Light Transmitting Concrete: A State-of-the-Art Review on Performance and Potential

Authors

  • Kaushal Sharma

    Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana 122505, India
  • Kiran Devi

    Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana 122505, India
  • Neeraj Saini

    Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana 122505, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jbms.v7i2.9578
Received: 17 April 2025 | Revised: 11 May 2025 | Accepted: 19 May 2025 | Published Online: 6 June 2025

Abstract

The use of artificial lighting, particularly in urban areas, contributes to global warming and carbon footprints. Urban expansion is unregulated and unplanned in emerging nations. In the case of India, the urban community is the major consumer of electric power. The invention of Light-transmitting concrete (LTC) lets light pass through opaque concrete and lowers the energy needed for the structures to use. LTC is a sustainable construction material incorporating basic ingredients of concrete in addition to a light-transmitting material such as optical fibre, resin, and glass. The present study investigated the application of light transmission materials like optical fibre, glass wastes, resin, etc., in the concrete. The previous studies have examined the various characteristics of light transmitting concrete, including mechanical properties, light transmittance, energy saving, etc. This article covered the several uses of light transmitting concrete as well as the performance comparison of various other types of materials employed for light transmittance characteristics. It was found that the plastic optical fibre at 1.25% had the highest compressive strength of LTC. The light transmission and thermal insulation properties of resin translucent cement mortar increase interior temperatures by approximately 3°C, resulting in a 20% reduction in discomfort time and a similar decrease in overall energy consumption. LTC was found to be a sustainable solution for the problem of electricity consumption for artificial lighting in residential as well as commercial spaces. Results show that the addition of optical fibre up to a certain percentage in LTC improved compressive strength and light transmittance characteristics.

Keywords:

Concrete; Energy Saving; Light Transmitting Materials; Light Transmittance; Mechanical Properties; Sustainable Construction

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How to Cite

Sharma, K., Devi, K., & Saini, N. (2025). Light Transmitting Concrete: A State-of-the-Art Review on Performance and Potential. Journal of Building Material Science, 7(2), 80–96. https://doi.org/10.30564/jbms.v7i2.9578

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 2 (June 2025): In Progress

Article Type

Review

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Copyright © 2025 Kaushal Sharma, Kiran Devi, Neeraj Saini

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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