MATERIALS TESTING
Maintenance cost of
 Is a range of highly precise and reliable
techniques that determine and measure the
characteristics of materials, such as mechanical
properties, elemental composition, corrosion
resistance and the effect of heat treatment.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TESTING (CMT)
 Primarily involves testing structural materials
used to build new projects from the ground up.
TESTING
 Is performed to evaluate mechanical properties
such as strength. Hardness, elasticity and
fracture toughness. Corrosion testing can
determine if the material will hold up under
given conditions such as humidity or salt water
environment.
Materials are tested for diverse purposes:
1. To determine the properties of the raw material
2. Check quality at intermediate stages in
production processes
3. To check finished projects
4. To aid research. Mechanical, physical and
chemical methods are used to study the
properties of materials.
PROPERTIES OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
1. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
2. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
3. THERMAL PROPERTIES
4. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
5. ECONOMIC PROPERTIES
6. AESTHETICS PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:
1. DENSITY – mass per unit volume of a material
2. BULK DENSITY- is the ratio of mass to the
volume of the material in its natural state that is
including voids and pores. Bilk density
influences the mechanical properties of the
material.
3. UNIT WEIGHT- the ratio of material weight to
material volume
4. POROSITY – the ratio of the volume of the
spaces in the materials to the overall volume.
5. DURABILITY- The property of a material to
withstand against the combined action of
atmospheric and other factors is known as
durability of material.
material is dependent of durability.
6. DENSITY INDEX - Ratio of bulk density of
material to its density is termed as density
index. Hence it gives the volume of solid matter
in the material. In nature, fully dense material is
not available so, density index is always less
than 1 for any building material.
7. SPECIFIC GRAVITY -Specific gravity is the ratio
of mass of given substance to the mass of water
at 4 degree Celsius for the equal volumes.
8. VOID RATIO- the ratio b/w the size of voids to
the volume of solid materials.
9. FIRE DEGREE RESISTANCE - The ability to
withstand against fire without changing its
shape and other properties. Fire resistance of a
material is tested by the combined actions of
water and fire. Fireproof materials should
provide more safety in case of fire.
10. WEATHERING RESISTANCE- is the ability of a
material to endure alternate wet and dry
conditions or a long period w/o considerable
deformation and loss of mechanical strength.
11. FROST RESISTANCE- ability of a material to
resist freezing or thawing.  It depends upon the
density and bulk density of material. Denser
materials will have more frost resistance. Moist
material have low frost resistance and they lose
their strength in freezing and become brittle.
12. SPALLING RESISTANCE- The ability of a material
to undergo certain number of cycles of sharp
temperature variations without failing.
13. WATER ABSORPTION- the ability of the material
to absorb and retain water.
14. WATER PERMEABILITY-ability of material to
allow water through it. Dense materials like
glass, steel, bitumen is called impervious
materials which means fluids cannot readily
pass.
15. HYGROSCOPICITY- is the property of a material
to absorb water vapor from the air.
16. COEFFICIENT OF SOFTENING- is the ration of
compressive strength of a saturated material to
its compressive strength in dry state. It affects
the strength of water absorbent materials like
soil.
17. REFRACTORINESS- The property of a material
which cannot melts or lose its shape at
 prolonged high temperatures (1580oC or more).
EXAMPLE: Fire clay
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
1. STRENGTH- the capacity of the material to
withstand the breaking, bowing, or deforming
under the action of mechanical loads on it.
2. STRESS- is used to express the loading in terms of
force applied to a certain cross-sectional area of an
object.
3. STRAIN- is the response of a system to an applied
stress.
4. ELASTICITY- is the property of a material to come
back to its original size and shape even after the
load stops acting on it.
5. PLASTICITY- is the property of a material that
makes it to be in the deformed size and shape even
after the load stops acting on it.
6. DUCTILITY- property of a material that allows it to
deform or make into thin wires under the action of
tensile loads plastically.
- ability of materials to undergo significant plastic
deformation before rupture.
7. TENSILE STRENGTH- allows the material to deform
under tensile loading w/o breaking under the
action of a load.
8. YIELD STRENGTH- stress needed to produce a
specified amount of plastic or permanent
deformation. (Usually a 0.2% change in length)
9. ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH- maximum stress a
material can withstand before fracture.
10. HARDNESS- resistance to abrasion, deformation, or
scratching by harder body. The hardness of stone
materials can be determined with the help of
Mohs’ scale of hardness.
11. BRITTLENESS- When the material is subjected to
load, if it fails suddenly without causing any
deformation then it is called brittle material and
this property is called as brittleness. Examples:
concrete, cast-iron etc.
12. ABRASION RESISTANCE- The loss of material due
to rubbing of particles while working is called
abrasion. The abrasion resistance for a material
makes it durable and provided long life.
13. CREEP RESISTANCE- plastic deformation of
materials caused by constant loads for long periods
of time.
14. FATIGUE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE LIMIT
- this results from a repeated cyclic application of
stress which may be below the yield strength of the
material.
- this is known to be the most common form of
mechanical failure of all engineering components.
13. IMPACT STRENGTH OR TOUGHNESS- is defined as
the ability of a material to absorb mechanical
energy in the process of deformation and
fracture, without plastic deformation
under impact loading.
THERMAL PROPERTIES:
1. THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY- is the rate of
heat transfer through a material in steady
state.
2. THERMAL CAPACITY- is the property of a
material to absorb heat and it is required to
design proper ventilation.
3. THERMAL DIFFUSIVITY- is the thermal
conductivity divided by density and specific heat
capacity at constant pressure. It measures the
rate of transfer of heat of a material from the
hot end to the cold end.
4. SPECIFIC HEAT- measure of the amount of
energy required to change the temperature of a
given mass of material.
- Specific heat is the quantity of heat required to
heat 1 N of material by 1oC. Specific heat is
useful when we use the material in high
temperature areas.
5. MELTING POINT- is the temperature at which a
material goes from the solid to the liquid state
at one atmosphere. The melting point is not
usually a design criterion but it offers important
clues to other material properties.
6. GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURE- is an
important property of polymer.
- It is a temperature range which marks a change
in mechanical behavior.
7. COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION
- describes how the size of an object changes
with a change in temperature. Specifically, it
measures the fractional change in size per
degree change in temperature at a constant
pressure.
 8. THERMAL SHOCK RESISTANCE- is a measure of
how large a change in temperature a material
can withstand without damage. It is important
to most high temperature designs.

ONTOG, M.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:

The properties of materials against the chemical actions

or chemical combinations are termed as chemical
properties.

2 TYPES OF CHEMICAL RESISTANCE:

1. Chemical resistance- The ability of a construction

materials to resist the effects by chemicals like acids,
salts and alkalis is known as chemical resistance.
Underground installations, constructions near sea
etc. should be built with great chemical resistance.
2. Corrosion resistance- refers to how well a substance
(especially a metal) can withstand damage caused by
oxidization or other chemical reactions.

AESTHETIC PROPERTIES:
The characteristics of construction materials that can be
observed and touched.

ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS:
Basically, these are the cost of materials. Knowing the
cost of materials will help you choose the most
economic materials to use.

ADDITIONAL:

ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES:
These properties signify the ability of the material to
resist the flow of an electric current and they include
conductivity, dielectric strength and resistivity.

MAGNETIC PROPERTIES:
The study of magnetic properties of the material like
permeability, hysteresis and coercive force is required
when.it is to be used for generators, transformers, etc.