Novel Cementitious Materials

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cementitious material is the artificially engineered material that is produced in the largest quantities. Many novel cementitious materials were developed and used in different industries, such as UHPC, ECC, geopolymers, some non-Portland cements, etc. They show many special and interesting properties that could be useful to satisfy the increasingly demanding requirements on mechanical and durability properties of infrastructures under heavy loads built in severe environments. Low-carbon cementitious material has been a hot research issue in recent years. The recycling of solid waste to make useful building materials is studied intensively. The relationship between their composition, microstructure, and properties has been under intensive study in recent decades. Therefore, this Topic invites the submission of works related to the preparation and microstructural characteristics of novel cementitious materials, as well as their properties and applications in different fields. The Topic may be very useful for readers to gain a greater understanding of novel cementitious materials. For the authors, this Topic will be a good opportunity for publication after peer review by expert researchers of cementitious materials. Review articles by experts in the field will also be welcome for submission.

Prof. Dr. Peiyu Yan
Dr. Yao Luan
Dr. Chunsheng Zhou
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Buildings buildings	3.1	3.4	2011	17.2 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
CivilEng civileng	-	2.8	2020	35.5 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Construction Materials constrmater	-	-	2021	24.3 Days	CHF 1000	Submit
Infrastructures infrastructures	2.7	5.2	2016	16.8 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Materials materials	3.1	5.8	2008	15.5 Days	CHF 2600	Submit

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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All Buildings CivilEng Construction Materials Infrastructures Materials

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16 pages, 11527 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Geopolymer Mortar Using Coal Gangue and Aeolian Sand

by Yupeng Li, Akelamjiang Maimait, Jianjun Cheng, Yanfu Duan, Yuanqing Chen and Hongguang Dong

Materials 2024, 17(13), 3225; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17133225 - 1 Jul 2024

Viewed by 202

Abstract

Geopolymers, as a novel cementitious material, exhibit typical brittle failure characteristics under stress. To mitigate this brittleness, fibers can be incorporated to enhance toughness. This study investigates the effects of varying polypropylene fiber (PPF) content and fiber length on the flowability, mechanical properties, [...] Read more.

Geopolymers, as a novel cementitious material, exhibit typical brittle failure characteristics under stress. To mitigate this brittleness, fibers can be incorporated to enhance toughness. This study investigates the effects of varying polypropylene fiber (PPF) content and fiber length on the flowability, mechanical properties, and flexural toughness of coal gangue-based geopolymers. Microstructural changes and porosity variations within the Fiber-Reinforced Geopolymer Mortar(GMPF) matrix were observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Low field NMR(LF-NMR) to elucidate the toughening mechanism of PPF-reinforced geopolymers. The introduction of fibers into the geopolymer matrix demonstrated an initial bridging effect in the viscous geopolymer slurry, with a 3.0 vol% fiber content reducing fluidity by 5.6%. Early mechanical properties of GMPF were enhanced with fiber addition; at 1.5 vol% fiber content and 15 mm length, the 3-day flexural and compressive strengths increased by 30.81% and 17.4%, respectively. Furthermore, polypropylene fibers significantly improved the matrix’s flexural toughness, which showed an increasing trend with higher fiber content. At a 3.0 vol% fiber content, the flexural toughness index increased by 198.35%. The data indicated that a fiber length of 12 mm yielded the best toughening effect, with an 84.03% increase in the flexural toughness index. SEM observations revealed a strong interfacial bond between fibers and the matrix, with noticeable damage on the fiber surface due to frictional forces, and fiber pull-out being the predominant failure mode. Porosity testing results indicated that fiber incorporation substantially improved the internal pore structure of the matrix, reducing the median pore diameter of mesopores and converting mesopores to micropores. Additionally, the number of harmless and less harmful pores increased by 23.01%, while the number of more harmful pores decreased by 30.43%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Novel Cementitious Materials)

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17 pages, 5976 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Three-Dimensional Printable Concrete by an Ultra-Thin Nozzle and Fully Sealed Extrusion

by **g Shen, Yujia Li, **aoman Zhang, Yangbo Li, Chaohui Huang and Wei Luo

Buildings 2024, 14(7), 1958; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14071958 - 27 Jun 2024

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Abstract

Due to the molding-free property and dry shrinkage of extrusion-based three-dimensional printable concrete (3DPC), the precision issues of 3DPC have not been solved effectively. One of the viable solutions for 3DPC precision improvement is to print using ultra-thin filaments. The challenges of ultra-thin-filament [...] Read more.

