Institute of R&D in Structures and Construction

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Publications

Quartz Powder Valorisation in White Self-Compacting Concrete: Mortar Level Study

Publication . Matos, Ana Mafalda; Maia, Lino; Coutinho, Joana Sousa

Quartz powder (QP) from mining exploration has increased, and valorisation solutions are sought. QP incorporation in structural concrete is an exciting strategy for the growth and sustainable development of the concrete industry, waste management and environmental protection. This work addresses the valorisation of QP from a Portuguese company on powder-type self-compacting concrete for architectural and structural purposes, combining the light colour of quartz with white cement. As such, QP was used as a partial cement replacement, acting as a filler on self-compacting white mortars (SCWM) and pastes (SCWP). Firstly, the QP was characterised by chemical, physical and morphological properties. Afterwards, SCWM with 10% of the white Portland cement with QP were produced and, with 10% cement replacement by limestone fillers, commercially available, for comparison purposes. The following engineering properties were evaluated, flowability and viscosity, electrical resistivity, porosity and mechanical strength. In equivalent pastes samples, the heat of hydration was accessed. Finally, an architectonic element prototype was produced using SCWM-QP, and colour and aesthetics were evaluated. All SCWM reached adequate deformability and viscosity for self-compaction. In the hardened state, compressive strength, electrical resistivity and water-permeable porosity presented similar results for mortars incorporating quartz powder and limestone fillers. The isothermal calorimetry in equivalent pastes revealed a slight desacceleration of hydration for SCWP incorporating QP. The major findings of this study confirm the feasibility of SCWM with QP, meeting the required performance while reducing resource depletion in the concrete industry and adding value to a by-product.

2023Journal article

Open access

BIM model to support O&M tasks

Publication . Carvalho, Ana Thereza; Calejo, Rui; Santos, José; Maia, Lino

: Technological evolution and BIM have changed the design development process in the construction industry. The operation and maintenance (O&M) phase requires building information throughout its service life, which was previously paper based, making it difficult to carry out maintenance activities. BIM assists in the management, storage, and digital sharing of information generated. However, only part of the information generated is required for the maintenance phase of the building. Although a subset of the IFC schema already exists to describe the data exchange between the BIM model and maintenance software, the data are generic and not well defined according to each the element source of maintenance (ESM). Therefore, through a literature review of existing studies on the use of BIM to support O&M processes, this paper aims to design an information flow to integrate maintenance information into the BIM model. The information is based on six main maintenance acts (inspection, cleaning, proactive measure, correction, replacement, and terms of use) and organized in an external sheet. The building will be divided into ESM according to its function in the building to facilitate the maintenance information flow between sheets and the BIM model.

2023Journal article

Open access