scholarly journals Geo-Environmental investigation of Sahure pyramid complex, Abusir Archeological site, Giza, Egypt

Author(s):  
Abdelrhman Muhamed Fahmy Sayed Ahmed ◽  
Fatma Muhamed Helmy

Abstract Abusir is the name of an elaborate burial area, dotted with 19 pyramids other temples, stretching on the western side of the Nile from the south of the Giza Plateau to the northern rim of Saqqara. It seems to have been created as the resting site for the Pharaos dated from 2494 to 2345 BC. The name Abusir, originally spoken as Busiri, means” temple of Osiris”. Over time, the name has become so popular, that more than 60 villages now carry this name. But only one is the archaeological site. This paper does not refer to all of the Abusir archaeological area, but focuses one of its most important sites: Sahure pyramid, one of Egypt’s little known, but heavily damaged treasure. One of the highlights of the relevant research is the discovery of a piece of cement (Basaltic mortar/concrete), which consists of several materials and which is harder than any cement produced today and detection of a clear and significant Anorthite mineral (Plagioclase) in the mortar sample which had been proven by XRD, XRF (analysis) and Polarized light microscope (investigation). The main objectives of this paper are 1) to reveal and identify the construction materials of the pyramid and the construction of the pyramid,2) to evaluate the durability and vulnerability of the Ancient construction materials of Sahure pyramid,3) to compare the decayed patterns of the different construction materials, 4) to study the pyramid building materials from geological, meteorological, geochemical, petrological and petrophysical point of view, and 5) to present a proposal for scientific conservation and protection of the pyramid. Laboratories and field studies have been carried out by researchers from various countries to investigate and understand the problems of the pyramid leading to the final results which confirmed the impact of the geo environment conditions on the structural and engineering stability of the pyramid.

2021 ◽  
Vol 352 ◽  
pp. 00001
Author(s):  
Stanislava Gašpercová ◽  
Linda Makovická Osvaldová ◽  
Erik Richnavský

The future of the whole world focuses on reducing waste produced by people. As the construction sector is one of the biggest producers of waste, a great deal of effort has been made to introduce this trend in modern construction. The “green” building sector, therefore, draws attention to natural and recyclable building materials. These include natural thermal insulation such as cork, fiberboard, hemp insulation, and even sheep wool insulation. Almost all types of such insulation are made from waste materials which, were they not reused in the form of thermal insulation, would end up as municipal or biodegradable waste. At the same time, we should point out that almost all “green” construction materials are flammable. This feature is not very advantageous from the point of view of fire protection and it can significantly affect the fire safety of a construction. It is for this reason that the main objective of this research was to determine the impact of a radiant heat source on various types of thermal insulation used as plasterboard filling and to evaluate the possibilities of their use in sandwich constructions for fire protection purposes.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Salmabanu Luhar ◽  
Demetris Nicolaides ◽  
Ismail Luhar

Even though, an innovative inorganic family of geopolymer concretes are eye-catching potential building materials, it is quite essential to comprehend the fire and thermal resistance of these structural materials at a very high temperature and also when experiencing fire with a view to make certain not only the safety and security of lives and properties but also to establish them as more sustainable edifice materials for future. The experimental and field observations of degree of cracking, spalling and loss of strength within the geopolymer concretes subsequent to exposure at elevated temperature and incidences of occurrences of disastrous fires extend an indication of their resistance against such severely catastrophic conditions. The impact of heat and fire on mechanical attributes viz., mechanical-compressive strength, flexural behavior, elastic modulus; durability—thermal shrinkage; chemical stability; the impact of thermal creep on compressive strength; and microstructure properties—XRD, FTIR, NMR, SEM as well as physico-chemical modifications of geopolymer composites subsequent to their exposures at elevated temperatures is reviewed in depth. The present scientific state-of-the-art review manuscript aimed to assess the fire and thermal resistance of geopolymer concrete along with its thermo-chemistry at a towering temperature in order to introduce this novel, most modern, user and eco-benign construction materials as potentially promising, sustainable, durable, thermal and fire-resistant building materials promoting their optimal and apposite applications for construction and infrastructure industries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 140-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Simons ◽  
Alexandra Bertron ◽  
Christophe Roux ◽  
Aurélie Laborel-Préneron ◽  
Jean-Emmanuel Aubert ◽  
...  

