RA V13 N1, Message from the Editor in Chief (January - April, 2023)

Abstract

JOURNAL OF THE LATIN-AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF QUALITY CONTROL, PATHOLOGY AND RECOVERY OF CONSTRUCTION

http://www.revistaalconpat.org

It is a source of satisfaction and joy for the Revista ALCONPAT team to see the first issue of our thirteenth year published.

The objective of the Revista ALCONPAT (RA) is the publication of contributions resulting from basic or applied research directly related to the solution of problems related to quality control, pathology and recovery of constructions, being welcome in these areas related case studies.

This V13N1 edition begins with a paper from Brazil, where Andreza Frare and colleagues compare the performance of Canada and Brazil in studies related to the alkaline aggregate reaction (AAR) in concrete, through a qualitative, quantitative, and systematic review of the literature, in addition to using the VOSviewer software for co-citation and bibliographic coupling. The data collected indicates that Canada is the country that stands out the most in terms of AAR research in the world, while Brazil is in seventh position. The paper presented the research between the two countries, the existing methodologies to evaluate AAR and the research panorama on the subject in Brazil. Finally, the work showed that among the emerging issues on RAA there are knowledge gaps.

In the second work, Félix Ramírez-Cervantes and colleagues from Mexico develop a rule-based system that supports the determination of the structural health of multi-story buildings. Hardware description techniques are used through programmable logic using entity integration and hierarchical design with VHDL programming. The system is embedded in an FPGA that, through an algorithm, integrates a first stage where a group of ultrasound sensors collect a measurement that is interpreted to obtain the relative displacement of the story. In the second stage, an inference engine performs the evaluation. Results are presented using an experimental model where it is verified that the system is capable of determining the stability of the structure based on the relative displacement of the story.

The third article comes from Uruguay, where Patricia Vila and colleagues analyze the degree of alkali-silica reactivity defined according to the expansion limits adopted by international regulations, applying different test methodologies (mortar bar, concrete prism-accelerated methodology and concrete prism-traditional methodology) in a total of 19 aggregate samples. 37% of the samples present a different degree of reactivity comparing the mortar bar (14 days) and the concrete prism with traditional methodology and no correlation is observed in the expansion obtained by both. 26% of the samples presents a different degree of reactivity between the concrete prism with the accelerated methodology and with the traditional methodology, observing a correlation in the expansion obtained by both methodologies. In addition, due to the duration of the test, the use of the accelerated methodology in concrete is suggested to evaluate the reactivity of the aggregate.

In the fourth article from Brazil, Maria Silva Freitas and Gibson Rocha Meira study the transport capacity of chloride ions in concrete with additions of metakaolin and fly ash. To do this, they carry out surface electrical resistivity and chloride ion diffusion tests (NT Build 443). As a result, it was observed that the use of the additions used was efficient in delaying the entry of chloride ions, reducing the diffusion coefficient, Dns, and increasing the surface electrical resistivity, p, in the studied materials. The general relationship between Dns and p for the concretes studied can be expressed as Dns = 2.7E-7*p-0.475, and the relationship between accumulated chlorides in the concrete and surface electrical resistivity can be expressed as Clacum = 4.09-0.20945p.

The fifth article, by Alexander López and colleagues, from Mexico, evaluates the performance of sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) as a filler in self-compacting concrete (SCC) mixtures, added at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% by weight of cement. The ash was characterized using FTIR, XRF, and XRD. The workability properties of SCC were determined using slump flow, J-ring, L-box, V-funnel, Visual Stability Index, and compressive strength tests. According to the results, percentages of 10 to 20% in SCC mixtures achieved satisfactory performance, demonstrating outstanding workability and compressive strength parameters compared to similar works published in the literature.

The sixth article in this issue was written by Alberto Hernández Oroza from Cuba. He evaluates different SonReb models for estimating the compressive strength of reinforced concrete elements made with Cuban cement and aggregates. Sclerometry index and ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements were taken on nine columns designed with a P-35 ordinary Portland cement mixture. Eight models were compared, of which those proposed by RILEM and Tanigawa et al. showed an error of less than 4% with respect to the reference value, determined by specimen breakage. The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of using the models for estimating the compressive strength of concrete using Cuban materials.

The closing article is by Almir Barros da S. Santos Neto and colleagues from Brazil, who analyze the effects of thermal variation and drying shrinkage on a building with cast-in-place concrete walls. The building's walls and slabs were discretized in SAP2000 using the Finite Element Method. The principal tensile stresses in the walls and roof slab are analyzed, and the Serviceability Limit State of Crack Formation is verified. The results show that the effects of temperature and drying shrinkage of the concrete allow the development of principal tensile stresses greater than the concrete tensile strength specified in NBR 6118 (ABNT, 2014). It is found that thermal and shrinkage loads can result in cracking of the walls and roof slab.

We are confident that the articles in this issue will constitute an important reference for readers involved in the evaluation and characterization of materials, elements, and structures. We thank the authors participating in this issue for their willingness and effort to submit quality articles and meet the established deadlines.

At the beginning of 2023, I must express my deep gratitude to the original editorial team and to those who have joined this initiative that has brought us to where we are today. But without a doubt, the greatest recognition goes to our article authors, who have trusted our journal and invested time, money, and effort to publish their research with us, despite the fact that many of them had better options at the time. This recognition extends to our readers, like you, who read us and cite the RA internationally.

At the close of this V13 N1 2023, 12 years after we began operations, our performance as Revista Alconpat was finally rewarded with our inclusion in one of the two best journal indexes, Elsevier's Scopus. Our membership in Scopus began its historic run on December 29, 2022, the date on which we received Elsevier's approval. This is yet another reason for celebration for our community, which has made a scientific investment in our journal, hoping for moments like this. Congratulations to all.

By the Editorial Board

Pedro Castro Borges   

Editor in Chefe