Chapter 2:

Civil Engineering Materials

 COURSE OUTCOME & PROGRAM OUTCOME

LEARNING OUTCOME
CONTENTS

CEMENT

STONE

STONE MASONRY

TIMBER

STEELS
Course Outcome & Program Outcome
This chapter address CO1PO1/PLO1

CO1 : Apply the knowledge of being professional in

engineering practices and attributes.
PO1 : Apply knowledge of mathematics, natural science,
engineering fundamentals and an engineering
specialization to wide practical procedures and
practices.
PLO1 : Knowledge
 Learning Outcome
At the end of this session, students should be able to:

Understand and explain types of civil engineering

materials

Relate the applications of the materials in practice

 Introduction
 Basically, materials are the substance or substances out of
which a thing is or can be made.
 In civil engineering, materials are employed to design and
build structures such as:
a) Road
b) Bridge
c) Housing
d) Dam
e) High –rise building
f) Retaining walls
g) foundations
h) waterfront construction
Examples of civil engineering structures
 Cement
 A powdery substance made with calcined
lime and clay.
 Have several types of cement depend to
their functions.
 The function of cement is:
 To bind the sand and coarse aggregate
together.
 To fill the void in between sand and
course aggregates particles to form a
compact mass.
 A mixture of cement and sand when mixed
with water to form paste is known as mortar,
whereas a mixture of cement, sand, gravel
or crushed stone and water is called
concrete.
 Fine
Cement
Aggregate
(Sand)

Concrete

Coarse
Aggregate
Water
Types of Cement
Types of Portland Cement
 Portland cement are divided into 8 types:

1. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)

2. Rapid Hardening Portland Cement (RHPC)
3. White & Colored Portland Cement
4. Low Heat Portland Cement
5. Portland – Blastfurnace Cement
6. Sulphate – Resistance Portland Cement
(SRPC)
7. High Strength Portland Cement
8. Masonry Cement
 ORDINARY • Used in general concrete construction when there is no
exposure to sulphates in the soil or ground water.
PORTLAND CEMENT • Has a medium rate of hardening.
(OPC) • Suitable for most type of work.

• More finely ground – increase the rate of hydration at early

RAPID-HARDENING ages.
PORTLAND CEMENT • Useful when concreting in the cold weather and suitable for
(RHPC) early removal of formwork.
• High heat evolution, RHPC is not suitable for large masses

• The strength is lower than OPC

• White cement- made by using china clay.
WHITE & COLOURED • Coloured cement- by mixing a pigment with Portland
PORTLAND CEMENT Cement.
• Generally used for decorative work.
 LOW HEAT • Slow development of strength than OPC but same
PORTLAND ultimate strength.
CEMENT (LHPC) • Developed for mass-concrete application.

• Made by grinding a mixture of OPC clinker with

selected granulated blastfurnace slag (by-product
of iron and steel-making from a blast furnace).
PORTLAND- • Suitable for mass concreting works and marine
BLASTFURNACE environment due to chloride attack.
• Sulphate attack found in sea or dissolved in ground
CEMENT
water adjacent to concrete structures can be
(PBFC) reduced by using PBFC.
• PBFC is effective in reducing the risk of alkali silica
attack caused by reactive aggregates.
CHLORIDE
ATTACK

ALKALI SILICA
ATTACK
 • Slightly darker in colour than OPC
SULPHATE
• Resistant against sulphate in soils with high sulphate
RESISTANT content.
PORTLAND CEMENT • Heat development is lower but the cost is higher due
(SRPC) to special composition of the raw materials.

• Same materials as OPC.

HIGH STRENGTH • Higher strength – achieved by finer grinding of the
PORTLAND CEMENT clinker.

• Use mainly for plastering of brick wall.