The impact of building materials on the environment and the health of occupants is nowadays a priority issue. Ecological construction materials such as earthen materials are currently experiencing a regain of interest due to both ecological and economic factors. The microbial proliferation on indoor materials can induce a deterioration of the building air quality and lead to an increase of health risks for the occupants. The issue of indoor air quality raises questions about the use of earthen building materials and their possible susceptibility to fungal development. The microflora of earthen materials and their ability to grow on such support are indeed poorly studied. This study focused on the quantification of both bacterial and fungal microflora along the manufacturing process. The impact of extreme humidity, simulating a hydric accident, on microflora development was analyzed on the surface and inside earthen bricks. The initial microflora of these materials was dramatically reduced during the manufacturing process, especially after heat treatment for drying. Proliferation of remaining microorganisms was only observed under high humidity condition, in particular for earthen materials with vegetal aggregates. Moreover, in situ samplings were performed on naturally dried earthen materials used in buildings. The characterization of the microbial density revealed a higher microbial density than on manufactured specimens, while microbial concentration and detected taxa seemed mainly related to the room use and building history. These results provide a better understanding of microbial proliferation on these materials.


Author(s):  
Aysem Berrin Cakmakli

There is a growing universal awareness of protecting the living and non-living environment and making enlightened decisions to achieve a sustainable development without destruction of the natural resources. In this point of view, selecting building materials according to their energy and health performances gains importance in sustainable design. 3Rs (reducing, reusing, recycling), and supplying a healthy, non-hazardous indoor air for building occupants are two important parameters of environmental life-cycle assessment for materials. Information on exposure to gases and vapors from synthetic materials made from petrochemicals, to heavy metals and pesticides, and to some combustion pollutants that cause acid rain should be determined by analyzing environmental product declarations or material specifications. After studying on building materials individually, they are analyzed in the form of tables for four different stages; manufacturing, application, usage, demolition phase. Consequently, this chapter can guide the designer and engineer to think on the elements of design and construction activity.


Coatings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 288 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Orosa ◽  
Diego Vergara ◽  
Ángel M. Costa ◽  
Rebeca Bouzón

Research from the International Energy Agency about indoor ambiences and nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB) in the past has been centred on different aspects such as the prediction of indoor conditions as a function of the weather using laboratory material properties for simulations and real sampled data for validation. Thus, it is possible to use real data for defining behavioural groups of indoor ambiences as a function of real vapour permeability of internal coverings. However, this method is not suitable for modelling it and predicting its behaviour under weather changes, which is of interest to improve the method of selection and use of building construction materials. In this research, artificial intelligence procedures were employed as the first model of permeable coverings material behaviour to provide a newer understanding of building materials and applications for the generation of new control procedures between the mechanical and electronic point of view of building construction materials.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulia Orlovska ◽  
◽  
Daria Havrylenko ◽  

The main international trends in the world market of construction materials and services have been analyzed. The dynamics of world GDP and exports of construction services for the period 2000-2019 has been studied and a conclusion is made on the impact of economic crises on their growth rates. It has been determined that the dynamics of world exports of construction services is characterized by high instability with peaks of growth and decline, and is more sensitive than GDP growth. It has been noted that overcoming the crisis in the export sector of construction services takes more time and occurs with an approximate two-year time lag compared to GDP dynamics. The share of the construction industry in the world GDP by the degree of development has been analyzed. The reasons for the decline in the share of the construction industry in countries with economies in transition have been substantiated. It has been noted that in the developed countries the share of the construction sector is accounted for by real estate management activities related to maintenance, rent, purchase and sale and other transactions with land and real estate. The forecast values of growth of the market of building materials and services till 2030 have been given. The essence of the term «wide construction» has been revealed and the structure of this sector in different countries of the world is shown. The main exporters in the world construction market have been given and the structural distribution of the largest construction companies in the world ranking by country of origin has been analyzed. The dynamics of income level in the construction industry market for the period 2011-2018 has been studied. It has been noted that an important area of the construction sector is the market of roofing and facade materials and the world's largest companies for the production of this type of construction materials have been revealed. Conclusions on the essence of global transformations of the market of building materials and services have been made, and also it has been defined that they are caused by transnationalization of corporate structure of the market, influence of scientific and technical progress and information and communication technologies on world centers as well as the emergence of the concept of «sustainable construction» in the course of humanity for sustainable development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 01079
Author(s):  
Abbou Mohammed ◽  
Moulay Omar Hassan ◽  
Semcha Abdélaziz ◽  
Kazi-Aoual Fatiha

