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Topic Review
Digital Twin Approach in Buildings
In 2011, the term Digital Twin was originally introduced by Michael Grieves to define the synchronization between two realities: physical objects placed in a real space and virtual objects within in virtual space, linked through the mutual exchange of data throughout the entire lifecycle, both in real-time and asynchronously. Digital Twin is among the principal and emerging technological innovations of both Industry 4.0 and the emerging Industry 5.0, enabling an interaction between physical and virtual objects, Big Data, Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence. The construction sector, too, is now exploring the potentialities offered by the Digital Twin approach in enhancing innovative, responsible, and sustainable governance of buildings’ lifecycles. 
  • 532
  • 08 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Traffic Data Anomalies in ATSPMs
Automated traffic signal performance measures (ATSPMs) are an innovative technology that has garnered increasing attention in recent years due to their ability to collect and evaluate real-time and historical data at signalized intersections.
  • 529
  • 17 Oct 2023
Biography
Shaker Qaidi
Shaker Qaidi serves as:(i) Researcher: With an H-index exceeding 44 in Civil Engineering/Construction Materials, he has authored 50 valuable research papers, collectively garnering over 4,000 citations in high-impact factor journals.(ii) Reviewer: He has lent his expertise to the peer-review process, critically evaluating more than 250 manuscripts for over 90 high-impact factor journals verified i
  • 508
  • 31 Aug 2024
Topic Review
Time-Domain Numerical Simulations for Horizontal-Axis Offshore Wind Turbines
In addition to a carbon-neutral vision being recognized worldwide, the utilization of wind energies via horizontal-axis wind turbines, especially in offshore areas, has been intensively investigated from an academic perspective. Numerical simulations play a significant role in the design and optimization of offshore wind turbines.
  • 483
  • 10 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Edge Computing for Traffic Characterization
Traffic flow analysis is essential to develop smart urban mobility solutions. Although numerous tools have been proposed, they employ only a small number of parameters. To overcome this limitation, an edge computing solution is proposed based on nine traffic parameters, namely, vehicle count, direction, speed, and type, flow, peak hour factor, density, time headway, and distance headway.
  • 426
  • 08 Dec 2023
Biography
Mahmoud Alrsai
Mahmoud is a distinguished professional in the field of civil engineering, whose career spans academic research, teaching, and leadership in engineering and sustainability. Recognized for his dedication to advancing knowledge and practical solutions, he has contributed to both the scientific community and society through research, mentorship, and applied projects. His work integrates theoretical
  • 101
  • 25 Sep 2025
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Enhancing Cost Prediction and Estimation Techniques for Sustainable Building Maintenance and Future Development
Building maintenance is crucial, yet predicting financial resources for it remains challenging, particularly during the design and construction phases. This research aims to analyze and synthesize existing studies on maintenance cost estimation, with a focus on identifying key trends, methodologies, and sustainability considerations. The review finds that most studies emphasize educational and office buildings, while limited attention has been given to infrastructure such as bridges and roads. Moreover, growing attention is being directed toward early-stage maintenance cost estimation and integrating sustainability principles into cost prediction models. The findings underscore that incorporating sustainability factors in maintenance planning enhances long-term performance, reduces lifecycle costs, and supports future-ready building management. The study concludes by highlighting the need for more comprehensive, sustainability-oriented frameworks to improve the accuracy and applicability of maintenance cost estimation in the built environment.
  • 82
  • 04 Nov 2025
Topic Review
Biochar and Bacillus subtilis Enhance Concrete Performance
This study evaluated the influence of adding biochar and the bacterium Bacillus subtilis on the physical and mechanical properties of concrete designed for a compressive strength of f’c = 280 kg/cm² in Chiclayo, aiming to improve its performance and promote sustainable construction practices in line with SDG 9. Concrete mixes were prepared with four combinations of biochar and Bacillus subtilis (C1, C2, C3, C4). The evaluated properties included physical characteristics as well as compressive, flexural, and tensile strength. Results showed that the mix containing 2% biochar and 4.50% Bacillus subtilis exhibited the best performance, with increases of 4.54% in compressive strength, 6.72% in tensile strength, and 51.70% in flexural strength, attributed to the combined effect of biochar as a microfiller and the bacterium as a biocementing agent. Furthermore, in the modeling of an eight-story building, the experimental concrete demonstrated better structural performance compared to the control, meeting the drift limits established in E.030. These findings indicate that the combined addition of both materials improves density, strength, and linear seismic performance of concrete, positioning it as an innovative and sustainable alternative for the development of more resilient infrastructure.
