Key Engineering Materials Vol. 678

Abstract: Degradation of building materials is an important phenomenon influencing their design and utilization. Mineral-based polymer-mortar composites (PMC) are often used as inexpensive promising materials to prevent the deterioration of constructions or remedy various reinforced concrete structures and they are used as materials for energy efficiency in buildings. In repair applications, polymer addition allows improving the adhesion properties of materials used in coating. With the intention of improving the sustainability of these composites, the influence of latex polymer and supplementary cementitious materials (natural pozzolan and silica fume) additions on the characteristics of these composites was investigated in aggressive media, such as acids. Mortars made with local pozzolanic mineral admixtures, obtained by substituting cement by different proportions of polymer (0, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15%) were conserved in acidic solutions for 56 days. The microstructural analysis of these mortars was performed, using the X-ray diffraction technique, after 56 days of exposure to acid attack. The obtained results enable to bring out the beneficial effect of adding a latex polymer and other pozzolanic additives into modified materials on resistance to acid attacks. So, these composite materials can be recommended as materials for energy efficiency in buildings.

Abstract: Various studies in the construction industry have been conducted to develop the best practice that is only not capable of improving organization profit but also assists in producing a systematic work process which will encourage the optimal use of resources. Concurrently, the emergence of the lean construction concept is seen as a current approach that can be used to produce best practices because it is viewed as an effort to bring construction industry towards a more optimum productivity level with the efficient usage of resources as well as to produce the utmost value. This paper attempts to draw a correlation between the adoption of lean management principles and the energy utilized during the construction process.