Building Construction Materials Research Articles

3D concrete printing structural and non-structural solutions

Digital production has been applied in many branches of the industry; however, the construction industry was an exception. Applying this new technology could help to reshape the construction world as we know it today. Using 3D printing technologies in construction offers significant potential to increase efficiency in terms of speed construction, waste reduction, design freedom, reduce human error as well as green building construction materials. In the current research, the authors review the structural and non-structural applications of the 3D concrete printing, as well as the potential applications, challenges, and possible solutions, respectively.

Bamboo as a sustainable building construction material

The Building Construction Industry is one of the major consumers of energy based on fossil fuels in different forms. While the population around the world is growing the demand for housing, infrastructure, and other construction is also increasing. With advanced technology and innovation, a high range of types of building materials is available but they have very high embodied energy due to many chemical processes and other associated factors. The current paper highlights the need to use materials such as Bamboo, which are available in nature and can be used easily without being highly energy-intensive, less embodied energy, and environmentally sustainable. The study has been based on a few tests conducted using UTM (Universal Testing Machine) to measure the tensile strength and compressive strength of treated and untreated bamboo and compare it with concrete and steel. Further, bamboo can be grown at multiple locations with little investment, replenished easily, and has tremendous potential as a sustainable building material for small and large building constructions thereby helping reduce the carbon footprint.

THE SUSTAINABILITY OF BAMBOO MATERIALS IN THE BUMI PEMUDA RAHAYU BAMBOO HALL BUILDING

Abstract - The issue of global warming strongly encourages architects to use sustainable materials to preserve nature. Bamboo material is an ecological and sustainable material. Bamboo is also predicted as a future material. The strengths and advantages of bamboo are very likely to be used as a building construction material. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for bamboo material to be used inappropriately so that it does not optimize the ecological and sustainable properties of bamboo. The object of study chosen was the Bumi Pemuda Rahayu bamboo hall. This object is close to the concept of sustainability as seen from the function of the building, which is a co-creating space that prioritizes sustainability-related activities.
 This research uses qualitative-quantitative methods that will compare the theory regarding the concept of sustainability of materials related to the building material life cycle with the data obtained. The concept will be divided into three aspects, namely design aspects, construction aspects, and maintenance and renovation aspects. These three aspects can be examined by knowing the object data related to these aspects. The results of the study will answer whether the use of bamboo material in the object of study is in accordance with the concept of sustainability of the bamboo material.
 The analysis of the design stage pays attention to material selection, material preservation, how to optimize the age of bamboo and the selection of a structural system. The construction stage is analyzed by considering the type of connection used. The maintenance and renovation phases are analyzed by paying attention to how to renovate the bamboo structure and post-construction maintenance of the building.
 This building is appropriate in choosing the type of material, applying preservation of bamboo materials, and successfully preventing bamboo from environmental influences in order to reach its optimal age. In terms of structural system selection, this building is also appropriate by applying the arc rod structural system. Bolted joints are appropriate for complex structural systems, it's just that there must be special treatment at the base of the arc structure that receives the greatest load due to cracks. Renovation and maintenance aspects must be considered again because this building will have difficulty if you have to do renovations, especially on the arc structure. Maintenance that is rarely performed can also reduce the life of the building.
 