  • 67
  • 27 Oct 2025
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
High-Performance Tall Buildings: An Overview of Recent Developments
The evolution of tall buildings has been shaped by distinct architectural styles, beginning around 1875 and progressing through various stylistic architectural movements. These changes were driven by advancements in structural engineering and digital design technologies, leading to greater experimentation with form and function. Energy and resource conservation of the late 20th century instigated a noteworthy focus on sustainability. Beyond that, the early 21st century saw a significant shift toward a new breed of tall buildings, a suitable architectural vocabulary for “high-performance” tall buildings, in which sustainability with a focus on energy efficiency is joined with the performance of other active and passive functional systems. This paper presents an overview of high-performance tall buildings by exploring key technologies, materials, innovations, safety, durability, and indoor environmental quality. Strategies that have emerged to address skyscrapers’ environmental and economic challenges are also crucial in such a building. It highlights the importance of optimizing and integrating building systems, improving energy efficiency, minimizing resource consumption, and ensuring long-term occupant health and productivity. Furthermore, this study identifies five key dimensions—structural materials and systems, energy-efficient design, high-performance façades, performance monitoring, and integrating building services systems—demonstrating how these factors contribute to environment-conscious urban development and resilient architectural and engineering design. It is concluded that these buildings are poised to redefine urban environments by leveraging advanced technologies, AI-driven management, IoT interconnectivity, health-focused elements, and climate resilience. Also, tall, high-performance buildings will be increasingly automated to an unknown limit, and AI will play a prominent role in the future.
  • 24
  • 23 Apr 2026
Topic Review
Pavement Condition Index
The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is a numerical rating on a 0–100 scale that expresses the surface condition of a pavement section, where 100 denotes a pavement in perfect condition and 0 denotes a failed pavement [1]. The PCI is derived from a standardized visual survey in which trained inspectors identify visible surface distresses, classify each by severity level (low, medium, high), and measure its quantity over defined sample units [2]. Deduct-value curves convert the distress inventory into weighted deductions, which are then combined by an optimized combination procedure — originally developed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — to yield a single PCI value for each sample unit and, by aggregation, for the section or network [1][3]. The PCI is an indirect measure of structural integrity and functional surface condition; it is not a direct measure of structural capacity, skid resistance, or ride roughness [2]. The method applies to both asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete pavements, each with its own distress catalog, and is standardized in ASTM D6433. It is distinguished from profile-based indices such as the International Roughness Index by being distress-based rather than measurement-based.
  • 14
  • 17 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Fiber Reinforced Polymer
Fiber‑reinforced polymer is a class of two‑phase composite material consisting of discrete reinforcing fibrous phases embedded within a continuous polymer matrix phase [1][2]. The fibrous phase primarily bears applied mechanical loads, while the surrounding polymer matrix transfers stress among individual fibers, constrains fiber position, and provides environmental protection for the reinforcing constituents [2][3]. Its constituent fibrous phase may comprise glass, carbon, aramid, or alternative inorganic and organic fibers, whereas the polymer matrix can be either thermosetting or thermoplastic polymer substances [1][4]. Fiber‑reinforced polymer is defined by its heterogeneous multi‑phase microstructure, in which fibers and polymer matrix retain their distinct original chemical identities without forming homogeneous solid‑solution products during material formation [3][5].
  • 12
  • 14 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Load‑Bearing Capacity
Load‑bearing capacity is a fundamental geotechnical and structural engineering parameter representing the maximum magnitude of external load that a foundation, structural component, or geomaterial system can sustain without experiencing catastrophic failure or excessive irreversible deformation [1][2]. It describes the limiting load state at which the material or structural system reaches its internal strength limit, where shear rupture, plastic collapse, or instability occurs within the loaded domain [3][4]. Load‑bearing capacity accounts for intrinsic material mechanical properties as well as geometric boundary conditions of the element or ground system under consideration [2][5].