MASONRY CEMENT • The cement mortar in plastic condition for quite
sometime before hardened.
Application of Concrete as Construction Material

a) Precast concrete retaining b) Box girder of the LRT

wall

c) Bridge d) High-rise building

 Advantages:
1. Concrete can handle the
compression stresses 10 times
more than the tension and the
most of loads in our life is
compression.
2. Concrete is a brittle material
which gives the advantage to
make a rigid structure.
3. Easy to handle over specially
now there is plants that give you
ready mix concrete.
4. Unlimited structural applications
in combination with steel
reinforcement.
5. Concrete is economical
compared to other engineering
materials
Disadvantages:
1. Concrete is weak in handling
tension (Low tensile strength)
2. Fresh concrete shrinks on drying
and hardened concrete expands
on wetting.
3. Needs another material to
reinforce it against excessive
shear and tension
4. Concrete expands and contracts
with the changes in temperature.
5. Lack of ductility, disadvantageous
with respect to earthquake
resistant design.
6. Easy to disintegrate by alkali and
sulphate attack
 Stones
 Stones are derived from rocks, which form the
earth's crust and have no definite shape or
chemical combination but are mixtures of two
or more minerals.

 The mineral is a substance which is formed by

the natural inorganic process. They are strong,
durable and descent in appearance.
 Stones can be classified in the following three ways:

1) Geological classification
 Igneous rocks (granite, basalt) - These rocks are formed by cooling of
molten material called magma and formed on the surface of earth or
deep below. These rocks are hard, strong, durable and dense with a
crystalline structure.
 Sedimentary rock (gravel, limestone) - Existing rocks are broken
down to smaller particles by wind, water and atmospheric gases. This
process is called weathering.
 Metamorphic rocks (marble, slate etc.) - Igneous and sedimentary
rocks when subjected to increased pressure and temperature are
transformed to a new type of rock.
2) Physical classification
 Stratified Rocks: These rocks exist in distinct layers and can be split along
these layers. Example: Sand stone, Lime stone
 Un stratified rocks: These rocks do not exist in layers but occur in huge
masses. Example: Granite, Basalt
 Foliated Rocks: These rocks have a layered which is produced by exposure to
heat and pressure. Example: Gneiss

3) Chemical classification
 Siliceous Rocks: The main constituent is silica. The rocks are hard, durable
and are capable of resisting weathering action. Example: Granite, Quartzite
 Argillaceous Rocks: Argil (clay ) is the main constituent of these rocks. These
are hard and durable but are brittle. Example: Slate, Laterite
 Calcareous Rocks: Calcium carbonate is the main constituent of these rocks.
Example: Marble, Limestone, Dolomite
 Structure
Structured stones
suitable for super
structure
Porosity and
absorption Texture
A good stone it should Fine grained stones
be as small as possible  used for carving

PROPERTIES
Hardness
Important property when
OF Density
Denser stones are

STONES
stone is used for flooring stronger. Light weight
and pavement.  stones are weak.

Toughness Appearance
Resistance to Stone with uniform and
impact. Stones with attractive colour is
toughness index durable, used for face
>19, used for road work
works.
Uses of stones as construction materials

Structure:
Stones are used for foundations, walls, columns,
lintels, arches, roofs, floors, damp proof course etc.

Face works.
Stones are adopted to give appearance to the
structure. Wall are of bricks and facing is done in
stones of desired shades.

Paving stones:
These are used to cover floor of building such as
residential, commercial, industrial etc. They are also
adopted to form paving of roads, foot paths etc.

Basic material:
Stones are disintegrated and converted to form a basic
material for cement concrete, roads, artificial stones,
hallow blocks etc.
 Stones Masonry
 Stone masonry refers to the construction of
various structures like buildings, compound walls,
retaining walls etc. using blocks of stone joined
together with mortar.
 The materials required for stone masonry are: Mortar &
Stones
 Mortar consists of binding material and sand in specified
proportions. The binding material may be lime or cement.
Generally cement – sand mortar (1: 3) is used for stone
masonry.
 Stones for the masonry such as granite, sandstone, marble,
laterite and limestone.
• The stones used are widely different size.
• In course random rubble masonry, the stones in a particular course are of equal
height.
• In uncoursed random rubble masonry, the coarse are not maintained regularly. The
larger stones are laid first and the spaces between them are filled up by spalls/sneeks.
• The stones having straight bed and sides.
• In course square rubble masonry, the work is carried out in course of varying depth.
• In uncoursed square rubble masonry, the different sizes of stones having straight
edges and sides are arranged on face in several irregular pattern.
• The stones are used for face work in • The stones are used are flints.
an irregular polygonal shape. • The stones are extremely hard but
they are brittle and break easily.

