This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal
University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal
University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal
Demountable and reusable construction systems are increasingly recognized for supporting sustainability and circular economy principles by enabling disassembly, reuse, and reduced waste compared to conventional monolithic solutions. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of demountable and reusable steel-concrete composite structures, summarizing recent experimental and numerical studies on structural behavior, including serviceability and load-bearing performance. Particular attention is given to the fire performance of demountable and reusable systems, as research remains limited despite its importance. These systems are particularly susceptible to reduced load-bearing capacity, compromised connection integrity, and fire and smoke propagation. Existing research, design approaches, and ongoing developments are discussed.
This work was funded by the Innovation Pact “R2UTechnologies | Modular Systems” (C644876810-00000019), by the “R2UTechnologies” Consortium, co-financed by NextGenerationEU through the “Agendas for Business Innovation” investment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). The work was also supported by FCT/MCTES under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under the references UID/4029/2025 (https:doi.org/10.54499/UID/04029/2025), UID/PRR/04029/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/PRR/04029/2025) and UID/PRR2/04029/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/PRR2/04029/2025), and under the Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems ARISE under reference LA/P/0112/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0112/2020).
The statements, opinions and data contained in the journal are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). We stay neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
