Article accepted for publication
Title: Hydrodynamic Modeling of Nature-Based Coastal Barriers Compared to Concrete Seawalls for Sustainable Sea-Level Rise Flood Mitigation
Author: Kirestoffer Desuja et al.
Abstract: Accelerating sea-level rise and intense tropical storms pose unprecedented flooding threats to vulnerable coastal civil infrastructure installations. Traditional rigid concrete seawalls are expensive to construct and often cause severe ecological damage to marine habitats. This study utilizes advanced hydrodynamic software to simulate the protective performance of nature-based coastal engineering defenses. The research models how engineered mangrove wetlands and living oyster breakwaters dissipate incoming storm wave energy. Simulated flood mitigation efficiency will be directly compared against standard vertical concrete infrastructure layouts under extreme weather scenarios. The final data aims to guide coastal engineers in designing self-healing, ecologically sustainable shoreline boundaries
Keywords: Coastal engineering, Flood mitigation, Nature-based solutions, Climate resilience
Title: Evaluating the Structural Viability of Sustainable High-Strength Concrete using Industrial By-product
Author: Ankita Singh et al.
Abstract: The rapid escalation of global infrastructure development drives an unprecedented demand for High-Strength Concrete (HSC), inadvertently accelerating anthropogenic carbon dioxide Co2 emissions through conventional Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) production. This study presents a systematic evaluation of the structural viability, durability, and environmental lifecycle benefits of sustainable HSC engineered by partially replacing OPC with industrial by-products. A ternary binder matrix was designed using Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBS) and Silica Fume (SF) to optimize particle packing density and pozzolanic-hydraulic synergy. Six distinct concrete mixtures were synthesized: a control mixture (M0: 100% OPC) and five experimental variations (M1 to M4 representing incremental GGBS/SF replacements, and M5 as the multi-criteria optimized mix). Comprehensive testing evaluated fresh rheology, mechanical properties across a 90-day curing horizon, durability indices, microstructural densification via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and full-scale structural beam performance. Experimental data revealed that the optimized mixture (M5: 30% GGBS, 7.5% SF) achieved a 28-day compressive strength of 86.3 MPa, surpassing the control mix (82.4 MPa) while concurrently reducing embodied carbon by 37.5%. Full-scale structural load testing of reinforced beams confirmed that sustainable HSC exhibits equivalent initial stiffness, superior ultimate load-carrying capacity (+4.2%), and enhanced displacement ductility compared to conventional HSC. The results validate that technical structural reliability and deep-decarbonization objectives can be balanced through multi-criteria material optimization.
Keywords: Sustainable Concrete; High-Strength Concrete; Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBS); Silica Fume; Microstructural Matrix; Structural Beam Testing; Multi-Criteria Optimization; Deep Decarbonization.