Civil Engineering

Materials

Introduction
Materials and
Properties
 Civil Engineer
 Client
 Consultant
 Contractor

 Dealing with different types of

materials.
 Detailed specifications
 Material selection
 Material storage
 Material sampling
 Material testing
2
 Material inventories
Materials Classification
Timber

Plastics
Organic
(Carbon
)
A
s
p
Chemical h
Composition a
Siliceous l
Materials
t
(silica)
Argillaceou
Inorganic s Materials
(Clay) B
i 3
Metals t
(Copper u
, Iron) m
 Materials Classification
Use

Solid Finishing Insulating

building Binding Materials
Materials Materials
Materials

Expanded
Distempe
Bitumen

Varnish
Cemen

Paints
Bricks

Clays
Stone

Lime

Glass
Rock
wool

wool
s

4
 Materials Classification
Stone
s
Naturally
Occurring Timber
Materials

Metals
Manufacturing
Plastics

Manufactured
Concret
Materials
e
5
Mortars
Choice of Materials
• Climatic aspect
• Economic aspect
• Construction
practices
• Technology
availability
• Availability

6
 Properties of Materials
• Selection Criteria
 Strength at extreme
temperatures
 Resistance to chemicals

• Standardization
 An idea of material properties
 Revision of standards 7
Physical
Properties
Density (ρ) Heat Conductivity
Bulk Density (ρb) Fire Resistance
Density Index Refractoriness
Specific Weight Chemical
(ϒ) Porosity (n) Resistance Strength
Void Ratio (e) Durability
Hygroscopicity
Water
Absorption
Co-efficient of
8
softening Weathering
Resistance Water
Physical
Properties
• Density (ρ)
Mass per unit volume of homogeneous
material (ignoring/removing voids).
ρ=M/V
Where M = Mass and V= Volume
• Density of some building materials is as
follows:
Material Density (kg/cm)
Brick 2500–2800
Granite 2600–2900
Portland cement 2900–3100
9
Steel 7800–7900
Physical
Properties
• Bulk Density (ρ ) b

Mass per unit volume of material in its

natural
state (including voids)
ρb = M / V
Where; M = Mass and
V = Volume of specimen in its natural state

• For most materials, bulk density is less

than density.
• But for liquids and materials like glass and
10
dense stone, these parameters are practically the
same.
Physical Properties

11
Physical Properties
• Bulk densities of some of the building materials
are as follows:

Material Bulk density (kg/m3)

Brick 1600–1800

Granite 2500–2700

Sand 1450–1650

Pine wood 500–600

12
Steel 7850
Physical Properties
• Density Index (ρo)
It is the ratio between bulk
density and density

ρo = Bulk density/density = ρb /
ρ
• It indicates the degree to which the volume of
a material is filled with solid matter.
• For almost all building materials ρo is less
than 13
1.0 because there are no absolutely
dense bodies in nature.
Physical Properties
Specific Weight or Unit Weight (ϒ)

It is the weight per unit volume of material.

ϒ = (ρ).(g)

Where ϒ = specific weight (kN/m3),

ρ = density of the material (kg/m3)
and
g = gravity (m/s2)
The specific weight of water on Earth is 14
9.80 kN/m3 at 4°C or 62.4 lb/ft3
Physical
Properties
Porosity (n)
It is a measure of the void (i.e., "empty") spaces in
a
material.

It is expressed as a ratio of the volume of voids

to the total volume of soil mass.
n = Vv/V

Indicative of other major properties of

material, such as bulk density, heat conductivity,
durability, etc.
Dense materials, which have low porosity, are 15
for constructions requiring high
used
mechanical strength.
Porosity
(n)

16
Physical
Properties
• Void Ratio (e)
It is defined as the ratio of volume of voids
(Vv) to the volume of solids (Vs)
e = Vv / Vs

• Hygroscopicity
It is the property of a material to absorb
water vapor from air.

e.g. Cotton, salt are everyday examples and in

civil engineering timber is a hygroscopic material.
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Physical
Properties
• Water Absorption
It is the ability of the material to absorb and
retain water. The properties of building
materials are greatly influenced when saturated.

• Co-efficient of softening
The ratio of compressive strength of
material saturated with water to that in dry state
is known as coefficient of softening and
describes the water resistance of materials.

For materials like clay which soak readily it is

zero, whereas for materials like glass and
metals it is one.

Materials with coefficient of softening less 18

than
0.8 should not be recommended in the
Physical
Properties
• Weathering Resistance
It is the ability of a material to endure
alternate wet and dry conditions for a long
period without considerable deformation
and loss of mechanical strength.

