Chapter-1 Introduction.
Chapter-1 Introduction.
Introduction
1.1 Scope of construction materials
1.2 Selection criteria of construction materials
1.3 Classification of construction materials
1.4 Properties of construction materials
1.5 Griffith’s theory
1.6 Hardness and toughness tests of construction materials
Scope of the Subject
Civil Engineering Sector
Hydropower -> construction of Power
house, dam reservoir and other
structures.
Road Construction -> Road
Protection work, Retaining Wall,
Pavement Work etc
Building Construction -> Foundation
work, Superstructure work, Finishing
work etc
Water Supply -> construction of
headwork , canal, dam etc
Sanitary -> Drainage system, sludge
tank construction etc
1.2 Selection Criteria of Construction
Material
Material selection criteria depends upon:
Locally availability of natural resources
Availability of skilled Manpower
Availability of material in nearest market
Technology Used
Budget availability
Economic Benefit
1.3 Types of construction materials:
2) Inorganic materials:
2) Aesthetic material
Tiles, marbles, paints etc.
C) According to existence:
1) Natural material
Stone, sand, clay, wood etc.
2) Artificial material
Cement, plastic, brick etc.
D. According to metallurgy
Metal
Ferrous metal and its alloys e.g. Cast Iron,
Wrought Iron and steel similarly silicon steel,
spring steel etc
Non- Metal
e.g. Building Stones, Cement, Rubber, Plastics,
Paint and Varnishes, asbestos ,etc
1.4 Properties of Construction Materials
Physical Properties
Mechanical properties
Thermal Properties
Electrical Properties
Magnetic Properties
Chemical Properties
Physical Properties
1. Specific gravity:
It is the ratio of density at material to the density of water at
standard condition.
2. Density:
It is the ratio of mass of the material to the total volume of
the materials.
Density = M/V Unit kg/m3
3. Porosity:
It is the ratio of volume of voids in the material to the total
volume of the materials.
4. Permeability:
It is the property where by the material allows
water to pass through its pore.
5. Water absorption:
It is the ability of material to absorb & retain water.
6. Fire resistance:
It is the property of material to resist fire
7. Durability:
It is the resistance of material to disintegrate by
natural agencies like humidity variation, chemical
attack, action of atmosphere gases etc.
Mechanical properties
Mechanical properties are important to determine the load resisting
capacity, durability etc. These are:
1. Strength:
property of material to resist the applied load without failure.
Common types of strength properties found in construction material
are:
a. Tensile Strength:
It is maximum stress that a material can withstand under a tensile load
without failure is known as strength.
b. Compressive strength:
It is maximum stress that a material can withstand under a
compressive load without failure is known as compressive strength.
c. Shear Strength:
It is the maximum stress that the material can withstand
under shear force without failure is known as shear strength.
Stress and Strain
• When a body is • change in dimension
loaded, the restoring to original dimension
force per unit area, when a body is
comes into play inside subjected to external
the body, it is called force
stress. Its unit is
N/mm2 or KN/m2. • Types:
• Types: 1.Tensile strain
1. Tensile stress 2. Compressive strain
2. Compressive stress: 3. Shear strain
3. Shear stress:
Tension, compression, shear, and torsion
2. Elasticity
property of material by which material tends to
regain its shape after the removal of applied load.
Elasticity of material is defined upto limit called
elastic limit. After crossing this limit material
become plastic.
A material is said to be perfectly elastic if the whole
of the stress produced by a load disappears
completely on the removal of the load.
The modulus of elasticity of young’s modulus
(E) is the proportionality constant between stress
and strain for elastic materials.
Poisson’s ratio – The ratio of lateral or
transverse strain to the longitudinal
strain.
Thermoelectricity
– production of small
voltage in the junction between two dissimilar
metals when they are joined together.
Magnetic Properties
Note:
Fracture stress depends upon:
• Crack size
• Properties of material
Hardness & Toughness test of
Construction materials
Hardness tests
One of the most simple & useful property of
metal is hardness.
Hardness is used to find out many qualities
of a metal.
indicate resistance to abrasion, scratching,
cutting or shaping.
