Civil Engineering Materials

Various metals used for building works can be broadly classified as ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals. The properties and uses of ferrous metals and some of important non-ferrous materials like aluminium and copper are explained in this article. A ferrous material is the one in which iron is a main constituent. Iron ore is first […]

DURABILITY OF GLASS Float glass is highly durable in most environments encountered in construction applications, and it does not degrade or change over time, other than the accumulation of microscopic surface damage, which reduces the strength of new glass but tends to stabilise after several years. Therefore monolithic single glazing can usually be regarded as

Glass, plastics, bitumen, asbestos, paints, distemper and varnishes are some of the miscellaneous materials used in building constructions. Their properties and uses are briefly presented in this article. Glass Silica is the main constituent of glass. But it is to be added with sodium potassium carbonate to bring down melting point. To make it durable

Stone is a ‘naturally available building material’ which has been used from the early age of civilization. It is available in the form of rocks, which is cut to required size and shape and used as building block. It has been used to construct small residential buildings to large palaces and temples all over the

Paints are applied on the surfaces of timber, metals and plastered surfaces as a protective layer and at the same time to get pleasant appearance. Paints are applied in liquid form and after sometime the volatile constituent evaporates and hardened coating acts as a protective layer. Types of Paints Depending upon their constituents there are

Test of Stones To acertain the required properties of stones, the following tests can be conducted: (i) crushing strength test (ii) water absorption test (iii) abrasion test (iv) impact test (v) acid test. Crushing Strength Test For conducting this test, specimen of size 40 × 40 × 40 mm are prepared from parent stone. Then

Every family needs a building to reside. Apart from residential purposes buildings are required for educational, institutional, business, assembly and for industrial purposes. Buildings are required for the storage of materials also. In this chapter basic requirements of buildings are presented and then planning of the building with respect to orientation, utility of space, energy

Brick is obtained by moulding good clay into a block, which is dried and then burnt. This is the oldest building block to replace stone. Manufacture of brick started with hand moulding, sun drying and burning in clamps. A considerable amount of technological development has taken place with better knowledge about to properties of raw

Planning of Buildings All buildings should be properly planned, keeping in view the various requirements of a good building. Except strength requirement, all other requirements of good buildings are taken care at the stage of planning. Strength requirement is taken care during structural design of building components. However in planning the building by-laws of the

Tests on Bricks The following laboratory tests may be conducted on the bricks to find their suitability: (i) Crushing strength (ii) Absorption (iii) Shape and size and (iv) Efflorescence. (i) Crushing Strength: The brick specimen are immersed in water for 24 hours. The frog of the brick is filled flush with 1:3 cement mortar and