notes that can help for your exam

1. FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLES OF
BUILDING MATERIAL
BST 110
Material properties
Prepared by:
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING SURVEYING
UITM PERAK

2.  A chemical substance is any
material with a known chemical
composition. For example, water has
the same properties and the same
ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether
it came from a river or was made in
a laboratory. Typical chemical
substances found in the home
include water, salt (sodium chloride)
and bleach. Generally, substances
exist as a solid, a liquid, or a gas, and
may change between these phases
of matter when there are changes in
temperature or pressure. Water and
steam are two different forms of the
same chemical substance.
 There are 100 chemical substance
which cannot be subdivided. These
basic unit such as carbon, iron,
hydrogen and oxygen are called
chemical elements.
Building Block of Matter

3.  Total 97% of all earthly substances.
 Atoms are the basic of all matter, consist of a
small, dense positively charged molecules
surrounded by a moving ring of negatively
charged electrons.
 Electron moving around the nucleus (like
planet moves around sun)
 Ordinarily electrons and nucleus are nicely
balanced the negatively charged on
electrons equaling the positive charged on
the nucleus.
Building Block of Matter

4.  Diagram of nucleus

5.  Ordinarily electrons and nucleus are nicely balance -
negative charge on electrons = positive charged on nucleus.
 Ions – atoms may give up or acquired negatived charged
electrons.
 Molecules – combines with other atom, i.e. water (hydrogen
and oxygen)
 H is 1 valented and O is 2 valent to make molecules, H2O
 2 atoms oxygen form 1 molecules of oxygen (O2)
 3 atoms oxygen form 1 molecule of ozone (O3)
 Molecule may take solid, liquid or gaseous form
 Gas → Liquid → Solid
High temperatures

7. Periodic Table of Elements
 Individually atomic weight, serial number (atomic
number), vertical columns according to their
chemical behaviour, which depend mainly on the
number of electrons in the outer shell of the atom.
 i.e. metal table left, non metal in the right of the
table

8. Periodic Table of Elements

9. Periodic Table of Elements
 Building material interest:
H Hydrogen Al Aluminium Se Selenium
He Helium Si Silicon Br Bromine
C Carbon P Phosphorus Ag Silver
O Oxygen Mn Manganese Cd Cadmium
F Fluorine Fe Ferum/ Iron Sn Tin/Stanum
Ne Neon S Sulphur Sb Antimony
Na Sodium Cl Chlorine I Iodine
Mg Magnesium Ar Argon Ba Barium
K Potassium Ca Calcium W Tungsten
Cr Chromium Ni Nickel Pt Platinum
Cu Copper Zn Zinc Au gold

10. Bonding
 Major reason that atoms, ions and molecules
bond together to form substances is the strong
acquisitive nature of the outermost electron
shell.
 Types of bonding are ionic, metallic, covalent
and secondary/molecule.

11. Ionic Bonding
 Positive ions and negative ions are attached and bond
ionically.
 Ceramic materials are combination of metallic and non
metallic atom bonded primarily, through the ionic
mechanism, examples under this categories are brick, tile,
Portland cement and natural stone, concrete, Terracotta
 Their properties follow from the quality of their ionic
bonding.
 Characteristics:
i) High melting temperatures
ii) Chemically inert (lengai)
iii) Tend to brittle (rapuh)

12. Ionic Bonding
iv) Tend to shatter rather than change shape
v) Good strength in compression but low
strength in tension
vi) Poor conductors of heat and electricity (good
thermal and electrical resistance)

14. Metallic Bonding
 Metallic atoms try to surrender their few outer
electrons to become positive ion.
 Characteristics:
i) Strong with fairly high melting temperatures
ii) Good conductors of heat and electricity
iii) Metals may or may not be chemically inert.
iv) Form of corrosion (cast iron as drain pipe
cover)