  • 11
  • 14 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Ultra‑High‑Performance Concrete
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is a class of cementitious composite characterized by exceptionally high compressive strength, typically exceeding 120 MPa, together with enhanced durability relative to conventional concrete [1]. UHPC is formulated through a densely packed particle matrix consisting of Portland cement, silica fume, fine sand, quartz powder, and high-range water-reducing admixtures, with a water-to-binder ratio generally below 0.25 and no coarse aggregate in most formulations [2]. Steel or synthetic fibers are commonly incorporated at volume fractions of 1–3% to impart tensile ductility and strain-hardening behavior after cracking [3]. The material exhibits low porosity and permeability owing to optimized particle packing and the pozzolanic reaction of silica fume, which confers high resistance to chloride-ion penetration, freeze–thaw cycles, abrasion, and chemical attack [4]. UHPC is distinguished from high-performance concrete not only by its compressive-strength threshold (typically 120–200 MPa) but also by its fracture energy, post-cracking tensile capacity, and dimensional stability under exposure [5].
  • 11
  • 17 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Discrete Element Method
The discrete element method (DEM) is a numerical technique that models the mechanical behavior of discontinuous media by representing the material as an assembly of discrete, interacting bodies whose motion and contact forces are computed explicitly through time-stepping algorithms. Each element is treated as a rigid or deformable particle, block, or clump, and interactions between neighboring elements are resolved through contact detection, contact force laws, and integration of Newton's equations of motion [1]. The method is fundamentally distinguished from continuum finite-element methods in that it does not enforce a continuum assumption; instead, it captures fracture, fragmentation, mixing, segregation, and large deformation as emergent properties of particle-particle contacts. Contact forces are computed using constitutive laws that model normal and shear stiffness, friction, damping, and, in bonded-particle implementations, cementation or cohesive bonds between particles that break when stress thresholds are exceeded [2]. The governing computational cycle consists of detecting all contacts within a time step, applying contact force laws, solving the equations of motion for each body, and updating particle positions and orientations, with the time step constrained by the critical contact oscillation period to ensure numerical stability [3].
  • 11
  • 23 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Water Infrastructure
Water infrastructure is a collective term for the interconnected network of physical engineered assets dedicated to the collection, storage, treatment, conveyance, distribution and disposal of water for municipal, industrial, agricultural and environmental purposes [1]. Its constituent facilities include raw water intake structures, water treatment plants, storage reservoirs, pumping stations, pressurised water supply pipe networks, sanitary sewer collection pipelines and wastewater treatment facilities [2]. This concept refers exclusively to physical hardware systems and built assets. Institutional management mechanisms, regulatory policy frameworks, water resource allocation rules and pricing mechanisms are not components of the water infrastructure definition itself, although they interact with and govern the operation of these physical assets [3].
  • 9
  • 21 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Thin-Walled Structures
Thin-walled structures are structural systems in which one dimension, the wall thickness, is substantially smaller than the other two geometric dimensions, typically by a ratio on the order of one hundred or more. The category encompasses plates, shells, built-up cold-formed sections, and tubular members whose structural behavior is governed by thin-wall theory rather than solid-mechanics assumptions [1]. The defining mechanical characteristic is that stresses through the thickness are essentially uniform, while bending and membrane action dominate the load-carrying mechanism. Thin-walled members exhibit distinctive instability phenomena, including local buckling, distortional buckling, flexural-torsional buckling, and shear buckling, which arise because the slender cross-sectional elements are prone to out-of-plane deformations under compressive stress [2]. The analysis of such structures requires shell theory or finite-element formulations that account for membrane stiffness, bending stiffness, and geometric nonlinearity, as classical beam theory based on Euler-Bernoulli assumptions is insufficient when cross-section deformation cannot be neglected [3]. The thin-wall geometric ratio is the fundamental parameter that determines whether plate-buckling, shell-buckling, or global member-buckling modes govern the structural response.
