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Vinyl ester is a thermoset matrix resin that is widely used in the coating industry. The presence of glass flakes further enhances the anti-corrosion performance of this coating. This paper reports the nanoscaled characterization of glass flake filled vinyl ester anti-corrosion coatings on mild steel. Bond strength properties of one uncoated and four coated samples with different thicknesses (300, 600, 900 and 1200 μm) were studied using nanoscratch technique and ASTM Standard Test. It was found that the bond strength of coating with thickness 900 μm was the highest. The frequency distributions of elastic modulus on coating with 900 μm thickness determined using nanoindentation indicated that only 20–25% of the coating is composed of glass flakes and the balance is vinyl ester matrix. The critical depth at which the material is subject to failure due to external load and abrasion, was found to be around 100 nm.

The use of microsilica (MS), a by-product of smelting process in the silicon and ferrosilicon industry, to replace some part of cement in concrete has now become very popular in construction industry. Nanosilica (NS), on the other hand, is also known to improve various properties of concrete. However, NS is still a relatively new material, and its price is much higher compared to that of MS. Therefore, from economy point of view, it is better to use NS in combination with MS. In this research the amount of MS and NS was optimized using Response Surface Method (RSM). Two independent variables (MS and NS content) were evaluated in three levels—minimum, maximum and midpoint of the experimental domain. The replacement levels for MS were 5% and 10% (by cement wt.) and those for NS were 1% and 2% (by cement wt.). Nine concrete mixes were prepared and three responses (compressive strength, RCPT and sorptivity) were measured.

Sustainability has become one of the most important considerations in building design and construction in recent years. Concrete is susceptible to acid attack because of its alkaline nature. The socioeconomic losses associated with infrastructure deterioration due to acid attack exceed billions of dollars all around the world. An experimental investigation was carried out to study the behaviour of sustainable concrete in 3% sulphuric acid and 1.5% nitric acid environment in which cement was replaced by a combination of fly ash and ultra fine fly ash. It was found that the compressive strength loss of concrete in these acid environments was the minimum in which cement was replaced by 30% fly ash and 10% ultra fine fly ash. This mix also showed the lowest mass loss when exposed to these acids.

This paper reports the effects of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on nanoscaled mechanical properties of cement composites. CNFs were added to cement composites at the filler loading of 0.2 wt % (by wt. of cement). Micrographs based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that CNFs are capable of forming strong interfacial bonding with cement matrices. Experimental results using nanoindentation reveal that the addition of CNFs in cement composites increases the proportions of high-density calcium-silicate-hydrate gel (HD-CSH) compared to low-density CSH gel.It was also found that the inclusion of CNFs increases the compressive strength of cement composites.

In this study, nanoindentation was conducted to extract the load-displacement behaviour and the nanomechanical properties of asphalt concrete across the mastic, matrix, and aggregate phases. Further, the performance of hydrated lime as an additive was assessed across the three phases. The hydrated lime containing samples have greater resistance to deformation in the mastic and matrix phases, in particular, the mastic. There is strong evidence suggesting that hydrated lime has the most potent effect on the mastic phase, with significant increase in hardness and stiffness.

© 2017 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. In its most basic form, the main cementitious material in concrete is the Portland cement. However, most concrete mixes contain supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), which replaces some part of cement. SCMs are used to improve the performance of concrete both in its fresh and hardened state. Some of the commonly used SCMs in concrete are fly ash, microsilica, ground granulated blast furnace slag and metakaolin. Metakaolin (MK) is a thermally activated alumino-silicate material obtained by calcining kaolin clay within the temperature range 650-800°C. An important difference between MK and other SCMs is that MK is a primary product, whilst others are either secondary products or by-products. Therefore, MK can be produced with a controlled process to achieve the desired properties. In recent years, MK has been increasingly used to produce high-strength and high-performance concrete with improved durability properties. This chapter provides an overview on the use of MK as a SCM in concrete production.

© 2017, IGI Global. All rights reserved. The application of nanomaterials in various applied fields has gained worldwide recognition. Nanomaterials have the ability to manipulate the structure at nano-scale. This leads to the generation of tailored and multifunctional composites with improved mechanical and durability performance. Recognizing this, the construction industry recently has started to use a variety of nanomaterials. The use of these materials is found to improve various fundamental characteristics of construction materials including the strength, durability, and lightness. In this chapter an attempt is made to review the use of various nanomaterials in cementitous system. This is followed by a discussion of the challenges related to their use. Finally, the strategies for using nanomaterials in construction industry for the next ten years are identified.

