Komar University of Science and Technology

College of Engineering

Subject: Term Report– Spring 2020

Department Name: Civil engineering …………………………………

Title: Materials used in construction ……………………………………

Course Code: ENG1200…………………………………………………

Course Name: Introduction to engineering ………………………………

Student ID: F190147………………………………………………………

Student Name: Nishan Bahman ……………………………………………

Submission Date: 21st June 2020

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Contents
Table of content ………………………………………………………………………………….2
List of figure ……………………………………………………………………………………..3
Chapter 01………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………4
Chapter 02 ………………………………………………………………………………………5
What is engineering in general? …………………………………………………………………5
Talk about your branch of engineering? ………………………………………………………..5
What are the most important skills that you may need to be successful in your future career?
Types of building materials used in construction ……………………………………………6
Chapter 03 ……………………………………………………………………………………..18
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………18
References ……………………………………………………………………………………..19

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1:Natural construction materials ………………………………………………………..7

Figure 2: Fabric…………………………………………………………………………………7
Figure 3: Mud and clay ………………………………………………………………………...8
Figure 4: Rock ………………………………………………………………………………….9
Figure 5: Thatch ………………………………………………………………………………..9
Figure 6: Brush ………………………………………………………………………………..10
Figure 7: Ice …………………………………………………………………………………..10
Figure 8: Wood ……………………………………………………………………………….11
Figure 9: Brick and block……………………………………………………………………..11
Figure 10: Concrete…………………………………………………………………………...12
Figure 11: Metal ……………………………………………………………………………...12
Figure 12: Glass ………………………………………………………………………………13
Figure 13: Ceramic…………………………………………………………………………….13
Figure 14: Plastic………………………………………………………………………………14
Figure 15: Foam ……………………………………………………………………………….14
Figure 16: cement composite…………………………………………………………………..15
Figure 17: Building materials in modern industry……………………………………………..16
Figure 18: Virtual building materials…………………………………………………………..16
Figure 19: Building products…………………………………………………………………...17

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 MATERIAL USED IN CONSTRUCTION

CHAPTER 01

INTRODUCTION :

A material is defined as a substance (most often a solid, but other condensed phases can be
included) that is intended to be used for certain applications. There are a myriad of materials
around us – they can be found in anything from buildings to spacecraft. On the basis of
chemistry and atomic structure.

Construction comes from the word ‘construct,’ which means ‘to build.’ Building a sand castle, a
fort out of pillows, or a house of cards are all examples of constructing something. In
engineering terms, construction is usually associated with large structures like houses, railways,
and power plants. In terms of engineering, construction is the activity of putting together
different elements, using a detailed design and plan, to create a structure for a certain location.
When you construct large structures, you need to have a clear plan of how you are going to do
that. You also need to know the specific location. Architects and engineers design and build the
structure with that location in mind.

The engineering structures are composed of materials. These materials are known as the
engineering materials or building materials or materials of construction. It is necessary for the
civil engineer to become conversant with the properties of such materials. The service conditions
of buildings demand a wide range of materials and various properties such as water resistance,
strength, durability, temperature resistance, appearance, permeability, etc. are to be properly
studied before making final selection of any building material for a particular use.

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 CHAPTER 02

1-What is engineering in general?

Engineering is an occupation with extremely wide reach. The term ‘engineering’ covers many
fields and, by extension, many skills. Engineers are scientists, inventors, designers, builders and
great thinkers. They improve the state of the world, amplify human capability and make people’s
lives safer and easier. Engineering helped create almost every human-made object that we
interact with on a daily basis. Everything from mobile phones, coffee cups, and athletic shoes to
skyscrapers, national weather forecasts, and the Internet exists in large part due to the work of
engineers.

2- talk about your branch of engineering?

My branch is civil engineering ,the design and construction of buildings, dams, water treatment
and carrying systems, air pollution controls, and transportation systems are the responsibilities of
civil engineers .

3-What are the most important skills that you may need to be successful in
your future career?

Here are the 5 most important skills:

1. Technical Skills : A good Civil Engineer should have a level of Mathematics and Physics
that allows for the identification and solving of engineering problems.

2. Project Management : When problems arise, it is common for people involved in the
project on all levels to look to the engineer for guidance and resolution .

