Materiales de Construcción https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc <p><em><strong>Materiales de Construcción</strong></em> is a scientific journal published by <a title="Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas" href="https://www.csic.es/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CSIC</a> and edited by the <a title="Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja" href="https://www.ietcc.csic.es/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja</a>.</p> <p>It was founded in 1949 at the Technical Institute for Construction and Cement under the heading <em>Últimos avances en materiales de construcción. Boletín de circulación limitada</em> (ISSN 1698-9333). In 1958 was renamed as <em>Materiales de Construcción. Ultimos avances</em> (ISSN 0465-2746) and published with its actual name from 1974. It began to be available online in 2007, in PDF format, maintaining printed edition until 2014. That year it became an electronic journal publishing in PDF, HTML and XML-JATS. Contents of previous issues are also available in PDF files.</p> <p>It is a scientific Journal published in English, intended for researchers, plant technicians and other professionals engaged in the area of Construction, Materials Science and Technology. Scientific articles focus mainly on:</p> <p>- Physics and chemistry of the formation of cement and other binders.<br />- Cement and concrete. Components (aggregate, admixtures, additions and similar). Behaviour and properties.<br />- Durability and corrosion of other construction materials.<br />- Restoration and conservation of the materials in heritage monuments.<br />- Weathering and the deterioration of construction materials.<br />- Use of industrial waste and by-products in construction.<br />- Manufacture and properties of other construction materials, such as: gypsum/plaster, lime, composite materials, polymers, recycled materials, stone, brick and tile, glass, wood and so forth.</p> <p><strong>Materiales de Construcción</strong> is indexed in <a title="WOS" href="https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/web-of-science/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web of Science</a>: <a title="JCR" href="https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/journal-citation-reports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal Citation Reports</a> (JCR) and <a title="SCI" href="https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/webofscience-scie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Science Citation Index Expanded</a> (SCI) since 2007; <a title="SCOPUS" href="https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SCOPUS</a>, <a title="CWTSji" href="http://www.journalindicators.com/indicators/journal/17135" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CWTS Leiden Ranking</a> (Journal indicators), <a href="https://redib.org/Serials/Record/oai_revista448-materiales-de-construcci%C3%B3n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">REDIB</a>, <a href="https://doaj.org/toc/1988-3226" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOAJ</a> and other national and international databases. It is indexed in Latindex Catalogue 2.0 and has obtained the FECYT Seal of Quality.</p> <p><strong style="color: #800000;">Journal Impact Factor (JIF)</strong> 2021 (2 years): <strong>2.133</strong><br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Journal Impact Factor (JIF)</strong> 2021 (5 years): <strong>2.772</strong><br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Rank by JIF: </strong><strong>46</strong>/68 (Q3, Construction and Building Technology)<br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Rank by JIF: </strong><strong>253</strong>/345 (Q3, Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)<br />Source: <a title="Clarivate Analytics" href="http://clarivate.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clarivate Analytics</a>©, <a title="JCR" href="https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/journal-citation-reports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal Citation Reports</a>®</p> <p><strong style="color: #800000;">Journal Citation Indicator (JCI)</strong> 2021: <strong>0.38</strong><br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Rank by JCI: </strong><strong>57</strong>/89 (Q3, Construction and Building Technology)<br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Rank by JCI: </strong><strong>277</strong>/414 (Q3, Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)<br />Source: <a title="Clarivate Analytics" href="http://clarivate.