• In this type of masonry, mortar is not

use in the joints.
• It is requires more skill in construction.
• It can be used for non load bearing
wall.
• In this type of masonry, each stone is
cut to uniform size and shape with all
sides rectangular.
• It is very costly

• In this type of masonry, the beds and

sides are finely chisel-dressed.
• The face is made rough by means of
tools.
 Timber
 Traditional material used in Malaysia.
 The appearance normally extremely
beautiful after properly been treated and
some process.
 Can be divided into 2 categories :
a) Hardwood (e.g. Chengal, Kapur,
Jelutong)
b) Softwood (e.g Damar minyak, Podo,
Sempilor)
 Determine by physical appearance and
geological factor.
 Structure of wood can be divided into 5 layers:
a) Bark
b) Cambium
c) Sap wood
d) Heart wood
e) Pith

 Wood must be preserve and treated before been

used to overcome all the problem occurs by its
enemies (insects).
 Wooden house
Application of
timber

Wooden roller coaster

Roofing for warehouse

 Advantages
1. Timber provides for flexibility of
design
2. Wood is a lower cost raw material
than steel.
3. Wood is 400 times better as a
thermal insulator than steel.
4. Wood also acts as humidity
regulator, absorbing moisture
when humid and desorbing
moisture when the air is dry.
Disadvantages
1. Shrinkage and swelling - it will
absorb surrounding
condensable vapours
2. Fungi - It is necessary to give
some short information about
fungi agents to take measures
against the wood
deterioration.
3. Fire - it easily catches fire.
4. Insects - they cause to lumber
and wood in service.
 Steels
 Rebar (reinforcing bar) is a common steel bar
or mesh of steel wires commonly used as a
tension device in reinforced concrete (RC)
and reinforced masonry structures, to
strengthen and hold the concrete in
compression.

 The surface of the rebar may be patterned to

form a better bond with the concrete. It is also
known as reinforcing steel and reinforcement
steel.
 Categorized into:
a) High yield steel
b) Mild yield steel

 Structural steel is a steel construction material, formed

with specific shape/profile, and certain standards of
chemical composition and mechanical properties.

 Structural steel shape, size, strength, storage etc is

regulated in most industrialized countries.
 The unique of steel
a) High stiffness
b) High tensile strength
c) Ability to be formed into plate, sections and
wire
d) Weldability
e) Electrical conductivity and thermal

 Main disadvantage of steel is corrosion and

need to be protected against corrosion agents.
 Product of steel are beam, column, and so on.
 Application of
steels
Forth Railway Bridge (Scotland) is the world’s
first major steel bridge (completed on 4 March
1890)

Transmission steel tower

Petronas Twin Tower
Advantages
1. Very strong in tension
2. Ductility. Steel can undergo large plastic deformation before failure.
3. Steel is highly suitable for prefabrication and mass production.
4. Steel can be reused after a structure is disassembled.

Disadvantages
1) Corrosion - susceptibility to corrosion
2) Steel structures may be more costly than other types of structures.
3) Low fire resistant - loss of strength in fire although it can be
protected by paint.
4) Buckling and high deformation due to small sizes of members
 TUTORIAL
1. Describe FIVE (5) types of engineering materials commonly used in

construction industry.

2. Briefly explain types of Portland cement.

3. Describe the classification of the stones.

4. Compare the strength and weakness of the timber and steel as civil
engineering materials.
Thank You..