Chapter 1: Introduction

Scope of Construction Materials

Construction material is the science dealing with the composition and the structure of the materials
as well as how these factors are related to their properties or behavior.
The basic concern of a civil engineer is the design, constructions, supervision and maintenance of
different types of structures such as buildings, bridges, canals, tube wells, water tanks, roads, etc.
A key element in field practice is to deal with different types of materials. This entails drawing up
detailed specifications, selecting the materials, storage and sampling and testing, maintaining
material inventories, etc. Therefore, a study of these aspects of materials and their application in
engineering is very important.

Types of Construction Materials

Construction materials are divided in various ways:
A. Based on existence:
a) Naturally existence material: e.g., stone, iron, aluminium, timber, etc.
b) Artificially made material: e.g., plastic, fiberglass, cement, etc.
B. Based on metallurgy:
a) Metals:
i. Ferrous. E.g., steel
(ferrum = iron), the base metal is iron.
Properties of ferrous metals:
• Durable
• Great tensile strength
• Usually, magnetic
• Low resistance to corrosion
• Recyclable
• Good conductors of electricity.
ii. Non-ferrous. E.g., aluminium
Non-ferrous metals do not include iron.
Properties of non-ferrous metals:
• High corrosion resistance
• Easy to fabricate-machinability, casting, welding, etc.
• Great electrical conductivity
• Colorful
• Non-magnetic.
b) Non-metals. E.g., timber, stone, cement, plastic, etc.
C. Based on use:
a. Structural engineering materials. E.g., stone, brick, cement, steel, etc.
b. Aesthetic engineering materials: These are used to get beauty of the structure. E.g.,
marble, chips, colors, paints, etc.
 D. Based on the Physical and Chemical characteristics: This is the most common way to
classify engineering materials. These are:
i. Metals: Inorganic materials composed of one or more metallic elements. They usually
have a crystalline structure and are good thermal and electrical conductors. Many
metals have high strength and high elastic module. They maintain their good
strength at high and low temperature. They also have sufficient ductility,
malleability which is important on many engineering applications. They can be
strengthened by alloying and heat treatment. They are least resistant to corrosion.
E.g., iron steel, copper, aluminium, etc.
ii. Ceramics: Inorganic materials consisting of metallic and non-metallic elements
bonded together chemically. They can be crystalline (ceramics), non-crystalline
(glasses) or mixture of both (glass ceramics). Generally, they have high melting
points and high chemical stabilities. They have high hardness, high temperature
strength. But since they are very brittle, they cannot be used as good as metals.
Ceramics are usually poor electrical conductors. Ceramics have a high strength on
compression. E.g., brick, glass, tiles, etc.
iii. Polymers: Organic materials which consist of long molecular chains or networks
containing carbon. Most polymers are non-crystalline, but some consist of mixtures
of both crystalline and non-crystalline regions. They generally have low densities
and low rigidity. Their mechanical properties may vary considerably. Most
polymers are poor electrical conductors due to the nature of the atomic bonding.
Most of them are corrosion resistant, bet cannot be used at high temperatures. They
generally have a good strength to weight ratio.
iv. Composites: These materials are compositions of metal with ceramic or organic
polymers brought together on macroscopic level. Usually, they consist of a matrix
and reinforcement. They are designed to combine the best properties of each of its
components. Due to their unique properties, it may be tailored to satisfy a certain
set of requirements. Composites have the advantages of having diverse
characteristics such as high strength with non-corrosiveness, strength with
brittleness, compressive strength, tensile strength.