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clarivate Analytics</a>©, <a title="JCR" href="https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/journal-citation-reports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal Citation Reports</a>®</p> <p><strong style="color: #800000;">Eigenfactor / Percentile </strong>2021: <strong>0.00062</strong><br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Article influence/ Percentile</strong> 2021: <strong>0.404</strong><br /><strong style="color: #800000;">Eigenfactor Category:</strong> Material Engineering<br />Source: University of Washington©, <a href="http://www.eigenfactor.org/projects/journalRank/rankings.php?search=0465-2746&amp;searchby=issn&amp;orderby=year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EigenFACTOR</a>®</p> <table style="width: 100%; border-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 40px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 33%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> <p class="check">Open Access</p> <p class="check">No APC</p> <p class="check">Indexed</p> <p class="check">Original Content</p> </td> <td style="width: 33%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> <p class="check">Peer Review</p> <p class="check">Ethical Code</p> <p class="check">Plagiarism Detection</p> <p class="check">Digital Identifiers</p> </td> <td style="width: 33%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"> <p class="check">Interoperability</p> <p class="check">Digital Preservation</p> <p class="check">Research Data Policy</p> <p class="check">PDF, HTML, XML-JATS</p> <p class="check">Online First</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas en-US Materiales de Construcción 0465-2746 <strong>© CSIC.</strong> Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of <strong>Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas</strong>, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.<br /><br />All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “<strong>Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International</strong>” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the <strong><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en" target="_blank">basic information</a></strong> and the <strong><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode" target="_blank">legal text</a></strong> of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.<br /><br />Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed. Development of Magnesium/Calcium Oxalate Cements https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc/article/view/2981 <p>Magnesium oxalate cement, a novel alternative to portland cement, can be made at room temperature by reacting dead-burned magnesia and salts of oxalic acid. Since oxalic acid can be made using captured carbon dioxide, oxalate cements may even be carbon negative. However, emissions related with the decarbonation of magnesite at high temperatures make this hard to achieve. This study investigates the effect of replacing magnesia with granulated blast furnace slag on some physical and mechanical properties, as well as the mineralogy and microstructure of oxalate cements. Whewellite and Weddellite are identified when slag is used, in addition to Glushinskite which forms from magnesia. Slag-only mortars undergo faster but less complete reactions and show lower resistance to water than their magnesium oxalate counterparts. An equal-part combination of dead-burned magnesia and slag gives the highest 28-d strength (&gt; 35 MPa), pH~7, and high water resistance.</p> Baki Aykut Bilginer Sinan Turhan Erdoğan Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-04-12 2023-04-12 73 350 e310 e310 10.3989/mc.2023.298122 Influence of whitening additives on the properties of decorative slag-alkali cements and mortars https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc/article/view/3563 <p>The paper shows a comparative study of the influence of whitening additives (kaolin, TiO<sub>2</sub>&nbsp;and СаСО<sub>3</sub>) on the production of decorative alkali-activated slag cement and mortars with a degree of whiteness of at least 70%; as well as their influence on the structure formation and evolution of physico-mechanical properties. According to results obtained, kaolin provides chemical bonding of Na<sup>+</sup>&nbsp;into insoluble zeolite-like compounds; and CaCO<sub>3</sub>&nbsp;densifies the structure and reduces shrinkage deformations. At the early stages of hardening (up to 7 days), the additions of kaolin and calcite, due to their significant amount (15 and 24%), reduces the compressive strength of the cement paste; nevertheless, at later ages (until 90 days) the difference in strength almost disappears. The high colourfastness and weather resistance of pigmented cements under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and freeze/thaw cycles has been established. A comparative assessment of the economic efficiency has shown that СаСО<sub>3</sub>&nbsp;is the best cost-effective additive.</p> P. Krivenko F. Puertas V. Gots O. Helevera N. Rogozina Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-05-24 2023-05-24 73 350 e311 e311 10.3989/mc.2023.319622 β-CaSiO3 and colloidal n-SiO2 based blended cement composites- their properties, regression analysis and micro-characterization studies https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc/article/view/3047 <p>This paper examines the effect on mechanical properties such as compressive strength, flexural strength, and dynamic modulus of elasticity (DYE) of different proportions of wollastonite (β-CaSiO<sub>3</sub>) and colloidal nano-silica (n-SiO<sub>2</sub>) partially replacing cement. Durability indicators (water absorption, sorptivity and sulphate treatment test) were also examined to ascertain the quality of hardened paste mixes with respect to the control mix. The regression models were found for mechanical properties using different parameters from the results obtained, and statistical relations were established and validated. Regression analysis shows the significance of every parameter