It may denote strength, stiffness, brittleness
etc.
The hardness of the material implies the
resistance to deform or indentation.
Three types of hardness tests:
1) Scratch hardness test
determines scratching & abrasion
quality of a metal when scratched by
a standard substance.
The standard substances are either
minerals or files.
Some minerals have been given
hardness numbers from 1 to 10 on
the Mohr scale.
The softest mineral on this scale is
talc.
Diamond has the maximum hardness
of ten (10).
determined by trial method like
which minerals scratch a smooth
surface of substance & which mineral
can be scratched by the substance.
Mohr scale
Another method is filling. The mineral to
be tested is rubbed against a standard file
or vice-versa & it is noted whether a
visible cut is produced or not on the
metal surface.
The visible cut on the metal surface is
produced if the hardness is lower than
that of the file.
2) Indentation hardness test or penetration test
based on the principle of forcing a hard material
called an indenter against a flat surface of the
metal whose hardness is to be measured under a
fixed load depending upon its hardness.
The metal resists deformation & finally an
impression is made by the indenter on the
surface of the metal.
The diameter or depth of the impression
determines the hardness of the metal & after the
measurement it could be converted into a
relative quantitative value.
Some of the indentation hardness tests
are:
◦ Brinell hardness test
◦ Rockwell hardness test
◦ Vickers hardness test
i) Brinell hardness test
The test consist in
forcing a steel ball of
diameter, D under a
load P into the test
piece & measuring the
mean diameter of the
indentation left in the
surface under test
after removal of the
load.
ii) Rockwell hardness test
In this method, Rockwell test
machine measures the depth
of impression, the
measurement is read on the
dial of the micrometer which
is connected to the indenter,
The indenter in Rockwell
hardness testing machine is
either a steel ball, hard steel
ball or a carefully ground
diamond cone.
Ball size varies from 1.5 mm
to 3 mm diameter
Method:
A completely flat specimen is supported by the
Anvil of the machine which is raised up by a
jack-screw until the specimen comes in contact
with the indenter.
A minor load is then applied by raising Anvil.
The final load is then applied by releasing a
system of levers which forces the indenter
down onto the surface of the specimen.
Before the reading of dial-gauge, the laser is
taken, the major load is removed leaving the
indenter in the new position but only under
the minor load of 10 kg.
iii) Vickers hardness test
This test is similar to Brinell hardness
test.
In this test indenter is a diamond
pyramid having four side.
The angle between opposite side is
136⁰. The indenter size is square.
The load is automatically applied &
released after the correct time.
The specimen is removed from the
indenter & diagonal of the impression
is measured using microscope &
illuminating lamp.
3) Rebound hardness test
In this test, the specimen at which hardness is
determined by dropping on a small diamond
pointed hammer, on the surface &
observing the height of rebound.
A steel cylinder hammer is dropped from a height
of 25 cm through a glass tube on the surface to
be tested.
The height of the rebound is used as a measure of
hardness of surface.
The surface to be tested should be smooth, free
from oil and tube should be truly vertical.
Impact Test:
When materials are subjected to a
sudden stress or shock, the behavior of
the material will not be as that in the case
of hardness test.
Impact test is performed for very rapid
stresses & the impact load is applied by
swinging pendulum which collides with
the specimen.
Charpy test:
A standard specimen of 55
mm long 10 mm square
section with U-Notched
facing downward is
supported at each end.
i. Striking energy of the iii. The test piece is
testing machine stroked by hammer in a
should 30 kg force- plane of symmetry of
meter & the difference notched & on the side
between the supports opposite to the notched.
is 40 mm. Then impact strength of
ii. Notched in 5 mm the material is noted from
deep rounded off at dial gauge.
the base with a radius
of 1 mm.
iv. The impact strength is the energy
absorbed per unit volume during the
fracture of the materials.
Izod test:
The test consist
breaking of the
specimen by one
blow from a swinging
hammer.
The specimen is
placed vertically with
bottom of the
Notched. In the same
plane, the blow is
stroked.
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