15.  Each positive centre in the diagram represents all
the rest of the atom apart from the outer electron,
but that electron hasn't been lost - it may no
longer have an attachment to a particular atom,
but it's still there in the structure

18. Covalent Bonding
 Many elements such as carbon and nitrogen lack the strong
tendency to form either positive ions or negative ions.
 These elements with a moderate number of electrons in their
outer shells reach stability by sharing electrons with similar
elements.
 The process of mutual sharing of outer valence electrons by a
cluster of atoms to create a stable entity is known as covalent
bonding. Campuran atom yang lemah membentuk molekul
yang kuat. ‘Diamond’.
 Seldom occur in nature – found in small quantity.
 Wood, plastics, bituminous products (molecular
materials).

19. Covalent Bonding
 Characteristics:
i) Low strength
ii) Low melting temperature
iii) Poor conductor and electricity
iv) Not broken by many of the strong chemical
compound that attack metals and ceramics.

21.  Molecular materials are composed of atoms bound into
molecules by covalent bonding, but the molecules are then
joined to each other by means of weak secondary bonds.
 These bonds occur as the positive nuclei or negative electrons
in one molecule feel an attraction of their opposites in
neighboring molecules and are attracted to and bound to
them in a weak bond.
 Known as Van Der Walls bonding
 Characteristics:
i) Low strength and low melting temperatures
ii) Poor conductors of heat and electricity
iii) Not broken by strong chemical compounds
iv) Chemically inert in many types of environments
v) Easy attacked by molecular solvent such as acetone, but
resistant to attack by most salts, acids and industrial
atmosphere.
Secondary Bonding/Molecule

22. The Properties of Materials
The Ceramics - glass,
brick, concrete, tiles
Metals – iron, steel,
copper, aluminium
and alloys
Molecular Materials –
plastics and wood
(timber)
 hard
 brittle
 poor conductor of
heat and electricity
 more ductile –
mulur dan dapat
dibentuk
 Good conductor of
heat and electricity
 fair strength
 low melting
temperatures
 poor conductor of
heat and electricity

23. Material Performance And Its
Measurement
 Objectives:
1) Identify, define and discuss measurement of those
properties of materials which might have to be
considered when incorporating them into building.
2) It is essential before the individual materials are
examined.
 Characteristic to look on:
Mechanical properties
Thermal properties
Chemical properties
Electrical properties
Others

25. M e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s
These are associated with load.
Strength
 The ability to carry load without failure (structure
failure)
 The pressure all ‘stressed’ and may be applied as
‘compression, tension, torsion, shear.
F
F
l l0
A0
Schematic illustration of how a
tensile load produces an elongation
and positive linear strain. Dashed
line before deformation; solid line,
after deformation

26. No Materials Ultimate
compressive stress
(MN/m2)
1 Engineering brick class A 69 - 80
2 Engineering brick class B 48.5 – 55
3 concrete 10 – 50
4 Structural timber (softwood) 3 – 95
- Strength is clearly a vital characteristics of
many components of building and detailed
calculation will usually be required to
establish the optimum sizes of member.
S t r e n g t h

27. No Materials Ultimate tensile
stress (MN/m2)
Ultimate
compressive stress
(MN/m2)
1 Sandstone - 255 - 195
2 Limestone - 15 – 42.5
3 Granite - 100 - 330
4 Mildsteel 400 – 500 -
5 Aluminium alloy 300 – 500 -
6 Copper 210 – 350 -
7 Lead 15 -
8 Plastics 0.15 – 0.7 -
- For most building purposes – the greatest
significance attaches to the ability to carry
tensile and comprehensive stresses.
S t r e n g t h

29.  compression
 tension

30.  Strain is the response of a material to stress. It is defined as the change in length of the
material under stress (L' −L0) divided by the original length (L0). For a material under tension,
the material may show an incremental increase in length. For a material under compression,
the material may show an incremental decrease in length.
 One way to demonstrate strain for yourself is to use compressible packing foam (beams) or
insulation (tubes). Draw regular grids on the foam (as shown below). What happens to the
grid spacing as you squish, stretch and bend the foam? When you bend the foam, you can
see a combination of compressive and tensile stresses on opposite sides of the bend.