 Key Words: bamboo, sustainable materials, Bumi Pemuda Rahayu

Evaluation the Effects of Coarse Aggregates Size on Concrete Properties

Concrete is the most generally used construction material in buildings,pavements, and infrastructures. Concrete is a construction materialcomposed of cement as binder, fine aggregates and coarse aggregatesmixed with water which hardens with time. Concrete is a versatileconstruction material within the housing industry of the planet. Thestandard of the concrete is tormented by various factors and from thosevarious factors which may have an effect on the concrete quality are, thecoarse combination size has its own nice role on the standard of concreteproduction. A laboratorial experiment was conducted to work out the resultscoarse aggregates size on recent and hardened concrete properties. For thisstudy totally different crushed volcanic rock aggregates sizes were collectedfrom almost Jimma city for determination of the results of coarse aggregatesizes in concrete production. Three coarse aggregate nominal sizes of 10mm, 14 mm and 20 mm were used for samples production to envision thescale effects on concrete properties. For this study the procedures that wasfollowed, the types and quantity of materials for concrete creating weresimilar whereas sizes of nominal basaltic coarse aggregate were different.The fresh concrete has a slump value of 67 mm, 72 mm and 83 mm for10mm, 14 mm and 20 mm aggregate sizes respectively. A total of thirty sixconcrete cube samples were ready and tested using compressive strengthtesting machine at totally different ages of the cube 7 days, 14 days, and 28days, to know their strengths. The compressive strength was 23.524 Mpa,22.643 Mpa and 22.41 MPa for aggregate sizes of 10 mm, 14 mm and 20mm respectively. The laboratory results show that 10mm coarse aggregatesize gave the most effective compressive strength and comparativelylowest slump at similar water/cement ratio of 0.6. At 28th day 10mmcoarse aggregate size gave 23.524 Mpa compressive strength which is themaximum compressive strength from the remainder coarse aggregates so,the optimum maximum size of coarse aggregate for this study was 10mm.

تأثير إدخال بيانات الحرارة في مراحل مشروعات المباني على سمك العازل الحراري للجدران والأ سطح

This research draws the attention of structural designers and architects to the importance of employing the environmental data in all the construction stages of buildings. The research focuses on the introduction of the solar radiationvalues that are received by the buildings during daytime for selecting building construction material of suitable thermal specifcations, as well as design of thermal insulation thickness for the building walls and roof.The research assumes the walls and roof are the media of heat exchange between the internal space and the climate, excluding the floors. The main heat transfer equation is used for the production of values of thermal conductivityat the level of the building, not the region. The research minded the fnancial situation of the owners and assumes three thermal levels for a building in the study area (Khartoum State).

Effect of chemically treated recycled tire aggregate on the resistance to chloride ion penetration of concrete

The utilization of recycled tires as a building construction material in concrete production could significantly contribute to sustainable development. The results of several studies have been reported by the research community dealing mainly with the strength (compressive and tensile) of concrete mixes with recycled tire aggregate (RTA). However, limited research has been focused on the durability of concrete made with RTA. Therefore, this research investigates the chloride penetration of fired clay brick aggregate (FCBA) concrete containing 0%, 10%, 20% and 50% (% vol.) RTA. The RTA was rinsed with tap water (i.e., untreated RTA named UTRTA) and treated with 20% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (i.e., chemically treated RTA named CTRTA) for 2 h. The experimental results show that the concrete made with both UTRTA and CTRTA has higher chloride diffusion than FCBA, as the transmitted charge in Coulombs was higher with the increasing percentage of UTRTA and CTRTA. However, it was found that the concrete containing CTRTA provides better resistance to chloride penetration than UTRTA. This could be due to the enhanced bond between CTRTA and cement paste due to the improved surface roughness by NaOH. Furthermore, a good linear relationship of chloride penetration with compressive strength was observed. This study reveals that CTRTA can be used as a partial replacement for FCBA due to its enhanced durability. Also, it is shown that CTRTA could eliminate the dumping problem, resulting in lowering environmental impact as tires are not bio-degradable, reduce carbon footprint, decrease the need for new aggregate, more economy, and sustainability.

The Status of Embodied Carbon in Building Practice and Research in the United States: A Systematic Investigation

The building construction industry accounts for 5% of global energy use and 10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A primary source of these emissions is the manufacture of building construction materials such as steel, cement, and glass. As aggressive building energy codes push new construction towards net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon operations, corresponding efforts to reduce embodied energy and carbon from building construction materials must be pursued to achieve the decarbonization goals of the building sector. In the past few decades, progressive building energy codes as well as the underlying research on reducing the operational energy and its related greenhouse gas emissions have stimulated changes of practice in building design and operation. In contrast, strategies to reduce embodied carbon in the substitute remaining life-cycle stages of a building are less defined and studied. The selection of building materials and systems is largely unregulated, as long as minimum health, safety, and performance standards are met. In addition, it is unclear whether we have adequate knowledge infrastructure to incorporate embodied carbon into national model codes. This study provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge of existing methods, databases, and tools on embodied carbon studies, and identifies the knowledge gaps. It provides a basis for the governments, academia, industry, and other institutes to collaboratively fill in these gaps and develop standards and codes to decarbonize buildings and their interface with other sectors.

