The growing demand for energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable building materials has led to an increasing interest in hybrid timber-concrete construction. These structures combine the advantages of the two materials, potentially reducing the carbon footprint, shortening construction timelines, and improving seismic and building physics performance. Herein the structural and environmental performance of ten-story timber-concrete hybrid and a pure concrete building, designed for the Guizhou Province, China, were compared. The structural analysis revealed a significant reduction in the self-weight and base shear of the hybrid structure. The life-cycle analysis demonstrated that the hybrid building outperformed the concrete building in six categories, including global warming potential, acidification potential, human health particulate, eutrophication potential, ozone depletion potential, and photochemical ozone formation potential. Notably, the hybrid building exhibited nearly 65% lower emissions in terms of global warming potential. Moreover, the inclusion of wood components offered the added benefit of carbon storage throughout their lifespan. These findings provide compelling support for the development and implementation of high-rise timber-based hybrid buildings in China. The advantages observed in both structural and environmental aspects encourage the adoption of this innovative construction approach, contributing to sustainable and eco-friendly building practices.

Steel trusses are widely utilized in engineering structures, and their optimization is essential for enhancing structural performance and reducing material consumption. Existing optimization methods for steel trusses predominantly rely on the trial-and-error method, which is not only inefficient but also inaccurate. Therefore, this study focused on the optimization of steel trusses using an efficient and accurate optimization methodology. Based on a genetic algorithm and the finite element method, both mono- and multi-parameter optimization designs for steel trusses were executed, an applicable optimization design method for steel trusses was established, and corresponding optimization design programs were developed. The analysis demonstrates that the proposed optimization method effectively optimizes truss height and member cross-section, leading to a significant reduction in material consumption. Compared to the traditional trial-and-error method, the proposed optimization method exhibits adequate calculation accuracy and superior optimization efficiency, thereby providing a robust theoretical foundation for the engineering design of steel trusses.

Engineering Cementitious Composites (ECC) has gained significant attention in civil engineering due to its excellent tensile strength, crack width control capability, and remarkable ductility. This study examines the influence of the ECC strength and reinforcement on the flexural behavior of ECC slabs through four-point flexural tests. The results demonstrate that ECC is well suited for flexural applications. During flexural tests, the fibers within the ECC provide a bridging effect, allowing the ECC in the tensile zone to sustain a load while developing a dense network of fine microcracks at failure. This characteristic significantly enhances the crack resistance of ECC slabs. Despite the relatively low flexural capacity of unreinforced ECC slabs, they achieve 59.2% of the capacity of reinforced ECC slabs with a reinforcement ratio of 1.02%, demonstrating the potential for using unreinforced ECC in low-load-bearing applications. Further findings reveal that high-strength ECC (HSECC) not only improves the flexural capacity of unreinforced ECC slabs but also maintains excellent ductility, enabling a better balance between the load-bearing capacity and deformation ability. However, while reinforcement enhances both the flexural capacity and energy absorption, an excessively high reinforcement ratio significantly compromises ductility. Additionally, this study proposes a simplified calculation method for the flexural capacity of ECC slabs based on the axial force and moment equilibrium, providing theoretical support for their design and application. Due to their excellent flexural behavior, ECC slabs exhibit significant potential for use in flexural components such as bridge deck slabs and link slabs in simply supported beam bridges. With continued research and optimization, their application in engineering practice is expected to become more widespread, thereby improving the cracking resistance and durability of concrete structures.