Journal of Building Material Science

Engineering Design and Construction of Modern Dining Arch

Rabiu Ahmad Abubakar — 2025-05-30

The Building Dining Arch project aimed to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing space that integrated modern architectural design with efficient dining facilities. The structure was conceived to provide a unique dining experience while also serving as a central gathering point for both social and culinary activities. The design incorporated innovative materials and sustainable construction techniques, ensuring durability and environmental compatibility. The layout facilitated smooth circulation, with open spaces enhancing user comfort. Upon completion, the project successfully met its objectives by creating an inviting and practical dining environment, blending form with function. The environmental impact of building structures is increasingly scrutinized, particularly regarding embodied carbon and lifecycle emissions. This study presents a comprehensive Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and embodied carbon analysis for the engineering design and construction of a Modern Dining Arch—a sustainable, multifunctional architectural element. By utilizing regionally sourced low-carbon materials, modular prefabrication methods, and design optimization for material efficiency, the project achieved a significant reduction in embodied carbon. The cradle-to-gate assessment reveals a 35% reduction in carbon footprint compared to conventional construction, with total emissions quantified at 175 kg CO₂-eq/m², down from a baseline of 270 kg CO₂-eq/m². This substantiates the environmental viability of the arch and provides a replicable framework for sustainable architectural design.

Improving the Structural Properties of Sustainable Earthen Construction by Incorporating Lime

Fidjah Abdelkader — 2025-06-03

Sustainable construction targets the reduction of the negative impacts of construction operations on the environment and improving the utilization of natural resources. It does this by reducing the cost of carbon emissions, the utilization of environmentally friendly materials, reducing energy and water usage, which increases the life of buildings, and reducing wastage through recycling. It is against this background that the current study discusses in detail how the physical characteristics of clay and sand bricks can be enhanced by the application of lime addition. From the results, it was concluded that 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of lime addition in the bricks improved the physical properties of the bricks considerably by raising their density from 2.1% to 4.65% and reducing their water absorption by 6.36%, as well as their strength and durability towards the environmental factors. There were also mechanical property improvements, where compressive strength was improved in the range of 27.27% to 43.66% and modulus of ‎elasticity was improved in the range of 1.8% to 11.5%, being more load-carrying. The findings confirm the possibility of the utilization of lime as an eco-friendly alternative in traditional ‎construction practice, in alignment with the trend for the creation of more environmental and effective construction materials.

Model-Based Mechanical Property and Structural Failure Prediction of Pseudo Ductile Hybrid Composite

Genetu Amare Dress — 2025-04-03

Lightweight fiber reinforced composites are widely used in engineering structures, which often fail catastrophically due to the uncertainty of external loads and their brittle nature. The development of pseudo ductile hybrid composites was the proposed solution to create minimal ductility in fiber reinforced composites so that equipment downtime, cost, and loss of lives can be minimized in their structural application. However, the development of pseudo ductile hybrid composites does not guarantee that pseudo ductile hybrid composite is prone to failure. As a result, different models, including Halpin-Tsai, Hashin and Shtrikman, Weibull, and log-normal models, were developed to predict degradation of mechanical properties and structural failure so that prior recognition of failure can be achieved. The current structural health monitoring research trend shows the development of hybrid mechanical property and structural failure prediction models spalling the drawback of data-driven and physics-based models. Physics-based models require detail understanding of the root cause of failure in terms of mathematical or physical model to predict failure progression whereas data-driven models rely on historical data or sensor data collected from machineries or structures. While hybrid models combine the strengths of both physics-based and data-driven models providing manageable uncertainty and more accurate prediction. This paper aims to review model-based mechanical property and structural failure prediction strategies with regard to pseudo ductile hybrid composites highlighting future research directions and challenges, and offering insights beneficial to the research and industrial communities.