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 3. Communication Skills : In Civil Engineering – perhaps more so than other Engineering
fields – the ability to communicate effectively is a highly sought after skill

4. Creativity : It could be said broadly that the role of Civil Engineers is applying
Engineering principles to develop solutions within the built environment

5. Critical Thinking : Civil Engineers often face complex problems and need to find
efficient solutions for them.

Types of building materials used in construction:

1.Natural construction Materials:

Construction materials can be generally categorized into two sources, natural and synthetic.
Natural materials are those that are unprocessed or minimally processed by industry, such as
lumber or glass.Synthetic materials are made in industrial settings after much human
manipulations, such as plastics and petroleum based paints. Both have their uses. Mud, stone,
and fibrous plants are the most basic materials, aside from tents made of flexible materials such
as cloth or skins. People all over the world have used these three materials together to create
homes to suit their local weather conditions.In general stone and/or brush are used as basic
structural components in these buildings, while mud is used to fill in the space between, acting as
a type of concrete and insulation.

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 Figure 1: Natural construction materials

2.Fabric:

The tent used to be the home of choice among nomadic groups the world over. Two well known
types include the conical teepee and the circular yurt. It has been revived as a major construction
technique with the development of tensile architecture and synthetic fabrics.Modern buildings
can be made of flexible material such as fabric membranes, and supported by a system of steel
cables or internal (air pressure.)

Figure 2: Fabric

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 3. Mud and clay :
The amount of each material used leads to different styles of buildings. The deciding factor is
usually connected with the quality of the soil being used. Larger amounts of clay usually mean
using the cob/adobe style, while low clay soil is usually associated with sod building.The other
main ingredients include more or less sand/gravel and straw/grasses. Rammed earth is both an
old and newer take on creating walls, once made by compacting clay soils between planks by
hand, now forms and mechanical pneumatic compressors are used.Soil and especially clay is
good thermal mass; it is very good at keeping temperatures at a constant level. Homes built with
earth tend to be naturally cool in the summer heat and warm in cold weather. Clay holds heat or
cold, releasing it over a period of time like stone.

Figure 3: Mud and clay

4. Rock :

Rock structures have existed for as long as history can recall. It is the longest lasting building
material available, and is usually readily available. There are many types of rock through out the
world all with differing attributes that make them better or worse for particular uses.

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 Figure 4: Rock

5.Thatch:
Thatch is one of the oldest of materials known; grass is a good insulator and easily harvested.
Many African tribes have lived in homes made completely of grasses year round. In Europe,
thatch roofs on homes were once prevalent but the material fell out of favour as industrialization
and improved transport increased the availability of other materials.Today, though, the practice
is undergoing a revival. In the Netherlands, for instance, many of new builds too have thatched
roofs with special ridge tiles on top.

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 Figure 5: Thatch

6.Brush :
Brush structures are built entirely from plant parts and are generally found in tropical and
subtropical areas, such as rainforests, where very large leaves can be used in the building. Native
Americans often built brush structures for resting and living in, too.

Figure 6: Brush

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 7.Ice : Ice was used by the Inuit for igloos, but has also been used for ice hotels as a tourist
attraction in northern areas that might not otherwise see many winter tourists.

Figure 7: Ice

8.wood:
Wood is a product of trees, and sometimes other fibrous plants, used for construction purposes
when cut or pressed into lumber and timber, such as boards, planks and similar materials. It is a
generic building material and is used in building just about any type of structure in most
climates.Wood can be very flexible under loads, keeping strength while bending, and is
incredibly strong when compressed vertically.

Figure 8: Wood

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9. Brick and block :
A brick is a block made of kiln-fired material, usually clay or shale, but also may be of lower
quality mud, etc. Clay bricks are formed in a moulding (the soft mud method), or in commercial
manufacture more frequently by extruding clay through a die and then wire-cutting them to the
proper size (the stiff mud process).

Figure 9: Brick and block

10.concrete:
Concrete is a composite building material made from the combination of aggregate (composite)
and a binder such as cement. The most common form of concrete is Portland cement concrete,
which consists of mineral aggregate (generally gravel and sand), portland cement and water.

Figure 10: Concrete

11. Metal:

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Metal is used as structural framework for larger buildings such as skyscrapers, or as an external
surface covering.There are many types of metals used for building. Steel is a metal alloy whose
major component is iron, and is the usual choice for metal structural construction. It is strong,
flexible, and if refined well and/or treated lasts a long time. Corrosion is metal’s prime enemy
when it comes to longevity.

Figure 11: Metal

12. Glass:
Clear windows have been used since the invention of glass to cover small openings in a building.
They provided humans with the ability to both let light into rooms while at the same time
keeping inclement weather outside. Glass is generally made from mixtures of sand and silicates,
and is very brittle.