The nanomechanical properties of cementitious materials determined by nanoindentation largely depend on the surface roughness and intrinsicmaterial porosity of the samples. Studies have shown that high surface roughness causes an overall reduction in themeasured indentationmodulus and hardness. Therefore, it is important to reduce the surface roughness to a desirable value by means of polishing. However, polishing causes damage to the cementmatrix. Thus, the most challenging task is to obtain a reasonable surface roughness with minimumdisturbance to themicrostructure of the samples. This paper discusses an effective surface preparation technique that wouldmeet the roughness criteria for nanoindentation. With the application of Taguchimethod, the optimumparameter combinations and relative contributions of various controlling factors such as force, speed, and time of polishing were determined. A second-order response surfacemodel was developed based on signal to noise ratio to establish the relationship between the controlling factors and surface roughness. Finally, the predicted surface roughness values from both Taguchi method and response surfacemodel were compared with the experimental values of the optimized confirmation runs and a good agreement was achieved.

This paper presents the effects of nano-SiO 2 and nano-CaCO 3 on the microstructure of high-volume fly ash (HVFA) cement paste. The microstructures of HVFA cement pastes containing 40 and 60% Class F fly ash were evaluated at 28 days using nanoindentation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (DTA/TGA), and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) analyses. A reduction of calcium hydroxide (CH) was seen in XRD analysis of HVFA pastes containing nanoparticles. This observation was also confirmed in the DTA/TGA analysis. The nanoindentation results also showed the evidence of pozzolanic reaction in the HVFA pastes, where the addition of 2% nano-SiO 2 and 1% nano-CaCO 3 increased the volume fractions of high-density and low-density calcium silicate hydrate (C- S- H) gels and confirmed the ability of nanoparticles to reduce the porosity of HVFA pastes, which was consistent with the MIP analysis. The improved nanostructure and microstructure of HVFA pastes due to the addition of nano-SiO 2 and nano-CaCO 3 in this study show that high-strength and highly durable sustainable concrete can be produced with lower repair and maintenance requirements for the concrete structures.

This review exclusively addresses material systems primarily based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), one of the most popular water-soluble biopolymers, for their use in packaging applications with the primary objective of reducing petrobased plastic waste. In addition, some typical PVA blends and nanocomposites are discussed as comparative studies for material packaging. Structural characteristics, mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties, in addition to biodegradation of these multiple material systems are summarized in a systematic manner. Finally, associated fabrication processing methods together with the most popular theoretical models used for the permeability of PVA nanocomposites are also reviewed in detail.

© 2016 IEEE. Many cloud-based applications employ a data centers as a central server to process data that is generated by edge devices, such as smartphones, tablets and wearables. This model places ever increasing demands on communication and computational infrastructure with inevitable adverse effect on Quality-of-Service and Experience. The concept of Edge Computing is predicated on moving some of this computational load towards the edge of the network to harness computational capabilities that are currently untapped in edge nodes, such as base stations, routers and switches. This position paper considers the challenges and opportunities that arise out of this new direction in the computing landscape.

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. Cloud data centres are implemented as large-scale clusters with demanding requirements for service performance, availability and cost of operation. As a result of scale and complexity, data centres typically exhibit large numbers of system anomalies resulting from operator error, resource over/under provisioning, hardware or software failures and security issus anomalies are inherently difficult to identify and resolve promptly via human inspection. Therefore, it is vital in a cloud system to have automatic system monitoring that detects potential anomalies and identifies their source. In this paper we present a lightweight anomaly detection tool for Cloud data centres which combines extended log analysis and rigorous correlation of system metrics, implemented by an efficient correlation algorithm which does not require training or complex infrastructure set up. The LADT algorithm is based on the premise that there is a strong correlation between node level and VM level metrics in a cloud system. This correlation will drop significantly in the event of any performance anomaly at the node-level and a continuous drop in the correlation can indicate the presence of a true anomaly in the node. The log analysis of LADT assists in determining whether the correlation drop could be caused by naturally occurring cloud management activity such as VM migration, creation, suspension, termination or resizing. In this way, any potential anomaly alerts are reasoned about to prevent false positives that could be caused by the cloud operator’s activity. We demonstrate LADT with log analysis in a Cloud environment to show how the log analysis is combined with the correlation of systems metrics to achieve accurate anomaly detection.

