcium silicate (C–S–H) gels. These results suggest the possibility of using calcinated Yellow River silt as reliable and economical building materials in a wide range of construction engineering applications, especially in river slope protection, flood control and other projects.

Construction Technology of Post-pouring Strip and Its Application in Construction Engineering

Construction Technology of Post-pouring Strip and Its Application in Construction Engineering

The Flame-Retardant Mechanisms and Preparation of Polymer Composites and Their Potential Application in Construction Engineering.

Against the background of people’s increasing awareness of personal safety and property safety, the flame retardancy (FR) of materials has increasingly become the focus of attention in the field of construction engineering. A variety of materials have been developed in research and production in this field. Polymers have many advantages, such as their light weight, low water absorption, high flexibility, good chemical corrosion resistance, high specific strength, high specific modulus and low thermal conductivity, and are often applied to the field of construction engineering. However, the FR of unmodified polymer is not ideal, and new methods to make it more flame retardant are needed to enhance the FR. This article primarily introduces the flame-retardant mechanism of fire retardancy. It summarizes the preparation of polymer flame-retardant materials by adding different flame-retardant agents, and the application and research progress related to polymer flame-retardant materials in construction engineering.

Investigation into Explainable Regression Trees for Construction Engineering Applications

AbstractThe logic of an artificial intelligence (AI) model derived from machine learning algorithms and domain-specific data is analogous to an expert’s perception of a complex problem. Human insig...

Influence of hard segment content and soft segment length on the microphase structure and mechanical performance of polyurethane-based polymer concrete

Understanding the structure–property relationship of polyurethane (PU) binders is of critical importance in the construction engineering applications. A series of rapid room temperature-curable PU binders were prepared using polyoxypropylene glycol as the soft segments, along with polymethylene polyphenylene isocyanate and 4,4′-methylene-bis(2-chlorobenzenamine) as the hard segments. This work investigated the influence of the hard segment content (40 wt%, 45 wt%, and 50 wt%) and the soft segment molecular weight (1000 g/mol, 2000 g/mol, 3000 g/mol, and 4000 g/mol) on the microphase structure of the PU binders. Their influence on the compressive behaviors, flexural behaviors, impact strengths, and slant shear strengths of the PU-based polymer concretes was also investigated. Structural characterization revealed that increasing either the hard segment content or the larger soft segment molecular weight effectively enhanced hydrogen bonding as well as microphase separation. Our results also demonstrated that a higher hard segment content resulted in better mechanical performance and shorter pot life. In addition, the PU-based polymer concrete using 2000 g/mol polyoxypropylene glycol reached optimal mechanical performance when the hard segment was held constant. Hence, varying the hard segment content and soft segment length can be an effective method to adjust the engineering performance of PU-based polymer concrete.

Comparative evaluation of residual stresses in vacuum electron beam welded high strength steel S960QL and S960M butt joints

In this letter, the residual stress (RS) induced by the high vacuum (2 x 10−4 mbar) electron beam welding (EBW) of two high strength steels (HSS) i.e. quenched and tempered (Q + T) steel and thermo mechanical controlled steel (TMCP) with plate thickness 15 mm for specific applications in construction engineering, vehicle industry (trucks, mobile cranes, railway vehicles) etc. was analysed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) method has been used for the comparative analysis through the surface RS distributions in EB welded HSS, S960QL and S960M butt joint. Combination of power beam process with cutting edge technology of residual measurement for HSS characterise the novelty of this study. The results showed that the maximum longitudinal tensile stress near the weld toe of the EB welded S960QL joint is higher than the S960M. The transverse residual stress in the S960QL and S960M welded samples shown the characteristic W-shape of residual stress distribution.

Compare several methods of select typical meteorological year for building energy simulation in China

In the early architectural design and energy saving reconstruction of building, it is essential need the typical meteorological year（TMY）for building performance analysis. The accuracy of the typical meteorological year data is directly impact the energy simulation results. In order to obtain accurate TMY data for construction engineering applications, the paper does the following work: (1) Reviewed the progress of the typical meteorological year; (2) Several TMY generation methods were compared using the same raw weather data, discusses the applicability of these methods for the cities of typical climate zones in China. Based on the most recent and comprehensive first-hand ground observation data, this paper adopts three methods to generate TMY for the typical city covering the climate zoning of China. Result shows different TMY generation method has applicability in different region, and through the simulation of building energy consumption, the comprehensive method has obvious advantages. It shows that in a region with diverse regional climate characteristics such as China, one certain method for selecting TMY is not enough, and comprehensive methods should be proposed to meet the needs of different building types and energy consumption simulation.