Due to the molding-free property and dry shrinkage of extrusion-based three-dimensional printable concrete (3DPC), the precision issues of 3DPC have not been solved effectively. One of the viable solutions for 3DPC precision improvement is to print using ultra-thin filaments. The challenges of ultra-thin-filament printing are extrudability, flowability, and fast solidification. To overcome these challenges and enhance precision, a customized 3D concrete printer with an ultra-thin diameter nozzle (6 mm) and fully sealed extrusion system was developed, and the mix design of ultra-thin-filament 3DPC (UTF-3DPC) was studied, including ingredients such as fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), ordinary Portland cement (OPC), sodium dodecyl sulfate and cellulose (SDSC), water reducer, water, and sand. The function of UTF-3DPCs flowability and fast solidification with the proportion of water and SDSC was explored to obtain the optimal mix design. The standard compressive and flexural strengths of UTF-3DPC specimens were compared with the mold-cast vibrated and the mold-cast non-vibrated concrete. Their meso-scale and micro-scale structures were analyzed to expose the strength mechanism, according to the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. A suitable mix design of UTF-3DPC was obtained and UTF-3DPC strength reached 80% of standard mold-cast concrete. The findings reported here provide a pathway to improve the precision of 3DPC and extend the application of 3D printing technology in engineering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Novel Cementitious Materials)

15 pages, 2224 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Early-Age Shrinkage Stress of Alkali-Activated Cement-Free Mortar Using Shrinkage Reducing Agent and Expansive Additive

by Seok-ho Yoon, Sung-rok Oh, Ji-young Kim and Sung Choi

Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1852; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061852 - 18 Jun 2024

Viewed by 255

Abstract

Cement-free concrete has a superior physical performance, such as in its strength and durability, compared to OPC concrete; however, it has the disadvantage of large shrinkage. Large shrinkage can cause cracks due to shrinkage stress in the long term. In this study, a [...] Read more.

Cement-free concrete has a superior physical performance, such as in its strength and durability, compared to OPC concrete; however, it has the disadvantage of large shrinkage. Large shrinkage can cause cracks due to shrinkage stress in the long term. In this study, a shrinkage reducing agent (SRA) was used to reduce the shrinkage of cement-free mortar; its content was increased from 0.0 to 1.5%. For an SRA content of 1.0%, a calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) expansive additive (EA) (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5%) was added. To calculate the shrinkage stress of cement-free mortar using the SRA and EA, the compressive strength, elastic modulus, and total and autogenous shrinkage were measured. The unit shrinkage stress of cement-free mortar was obtained by multiplying the elastic modulus by the length change and accumulated to obtain the shrinkage stress acting on the mortar according to the age. The shrinkage stress of cement-free mortar showed different tendencies as the age increased. At early ages, the shrinkage rate of the mortar occupied a large proportion of the shrinkage stress. In the long term, the shrinkage stress was significantly affected by the elastic modulus. As a result, SRA was found to be effective in reducing the shrinkage stress by decreasing both the elastic modulus and shrinkage. However, EA increased the shrinkage stress over the long term due to an increase in the elastic modulus even though it compensated for early-ages shrinkage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Novel Cementitious Materials)

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15 pages, 6320 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Formation, Stability, and Crystallinity of Various Tricalcium Aluminate Polymorphs

by Simona Ravaszová, Karel Dvořák, Martin Boháč, Dalibor Všianský and Andrea Jančíková

Materials 2024, 17(3), 735; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17030735 - 3 Feb 2024

Viewed by 920

Abstract

Tricalcium aluminate is an important phase of Portland clinker. In this paper, three polymorphs of C₃A were prepared by means of the solid-state synthesis method using intensive milling of the raw material mixture which was doped with various amounts of Na [...] Read more.

Tricalcium aluminate is an important phase of Portland clinker. In this paper, three polymorphs of C₃A were prepared by means of the solid-state synthesis method using intensive milling of the raw material mixture which was doped with various amounts of Na₂O and sintered at a temperature of 1300 °C for 2 h. The final products were evaluated through X-ray diffraction using Rietveld analysis. The effect of the Na dopant content on the change in the crystalline structure of tricalcium aluminate was studied. It was proven that the given preparation procedure, which differed from other studies, was close to the real conditions of the formation of Portland clinker, and it was possible to prepare a mixture of different polymorphs of calcium aluminate. Fundamental changes in the crystal structure occurred in the range of 3–4% Na, when the cubic structure changes to orthorhombic. At a dosage of Na dopant above 4%, the orthorhombic structure changes to a monoclinic structure. There are no clearly defined boundaries for the existence of individual C₃A phases; these phases arise at the same time and overlap each other in the areas of their formation at different Na doses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Novel Cementitious Materials)

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