This study investigated the effects of nano-silica on flowability, strength development, sorptivity and acid resistance properties of fly ash geopolymer mortars cured at 20 C. The changes in mass, compressive strength and microstructure of the specimens after immersion in acid solutions for different durations were determined. The microstructures were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. It was found that addition of nanosilica in geopolymer mortars based on fly ash alone or fly ash blended with 15% GGBFS or 10% OPC improved the compactness of microstructure by reducing porosity. Thus, the nano-silica reduced sorptivity and increased compressive strength of the mixes. The average mass loss after 90 days of immersion in acid solutions reduced from 6.0% to 1.9% by addition of 2% nano-silica. Similarly, significant reduction in strength loss after immersion in acid solution was observed in the specimens by using nano-silica.

This paper presents the mechanical properties of fibre reinforced high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concretes measured at 7 and 28 days. The effects of three class F fly ash contents of 40%, 50%, and 60% by wt. as a partial replacement of cement and two types of fibres (steel and polypropylene) with three different volume fractions of 0.15%, 0.25%, and 0.50%, on the compressive, tensile and flexural strengths of HVFA concretes are studied. Test results show that the addition of fibres (steel and polypropylene) reduces the workability of HVFA concretes and the workability decreases with increase in volume fractions of fibres and increases with increase in fly ash contents. The compressive, tensile and flexural strengths of all HVFA concretes increased due to addition of steel and polypropylene fibres and the above values also increased with increase in fibre volume fractions. Among all fibre reinforced HVFA concretes, the concrete containing 40% fly ash exhibited the highest mechanical properties at both ages. The steel fibre volume fraction of 0.5% exhibited the highest compressive, tensile and flexural strengths of HVFA concretes containing 40% fly ash and the improvement was by 73%, 40% and 36%, respectively. However, in the case of polypropylene fibre the above improvements were only 44%, 29% and 20%, respectively. This can be attributed to the lower elastic modulus and tensile strength of polypropylene fibres than steel fibre. Correlations among compressive, tensile and flexural strengths of the above concretes are also established.

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Use of nano-silica is gaining wider attention due to its significant effect on the microstructural and mechanical properties of Portland cement based binders. Effects of the incorporation of nano-silica in fly ash based geopolymer binders have been investigated in this study. Low-calcium fly ash was used as the principal source of aluminosilicate and it was blended with either blast furnace slag or Portland cement at small percentages in order to accelerate the curing at room temperature. Nano-silica was used at a rate up to 3% of the total binder in order to understand its effect on the strength and microstructural development. The experimental results show that the strength and microstructural properties could be further developed with inclusion of nano-silica in geopolymer mixes. Compressive strength increased with the increase of nano-silica content up to 2%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed denser microstructures with well-connected interlocking morphology for the optimum nano-silica dosage. The strength increase is contributed by densification of the microstructure with the addition of nano-silica.

© 2015, IGI Global. All rights reserved. Thermal spray is a generic term used to define a group of coating processes used to apply both metallic and non-metallic coatings. These coatings are usually defined by their hardness, strength, porosity, roughness, and wear resistance. In this chapter, the authors turn their attention to the mechanical and tribological properties of thermal spray coatings. The individual phase plays a very important role in determining the performance of the coating. However, evaluating the mechanical and tribological properties at a nano-level requires new test methods and their validation. In this chapter, elaborate discussion of some techniques to evaluate and analyze the mechanical and tribological properties of different thermal spray coatings is done. This chapter is intended to help the reader to firstly understand the basic principle and methods of characterization of thermal spray coatings using instrumented nanoindentation, nanoscratch, abrasive wear testing techniques, and secondly to get an idea of the recent techniques and review the research and development in the same field.