• Water Permeability
It is the capacity of a material to allow water
to penetrate under pressure.

Materials like glass, steel and bitumen

19
are impervious.
Physical
Properties
• Frost Resistance
It is the ability of a water-saturated material
to endure repeated freezing and thawing
with considerable decrease of mechanical
strength.
Under such conditions the water contained by
the pores increases in volume even up to 9
percent on freezing. Thus the walls of the
pores experience considerable stresses and may
even fail.

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Physical
Properties
• Heat Conductivity
It is the ability of a material to conduct
heat.
It is influenced by nature of material, its
structure, porosity, character of and
pores temperature at which heat
mean
exchange takes place.

• Fire Resistance
It is the ability of a material to resist the
action of high temperature without any 21
appreciable deformation and substantial loss
of strength.
Physical
Properties
• Refractoriness

It denotes the ability of a material to

withstand prolonged action of high
temperature without melting or losing
shape. Materials resisting prolonged
temperatures of 1580°C or more are known
as refractory.

High-melting materials can

withstand temperature from 1350–1580°C
22
materials
(e.g. withstand
Melting temperature
point of below
Steel:1370°C),
1350°C (e.g.
whereas Melting point of
low-melting
Almunium:660°C).
Physical
Properties
• Chemical Resistance
It is the ability of a material to withstand the
action
of acids, alkalis, sea water and gases.

Natural stone materials, e.g. limestone, marble

and dolomite are eroded even by weak acids,
wood has low resistance to acids and
alkalis, bitumen disintegrates under the action of
alkali liquors.
• Durability
It is the ability of a material to resist the
combined 23
effects of atmospheric and other factors.
Mechanical
Properties
• Strength
It is the ability of the material to resist
failure under the action of stresses caused
by loads, the most common being
compression, tension, bending and impact.

The importance of studying the

various strengths will be highlighted from the
materials
fact that such as stones and concrete
have high compressive strength but a low
(1/5 to 1/50) tensile, bending and impact 24
strengths.
Mechanical
Properties
• Compressive Strength is the maximum
stress a material can withstand without
failure under a compressive load. It is
found from tests on standard cylinders and
cubes.

• Tensile strength is the maximum stress

a material can withstand under a tensile
(stretching) load before failure. The test
specimens of metals for tensile strength are
• round
Bendingbars Strength
or strips. tests are performed on
small bars (beams) supported at their 2
ends and subjected to one or two concentrated 5
loads.
Mechanical Properties
• Hardness
It is the ability of a material
to resist penetration by a
harder body.

Mohs scale is used to find

the hardness of materials.

26
Mechanical
Properties
• 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.

• Plasticity
It is the ability of a material to change its
shape under load without cracking and to
retain this shape after the load is removed.
Some of the examples of plastic materials are 27
steel, copper and hot bitumen.
Mechanical Properties

28
Materials and
Properties
Characteristic behavior under Stress
• The ductile materials can be drawn out into a
thin wire, the examples being copper and
wrought iron.
• Brittle materials have little or no plasticity. They
fail
Cast iron, stone, brick and concrete
suddenly without brittle
comparatively warning. are
materials
considerable amount of having
plasticity.
• Stiff materials have a high modulus of
elasticity permitting small deformation for a a
given load.
• Flexible materials on the other hand have
low modulus of elasticity and bend considerably 29

withoutmaterials
• Tough breakdown.
withstand heavy
shocks.
Materials and
Properties
• Malleable materials be into
can
sheets without rupture. hammered It upon
ductility and softness of material. Copper is
the most malleable [Link]

• Hard materials resist scratching and

for example
denting, iron and chrome
cast
Materials steel. to abrasion
resistant
manganese such as hard
are also known
materials.
Note: The difference between malleability and ductility
is that malleability is the ability to deform easily upon
the application of a compressive force, and ductility is 30
doing the same with tensile force.
Sampling and
Testing
• Testing of materials is necessary before,
during and after construction.

• Sampling is done as testing of all

materials used in construction is impossible.

• Sampling is the process of selecting

a representative sample for testing out of
the lot supplied.

• It is possible to predict the properties of the

31
from the test results of the sample using
lot
statistical
Sampling and
Testing
• The sampling procedures are laid down
in the various codes of practice.

• Testing follows standard

prescribed procedures to obtain
uniformity of results for purposes of
comparison.
• This means maintaining standard
conditions for tests like temperature,
rate or loading, moisture content etc.
as specified for a particular test. 3
2
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etc.

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Thank
you!!
Questions 33

please.