Palm Oil Fuel Ash-Based Eco-Friendly Concrete Composite: A Critical Review of the Long-Term Properties.

Rapid global infrastructural developments and advanced material science, amongst other factors, have escalated the demand for concrete. Cement, which is an integral part of concrete, binds the various individual solid materials to form a cohesive mass. Its production to a large extent emits many tons of greenhouse gases, with nearly 10% of global carbon (IV) oxide (CO2) emanating from cement production. This, coupled with an increase in the advocacy for environmental sustainability, has led to the development of various innovative solutions and supplementary cementitious materials. These aims to substantially reduce the overall volume of cement required in concrete and to meet the consistently increasing demand for concrete, which is projected to increase as a result of rapid construction and infrastructural development trends. Palm oil fuel ash (POFA), an industrial byproduct that is a result of the incineration of palm oil wastes due to electrical generation in power plants has unique properties, as it is a very reactive materials with robust pozzolanic tendencies, and which exhibits adequate micro-filling capabilities. In this study, a review on the material sources, affecting factors, and durability characteristics of POFA are carefully appraised. Moreover, in this study, a review of correlated literature with a broad spectrum of insights into the likely utilization of POFA-based eco-friendly concrete composites as a green material for the present construction of modern buildings is presented.

THE EFFECT OF ROOF INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC (RIPV) ON BUILDING INDOOR AIR IN AFRICAN TROPICAL CLIMATE

Photovoltaic energy has the potential to become one of the major energy sources used in the households in the tropical region of Africa, where the solar radiation intensity is abundant and almost constant over the year. Solar photovoltaic systems present many advantages when they are integrated in the building structure envelope and have a significant influence on the indoor air temperature of dwelling buildings due to the thermal resistance modification. In this paper, a simplified model of the photovoltaic system integrated on the roof of a residential building according to the building construction customs and materials has been designed and modelled. The heat transfer is studied in several situations: with and without a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system, for a building with and without false ceiling. The BIPV system, installed over an effective area of 35 m2 increases the building indoor air temperature of approximately 5°C which is corrected by the heat insulation optimization of the false ceiling made up with building local materials. The final indoor air temperature obtained are in good agreement with the ASHRAE standards and can therefore be applied in tropical regions.

Substandard Housing Contributory Factors: Analysing Scenarios in Neighbourhoods of Port Harcourt Municipality,Nigeria

The study assessed substandard housing contributory factors of neighbourhoods in Port Harcourt municipality, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to identify factors that are contributing to substandard housing in Port Harcourt municipality; assess the impact of contributory factors to substandard housing in the study area; and identify physical planning measures to improve substandard housing in the study area. The study employed quantitative research approach and experimental research design for collection and analyses of data in the study. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used for collection of data. Slovin formula was used to determine the sample size and a total of 399 respondents (households) were interviewed from three grouped neighbourhoods and communities (planned neighbourhoods, indigenous enclaves and waterfront communities). The revealed the contributory factors to substandard housing in the study area are low income, large household size, multiple households in a building, limited habitable rooms per household, building construction materials, rapidly deteriorating physical condition of buildings, and sharing of facilities by households in buildings. The study also revealed the impacts of these factors include urban neighbourhoods and communities are deteriorating into slum and squatter settlements and rapid defacing of the urban fabrics and landscape. The study makes the following recommendations to improve housing standards including regular physical assessment of buildings in the study area to ascertain their fitness for habitation; waterfront environment should be reclaimed and planned by government for residents’ easy accessibility and affordability; development control agencies should ensure residential buildings are developed according to approved plan and specifications; mortgage and financial institutions should grant soft and interest-free loans to low-income earners and the poor; government should prioritise the development of low-cost houses for low-income earners and poor citizens; social amenities and services should be provided to enhance housing and neighbourhood quality; and government and its agencies of urban development and physical planning as a matter of urgency carry out spatial reorganisation through urban renewal programmes and projects at various neighbourhoods and communities.