Cloud data centres are critical business infrastructures and the fastest growing service providers. Detecting anomalies in Cloud data centre operation is vital. Given the vast complexity of the data centre system software stack, applications and workloads, anomaly detection is a challenging endeavour. Current tools for detecting anomalies often use machine learning techniques, application instance behaviours or system metrics distribution, which are complex to implement in Cloud computing environments as they require training, access to application-level data and complex processing. This paper presents LADT, a lightweight anomaly detection tool for Cloud data centres that uses rigorous correlation of system metrics, implemented by an efficient correlation algorithm without need for training or complex infrastructure set up. LADT is based on the hypothesis that, in an anomaly-free system, metrics from data centre host nodes and virtual machines (VMs) are strongly correlated. An anomaly is detected whenever correlation drops below a threshold value. We demonstrate and evaluate LADT using a Cloud environment, where it shows that the hosting node I/O operations per second (IOPS) are strongly correlated with the aggregated virtual machine IOPS, but this correlation vanishes when an application stresses the disk, indicating a node-level anomaly.

The use of fly ash improves the performance of concrete in its fresh and hardened states. This enables the concrete industry to use hundreds of millions of tonnes of this by-product material, which would otherwise be landfilled, as a waste. This also allows the concrete producer to design and modify the concrete mix to suit the desired application. The fly ash concrete system offers a holistic approach that can help us to achieve the goals of meeting the rising demands for concrete, enhancement of concrete durability with little or no increase in cost (in some instances reduced cost), and ecological disposal of large quantities of the solid waste products from coal-fired power plants. Several laboratory and field investigations involving concrete containing fly ash had reported to exhibit excellent mechanical and durability properties. However, due its conservative nature the construction industry is still not fully utilizing the potential benefits of using fly ash in concrete production. In this chapter an attempt is made to review first the origin, properties and current knowledge of fly ash as reported in the literature. This is followed by a discussion on the utilisation of fly ash in construction and the potential issues related to their use. Finally, areas of further research have been identified.

The application of nanomaterials in various applied field has gained worldwide recognition. Nanomaterials have the ability to manipulate the structure at nano-scale. This leads to the generation of tailored and multifunctional composites with improved mechanical and durability performance. Recognizing this, the construction industry recently has started to use a variety of nanomaterials. The use of these materials is found to improve various fundamental characteristics of construction materials including the strength, durability and lightness. In this chapter an attempt is made to review the use of various nanomaterials in cementitous system. This is followed by a discussion on the challenges related to their use. Finally, the strategies for using nanomaterials in construction industry for the next ten years have been identified.

The influence of nano- and microsilica addition on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes has been studied in terms of hydration and microstructural properties. Three different combinations of nano- and microsilica mixes were used. A constant water-binder ratio of 0.35 was maintained throughout the experiment. All samples were tested for initial and final setting time and compressive strengths were determined at the age of 3, 7, 28, and 90 days of hydration. The hydration products were examined by SDT and XRD analysis at various curing ages. The inclusion of nano- and microsilica reduced the initial and final setting time significantly, increased the compressive strength of hardened cement paste after 7 days of hydration, and reduced the amount of calcium hydroxide in the hardened paste compared to mixes without these nanoparticles.

Nanoindentation technique is used to assess the mechanical properties of materials at nano-level. A very small tip (usually diamond) produces indents at the surface of the material to be tested. A load vs. deflection curve is generated and is used to study the elastic properties of materials. Generally, it is used for obtaining the hardness and Young’s modulus of materials at nano-meter scale. Currently, the method to evaluate the mechanical properties by nanoindentation is restricted to homogeneous materials. Cement-based materials are heterogeneous in nature. Therefore, nanoindentation study of cement-based materials is critical and requires several important steps, which need to be performed accurately. This chapter provides a review of the theory of nanoindentation, instruments being used for nanoindentation, sample preparation techniques, indentation strategy, and determination of nanomechanical properties and data analysis for cement-based materials.

In this study, the properties of vinyl ester/glass flake (VE/GF) coating on mild steel plates was investigated to determine its anti-corrosion performance. The corrosion penetration rate of VE/GF coated and uncoated mild steel was evaluated using immersion tests for 20 days. Corrosion resistance of the coating was evaluated in various corrosive environments viz. 5% HCl, 8% HCl, 5% NaOH and 7% NaOH. The mild steel plates were coated with four different thicknesses of VE/GF coating and a comparative analysis was carried out to evaluate the corrosion protection efficiency. Scanning electron microscopy was carried out before and after the immersion test to study the morphological changes and products of corrosion.

