CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

(CCE 2161)

By Mr TUYISENGE Jean Claude

Dept. of Estate Management & Valuation (EMV)
College of Science and Technology (CST)
 Definition
Construction Material:

Article, item, material, or supply consumed or

used in a construction project and incorporated
in the constructed building or structure.
 Module Content

 Topic 1: Properties of Materials

 Topic 2: Building Stones
 Topic 3: Cement
 Topic 4: Concrete
 Module Content cont’d
 Topic 5: Mortar
 Topic 6: Metals
 Topic 7: Timber
 Topic 8: Plastics
 Revision
 Recommended Textbooks
 D N GHOSE,materials of construction,2002

 Dr B C Punimia,Ashok K Jain and Arun K

Jain,RCC Designs,1998
 Introduction
 Buildings come in all shapes and sizes, and
can be made of brick, wood, stone, concrete,
metal, glass etc
 Many factors determine the best materials to
use when constructing a building
 Introduction Cont’d
 The choice depends on:
 Size and shape of the building
 Local conditions and practices
 Availability
 Reusability and recyclability
 Geographical location
 Climatic conditions
 Cost/available funds/ budget
 Introduction Cont’d
 The choice depends on:
 Aesthetic consideration
 Fashion and trend
 Religious customs and feats
 Availability of skilled/unskilled labour
 Intended function of the finished building
 Properties of materials: strength, fire
resistance, flexibility, durability, stability
 Introduction Cont’d
 For example: it is inappropriate to use wood
as a roof covering in the rainforest area or the
savannah belt since it would absorb water and
rot easily
 Construction materials are either natural or
processed and locally available or imported
 Introduction Cont’d
 Local materials:
• There is a cardinal principle to be applied in
the selection of construction materials, namely
that local materials should always be preferred
to imported ones. The reasons for this should
be obvious , but nevertheless are often not
appreciated.
 Introduction Cont’d
 Local materials:
• There is nearly a saving obtained from using
materials and equipment which do not include
transportation charges.
• It is sensible to encourage the economy and
employment situation by using locally
manufactured goods
• Local materials are affordable and readily
available sometime at no cost at all, thus can
be easily maintained or replaced
 Introduction Cont’d
 Local materials:
• The technology used and methods of
construction do not call for formal training.
• The use of local materials can lead to a type
of architecture which is in harmony with the
neighbouring buildings
• Most of them are well suited for local climatic
conditions
 Introduction Cont’d
 Local materials:
Against these advantages are two
disadvantages:
• Many items needed in even simple
construction, such as cement or iron sheets
may not be locally produced or be produced
inadequately
• Some imported building materials may be
cheaper and far better than the locally
produced
 Topic 1: Properties of Materials
Objective:
Objective Properties of various materials have
to be known for purposes of specifying them
for particular use, classifying them and testing
them for acceptance

Groups:
Groups
 Physical Properties
 Mechanical Properties
 Physical Properties
 Physical properties of materials can be observed
or measured

 A physical property is any property that is

measurable whose value describes a state of a
physical system
 Physical Properties cont’d

 The changes in the physical properties of a

material can be used to describe its
transformations or evolutions between its
momentary states
 Physical Properties cont’d

 They include four properties of the matter :

mass, weight, density and volume.
 Other physical properties are: porosity, specific
gravity, thermal properties, sound insulation
properties, appearance, texture, colour, odour
 1. Mass: [kg]

• The mass m of a body is a characteristic

property depending on the kind of material and
volume (V) of the body
• Within a gravitational field (earth acceleration
g=9.81 m/s2) a mass acts on its support with the
force F
• F=mg (kgm/s2) this force F is called weight
 1. Mass: [kg] Cont’d

• Mass is the amount of matter contained in a

body.
• Mass of the body is the constant quantity and
does not change with the change of position or
location.
 2. Weight: [N]
• The force by which the earth attracts a body
toward its centre, Or we can say it is the force on
the object which is offered by the gravity

• Weight of the body is the variable quantity and

changes with the change in position and location
due to the acceleration of the gravity acting on it.
 Mass Vs Weight
Mass
1. Mass is a property of matter.
The mass of an object is the
same everywhere
2. Mass can never be zero
3. Mass does not change
according to location
Weight
1. Weight depends on the
effect of gravity. Weight
varies according to location
2. Weight can be zero if no
gravity acts upon an object,
as in space
3. Weight increases or
decreases with higher or
lower gravity
 Mass Vs Weight Cont’d
Mass
4. Mass is a scalar quantity. It
has magnitude
5. Mass may be measured
using an ordinary balance
6. Mass usually is measured in
grams and kilograms
Weight
4. Weight is a vector quantity.
It has magnitude and is
directed toward the center of
the Earth or other gravity
well
5. Weight is measured using a
spring balance
6. Weight often is measured in
Newtons, a unit of force
 3. Density: [kg/m3]

• It is defined as the total mass (m) or weight

including solids and voids of any granular
material per unit of its total volume (V)
• The symbol most often used for density is ρ
(the lower case Greek letter rho)
 3. Density: [kg/m3] cont’d
• The bulk density ρ bulk is the ratio of the mass m
of the sample and the total volume V tot of the
sample: ρ bulk= m/V tot.
• The true density ρ true, by contrast, is the ratio of
the mass m of the sample and the volume taken
up by material matrix only:
• ρ true= m/ (V tot-V pores) = m / V true
 4. Porosity: [m3/m3]
• It is the ratio of volume of voids in a material to
the total volume of granular material

• Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the

void (i.e., "empty") spaces in a material, and is a
fraction of the volume of voids over the total
volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage
between 0 and 100%
4. Porosity: [m3/m3] Cont’d
 4. Water absorption: [%]
• It is the property of a material by virtue of
which it absorbs water from the atmosphere

• In porous materials such as bricks, concrete,

timber with a considerable content of open pores
properties are heavily influenced by the water
content
 4. Water absorption: [%]
• This fits especially for:

 Weight and density

 Weather resistance
 Resistance against chemical attack
 Heat insulation properties
 4. Water absorption: [%]

• The water content i.e. the degree of water

absorption is dependent on the surrounding
conditions.
• After a time long enough an “Equilibrium Water
Content” (EWC) is reached
 4. Water absorption: [%]

• Water absorption: Percent water Absorption

A= 100 (mw-md)/ md [by mass %]
Where mw= mass wet (saturated)
md = mass dry (dried)
 5. Permeability: [m/s]

• It is the property where a material allows water

to pass through its pores.
5. Permeability: [m/s]
 6. Fire resistance:
• Some materials, like petrol, are inflammable
(readily catch fire) while others are combustible
(can be burnt but may not readily ignite)

• Timber is combustible but not inflammable

• Fire raises the temperature of otherwise fire-
resistant materials, sometimes causing damage
by expansion
 Behaviour of materials under
loading

• When loaded a material undergoes the

following:
 It undergoes deformations due to the reacting
internal stresses
 It undergoes failure once the internal stresses
reach ultimate stress values
 Behaviour of materials under
loading

 Both deformations and stresses must be known

for design purposes and are restricted by
introduction of safety factors to allowable
stresses and deformation
 Definition of Stress and Strain
• Stress= P (load)
Original Cross Section Area
• Longitudinal Strain= Dl (Deformation)
Lo (Original Lenght)
• Lateral Strain= (d-d’)
d
Definition of Stress and Strain
 Hooke’s Law
“Stress is proportional to Strain up to elastic limit”

ᵟ α ᵋ Hence, ᵟ = ᵋ E

E= Stress
Strain
E= Material constant known as the modulus of
elasticity or Young’s Modulus
Hooke’s Law
 Hooke’s Law Cont’d
The mechanical properties of materials are
determined using standardized test piece and
testing procedures.

Load (F) and Elongation (δ) are measured during

testing, from which the direct stress – strain
curve can be obtained by taking the test piece
dimensions into account.
 Shearing deformation and Poisson’
ratio
• A shearing force causes a shearing deformation,
just as an axial force causes a shortening or
lengthening of a member

• Just as a normal unit stress is related to unit

strain by Hooke’s law, so shearing unit stress is
related to shearing unit deformation
 Poisson’s ration

• Poisson’s ration (denoted ᵥ or μ) is defined as

the ratio of the lateral strain to the associated
axial strain and varies 0.1 to 0.3 for normal
working stresses
 Mechanical Properties
• They are properties used as measurements of
how metals behave under load

• These properties are described in terms of the

types of force or stress that the metal must
withstand and how these are resisted
 1. Strength
• Strength is the property that enables a material
to resist deformation under load
• The ultimate strength is the maximum strain a
material can withstand
• Tensile strength is a measurement of the
resistance to being pulled apart when placed in a
tension load
 1. Strength cont’d
• Tensile strength, i.e the maximum stress a
material can withstand under a tensile load
before failure
• Compressive strength, i.e the maximum stress
a material can withstand without failure under a
compressive load
• Shear strength, i.e the maximum stress at
failure under a shearing load (A load parallel to
the cross-section of the member)
 Question

• What is the difference between tension and

compression?
 2. Hardness

• Hardness is the property of a material to resist

permanent indentation
• The resistance offered by any material to
indentation, scratching, cutting or wearing by
abrasion
 3. Toughness

• Toughness is the property that enables a

material to withstand shock and to be deformed
without rupturing.
• Toughness may be considered as a
combination of strength and plasticity.
 4. Elasticity
• When a material has a load applied to it, the
load causes the material to deform
• Elasticity is the ability of a material to return to
its original shape after the load is removed
• Theoretically, the elasticity limit of a material
is the limit to which a material can be loaded and
still recover its original shape after the load is
removed
 5. Plasticity
• Plasticity is the ability of a material to deform
permanently without breaking or rupturing
• This property is the opposite of strength
 6. Brittleness
• Brittleness is the opposite of the property of
plasticity
• A brittle metal is one that breaks or shatters
before it deforms
 6. Brittleness cont’d
• Glasses are good examples of brittle material
• Generally, brittle metals are high in compressive
strength but low in tensile strength.
 6. Ductility and Malleability
• Ductility is the property that enables a material
to stretch, bend or twist without cracking or
breaking
• This property makes it possible for a material to
be drawn out into a thin wire
 6. Ductility and Malleability
• Malleability is the property that enables a
material to deform by compressive forces
without developing defects
• A malleable material is one that can be stamped,
hammered, forged, pressed, or rolled
• Materials capable of withstanding large strains
are referred as ductile materials
• The converse applies to brittle materials
6. Ductility and Malleability
 EXAMPLE
• An aluminium bar of 50 mm diameter is
stressed in a testing machine. At a certain
instant the applied force is 100 kN, while the
measured elongation of the rod is 0.219 mm in
a 300 mm gauge length, and the diameter’s
dimension is decreased by 0.01215 mm.
Calculate the Poisson’s ratio and modulus of
elasticity of aluminium material.
 QUIZ 1
• Differentiate between the following terms as
used in construction materials:
1. Ductility and malleability or
2. Tensile strength and compressive strength