Polymers, particularly plastics, have been widely seen as an existential risk to the environment due to their contribution to pollution, carbon emissions and climate change. Many argue that it is possible to substantially ease the threat of plastics by engaging the public in reducing their use in day-to-day life and implementing efficient domestic waste management strategies. On the other hand, polymers and plastics in building and construction are considerably less problematic, if not attractive. In fact, the applications of polymers in construction have been continuously expanding. This is partly due to the developments made in this area being implemented within a sustainable development strategy. In this paper, the main applications of polymers in construction have been revisited and an overview of the research topics in each application has been briefly presented.

This paper aims to adapt Multilinear regression (MLR) to predict the strength and toughness of SIFCON containing various pozzolanic materials. Slurry Infiltrated Fibrous Concrete (SIFCON) is one of the most common terms used in concrete manufacturing, known for its benefits such as high ductility, toughness and high ultimate strength. Assessment of compressive strength (CS.), flexural strength (F.S.), splitting tensile strength (STS), dynamic elasticity modulus (DME) and impact energy (I.E.) using the experimental approach is too costly. It is time-consuming, and a slight error can lead to a repeat of the test and, to solve this, alternative methods are used to predict the strength and toughness properties of SIFCON. In the present study, the experimentally investigated SIFCON data about various mix proportions are used to predict the strength and toughness properties using regression analysis-multilinear regression (MLR) models. The input parameters used in regression models are cement, fibre, fly ash, Metakaolin, fine aggregate, blast furnace slag, bottom ash, water-cement ratio, and the strength and toughness properties of SIFCON at 28 days is the output parameter. The models are developed and validated using data obtained from the experimental investigation. The investigations were done on 36 SIFCON mixes, and specimens were cast and tested after 28 days of curing. The MLR model yields correlation between predicted and actual values of the compressive strength (C.S.), flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, dynamic modulus of elasticity and impact energy. R-squared values for the relationship between observed and predicted compressive strength are 0.9548, flexural strength 0.9058, split tensile strength 0.9047, dynamic modulus of elasticity 0.8611 for impact energy 0.8366. This examination shows that the MLR model can predict the strength and toughness properties of SIFCON.

Ecological issues such as natural resource reduction and enormous waste disposals are increasingly leading in developing civilization toward sustainable construction. The two primary environmental issues are the depletion of natural resources and the disposal of trash in open landfills. Waste steel fiber (WSF) was investigated for usage as a cement-based concrete (CBC) constituent in this research. Recycling waste fibers both makes cement composites more long and cost-effective, also aids in pollution reduction. The objective of this study is to analyze the impacts of waste fiber on the fresh and mechanical features of concrete using recycled additives. A comparative research on the durability and mechanical qualities of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) constructed with natural aggregates was conducted for this aim. The obstacles to successful WSF recycling methods application in the building industry have been investigated, resulting that CBCs with these fibers make an economic and long lasting choice to deal with waste materials. The workability of fiber enhanced concrete was found to be comparable to that of normal concrete. Fibers have a considerable impact on the splitting tensile strength, flexural and compressive strength of recycled concrete. Fiber may enhance the water permeability. When the WSF content is 0.6 kg/m3, the water absorption is nearly half. Fibers would have no effect on its permeability.

Prefabricated exterior wall panel is the main non-load-bearing component of assembly building, which affects the comprehensive performance of thermal insulation and durability of the building. It is of great significance to develop new prefabricated exterior wall panel with durable and lightweight characteristics for the development of energy-saving and assembly building. In the prefabricated sandwich insulation hanging wall panel, the selection of material for the outer layer and the arrangement of the connector of the inner and outer wall layers affect the mechanical performance and durability of the wall panels. In this paper, high performance cement-based composites (HPFRC) are used in the outer layer of the new type wall panel. FRP bars are used as the interface connector. Through experiments and analysis, the influence of the arrangement of connectors on the mechanical behaviors of thin-walled composite wall panel and the panel with window openings under two working conditions are investigated. The failure modes and the role of connectors of thin-walled composite wallboard are analyzed. The influence of the thickness of the wall layer and their combination on the strain growth of the control section, the initial crack resistance, the ultimate bearing capacity and the deformation of the wall panels are analyzed. The research work provides a technical reference for the engineering design of the light-weight thin-walled and durable composite sandwich wall panel.