31. -Measured as the relationship of stress / strain which
is known as Young’s Modulus or the modulus of
elasticity and shown as ‘E’.
-An applied load no matter how small, always exert
stress to strain a solid object.
-Landing on a steel I beam will cause the beam the
deflect and this resulting strain.
stress
strain
100
200
300
400
500
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
0
R i g i d i t y

32. R i g i d i t y
 Stress / strain curves for mild steel, high tensile steel,
structural aluminium alloy, copper and lead as figure
below.
 Within elastic limit, stress varies with strain. From the
graph, copper and lead reach very high strains before
failure.
 Kekenyalan adalah suatu sifat yang dimiliki oleh suatu
bahan untuk kembali kepada saiz dan bentuk asal
apabila daya luar dikeluarkan.
 Perubahan relatif saiz dan bentuk sesuatu jasad
disebabkan oleh tegasan dinamakan terikan (strain)

33. Tensile
stress
(N/mm2)
Strain (%)
200
400
600
800
1000
5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0
0
1200
High tensile steel
Mild steel
Aluminium alloy
Copper
Lead
R i g i d i t y

34. D u c t i l i t y
 In a ductile material deformation occurs
because tensile failure and material is
therefore workable.
 Ductility is measured by percentage
elongation in standard test.
 Particularly ductile materials include lead,
copper and some plastics
 Characteristic : elastic deformation (reversible
strain) and plastic deformation (permanent or
irreversible deformation).

35. D u c t i l i t y
Hooke
Law
Elastic Plastic
Strain
(Terikan)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
O
i ii
Stress
(Tegasan)

36. Hooke
Law
Strain
(Terikan)
Stress
(Tegasan)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
O
i ii
A = proportional limit
B = rigidity point (titik alah/had kenyal)
D = dotted point
-The increase in load after point C will produce a large strain up to the point D
before the material breaks.
B-D = is called plastic deformation (metal)
Ductile metals where large plastic deformation occurred in the elastic limit and
breaking point.
-- If load remove from any point O-B the material return to its original
situation/shape.
In this area that material is called rigid.
- When load increase, strain will increase rapidly and when the load is removed
after B,C the material will not return to its original shape but will follow accordingly
CG line.

37. D u c t i l i t y
 When building materials are formed into desired
shape we do not want them to spring back again.
 We want elastic deformation that returns to its
original configuration.
 Load bearing areas of structures are made large
enough, so that loads applied to them will not
generated stress that cause permanent or plastic
deformation.

38. T o u g h n e s s
 A material of good strength and ductility
is considered tough and will not withstand
shock loads. i.e. copper is tough material.

39. B r i t t l e n e s s
 Is reversible of toughness, brittle materials
break without deformation and are
stronger in compression than in tension.
i.e. cast iron, brick
 Material tend to shatter/break, and if the
deformation occur after elastic limit of the
material, therefore it is called brittle.

40. H a r d n e s s
 The Brinell hardness test measures
hardness of material
 Other type of test Vicker & Rockwell
 Test result using Brinell test – Steel (120 –
150), aluminium alloy (60 – 100), copper
(40 – 100) lead (4)
 Ability to resist penetration
 Harder material, greater wear abrasion
resistance

42. R e s i l i e n c e
 Is the energy stored by a material
 The extent to which it will recover quickly
from strain.
 The ability to absorbed energy within
elastic range is called resilience.

43. F a t i g u e r e s i s t a n c e
 Is a measure of materials ability to
withstand repeated stress
 Material could shatter under maximum
strength when due to repeated/cycle
stress (i.e. pumps or mechanical devices)

44. D e n s i t y
 Is the mass of unit volume of material, for
building purposes generally expressed in
kg/m3
 Since the loads imposed by each material
in a building have to be transmitted to the
foundation, important saving can be
made by choosing low density material.