  • 7
  • 23 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Climate Disaster Resilience
Climate disaster resilience is the capacity of a system, community, or region exposed to climate-related hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions. The concept integrates exposure, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity into a dynamic property that evolves as hazards intensify and social conditions change [1]. It is characterized by four functional properties: robustness of critical infrastructure to withstand physical impact, redundancy of alternative systems to absorb failure, rapid recovery speed to restore operations, and adaptive capacity to learn and transform after each event. Resilience is distinguished from vulnerability and from hazard mitigation: whereas vulnerability describes susceptibility to harm, resilience describes the system's intrinsic ability to maintain function under stress and reorganize after disruption. The operational measurement of resilience combines physical infrastructure fragility, social capital and equity, institutional governance capacity, and ecosystem services that buffer climate extremes, all assessed at geographic scales ranging from individual buildings to national policy frameworks [2]. The conceptual model treats resilience not as a static target but as a continuous adaptive process shaped by iterative exposure, response, and recovery cycles under changing climate forcing [3].
  • 7
  • 23 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Wave-Structure Interaction
Wave-structure interaction is the hydrodynamic phenomenon describing the mutual dynamic coupling between surface gravity waves and submerged or floating solid bodies, wherein the wave field exerts time-varying pressure and force on the structure while the structure's presence modifies the local wave field through reflection, diffraction, transmission, and radiation. The problem is formulated as a boundary-value problem in which the fluid domain satisfies Laplace's equation under the assumption of inviscid, irrotational flow, and the body surface imposes a kinematic boundary condition that matches fluid particle velocity to structural motion [1]. Linear potential theory decomposes the solution into incident waves that would exist without the structure, diffracted waves caused by the fixed body blocking the wave field, and radiated waves generated by the body's own oscillatory motion. The hydrodynamic force on the body is then expressed as the sum of Froude-Krylov pressure from undisturbed incident waves, diffraction forces from the scattering body, and radiation forces that include added-mass and wave-damping terms proportional to body acceleration and velocity [2]. The motion equations couple these hydrodynamic coefficients to structural mass, stiffness, and mooring restoring forces, yielding the frequency response of the structure to irregular sea states described by wave spectral density functions [3].
  • 6
  • 23 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Self-Compacting Concrete
Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a highly flowable, non-segregating concrete that can flow and consolidate under its own weight, completely filling the formwork and encapsulating congested reinforcement without any mechanical vibration [1]. Its deformability, passing ability, and resistance to segregation are achieved through a powder-rich binder system, reduced coarse-aggregate content (typically below 50% of total aggregate), and the combined use of high-range water-reducing (superplasticizing) and viscosity-modifying admixtures [2]. SCC is characterized by fresh-state tests such as the slump-flow, V-funnel, L-box, U-box, and J-ring tests, which quantify filling ability, passing ability, and resistance to static and dynamic segregation; EFNARC classifies SCC by filling, passing, and segregation-resistance classes and specifies minimum slump-flow ranges by application [1]. Unlike conventional concrete, which requires external vibration to expel entrapped air, SCC achieves uniform consolidation by self-weight while maintaining homogeneity during transport, placing, and finishing, and it exhibits hardened-state properties comparable to those of vibrated concretes of equivalent strength [3].
  • 4
  • 18 Sep 2026
Topic Review
Construction and Demolition Waste
Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) is the waste stream arising from the construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings, civil-engineering structures, and infrastructure, including excavated soil and residues from road planning and maintenance [1]. Under European waste legislation, C&D waste is formally identified with the waste codes listed in Chapter 17 of the European List of Wastes and comprises materials such as concrete, bricks, tiles, ceramics, wood, glass, metals, plastics, gypsum plasterboard, and uncontaminated excavated soil from construction and demolition operations, while explicitly excluding naturally occurring material and specified hazardous fractions that are classified separately [1]. The category is distinguished from municipal solid waste and from industrial-process waste by its origin in building and civil-engineering works, and it is typically heterogeneous, bulky, and dense relative to domestic waste; individual components may be hazardous (e.g., asbestos-containing materials or chemically treated wood) or non-hazardous, and the stream is commonly managed by source separation, sorting, crushing, and recycling into aggregates, fill, or backfill [2][3].
  • 3
  • 18 Sep 2026
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