SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

Lecture for “Introduction to Civil Engineering”

Raghavan R
Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Trichy
 What you see…

As you have learnt in school there is

science everywhere around you, civil
engineering is just science used for
public amenities or infrastructure
 Corrosion

 Steel corrosion is the irreversible deterioration

and destruction of the steel material
 Due to the electrochemical or chemical
reaction of its surface to environmental
factors such as moisture and oxygen.
 Pitting corrosion
 Crevice corrosion
Corrosion – an electrochemical cell !
Protecting against corrosion

Cathodic protection is commonly

employed. The main metal (steel) is
provided a sacrificial metal which is
more anodic, thus making the main
metal as the cathode.
Concrete
 Concrete

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images: Clinker (L), hydrated

cement paste (R)
Concrete

Raw materials for cement

Compounds in cement
Hydration of cement paste

All these reactions are exothermic

Concrete

Rapid hardening
cement -> greater lime
content (CaO) -> more
formation of C3S
Hydration of C3S is
quicker but more
exothermic.
Also leads to more
expansion.
 Concrete

 Concreting and cementing need different

properties for different purposes e.g. rapid
hardening for emergency roadwork, low heat for
mass concreting in dams
 The understanding of the chemical reactions during
manufacture and during hydration enables
manufacture of cement of desired properties
 Understanding of the chemical reactions, and the
microstructure also gives opportunity to search for
alternative raw materials e.g silica fume, fly ash and
even bacteria make the concrete less porous by
filling up voids in the set concrete.
XRF and XRD

 XRF entails exposing a sample (of

cement) to X-ray light, which
excites the elements present in
the sample.
 The elements emit light as they
return back to their ground state.
The light emitted as the elements
relax is distinctive to the particular
elements present in the sample
 Measuring the fluorescence (light
emitted) makes it possible to
calculate the exact chemical Kcps – kilocounts per second
composition of the sample. d – spacing of atoms in lattice (in
angstrom)
 XRF and XRD

 X-rays are generated and filtered to

produce monochromatic radiation,
collimated to concentrate, and
directed toward the sample
 The interaction of the incident rays
with the sample produces
constructive interference (and a
diffracted ray) when conditions
satisfy Bragg's Law (nλ=2d sin θ)
 Diffracted X-rays are then detected,
processed and counted
 Conversion of the diffraction peaks
to d-spacings allows identification of
the mineral because each mineral
has a set of unique d-spacings
 Strain Gauge (Wheatstone bridge)

 Resistivity depends on the length of the

resistor
 In other words, knowing the resistance
or resistivity of resistor, by measuring the
change in voltage, the change in
length can be found
 Strain = (change in length/ original
length)
 In civil engineering, strain gives the
person an idea of the stress in it. Which
in turn gives an idea whether the force
acting on it, is within safe levels
 Strains usually occur in precisions of
μm/m, hence cannot use physical
measuring tools
 Strain Gauge (Wheatstone bridge)

 A strain gauge electrically measures such

microstrains (μm/m)
 It works on the principle of ‘Wheatstone
bridge’
 When no force is applied to the strain
gauge, R1 is equal to R2 and the resistance
of the strain gauge is equal to R3.
(Balanced condition, zero volt in voltmeter)
 When strain is applied to the strain gauge,
the resistance of the strain gauge changes,
the Wheatstone bridge becomes
unbalanced, a current flows through the
voltmeter
 The voltmeter can be calibrated in terms of
strain or force
 Superelevation
e
θ
 Superelevation is the transverse slope
provided to counteract the effect of
centrifugal force and reduce the
tendency of vehicle to overturn
 While taking a turn the forces acting on
vehicle are its weight, centripetal force
and friction between tyre and road
 Doing a bit of resolution of forces, one can
find the superelevation ‘e’ needed to
keep a vehicle from toppling at velocity
‘V’ in a curve of radius ‘R’