In the context of sustainable local development of the Adrar region, one of the largest regions in the Algerian Sahara. The search for local useful substances has been initiated by the Algerian state to cover the need for building materials in the construction industry. However, from a geological point of view, the Adrar zone is located in the extension of the primary chain of the Ougarta which separates two sedimentary basins of Reggane and Timimoun, as well as the basin of Sbâa. In this context, an experimental study is focused on the characterization of clay deposits, with a view to their valorization in the construction materials industry (ceramics) sector, with the aim of contributing to the use of local materials.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rezuana Islam ◽  
Sajal Chowdhury ◽  
Nusrat Jannat ◽  
Pranjib Paul

PurposeLocal dwellings of Bangladesh have specific environmental characteristics. These dwellings extensively use locally available materials and construction techniques. Therefore, carbon footprint (CF), as a prominent environmental parameter, is greatly affected by construction materials and techniques. Nonetheless, scientific justification is limited to evaluate CF of these dwellings in Bangladesh according to different local construction materials. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate different rural dwellings’ CF for both construction and operational phases toward the development of low carbon society in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachFor evaluating CF, literature review and field studies were conducted to specify and categorize cases. An intensive field monitoring and occupant's survey were performed during summer. A widely recognized compliant database and assessment tool “Ecoinvent v3” was used based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040 and 14044. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to evaluate constructional and operational stages of carbon emission using hybrid methods formed by process-based and economic input–output life cycle analysis (EIO-LCA) approaches.FindingsThe study indicates that different building materials significantly impact on dwelling's amount of carbon emission according to construction techniques. Brick dwelling's construction stage carbon emission was nearly 3.86 times higher than timber, whereas, 6.75 times higher than mud dwelling. In terms of operational stage, local brick dwelling emits higher carbon compared to others relating to occupants’ lifestyle and activities.Originality/valueThis study will contribute to helping professionals and policy-makers to interpret and evaluate architectural design and construction processes for improving low-carbon dwellings in Bangladesh.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Mona Baglou ◽  
Parviz Ghoddousi ◽  
Mohsen Saeedi

Construction industry regarded as one of the key aspects of achieving the goals of sustainable development in communities. In this regard, the choice of building materials is one of the key challenges in order to improve project performance with respect to sustainable development indicators and the use of sustainable materials, is an effective step towards achieving sustainable construction. This research uses information and evidence, interview and questionnaire prepared (by five points Likert scale method). Also, it has provided expert opinions related indicators widely used in a construction materials, manufacturing process and defining the impact of the production of these materials on sustainable development deals. Validity and reliability of the questionnaires were also performed (with Cronbach's alpha method). As a result of this research, Cement was identified as the most unsustainable material, after that Steel and then Brick and Glass were located with a wide margin. So Light concrete block, Gypsum, Stone, Lime, and Concrete were identified as the most sustainable materials according to existing indicators respectively. The consequences of this study can help the project executors in order to promote the use of sustainable building materials in construction and also industries will be aware of the impact of the sustainability indicators on their products.


2021 ◽  
Vol 286 ◽  
pp. 02006
Author(s):  
Cristian Gheorghiu ◽  
Mircea Scripcariu ◽  
Miruna Gheorghiu ◽  
Alexandra Gabriela Dobrica

In this paper an overview of the construction materials industry, from an embedded energy point of view will be presented. A case study for four brick factories in Romania will also analyzed. The Energy Performance Indicators (EnPI) of each factory will be evaluated and compared with the global reference values and the most technically and economically feasible Energy Performance Improvement Actions (EPIAs) will be presented. The replicability of these EPIA’s in different materials manufacturing industries will be also analyzed.


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