To study the mechanical properties of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) filled circular steel tube columns under eccentric compression loads, this study presents a finite element model which can simulate the eccentrically compressed columns using ABAQUS software. The analytical model was established by selecting the reasonable nonlinear analysis theory and the constitutive relationship of materials in the columns. The influences of design parameters on the eccentric compressive performance of columns were also considered in detail, such as the diameter-thickness ratio of circular steel tube, replacement percentage of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), slenderness ratio, eccentricity, recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) strength and steel strength and so on. The deformation diagram, stress nephogram and load-displacement curves of the eccentrically compressed columns were obtained and compared with the test results of specimens. The results show that although there is a certain error between the calculation results and the test results, the error is small, which shows the rationality on the numerical model of eccentrically compressed columns. The failure of the columns is mainly due to the symmetrical bending of the columns towards the middle compression zone, which is a typical compression bending failure. The eccentric bearing capacity and deformation capacity of columns increase with the increase of the strength of steel tube and profile steel respectively. Compared with profile steel, the strength of steel tube has a greater influence on the eccentric compressive performance of columns. Improving the strength of RAC is beneficial to the eccentric bearing capacity of columns. In addition, the eccentric bearing capacity and deformation capacity of columns decrease with the increase of replacement percentage of RCA. The section form of profile steel has little influence on the eccentric compression performance of columns. On this basis, the calculation formulas on the nominal eccentric bearing capacity of columns were also put forward and the results calculated by the proposed formulas are in good agreement with the test values.

A wide range of experimental bases and improved performance with different forms of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) have attracted researchers to produce eco-friendly and sustainable structures. The reinforced concrete (RC) beam's shear capacity has remained a complex phenomenon because of various parameters affecting. Design recommendations for the shear capacity of RC elements having FRP reinforcement need a more experimental database to improve design recommendations because almost all the recommendations replace different parameters with FRP's. Steel and FRP are fundamentally different materials. One is ductile and isotropic, whereas the other is brittle and orthotropic. This paper presents experimental results of the investigation on the beams with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as longitudinal bars and stirrups. Total twelve beams with GFRP reinforcement were prepared and tested. The cross-section of the beams was rectangular of size 230 × 300 mm, and the total length was 2000 mm with a span of 1800 mm. The beams are designed for simply-supported conditions with the two-point load as per specified load positions for different beams. Flexural reinforcement provided is for the balanced conditions as the beams were supposed to test for shear. Two main variables, such as shear span and spacing of stirrups, were incorporated. The beams were designed as per American Concrete Institute (ACI) ACI 440.1R-15. Relation of VExp./VPred. is derived with axial stiffness, span to depth ratio, and stirrups spacing, from which it is observed that current design provisions provide overestimation, particularly at lower stirrups spacing.

FIB is introduced as the sole guideline for the design purpose that results in a practical relationship for the torsional capacity of concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP). This study applies first-order reliability method to assess the reliability evaluation of the torsional capacity of CFRP-strengthened beams on the basis of FIB guidelines. In terms of steel reinforcement losses, this study applies a corrosion model to investigate the ceaseless deterioration of the existing structure. Hence, the average of reliability indices varies between 2.68 and 2.80, indicating the reliability viewpoint of the design methodologies. The average values are somehow low compared to the target values of reliability (3.0 or 3.5) applied in the calibration stage of the FIB guideline. In this way, the partial safety factors may change in the forthcoming guideline revisions. For this aim, the reliability of strengthening ratio was applied to assess the variation in the average value of the reliability index with different partial safety factors. The performance of parametric study for the factor proved that minimum values of 1.60 and 2.32 are required for target values of reliability (3.0 and 3.5), respectively.

Experimental and discrete element approaches were used to examine the effects of F shape non-persistent joints on the failure behaviour of concrete under uniaxial compressive test. concrete specimens with dimensions of 200 cm×200 cm×50 cm were provided. Within the specimen, F shape non-persistent joint consisting three joints were provided. The large joint length was 6 cm, and the length of two small joints were 2 cm. Vertical distance between two small joints change from 1.5 cm to 4.5 cm with increment of 1.5 cm. In constant joint lengths, the angle of large joint change from 0° to 90° with increments of 30°. Totally 12 different models were tested under compression test. The axial load rate on the model was 0.05 mm/min. Concurrent with experimental tests, numerical simulation (Particle flow code in two dimension) were performed on the models containing F shape non-persistent joint. Distance between small joints and joint angles were similar to experimental one. the results indicated that the failure process was mostly governed by both of the Distance between small joints and joint angles. The axial loading rate on the model was 0.05 mm/min. The compressive strengths of the samples were related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the discontinuities. Furthermore, it was shown that the compressive behaviour of discontinuities is related to the number of the induced tensile cracks which are increased by increasing the joint angle. In the first, there were only a few acoustic emission (AE) hits in the initial stage of loading, and then AE hits rapidly grow before the applied stress reached its peak. Furthermore, a large number of AE hits accompanied every stress drop. Finally, the failure pattern and failure strength are similar in both approaches i.e., the experimental testing and the numerical simulation approaches.