Nanotechnology has changed and will continue to change our vision, expectations and abilities to control the materials world. It is for these reasons, nanotechnology has recently become one of the hottest areas in research worldwide, and attracted considerable attention both in the media and in the investment community. Construction is unique, in that its products in the form of individual building and civil infrastructures are typically constructed from a vast combination of both conventional and new ‘high-tech” materials, using a relatively limited number of processes. Advances in productivity of the construction industry in the 20th century were slow, and development of its technology lagged behind that of other industry sectors. Nanotechnology is a route to achieving real competitive and sustainable growth and innovation within the construction industry. This scientific approach is essential if the potential for a new generation of materials, which are of both high performance and more economically viable is to be realised. This chapter provides an overview of the current development, perceptions and future potential of nanotechnology in civil infrastructures.

Use of recycled waste glass in Portland cement and concrete has attracted a lot of interest worldwide due to the increased disposal cost and environmental concern. Being amorphous and containing relatively large quantities of reactive silica, glass is pozzolanic in nature when it is finely ground. Thus, it can be used as cement replacement as well as aggregate in cement and concrete. Attempt has therefore been made in the present work to investigate experimentally the effects of white ground glass on hardened properties of concrete. Experiments were conducted to study the feasibility of using glass sand and glass powder to substitute natural sand. It was observed that the mechanical properties such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength decrease as the replacement level increases. However, the long-term trend is that the values of these properties tend to increase. Thus, it may be concluded that ground glass can be used in concrete to replace some part of and fine aggregate.

The properties of concrete are strongly influenced by the properties of its components and hydrates at the nanoscale. Therefore, application of nanotechnology in cement and concrete science will engender new opportunities for improvement of strength and durability of concrete. The objective of this chapter is to advance the science and engineering of nanotechnology in modifying and monitoring the behaviour and performance of cement and concrete at the nanoscale. The chapter assists in the identification of promising new research and innovations in concrete materials using nanotechnology that can result in improved mechanical properties, volume change properties, durability, and sustainability. The chapter also provides a unique base for scientists, engineers, and practitioners to help set the future direction of the use of nanotechnology in cement and concrete science.

The global development and current trends in social attitude are resulting in an increase in the amount of waste generated by society, the treatment and disposal of which are becoming a serious problem. Therefore, waste management is one of the most important aspects in ensuring sustainable development in today’s world. Some of the industrial by-products, such as pulverised-fuel ash (PFA), ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) and microsilica (MS) can be used in concrete to improve its properties. In this paper the influence of various by-products on the physical properties of concrete is reviewed.

This research is aimed at investigating the effect of elevated temperature, curing duration and curing methods on the strength recovery of lightweight concrete. Concrete specimens were subjected to elevated temperatures ranging from 300 to 600°C in a controlled heating environment. The specimens were subjected to three types of curing conditions: continuous water curing at 27°C, curing in a relative humidity of 95% at 27°C and curing in water at 60°C for three days and then curing in water at 27°C. The curing duration ranged from 7 to 56 days. The results indicated that there-curing of concrete for the recovery of compressive strength is most effective in the temperature range from 300 to 500°C. For temperatures outside the range of 300 to 500°C, re-curing was either not effective or had limited application.

This research was aimed at developing novel form-stable composite phase change material (PCM) by incorporation of Lauryl alcohol (LA) into Kaolin (KO) through vacuum impregnation. The composite PCM was characterized by using SEM and FT-IR. Thermal properties, thermal stability and reliability of the composite were determined by using DSC, TGA and thermal cycling test. Thermal performance of cement paste composite PCM panel was also evaluated. Test results showed that the maximum fraction of LA retained in KO was 24%. SEM images showed that LA was held by the porous and layered structure of KO due to the effect of capillary and surface tension forces. FT-IR results indicated that the composite PCM has good chemical stability and the interaction between LA and KO is physical. The melting temperature and latent heat of the composite PCM were measured as 19.14 C and 48.08 J/g by DSC analysis. TGA and thermal cycling test revealed that the composite PCM is thermally stable and reliable. Thermal performance test showed that the cement paste panel with composite PCM reduced the indoor temperature by 4 C. It can therefore be concluded that the prepared composite PCM is a potential candidate for thermal energy storage in buildings.