45. D e n s i t y
No MATERIAL Density in kg/m3
1 Brickwork 1250 – 2250
2 Concrete 2250 - 2500
3 Structural timber 400 – 600
4 Limestone 2000 – 2400
5 Sandstone 200 – 2750
6 Granite 2500 – 3200
7 Mild steel 7800
8 Aluminium 2700
9 Copper 9000
10 Lead 11250
11 Plastics 900 - 2500

46. S h a p e / M a l l e a b i l i t y
Malleability is the nature of a
substance that can be extended in
all directions permanently when hit
/ pressure charged on it (i.e. metal
& iron).

47. T H E R M A L P R O P E R T I E S
 When subjected to temperature changes,
a material may change its solidify, melt or
vaporize, expand or contract and
conduct or reflect heat.
Thermal
properties
Melting
temperature
Thermal
conductivity
Thermal
transmittance
Thermal
expansion

48. Melting Temperature
 As rule of thumb materials with high
melting temperature such as ceramic
perform best at high temperature, metal
perform moderately well and molecular
material perform least well.

49. Thermal Conductivity (k)
 Thermal conductivity is the reciprocal of
the resistivity and varies with the density of
material.
 It measures the rate of heat transfer
between the faces of a material stated in
W/mK or W/m°C.
HEAT
Heat loss through component thickness = conductance , k x t
K in W/mK

50. Thermal Transmittance (U)
 Thermal transmittance measure the rates
of heat transfer from air to air through
what may be a complete structure.
 Heat loss calculation
U = 1/ΣR

51. Thermal Expansion
 Thermal expansion is often important to
the design of buildings and should be
predicted as accurately as possible, in
order that suitable expansion joints can
be designed and incomplete into
structure.
 Thermal movement is responsible for
much damage. i.e. steel bridge (1 miles)
long, expand about 12 inch. As it
temperatures is raised from 70 – 100 °F.
 Higher thermal expansion, higher melting
temperature.

52. Thermal Expansion
 Example of coefficient of thermal
expansion
No Material Coefficient of thermal
expansion x 10-6 inch
1 Brickwork 5-7
2 Concrete 10 - 14
3 Limestone 3 – 10
4 Sandstone 7 -16
5 Granite 8 - 10
6 Mild steel 12
7 Aluminium alloy 24
8 Copper 17
9 Lead 30
10 UPVC 70
11 Polystyrene 70

53. E L E C T R I C A L P R O P E R T I E S
 Electrical conductivity is the interest to the building
designer.
MOLECULAR
MATERIALS
CERAMIC
METALS
Conduction of heat easily
Lower conductivities
Lowest

54. E l e c t r i c a l P r o p e r t i e s
 Example of material with percentage of conductivity.
Material % conductivity
Mild steel 12
Aluminium alloy 32 - 52
Copper 100
Lead 8

55. C H E M I C A L P R O P E R T I E S
 Chemical characteristic such as composition, atomic
weight, valency, acid, alkali, atom number, chemical
reaction etc.
 The air and moisture to which building materials are
exposed contain small amount of active chemical
compounds.
 i.e. metal degrade, corrode (anode effect by
chemical reaction) solve using paint (molecular
material) to protect corrode and non conductive
barrier.

56. O T H E R S P R O P E R T I E S
 Physics – shape such as cone, prism, pyramid, sphere, cylinder.
 Technology – on economic matters (value for money), on
production, assembly, transportation, storage etc.
 Fire – behaviour in fire, combustibility, flame spread, loss of
strength.
 Example of material behaviour in fire:
No. Material Behaviour in Fire (Loss of strength)
1 Brickwork Loss of supporting structure
2 Concrete Cracking due to expansion of
reinforcement
3 Structural timber some
4 Steel Yes above 400°C
5 Plastic Yes
6 Glass Shatters