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 Figure 12: Glass

13.ceramics:
Ceramics are such things as tiles, fixtures, etc. Ceramics are mostly used as fixtures or coverings
in buildings. Ceramic floors, walls, counter-tops, even ceilings. Many countries use
ceramicroofing tiles to cover many buildings.Ceramics used to be just a specialized form of clay-
pottery firing in kilns, but it has evolved into more technical areas.

Figure 13: Ceramics

14.plastic:

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Plastic pipes penetrating a concrete floor in a Canadian highrise apartment building.The term
plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization
products that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or fibers. Their name is derived
from the fact that in their semi-liquid state they are malleable, or have the property of plasticity.

Figure 14: Plastic

15. Foam :
Foamed plastic sheet to be used as backing for firestop mortar at CIBC bank in Toronto.More
recently synthetic polystyrene or polyurethane foam has been used on a limited scale. It is light
weight, easily shaped and an excellent insulator. It is usually used as part of a structural insulated
panel where the foam is sandwiched between wood or cement.

Figure 15: Foam

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16. Cement composites:
Cement bonded composites are an important class of construction material. These
products are made of hydrated cement paste that binds wood or alike particles or
fibers to make precast building components. Various fibrous materials including
paper and fiberglass have been used as binders.Wood and natural fibres are
composed of various soluble organic compounds like carbohydrates, glycosides
and phenolics. These compounds are known to retard cement setting. Therefore,
before using a wood in making cement boned composites, its compatibility with
cement is assessed.

Figure 16: cement composites

17. Building materials in modern industry :

Modern building is a multibillion dollar industry, and the production and harvesting of raw
materials for building purposes is on a worldwide scale. Often being a primary governmental and
trade keypoint between nations.Environmental concerns are also becoming a major world topic
concerning the availability and sustainability of certain materials, and the extraction of such large
quantities needed for the human habitat.

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 Figure 17: building materials in modern industry

18. Virtual building materials:

Certain materials like photographs, images, text may be considered virtual. While, they usually
exist on a substrate of natural material themselves, they acquire a different quality of salience to
natural materials through the process of representation

Figure 18: Virtual building materials

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19. Building products:
When we talk about building products we refer to the ready-made particles that are fitted in
different architectural hardware and decorative hardware parts of a building.The list of building
products exclusively exclude the materials, which are used to construct the building architecture
and supporting fixtures like windows, doors, cabinets, etc. Building products do not make any
part of a building rather they support and make them working.

Figure 19: Building products

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 CHAPTER 03

CONCLUSION:

The designing structures are made out of materials. These materials are known as the designing
materials or building materials or materials of development. It is important for the structural
specialist to get acquainted with the properties of such materials. The administration states of
structures request a wide scope of materials and different properties, for example, water
obstruction, quality, strength, temperature opposition, appearance, porousness, and so forth are to
be appropriately concentrated before making last choice of any structure material for a specific
use.

Development originates from the word ‘develop,’ which signifies ‘to assemble.’ Building a sand
stronghold, a post out of pads, or a place of cards are for the most part instances of building
something. In building terms, development is normally connected with enormous structures like
houses, railroads, and force plants. Regarding building, development is the action of assembling
various components, utilizing a definite structure and plan, to make a structure for a specific
area. At the point when you develop enormous structures, you have to have an away from of how
you will do that. You additionally need to know the particular area. Planners and architects plan
and fabricate the structure in light of that area.

A material is characterized as a substance (regularly a strong, yet other consolidated stages can
be incorporated) that is planned to be utilized for specific applications. There are a horde of

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materials around us – they can be found in anything from structures to shuttle. Based on science
and nuclear structure.

References

1-The Constructor. 2020. Types Of Building Materials Used In Construction And Their

Properties. [online] Available at: https://theconstructor.org/building/types-of-building-materials-
construction/699/ [Accessed 20 June 2020].

2-Uomustansiriyah.edu.iq. 2020. [online] Available at:

https://uomustansiriyah.edu.iq/media/lectures/5/5_2018_03_11!09_59_44_PM.pdf [Accessed 20
June 2020].

3- Study.com. 2020. [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/construction-

definition-types.html [Accessed 20 June 2020].

4- Engineersaustralia.org.au. 2020. What Is Engineering | All About Engineer Jobs | Engineers

Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/For-Students-And-
Educators/Engineering-Careers/What-Is-Engineering [Accessed 20 June 2020].

5-Linkedin.com. 2020. The 5 Most Important Skills For A Civil Engineer. [online] Available at:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-most-important-skills-civil-engineer-tawfiq-bayo-adebiyi
[Accessed 20 June 2020].

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