Katarina Malaga

Sustainable Potential of Textile-Reinforced Concrete

The building construction industry is in need of sustainable materials and solutions. A novel building material, such as textile-reinforced concrete (TRC), could be used to meet this demand. TRC is a combination of fine-grained concrete and multi-axial textile fabrics, which has been fundamentally researched over the past decade. TRC-based research has explored various facets of this composite material, such as its structural functionality, production, applicability and design. One key aspect that is still missing, however, is a comprehensive review of the sustainable potential of this material in terms of its input-output and durability which suitably answers to requirement no.7 of EU’s Construction Products Regulation. This article provides qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the sustainable potential and prospective development of TRC particularly reinforced by alkali-resistant (AR) glass, carbon or basalt fibers. Based on the outcome of this evaluation, carbon textile fibers were observed to hold the optimal potential mechanical behavior; additionally, it was revealed through the conducted Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), that basalt had the least cumulative energy demand while carbon had the least environmental impact.

Relevance of Hydrophobic and Oleophobic Properties of Antigraffiti Systems on Their Cleaning Efficiency on Concrete and Stone Surfaces

The problem of graffiti is not entirely restricted to urban areas, but also appears frequently in rural communities and along traffic infrastructure. Besides its aesthetic and societal effects, graffiti cause considerable removal costs and subsequent costs for repairing damages caused by improper graffiti removal. Over the last two decades, strategies have been developed to combat graffiti in the built environment, including the development of protective measures in the form of antigraffiti systems (AGSs). Antigraffiti systems promise to be affordable and easily applicable for a wide range of substrates, and many products have already been on the market for many years. In practice, however, successful application of AGS and removal of graffiti depend on many factors in which the type of coating and condition of the substrate play critical roles. The optimal environmental goal is to use AGS without any cleaning chemicals except for pure water. Available studies on the behavior of the same AGS on various substrates can show completely different results concerning the cleaning efficacy and the durability of the AGS under different climatic conditions. The question of which properties of an AGS are most essential for its efficiency has still not been fully investigated. The goal of this study was to investigate cleaning efficacy in conjunction with hydrophobic and oleophobic properties of the AGS on different substrates. The results showed that hydrophobicity and oleophobicity are important for dense substrates but have a low influence on porous substrates. In this case, cleaning efficiency is majorly determined by the physical properties of the substrates.