1

CIVIL ENGINEERING MATERIALS IN DESIGN

1.
Civil engineering materials are materials used within the context of the construction of
components.

2.
A component is a configured material where the configuration is determined by the 3
dimensions of the space occupied by the material.

3.
In civil engineering any component of a built facility (i.e. building or civil works) is one of:-

• Beam
• Plate
• Shell
• Wall
• Tie
• Strut
• Fastener

5.
Since a component is a configured material, it follows that the properties of a component are a
function of those of the material. The performance requirements of the material are expressed
in terms of these properties. These provide the baseline for evaluating whether a proposed
material should or should not be used, and for comparing possible alternative materials.

6.
The list of the properties of a material in the civil engineering context is extensive, but rarely
are all of them relevant to a specific application, and different countries have different lists, and
the list changes over time. Hence significant exercise of judgement is required of the engineer
is determining what is important and its priority. It is frequently the case that a property is of
different types (e.g. strength: bending; shear; compressive; tensile; impact, etc.). It is also
frequently the case that a property is dependent on other properties, or can be related to other
properties (e.g. concrete hollow block masonry durability increases with its compressive
strength).

7.
Ideally, each property is quantitative and determined by internationally recognized testing.
However, it is possible that a standardized test of the material does not exist and the engineer
needs to derive an ad hoc test. Furthermore, some properties are subjective, for example,
aesthetics. In such a case, an opinion can be converted to a quantity by assigning a number to
the opinion, such as a 5 for “very attractive”, and doing a survey.

Typically, the central properties of materials in a civil engineering context are:-

• Strength (e.g. fc’ for concrete, MPa; fy for steel, MPa)

• Stiffness (e.g. E for steel in tension, GPa; Ixx for a steel beam, cm4)

• Durability (e.g. cement content in concrete components, kg/m3)

 2

• Fire Resistance (e.g. sustained time of exposure, hours)

• Environmental sustainability (e.g. embodied carbon, kg/m3)

• Cost (e.g. $/kg)

7.
Hence the aim of the consideration of “civil engineering materials in design” is to select the
materials for the components, with the appropriate properties to economically address the
demands and their effects.

8.
The quantitative properties of materials and components are as defined by standards
organizations. The organizations most commonly referred to in the Caribbean are: the ASTM
(American Society for Testing and Materials), the BSI (British Standards Institute), and the EN
(Euro Norm). Regional standards institutes also exist (e.g. the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of
Standards) and typically derive standards for local conditions by modifying the aforementioned
standards.