A review of the thermal and acoustic properties of materials for timber building construction

Nowadays, there is a vast need to calculate performances of timber constructions. Usually, simulations are implemented to predict buildings elements final performances. Here, the thermal and acoustic parameters necessary to simulate the performances of timber buildings elements are investigated. These data are need as input information for simulations. Anyway, at present literature does not provide a unified view and it lacks an overall vision. Furthermore, in this paper the material properties used as starting points for simulation methods are collected, compared and catalogued in order to produce a complete dataset, useable for acoustic and thermal simulation in timber buildings. • In timber buildings, cross laminated and timber frame are the most used technologies. • FEM and TMM are the most used simulation approaches. • Structural and insulating, natural and traditional materials are analysed. • Thermal, acoustic and mechanical properties are collected for 23 materials. • Wide ranges are found, highlighting the importance of in-house characterization.

Diffuse scattering and physical optics in the propagation of electromagnetic waves applied to mobile communications

In this work, the optical theory of physics helps to understand, analyze, and calculate the received power in a fifth-generation mobile telecommunications receiver. In these communication systems there are statistical models and deterministic physical models. We investigated how diffuse scattering in reflection contributes to specular reflection in received power at a receiver due to materials in the propagating environment in a communication channel using millimeter waves. The dimensions of building construction materials have sizes comparable to wavelength at millimeter wave frequencies. The power transmitted by communication equipment can be reflected in the roughness of these apparently smooth materials or spread out in multiple directions. The results show that the contribution due to diffuse scattering must be considered and that deterministic physical models using optical theory are valid and improve predictive analysis with good fit. With these results, the physical theory allows to make software with high precision and that improves the current applications.

Optimalisasi Kuat Tekan dan Kuat Lentur Beton Menggunakan Campuran Lateks

Concrete is a building construction material that has an important role. Concrete itself tends to have strong properties in resisting compressive forces, but weak in resisting tensile or flexural forces. The use of additives in concrete is an option to improve the basic properties of concrete. Latex or rubber latex is one of the natural materials that can be used in concrete mixtures. Its adhesive properties can be utilized in improving the quality of concrete. This study aims to determine the compressive strength and flexural strength of concrete with the addition of latex. The research was conducted experimentally by making concrete specimens in the laboratory. The addition of latex by 10% and 30% with a planned concrete quality of fc' 29.5 MPa. The test object used is a cylinder measuring 15x30 cm and a beam measuring 15x15x30 cm. The tests carried out were testing the compressive strength and flexural strength at the age of 28 days. The results showed that the highest compressive strength was at the addition of 10% latex with a value of 9.96 MPa. While the highest flexural strength value obtained was 3.20 Mpa at the addition of 10% Latex or. From these results it can be seen that the addition of latex has not been able to improve the quality of concrete and has not been able to increase the compressive strength or flexural strength of concrete. So that these results can be used as research development or concrete production.