Experimental and numerical studies of pin-ended press-braked S960 ultra-high strength steel channel section columns

Grade S960 ultra-high strength steel is receiving increasing attention owing to its excellent strength-to-weight ratio. However, its application in construction engineering is rather limited due to the lack of adequate design rules, as the current established codes in Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand only cover the design of steel components with material grades up to S700 (or S690). This prompts investigations into different types of S960 UHSS structural components and development of accurate and efficient design rules for them. The present paper focuses on press-braked S960 UHSS channel section columns prone to flexural buckling about the minor principal axes, with their behaviour and resistances thoroughly examined through experiments and numerical modelling. An experimental programme was firstly performed on two non-slender press-braked channel sections, with five column specimens of varying member lengths employed for each cross-section, and included initial global and local geometric imperfection measurements and pin-ended column tests about the minor principal axes. This was followed by a parallel numerical modelling programme, where finite element (FE) models were developed to simulate the experimental results and afterwards adopted to perform a parametric study to generate additional numerical data over a broader spectrum of cross-section dimensions and member lengths. It is worth noting that there were two orientations associated with minor-axis flexural buckling of press-braked S960 UHSS channel section columns, namely ‘C’ orientation (indicating that columns buckled towards the webs) and ‘reverse C’ orientation (indicating that columns buckled towards the flange tips), and both of the two types of failure modes were carefully examined in the present study. It was found that channel section columns failing by flexural buckling in the ‘reverse C’ orientation generally exhibited superior resistances relative to their counterparts with failure in the ‘C’ orientation. The experimental and numerical data were also used to assess the applicability of the codified provisions for press-braked S700 (or S690) channel section columns failing by flexural buckling about the minor principal axes to the design of their S960 counterparts. The assessment results indicated that (i) the existing European code leads to overall conservative and scattered design flexural buckling resistances, especially for those relatively short and intermediate press-braked S960 UHSS channel section columns with failure in the ‘reverse C’ orientation, and (ii) the North American specification and Australian/New Zealand standard result in a higher degree of design accuracy and consistency than the European code, but with many over-predicted flexural buckling resistances for press-braked S960 UHSS channel section short and intermediate columns failing in the ‘C’ orientation.

Applications of BIM in Construction Engineering in China：A Review

Based on the CNKI database from 2002-2019, this paper conducts the comprehensive literature survey on the BIM applications in construction engineering. Aiming to pros and cons summarized from the current research examples, the BIM shows great potential and the related study is a rapidly evolving field in construction engineering. In general, the diversity of BIM application studies is involved in construction engineering, such as, design and construction of new building, operation and maintenance of the existing buildings. BIM can be a powerful tool if it was properly taken advantage. However, the BIM application in design is more emphasized than that in the other aspects, which hinders the popularization of its application. Therefore, suggestions for future research are given accordingly: (i) constructing a feasible and flexible system according to the different applications; (ii) expanding the research content based on proposed system; (iii) establishing a method of evaluation of BIM application.

Effect of adding graphite nano/micro platelets on salt freeze-thaw resistance of nano-modificent concrete

Concrete has wide application in construction engineering but it has durability issues in extreme weather conditions. In this article, carbon based nano material, graphite platelets is introduced into cementitious matrix to make it more resilient in extreme weather condition. Four different percentages of graphite nano/micro platelets by mass of cement, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, 1.0% were incorporated in conventional concrete and its effect on salt freeze-thaw resistance in comparison to control sample were studied. Test results reveals that concrete were still durable after 7, 14, and 28 freeze-thaw exposures. Salt freeze-thaw response was evaluated in terms of surface scaling and internal structure damage which was significantly improved with the addition of nano graphitic plates. Scanning electron micrographs have verified the crack branching effects of induced platelets. The pore structure was refined as revealed in nitrogen absorption isotherms with the nano-modifications contributing in added resilience to subjected frost damages.