{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:28:20Z","timestamp":1785403700043,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783987200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["52268046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52268046"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["52268046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52268046"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Research and Development Project of Xinjiang Transportation Investment Group Co., Ltd.","award":["XJJTZ-KX-FWCG-202312-0507"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XJJTZ-KX-FWCG-202312-0507"]}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Projects of Xinjiang Transportation Investment Group Co., Ltd.","award":["ZKXFWCG2024080484"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZKXFWCG2024080484"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To evaluate the durability of desert sand concrete (DSC) in a semi-buried saline-alkali soil environment, this study examined DSC with a 30% desert sand replacement rate, using ordinary concrete (OC) as a control. A 180-day mixed salt attack test was conducted under continuous axial compressive loads (0, 30% fc, and 50% fc) and semi-immersion in a mixed salt solution (5% NaCl + 5% Na2SO4). Macroscopic and microscopic tests were conducted to reveal the damage evolution patterns of DSC, and a life prediction model was established using a nonlinear Wiener process. The results indicate that after 180 days of semi-immersion, under identical exposure media and load levels, DSC exhibited overall better durability retention compared with OC. A 30% fc load helped reduce pore connectivity in the DSC, suppressing the development of harmful and highly harmful pores and delaying performance degradation, whereas a 50% fc load promoted microcrack propagation and pore connectivity, accelerating degradation. Under mixed salt semi-immersion conditions, the \u201cwick effect\u201d caused distinct regional damage in DSC; compared with the corresponding soaking section, the adsorption section showed 3.84\u20135.17% lower Kn values for compressive strength and a 25.57\u201342.52% higher proportion of harmful and highly harmful pores. The developed nonlinear Wiener model can reasonably characterize the relative degradation process of DSC under different exposure conditions, and the predicted trends are in good agreement with the results of macro- and micro-scale analyses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19143026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T10:12:53Z","timestamp":1784023973000},"page":"3026","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Damage Characteristics and Life Prediction of Desert Sand Concrete Under the Combined Effect of Continuous Axial Compressive Loading and Semi-Immersion in Mixed Salt"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Yuan","family":"Tian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, China"},{"name":"Xinjiang Academy of Transportation Sciences Co., Ltd., Urumqi 830000, China"},{"name":"Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Highway Engineering Technology in Arid Desert Region, Urumqi 830047, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lei","family":"Gong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, China"},{"name":"Jiefubeng Expressway Branch, Anhui Transportation Holding Group Co., Ltd., Bengbu 233500, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ling","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0717-0953","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yongjun","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaozhe","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1080\/14488353.2021.1971596","article-title":"Pertinence of alternative fine aggregates for concrete and mortar: A brief review on river sand substitutions","volume":"20","author":"Branavan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Aust. 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