In this paper various alternative strategies for the refurbishment of an end-terraced house built in 1909 located in Loughborough, UK have been discussed. The existing house has a SAP rating of 41 and an EPC rating band E. The total CO2 emission of the house is 7.737 tonnes per year. The house spends £1436.66 pa out of a total income of £11,377.00, which means that 12.6% of its income is spent on fuel bill, and can be considered to be in fuel poverty. In order to select the most cost and energy efficient refurbishment measures to be implemented in the house various measures were considered one by one using SAP. The installation costs, reduction in energy demand, energy cost and CO2 emissions and the simple payback time of each measure were studied. Based on this, three options have been considered whereby various measures are combined to analyse the overall impact on the energy efficiency of the house. Option 2 is recommended as the best refurbishment option. The measures which were considered in this option include external wall insulation, loft insulation top-up, door insulation, insulation of primary pipework and hot water cylinder, low energy lighting, replacement of boiler with heating controls, draught proofing and double glazing. This will lead to an increase in SAP rating of 74 which will lift the house to EPC band C. It will also move the household out of fuel poverty.

Educational buildings are responsible for a large amount of UK’s non-industrial energy consumption. Hence, it is important not to overlook their energy performance. The primary aim of this study was to investigate how the ventilation strategy of a typical educational building in the UK will affect the energy consumption and to what extent this will impact the thermal comfort of the occupants. The building investigated is Loughborough University’s Civil & Building Engineering building. Data from monitoring indoor temperature and lighting levels are used to discuss the trends in thermal and visual comfort respectively. The simulations results from IES are used to compare the reduction in the energy consumption. It was found that the Ground Floor offices had the problem of indoor temperatures remaining below the lower limit of 19 C. The average working plane illuminance in winter was below the CIBSE limit of 300 lux for office spaces. The thermal comfort was not adequately achieved during the occupied hours during winter in the three Second Floor offices. Therefore, it is recommended that strategies like better integration of the entrance of the building with the interior spaces and adopting dimming profile for lighting control can help in reducing the energy consumption significantly.

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the effects of making changes to the design parameters of a generic school building. The design options are evaluated in order to study the performance of the building in terms of thermal comfort and energy use using two interventions under different climatic conditions (London and Stockholm). The building simulation is carried out using the IES software package and the thermal comfort metrics as defined in CIBSE Guide A. The summertime comfort and overheating have been evaluated on the basis of Building Bulletin - BB101. The findings demonstrate that combination of various design parameter scan help in reducing the effects of overheating in both the climates.

This research was aimed at preparing novel form-stable composite phase change material (PCM) for thermal heat storage application in buildings. Dodecanol was incorporated into cement through vacuum impregnation technique. The microstructure, chemical compatibility, thermal properties, thermal stability and reliability were determined by environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM), Fourier transformation infrared spectrum analysis (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and thermal cycling test. Test results showed that the maximum mass fraction of dodecanol retained in cement without seepage was 9%. This composite was characterized as form-stable composite. FTIR results indicated that the form-stable composite is chemically stable. The melting temperature and latent heat of the form-stable composite were found to be 21.06°C and 18.39 J/g. TGA and thermal cycling test results revealed that the form-stable composite is thermally stable and reliable. It can therefore be concluded that the prepared form-stable composite is a potential candidate for thermal energy storage application in buildings. With the help of an example it is shown that the 2 storey residential building has the capacity to store 2448 MJ of thermal energy. This, in turn, will have significant impact in reducing the energy consumption of buildings.

This research was aimed at developing form-stable composite phase change material (PCM) by incorporating dodecyl alcohol (DA) into Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) through vacuum impregnation. The composite PCM were characterized by using Scanning electron microscope (SEM ) and Fourier transformation infrared spectrum analysis (FT-IR). The thermal properties, thermal stability and reliability of the composite were determined by using Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and thermal cycling test. Test results showed that the maximum percentage of DA retained in GGBS without seepage was 11%.This composite was therefore called as form-stable composite PCM. FT-IR results validate that the components of the form-stable composite are chemically stable. The melting and freezing temperatures of the composite PCM were found to be 21.16° C and 19.1° C while the latent heat of melting and freezing were 22.51 J/g and 21.62 J/g. The results of TGA and thermal cycling test confirmed that the form-stable composite is thermally stable and reliable. It can therefore be concluded that the prepared form-stable composite is a potential candidate for thermal energy storage in buildings.