Journal of Construction and Building Materials Engineering

Development and Experimental Performance Evaluation of Sustainable Concrete Incorporating Industrial Waste and Recycled Construction Materials for Low-Carbon Infrastructure

Shailendra Tomar, Sagar Singh Tomar — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Concrete production is a major source of anthropogenic carbon emissions, and the reuse of construction and demolition waste together with industrial by-products offers a practical route to reduce this burden. This study reports an experimental programme on seven concrete mixtures designed at a fixed water-to-binder ratio of 0.45 and a fixed total binder content of 380 kg/m³. Natural coarse aggregate was replaced by mass with 0%, 25%, and 50% recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), 30% of the Portland cement was replaced by a binary blend of 20% ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) and 10% fly ash, and in one mixture a further 5% of the binder mass, taken from the Portland cement, was replaced by silica fume, which gave a total cement replacement of 35%. Slump, compressive strength at 7, 28, and 90 days, splitting tensile and flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), water absorption, and rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) charge passed were measured, and an itemised raw-material embodied carbon inventory was prepared for every mixture. Among the investigated mixtures, R50S30SF5 (50% RCA and 35% cement replacement) showed the best combination of properties, although no formal optimization procedure was applied. Its compressive strength was 43.8 MPa at 28 days and 47.9 MPa at 90 days, which is 6.4% and 2.0% below the control, its RCPT charge passed was 37% lower than that of the control (1980 C compared with 3150 C), and its calculated embodied carbon was 247.3 kg CO₂-eq/m³ compared with 356.9 kg CO₂-eq/m³ for the control, a reduction of 30.7%. At 28 days, the binary binder alone did not offset the strength loss caused by 50% RCA, and its benefit appeared mainly at 90 days and in combination with silica fume. The results show that these waste streams can be combined into concrete with mean strengths of about 44 to 48 MPa and a lower embodied carbon, but characteristic strength, chloride transport coefficients, and a wider life cycle boundary must be established before structural use.

Comparative Durability of Conventional and Self-Compacting Concrete under Sulfuric and Hydrochloric Acid Exposure

Navneet Mandloi, Atul Bhatore — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Concrete is used on a larger scale than any other construction material and forms a major part of modern infrastructure. Its combination of strength, adaptability, and relatively low cost supports applications ranging from residential buildings to major bridges and industrial facilities. In chemically aggressive settings, however, including industrial zones, sewage treatment plants, marine environments, and regions affected by acid rain, concrete can experience serious durability problems. This dissertation compares the durability of Conventional Concrete (CC) and Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) under acidic exposure. Sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solutions were prepared at concentrations of 3% and 5% by volume. Concrete specimens were then immersed for 28, 56, and 90 days to represent progressively longer periods of acidic exposure. Two SCC mixes were considered: SCC-1 incorporating fly ash and silica fume, and SCC-2 incorporating a higher proportion of the same SCMs. Both were designed in accordance with EFNARC guidelines, whereas the M30 CC mix followed IS 10262:2019. The fresh behaviour of the SCC mixes was checked using slump flow, V-funnel, L-box, J-ring, and segregation resistance tests, with the results assessed against EFNARC requirements. Hardened performance was evaluated in terms of compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength, weight loss, water absorption, and porosity before and after acid exposure. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were used for microstructural examination. The test results showed a consistent durability advantage for both SCC mixes over CC during acid exposure. After 90 days, SCC-2 recorded the lowest weight loss in 3% H₂SO₄, at 7.8%, whereas CC lost 18.4%, and SCC-2 also retained substantially greater compressive strength. This behaviour is associated with the denser SCC matrix, its lower water-cement ratio, pore refinement produced by supplementary cementitious materials, and a stronger aggregate-paste interfacial transition zone (ITZ). On the basis of these observations, SCC provides a more durable and sustainable option for concrete structures exposed to acidic conditions.

The Production of Geopolymer Concrete in Iraq Using Raw Local Materials

Ali Al-Rubiay — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Geopolymer concrete is an emerging construction technology in Iraq, and further research is needed to assess its technical performance, economic feasibility, environmental benefits, and long-term durability. Such investigations are essential to determine its suitability as a sustainable alternative to conventional Portland cement concrete and to support its potential adoption in Iraq’s construction sector. This study investigates the feasibility of producing geopolymer concrete using locally sourced Iraqi fly ash and imported fly ash as aluminosilicate precursors. Locally available attapulgite clay was also investigated as a geopolymer precursor and pozzolanic material following thermal treatment. The experimental program examined the compressive strength and workability of the geopolymer concrete mixtures, as well as the influence of different curing methods. Three curing conditions were investigated: water immersion, oven curing at 60°C, and outdoor ambient curing. The results demonstrated that geopolymer concrete could be produced using locally sourced Iraqi fly ash, despite the imported fly ash exhibiting a higher content of certain chemical constituents. The mixture incorporating high-reactive attapulgite achieved the highest compressive strength among the mixtures investigated. Curing conditions had a significant influence on strength development, with oven curing at 60°C producing the highest compressive strength, while water-immersion curing resulted in the lowest strength. In terms of workability, the imported fly ash mixture exhibited the highest slump compared with the local fly ash and attapulgite mixtures. Overall, the findings demonstrate the potential of locally available Iraqi materials for geopolymer concrete production and provide a basis for further research into their application as a sustainable alternative to conventional concrete materials in Iraq.

Vibration Control in High-Rise Buildings Using Dampers: A Review

Smita Narendra Patil, Ajay G. Dahake — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As constructions of high-rise buildings are exposed to the conditions of persistent discomfort due to the wind and less frequent and potentially damaging earthquake response, it requires a vibration control system. The increasing flexibility and structural irregularity make it harder to select devices for analysis. This study will examine the damping mechanisms, modelling needs, comparative evidence, and implementation limits of dampers for tall buildings. A systematic full-text review was conducted on a defined corpus of 55 journal papers that had been published or first available online during 2021-2026. The evidence was separated according to the high-rise applications and complementary building-control studies. The overall study-level results were retained with their original response indicators, excitation conditions, and validation scope. The synthesis comprised tuned mass and liquid dampers, viscous and viscoelastic devices, friction and metallic yielding dampers, semi-active systems, inerter-based absorbers, hybrid isolation, and computational optimization. The findings suggest that these properties matter as much as the actual properties of the device. The enhancement of an inerter does not lead to a universal improvement over a classic tuned mass damper. The varying reliability and adjacent-floor configurations are both positive and negative. This is the case because the physical systems and targets differ. In order to decrease the displacement, it doesn’t guarantee lower acceleration, connection force, residual drift, and device failure risk. Despite gains from optimization and machine-learning support in their parameter selection, the conclusions are still conditional on the structural model, earthquake ensemble, and constraints. There is no common multi-hazard benchmark; force and stroke limits are/are not consistently reported. Field validation is not done/was not done on a wide scale, and life cycle assessment comparison is/was not done. Designers should pursue specified performance objectives, attainable connectivity models, and the recording of ensemble verification rather than isolated reductions. A universal technology ranking is less effective than an uncertainty-aware, configuration-aware evaluation for choosing dampers.