Basic Building Materials Used In Construction

Introduction

For the construction of any type of structure important or basic materials are used which we called construction materials. So the construction industry used various building materials according to the type of building, and type of structure.

Every material has its own characteristics, and play important role as a construction material. There are various tests to check suitability of proper materials. The choice of material is depended on the cost and aesthetics. The construction materials are

A.    Natural Materials

B.     Man-Made Materials

 

A.    Natural Materials

The materials which are naturally occurred and unprocessed by industry are called natural materials.

1.      Mud And Clay

2.      Rock/ Stone

3.      Thatch

4.      Brush

5.      Bamboo

6.      Wood

7.      Fabric

8.      Ice

9.      Puzzolana

 

B.     Man-Made Materials

The materials which are processed by industry are called man-made materials.

10.  Concrete

11.  Brick And Block

12.  Metal

13.  Glass

14.  Plastic

15.  Ceramic

16.  Foam

17.  Kevlar

18.  Straw

 

1.      Mud And Clay

·  Mud and clay are used from longer time as construction materials. They have significant property of thermal insulation.

·  Durability of mud as construction material we can see the example of great china wall.

· Effectiveness of clay and mud depend upon its quality.

·  Cob or adobe style is signified the high presence of clay in soil whereas low quality resembles sod building.

·  Sand, gravels, straw or grasses can be added in the mud or clay which molds them in rammed earth.

2.      Rock / Stone

·  Rock or stone as construction material is used from as long as history. It is long-lasting construction material which is usually available.

·  Different types of rock or stone available in the world, every rock has its different significant from other.

·  Rock or stone is very solid, durable and protective material.

·  It is highly weighted material, which is its drawback.

· Rock or stone structure required less maintenance, and it has high durability.

· Different types of mortar are used to hold stone like cement, etc.

·  Slate and granite are the example stone, which are used for various purposes.

 

3.      Thatch

·  Thatch is one of the oldest construction materials, which is called as grass.

· Thatch is a good insulator as well as easily harvested.

·  Africa and New Zealand used the thatch roof on houses.

 

4.      Brush

·  Brush structures are made up from branches, twigs, and leaves, barks of plant

·  The structure is mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas, like rainforest, where amount of leaves are available.

5.      Bamboo

·  Bamboo is flexible, strong, and sustainable material so it can be used in many ways.

· In place bamboo make sense, it can be used.

 

6.      Wood

·  Wood is the oldest building material used as building material. It is used as a building component like beam, and frames of large structure like bridge and multistory building.

·  It is an eco-friendly and economical natural resource.

·  It has various properties which makes it ideal material, such as it is lightweight, can easily standardize in size, easily available, and acting as good insulator.

 

7.      Fabric

· Fabric is the choice of nomadic i.e. travelling groups the world over, for the tent, which is known as conical teepee and circular yurt.

· In the past, cotton and hemp were used as a fabric for building materials and construction.

·  Fabric is strong and reliable material, with development of tensile architecture and synthetics fabrics, major construction technique can revive.

·  It is light weighted and easily install-able, and need low maintenance.

 

8.      Ice

·  Ice is used as building  material in Northern colder regions, ices was sued by Intuits to make their Igloos.

· For making ice hotel, ice is used. Construction of ice structure can be done rapidly.

 

9.      Puzzolana

·  ‘Puzzouli’ is the town in Italy, from which puzzolana name is originated.

· Around this town, the volcanic dust is formed due to the frequent eruption of the nearby volcano mixed with hydrated lime which posses hydraulic properties, this dust called puzzolana.

·  Puzzolana is building material used in construction, which used before arrival of the cement, puzzolana is mixed with lime to make concrete.    

 

10.  Concrete

·  Concrete is the famous composite building material which is widely used in construction.

· The concrete is the combination of sand, cement, aggregate and water with particular proportions.

·  After the mixture of all the materials, cement hydrates, and with finally it hardens like stone.

· Concrete has high compressive strength but low tensile strength, so the steel rods and bars are used with concrete.

· The concrete is durable, harden and easy to transport.

 

 

11.  Brick And Block

·  To built structure bricks or blocks are used. They are durable and fire resistance.

·  The bricks are bound together by mortar. Bricks are economical material to use for multistory building.

· A brick is an element of three dimension which are length, height and width which also refer as thickness.

· The Brick is three-dimensional elements but it can be laid in six different orientations.

· When the brick is placed on its stretcher, height and length which is called face dimension.

·  Modular brick  has size of 19 × 9 × 9 cm and 19 × 9 × 4 cm which is the  size of  a standard brick

·  When 19 × 9 × 9 cm brick, placed in masonry with mortar, it becomes 20 × 10 × 10 cm.

 

12.  Metal

·  For larger buildings like skyscrapers or as an external surface covering, metal is used as structural framework.

·  Various types of metals are used for building, such as steel which is alloy of major component is iron.

·  Metal is always strong, durable, and flexible. But corrosion is the enemy of metal comes with endurance.

·  Aluminum alloy and tin are better resistance to corrosion, so their cost is high.

· Metals have high tensile strength.

13.  Glass

·  Glass was invented in 3600 B. C. which is prepared by heating sand and silicates at high temperatures.

·  Glass is brittle proof and energy efficient material. And allow light to enter in room and human to see through glass window.

 

14.  Plastic

· Plastic is cheap and unsustainable material, whose name is derived from the fact in its semi-liquid state.

· The semi liquid state is flexible having the property of plasticity.

· The plastic is a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products which can be molded or extruded into objects.

· Plastics vary greatly in heat tolerance, resiliency and hardness.

· Plastic is light material can utilize and transport easily, plastic pipe are mostly used in high rise building.

15.  Ceramic

· Ceramicscan be used as tiles, fixtures, covering in building, etc.

· Ceramic used to cover on floors, walls, counter-tops, roof, etc.

· Ceramic is the form of clay-pottery which was fired in kilns. But now it has involved technical and functional areas.

·  It is lightweight, have high strength and hard to impact.

16.  Foam

· At CIBC bank in Toronto, foamed plastics sheets are used s backing for fire stop mortar.

· Foam is light weighted, excellent insulator and easily shaped.

·  The foam is sandwiched between wood and cement, in the structural insulated panel.

17.  Kevlar

·  Kevlar is stronger than metal shield, and having high tensile strength.

·  It has less rigid composition than steel, so it is used in large buildingstructure.

 

18.  Straw

·  Straw are good to create a passive thermal environment, shielding from rain and blending into similar natural surroundings.