Properties of materials
Properties of various materials should be known for the purpose of specifying them for particular
use. Classifying them and testing them for acceptance. The properties of materials basically fall
under these groups:
A. Physical properties: These properties exhibit the physical status of the materials, some of
which are:
i. Specific gravity: It is the ratio of the weight of material per unit volume to the weight
of an equal volume of water under standard conditions. This property is used to
calculate the density and property of materials.
ii. Density: It is defined as the mass of a material per unit of its volume. It is denoted by
ρ and given by:
 ρ = M/V
where, M = mass (g)
V = volume (cm3)
Density of some building materials are as follows:
Material density (g/cm3)
Brick 2.5 – 2.8
Granite 2.6 – 2.9
Portland cement 2.9 – 3.1
Wood 1.5 – 1.6
Steel 7.8 – 7.9
iii. Bulk density or unit weight: It is defined as the total weight including solids and
voids of any granular material per unit of its total volume.
iv. Porosity: It is the ratio of volume of voids in a material to the volume of granular
material.
v. Water absorption: It is the property of material by virtue of which it absorbs water
from the ambiance. This property is important in case of stones, bricks, etc.
vi. Hygroscopicity: It is the property whereby a material absorbs water present in the
atmosphere, as in the case of salt, sugar, etc. Timber is a hygroscopic material..
vii. Moisture resistance: It is the ability of a material to resist the deformative effect due
to cyclic wetting and drying by moisture. Moisture resistance becomes important
when we have to deal with exposed surface materials.
viii. Fire resistance: It is the ability of a material to resist fire. Plastics, rubbers and wood
has very low resistance to fire then other engineering material.
ix. Frost resistance: It is the ability of a material to resist the action of repeated thawing
and freezing of water in the porous material. Dense, close pores are best in resisting
the action of frost. However, frost resistance of porous material can also be
materialized provided the volume of moisture does not exceed by 85% of the total
voids. Frost resistance quality of building materials needs to be taken care in cold
freezing places to avoid hair line cracks.
x. Permeability: It is the property whereby a material allows water to pass through its
pores. It is important in the case of soil.
xi. Corrosion: It is the gradual destruction of a metal or alloy due to chemical processes
as oxidation.
xii. Durability: It is the resistance of a material to destruction by natural agencies.
B. Mechanical properties
i. Strength properties: These are the abilities of engineering materials to resists against
any deformation being subjected to an action of force. In structural materials,
strength is of prime important factor.
a. Tensile strength: It is the maximum stress a material can withstand under a
tensile load before failure.
b. Compressive strength: It is the maximum stress a material can withstand under
a compressive load before failure.
 c. Shear force: It is maximum stress at failure under a shearing load. i.e., a load
parallel to the cross section of the member.
ii. Elasticity: it is the ability of a material to restore its initial form and dimensions after
the load is removed. Within the limits of elasticity of solid bodies, the deformation
is proportional to the stress. Ratio of unit stress to unit deformation is termed as
modulus of elasticity. A large value of it represents a material with very small
deformation.
iii. Plasticity: It is the property of material to deform permanently without coming back
to its original shape after the withdrawal of the applied load. Plastic deformation
takes place beyond the elastic limit during deformation of a material.
iv. Hardness: It is the ability of the materials to resists the effects of wear and tear,
scratching, cutting, abrasion on the surface when localize force is applied. The
quality of hardness becomes relevant where materials have to bear repeated
abrasion.
v. Resilience: It is ability of the materials to resist shock, impact, etc.
vi. Toughness: It is ability of the materials to absorb energy during plastic deformation
before fracture takes place.
vii. Brittleness: It is ability of the materials to shatter on receiving a shock. Brittle
materials although hard in quality, break easily under impact load or shock.
viii. Ductility: It is the ability of the materials to undergo large plastic deformation before
actual failure. This property allows the drawing of thin wire of a metal.
ix. Fatigue: It is the form of deformation exerted by cyclically repeated stress over the
material. Thus, reducing its resilient quality, fatigue stress must be taken into
consideration in the materials used for gears, aeroplane body, etc.
x. Creep: It is a slow and progressive deformation of a material with time at constant
stress. Material such as metals and polymers show high creep value if they are
subjected to increased temperature.
xi. Malleability: It is the ability of a material to be beaten to thin sheets without getting
cracked by pressing, rolling or hammering.
xii. Abrasive resistance: It is the ability of a material to resist wearing due to contact with
another surface moving with respect to it. This is important in road surfaces,
warehouse, floors, etc.
xiii. Impact strength: It is the ability of a material to resist shock or impact load.
Ductile/malleable materials possess higher impact strength than brittle materials.
C. Thermal Properties
These indicate the flow of heat across the material. These are important in the
heating/cooling of rooms and in designing suitable thermal insulation. These are:
i. Heat Capacity: It is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of
unit mass of the material by one degree.
ii. Thermal conductivity: It is the amount of heat transmitted in unit time through unit
area over unit length perpendicular to the direction of heat flow when the
temperature gradient across the heat conducting unit is 1. Thermal conductivity of
a material needs to be taken care when one has to deal with external walls, flooring,
 roofing, heating system of the building, refrigeration, etc. Thermal conductivity of
a material depends upon the density of material, the porosity of material, the
moisture content of material, the temperature difference between the sides of the
material, the direction of flow of heat within the material.
iii. Thermal stability: It is the ability of a material to resist the deformation due to thermal
change. In materials which are subjected to high temperature, thermal stability must
be taken care of Asbestos, fire day tiles offer good examples of thermal stability.
iv. Thermal resistivity: It is the opposite of thermal conductivity and is defined as the
time taken for a unit of heat to be transmitted in unit time through unit area over
unit length perpendicular to the direction of heat flow when the temperature
gradient across the heat conducting unit is 1.
D. Other properties:
1. Chemical properties:
• Chemical composition: The chemical composition of material indicates the
elements which are combined together to form that material. Chemical
composition of a material effects the properties of materials very much. The
strength, hardness, ductility, brittleness, corrosion resistance, weldability, etc.,
depends on chemical composition of materials. For e.g., Steel = Fe, Cr, Ni;
Brass = Cu = 90%, Ni = 10%, etc.
• Acidity or Alkalinity: Acidity or Alkalinity is an important chemical property
of materials. A material is acetic or alkane, it is decided by the PH value of the
material. pH value of a material varies from 0 to 14. pH value of 7 is considered
to be neutral. Ordinary water is having pH value of 7. The materials which are
having pH value below 7 are called Acetic and materials which are having pH
valur greater than 7 are called alkane. Acidity or Alkalinity of material indicates
that how they react with other materials.
• Corrosion resistance: Corrosion is a gradual chemical or electromechanical
attack on a metal by its surrounding medium. Due to the corrosion, metal starts
getting converted into an oxide, salt or some other compound. Corrosion of a
metals effected by many factors such as air, industrial atmosphere, acid, bases,
soils, etc. corrosion has a very adverse effect on materials. Due to corrosion, the
strength and life of a material is reduced.
2. Electrical properties:
• Resistivity: it is the property of material which resists the flow of electric
current through material. It is the reciprocal of conductivity.
• Conductivity: It is the property of material which allows the flow of electric
current through material. It is a parameter which indicates that how easily
electric current can flow through the material.
• Dielectric strength: It is the property of materials which indicates the ability
of material to withstand at high voltages. Generally, it is specified for insulating
material to represent their operating voltage. A material having high dielectric
strength can withstand at high voltages.
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