considered and model for the prediction of mechanical strengths. Finally, the results were substantiated by the microstructural characterization by FESEM. β-CaSiO<sub>3</sub> and colloidal n-SiO<sub>2</sub> replaced cement by 15%, and 1.5%-6% with an offset of 1.5%, respectively at low (0.25), medium (0.40) and high (0.55) water/binder (w/b) ratio. FESEM micrographs showed dense Calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH) gel and stratlingite (CASH) was formed by blended cement paste mixes containing β-CaSiO<sub>3</sub> and n-SiO<sub>2</sub>. n-SiO<sub>2</sub> at 3% and CaSiO<sub>3</sub> at 15% replacements of cement (NS3 mix) was the optimum replacement level for the cement paste mix. Analysed regression model suggests that the models and parameters were found significant and can also be used for prediction (based on R<sup>2</sup> values and p-value).</p> Nishant A. Nair T. S. Viswanathan Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-04-12 2023-04-12 73 350 e312 e312 10.3989/mc.2023.304722 Prediction of the mechanical behavior of mortars incorporating phase change materials using data mining techniques https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc/article/view/2986 <p>Nowadays, it is imperative to reduce the energy bill in order to contribute to a more sustainable planet. In this sense, the use of materials that contribute to the energy efficiency of buildings is a very important contribution to achieve this goal. Mortars incorporating phase change materials (PCM) can make an important contribution to this end, due to its thermal storage capacity, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings. In this work several mortars with different PCM contents were developed, using different binders (cement, aerial lime, hydraulic lime and gypsum). The aim of this study was to apply data mining techniques such as artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machines (SVM) and multiple linear regressions (MLR) to forecast the compressive and flexural strengths of these mortars at different exposure temperatures. It was concluded that ANN models have the best predictive capacity both for compressive strength and flexural strength. However, the SVM models have a flexural strength forecasting capacity very close to ANN models.</p> S. Cunha J. Aguiar F. Martins Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-05-05 2023-05-05 73 350 e313 e313 10.3989/mc.2023.298622 Parameters of thermal performance of plaster blocks: Experimental analysis https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc/article/view/2993 <p>This work aims to obtain parameters of thermal performance of various types of plaster blocks for vertical sealing. The methodology consisted of making test elements with 8 types of plaster blocks, in addition to plasterboard of different densities. Thermal resistance, transmittance, capacity, and delay were calculated, according to the Brazilian standard NBR 15220. Thermal behavior tests were carried out with controlled heating through a heat source, digital thermometer, infrared thermography, and an instrumented thermal chamber developed for this work. The experimental results corroborated with the trend indicated by the calculated parameters. The massive and hollow blocks of 100 mm had the best results followed by the 76 mm hollow blocks. The 50- and 70-mm massive blocks were among those with the worst thermal behavior. The study through the thermal chamber and real test elements associated with the normative methods allowed the practical verification regarding the thermal behavior of the components.</p> Pedro Igor Bezerra Batista Joaquin Humberto Aquino Rocha Yêda Vieira Póvoas Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-05-24 2023-05-24 73 350 e314 e314 10.3989/mc.2023.299322 Enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation utilizing synthetic Ca2+-zeolite for low ammonium https://materconstrucc.revistas.csic.es/index.php/materconstrucc/article/view/3025 <p>In this study, a low-ammonium enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (LA-EICP) technique is proposed that utilizes the cation exchange capability of zeolite to remove ammonium, an environmentally harmful by-product of urea hydrolysis. The LA-EICP process is a modified enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) suitable for soil stabilization, by mixing zeolite and resulting solution of urea hydrolysis. The amounts of calcium carbonate precipitated and ammonium ions removed by the synthetic calcium-modified zeolite were analyzed through tube precipitation tests. In addition, the unconfined compressive strengths of the soil specimens were measured and compared to investigate the reinforcing effect of LA-EICP. The precipitation of calcium carbonate within the soil specimen was also confirmed by scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometry analyses. The results showed LA-EICP can precipitate the same amount of calcium carbonate as conventional EICP, while removing almost all ammonium ions. In addition, the LA-EICP-treated specimen showed a higher strength improvement than the conventional EICP-treated specimen, due to the combined effect of the calcium carbonate and the zeolite.</p> Seunghyung Lee Jongmin Kim Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2023-04-28 2023-04-28 73 350 e315 e315 10.3989/mc.2023.302522