Effect of oxygen on the burning rate of wood

The large-scale adoption of wood as a construction material for tall buildings could pave the way for sustainable construction. Its adoption, however, is hindered by a limited understanding of wood's behaviour in a fire. In particular, the effect of oxygen and heat flux on the burning (including pyrolysis) and ignition behaviour of wood is poorly understood. We addressed this gap by studying the effect of oxygen concentration and heat flux on the burning and ignition behaviour of particleboard experimentally and computationally. Particleboard was chosen as a proxy for all woody construction materials. We conducted over 60 experiments in an FPA on samples of particleboard spanning different oxygen concentrations (0–21%), heat fluxes (10–70 kW/m2), sample densities (600–800 kg/m2), and sample thicknesses (6–25 mm). Only the heat flux and oxygen concentration significantly affected the charring rate, time-to-flaming ignition, and burning mode (pyrolysis, smouldering, flaming). To explore this effect further, we used a multi-physics model of particleboard charring developed in Gpyro. Combining the computational and experimental results, we showed that particleboard undergoes only pyrolysis in oxygen concentrations below 4%, smouldering between 4 and 15%, and flaming above 15% at a heat flux of 30 kW/m2. These oxygen concentration thresholds were found to decrease as the heat flux increases. We also showed that smouldering and flaming increases the charring rate by 25 and 37%, respectively. This means that the rate of loss of a section of structural wood, quantified by the charring rate, in a fire due to smouldering is similar to that of flaming combustion. In addition, we noted the existence of a triple point for the ignition of wood at which a slight change in environmental conditions can lead to either smouldering, flaming, or only pyrolysis. In summary, this paper quantified for the first time the contributions of the three modes of burning to the charring rate of wood and highlights the importance of smouldering for timber construction.

DAMAGE CLASSIFICATION TO HISTORICAL WOODEN STRUCTURES: A PRELIMINARY SURVEY AND RECOMMENDATION FOR DONG MINORITY DRUM TOWERS

Abstract. Wood as a common construction material in historical buildings, material characteristics and environmental condition is always the main causes to degradation. Dong minority Drum Tower is one of the essential parts of Chinese wooden structural heritage. However, Drum Towers are, at present, in a poor state of conservation, especially suffering from fire risks, biological attacks, mechanical failures and bad interventions.This paper aims to record the observed damage through a classification approach that poses negative impact on the aesthetics and stability of Drum Towers. Firstly, based on the definition and term in relevant standards, a clear and structured damage classification on historical wooden structures is concluded according to the different hazard grades and causes, which are alteration, defect, deterioration and mechanical failure. Secondly, the characteristics of each damage in Drum Towers are revealed through the field survey and classification. At last, the actual condition is presented through a case study of Zengying Drum Tower. Subsequently, a multi-risks prevention in the Drum Tower is discussed, recommendations are proposed with the purpose of controlling the most fatal risks, ranging from insects and fungi risks with operable acceptance by local people and authorities.

Analysis on the Application of Green Building Materials in Civil Engineering Construction

Analysis on the Application of Green Building Materials in Civil Engineering Construction

Mechanism of nano-silica to enhance the robustness and durability of concrete in low air pressure for sustainable civil infrastructures

Cement concrete is an extensively used construction material in buildings and civil infrastructures. As infrastructure moves into plateau areas, freeze-thaw failure is a main durability challenge for concrete due to the frequent freeze-thaw cycles and entrained air pore coarsening in high altitude and low air pressure (Lap). Recently, there has been a growing interest in the application of nano-silica (NS) due to its notable improvement in concrete durability in plateau areas as well as the consumption of industrial by-product, both improve the sustainability of civil infrastructures. Therefore, this paper studies the mechanism of NS for enhancing the robustness and durability of concrete in low air pressure, the results of which foster the application of NS concrete for designing and constructing sustainable civil infrastructures in plateau areas. Two different kinds of air-entraining agents (AEAs) were utilized to prepare air-entrained concrete. Following this, NS was employed to modify the micro and meso structure of the concrete, and then determine their influence on the performance of concrete. The influence of NS on the entrained air bubbles and air pores were analyzed via micro measurements including Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). CABR-457 hardened concrete air pore structure analyzer was employed to study microstructure of air-entrained concrete with and without NS. The results demonstrate that the adsorption of NS at air bubble shell entrained by AEAs can densify the hydration products of the air pore wall and influence the pore size distribution, thereby improving the flexural strength and frost resistance of air-entrained concrete under low air pressure. The average air pore diameter of concrete with proper AEAs can be refined by 43.3% after adding NS. SEM, EDS and FTIR data analysis proves the adsorption of NS on the air bubble shell and differences in chemical composition of air bubble shell entrained by two types of AEAs. The differences in the composition of bubble shells result in diverse degree of NS optimized concrete performance. This study deepens our understanding into the fundamental mechanism of NS in concrete in Lap, which also prompts its application to create a sustainable built environment.

