Course : Building Materials and

Construction I

Course Code : Arch1093

  
COURSE CONTENT
 Natural stone, earth/clay, cement, lime, mortar, sand, reinforced concrete (origin,
  characteristics, composition, production, preparation, properties, standards)
 Basic finishing materials, building techniques & structural concepts

Masonry Constructions using stone, bricks, blocks

  Concrete construction, Water/damp proofing

 Building elements, foundations to roofs-with respect to the materials

 
 Building Circulation-stairs and ramps
 
 Working drawings, symbols and abbreviations, material representations, dimensioning,
Small scale building working drawing
Introduction to Building Materials
Building material -material which is used
for construction purposes.

 Naturally occurring
Clay / Earth / Soil, Wood / Timber, Sand / Fine Aggregate,
Rock,
 Man-made products /Industrial Materials
Cement, Bricks, Steel, Tiles, Ceramic, Paints and Varnishes,
Glass, Plastic, Lime
Natural stone
Uses of Stone
• for dams and bridges,
•in retaining wall masonry to retain soil,
•as road material in road construction,
• as ballast for permanent way in railways,
•to make concrete in the form of coarse aggregate.
Throughout history, human beings have made use of natural
stone for their social and cultural manifestations.
The term natural stone includes all those stony products
traditionally used in the construction industry, including those
used in decoration and indoor flooring and walls.
FEATURES AND PROPERTIES
The most relevant characteristics of natural rock are hardness,
resistance to different stress types, composition, porosity, color, and
durability.
CLASSIFICATION
Classified according to the genetic classification of crustal
rocks:
•Igneous Rocks
•Sedimentary Rocks
•Metamorphic Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks
•formed from the compression of sediments, dirt, or sand we see on the surface of Earth today. As you bury

sediment deeper and deeper into the crust, temperatures and pressures increase to the point that the individual

grains are cemented together .

•Sedimentary rocks often contain fossils from marine organisms or are entirely made up of fossils in the case of

many carbonates .

Eg. Chalk, Sandstone, Coal

Sedimentary Rocks
Metamorphic Rocks
All types of rocks may be subjected to intense pressure and/or high temperatures, as a result of the activity of the

Earth's crust. This gives rise to major transformations in texture, structure and atomic organization in minerals.

Rocks that have undergone such transformations are called metamorphic rocks

Eg. Marble, Slate ( used mainly for roofing), Quartzites, Serpentinite(used in emblematic spaces such as palaces and

magnificent hotels, both in floor

coverings and wall linings or skirting boards. It has also been called "green

marble.)
Metamorphic Rocks
Igneous Rocks:
•are formed from cooling magma deep in Earth’s crust or mantle. This cooling magma crystalizes to form

rocks like the granite.

•A rock that cools within Earth’s crust will cool very slowly and form larger crystals and is called an intrusive

igneous rock. Magma that is ejected to the surface of Earth a volcanic eruption or at a spreading centre cools

very quickly, contains small crystals typically and is called an extrusive igneous rock.

Eg. Granite, Basalt

Igneous Rocks:
Clay / Earth

• Clay is a finely-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one

or more clay minerals with possible traces of quartz (SiO2), metal
oxides (Al2O3 , MgO etc.) and organic matter.
• Clays are plastic due to particle size and geometry as well as water
content, and become hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying
or firing.
• Clay as the defining ingredient of loam is one of the oldest building materials, among

other ancient, naturally-occurring geologic materials .

• in both traditional societies as well as developed countries, still live or work in buildings

made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing structure.

• Also a primary ingredient in many natural building techniques, clay is used to

create adobe, rammed earth structures and building elements such as wattle and daub, clay

plaster, clay render case, clay floors and clay paints.

An air dried brick made of a mixture loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a
binding material such as rice husks or straw. since 4000 BC, bricks have also been
fired, to increase their strength and durability.
mud-brick construction is called adobe.(Spanish name)
EARTH CONSTRUCTION:
1. ADOBE
2. RAMMED EARTH
3. COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS
Adobe is a building material made from earth and organic materials.
mixture of soil, water and local fiber materials or straw fibers

• Adobe is Spanish for mudbrick

• Adobe is among the earliest building materials, and is used
throughout the world.
Use of these sun-dried blocks dates back to 8000 B.C. The use of adobe
is very common in Latin America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and
other parts of Asia, the Middle East, and southern Europe. By and large,
mainly low-income rural populations use this type of construction.
Material Composition
• An adobe brick is a composite material made of earth mixed with water and an organic material
such as straw or dung.
• The soil composition typically contains sand, silt and clay.
• Straw is useful in binding the brick together and allowing the brick to dry evenly, thereby preventing
cracking due to uneven shrinkage rates through the brick.
• The most desirable soil texture for producing the mud of adobe is 15% clay, 10–30% silt, and 55–75%
fine sand. Another source quotes 15–25% clay and the remainder sand and coarser particles up to
cobbles 50 to 250 mm (2 to 10 in), with no deleterious effect.
• Modern adobe is stabilized with either emulsified asphalt or Portland cement up to 10% by weight.
• No more than half the clay content should be expansive clays, with the remainder non-expansive
illite or kaolinite. Too much expansive clay results in uneven drying through the brick, resulting in
cracking, while too much kaolinite will make a weak brick.
Adobe bricks
• Bricks made from adobe are usually made by pressing the mud
mixture into an open timber frame.
• The mixture is molded into the frame, which is removed after initial
setting. After drying for a few hours, the bricks are turned on edge to
finish drying. Slow drying in shade reduces cracking.
• The same mixture, without straw, is used to make mortar and often
plaster on interior and exterior walls. Some cultures used lime-based
cement for the plaster to protect against rain damage
Rammed earthworks
Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and
walls using natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It
is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable
building method
Modern rammed earth techniques use heavy machinery to compress
the soil. Walls tend to be at least a foot thick(30 cm) for stability and
also thermal mass.
_ The more one compacts, the stronger the wall becomes, but this has
to be done in accordance with availability of suitable soil and
affordability. More compaction requires more soil and more labor,
 _ Soil for rammed earth construction can be stabilized with cement for
water resistance.
COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS
A compressed earth block (CEB), also known as a pressed earth block
or a compressed soil block, is a building material made primarily from
damp soil compressed at high pressure to form blocks.
Compressed earth blocks use a mechanical press to form blocks out of
an appropriate mix range of particle sizes are from 40 - 75% sand and
from 25 - 60% fine (silt and clay)
• The Hydraform Interlocking Soil Block (hydraform block) is an
interlocking earth block.
• The hydraform block is made from soil cement which is a mixture of
soil, cement and water, and is hydraulically compressed to form a high
quality interlocking soil block.
• The blocks are manufactured by mobile block making machines, the
added advantage these machines bring to the Hydraform value
proposition is that the blocks can be produced onsite resulting in
reduced transport cost and the use of local soils reducing costs and
increasing local impact.
Thanks