Nuclear Radiation Shielding Characteristics of Some Natural Rocks by Using EPICS2017 Library.

Radiation leakage is a serious problem in various technological applications. In this paper, radiation shielding characteristics of some natural rocks are elucidated. Mass attenuation coefficients (µ/ρ) of these rocks are obtained at different photon energies with the help of the EPICS2017 library. The obtained µ/ρ values are confirmed via the theoretical XCOM program by determining the correlation factor and relative deviation between both of these methods. Then, effective atomic number (Zeff), absorption length (MFP), and half value layer (HVL) are evaluated by applying the µ/ρ values. The maximum μ/ρ values of the natural rocks were observed at 0.37 MeV. At this energy, the Zeff values of the natural rocks were 16.23, 16.97, 17.28, 10.43, and 16.65 for olivine basalt, jet black granite, limestone, sandstone, and dolerite, respectively. It is noted that the radiation shielding features of the selected natural rocks are higher than that of conventional concrete and comparable with those of commercial glasses. Therefore, the present rocks can be used in various radiation shielding applications, and they have many advantages for being clean and low-cost products. In addition, we found that the EPICS2017 library is useful in determining the radiation shielding parameters for the rocks and may be used for further calculations for other rocks and construction building materials.

Pengaruh Sintering Serbuk Batuan Basalt sebagai Bahan Penguat pada Komposit Polyester terhadap Sifat Fisik dan Mekanik

Basalt rock has great potential in Lampung Province but is only used as a building construction material. Basalt has superior characteristics such as abrasion/wear resistance, compressive strength and chemical reaction resistance making it suitable as a filler or reinforcement for composites. This study aims to determine the effect of basalt rock powder sintering as a reinforcing filler on the mechanical and physical properties of polymer matrix composites. The parameters used included variations in sintering temperature: 8500C, 9500C, and 1.0500C, variations in particle size: 100 < X < 150 mesh, 150 < Y < 200 mesh and 200 < Z < 270 mesh, and the volume fraction comparison of basalt sintering powder and polyester resin. 70: 30%, 80: 20%, and 90: 10%. The experimental design uses the L9 3^3 taguchi orthogonal array run 9 specimens. Taguchi analysis shows that the parameters that affect the mechanical and physical properties are the sintering temperature. sintering temperature contributed 61.77% to wear, and 87.58% to compressive strength, and 95.32% to composite density. The experimental results with the best value obtained a wear value of 0.235 x 10-7mm2 / kg, a compressive strength of 118.873 MPa, and a density of 2.272 gr/cm3.

Investigation of the relationships between basic physical and mechanical properties and abrasion wear resistance of several natural building stones used in Turkey

From the past to the present, natural building stone has been used as construction materials in important buildings, architectural works, and civil engineering projects due to its characteristics, which include hardness, durability, decorative appearance, and easy shaping. Nevertheless, there are several significant properties such as abrasion resistance that limit its usability. Since natural stone wears over time, its abrasion wear resistance should be determined before use. One of the most widely used methods for testing to determine the abrasion resistance of natural stone is the Böhme abrasion test. However, this method has a number of disadvantages including sample preparation, labor, and difficult test procedures. Moreover, this testing device is not typically available in all laboratories or analysis centers. The aim of this study was to establish equations based on the basic physical and mechanical properties of natural building stone in order to estimate the abrasion wear resistance. Therefore, the relationships between the Böhme abrasion test results and the basic physical and mechanical properties such as porosity, percentage of water absorption by weight, dry unit weight, density, and uniaxial compressive strength of 22 different natural building stones, collected at different locations in Turkey, are analyzed statistically. Simple and multiple regression analyses were performed to identify the best relationships, and all the obtained equations were assigned correlation coefficient (R2) values. The results indicated that there are strong correlations between the Böhme abrasion test results and the basic physical properties of natural building stone, and a moderate relationship with uniaxial compressive strength.