The document discusses various construction materials including stone, wood, metals, concrete, composites, and ceramics. It provides details on the properties and uses of each material. Stone is described as a durable material used for structural elements, facing, and paving. Concrete is highlighted as the most widely used material globally and discussed in terms of applications like buildings, infrastructure, and decorative purposes. Composites are presented as materials that combine properties to achieve superior characteristics compared to individual components.

1. Assignment for Construction and Town planning
Use of Materials
S tone: It is important for a Civil Engineer to know about the various properties of the materials before they are used in
the construction work. The various civil engineering materials like “The Stones”. Stone is a widely used construction
material since pre-historic days. Its durability, strength and abundant availability made it the builder’s No.1 choice.
Enormous stone structures constructed by Romans and Egyptians are still present on the face of earth which are
serving as living proof of stone’s worthiness. However, the use of stone has considerably reduced due to modern
construction requirements.
Stone has following uses as construction material.
Structural elements: The stones are used for foundations, walls, columns, lintels, roofs, floor, damp proof courses etc.
Facing: The stones are adopted to give massive appearance to the structure. The walls are of bricks and facing is done
in stones of desired shades. This is known as the composite masonry.
Paving: The stones are used to cover floor of buildings of various types such as residential, commercial, industrial etc.
They are also adopted to form paving of roads, footpaths etc.
Basic Material: The stones are disintegrated and converted to form a basic material for cement concrete, murum of
roads, calcareous cements, artificial stones, hollow blocks etc.
Miscellaneous uses: In addition to the above uses the stones are also used as:
Ballast for railways,
Blocks in construction of bridges, piers, abutments, retaining walls, light houses, dams etc.
Flux in blast furnaces.
Stones are losing their popularity as the building material because of the following reasons:
The dressing of stones proves to be tough, laborious and time consuming.
The stones of desired strength and quality are not easily available at reasonable rates, especially in plain areas.
The alternatives to stones namely, R.C.C. and steel have proved to be stronger, less bulky, more durable and more
suitable for present day construction of multistory and important buildings.
The structures constructed of stones cannot be rationally designed as in case of R.C.C. or steel structures.
Wood: Wood is the oldest material used by humans for constructional purposes, after stone. Despite its complex
chemical nature, wood has excellent properties which lend themselves to human use. It is readily and economically
available; easily manageable; amenable to fabrication into an infinite variety of sizes and shapes using simple on-site
building techniques; exceptionally strong relative to its weight; a good heat and electrical insulator; and—of
increasing importance—it is a renewable and biodegradable resource. However, it also has some drawbacks of which
the user must be aware. Wood’s design flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of building types and
applications, both structural and aesthetic.
Wood can be used in many types of buildings, from single-family homes to multi-story condominiums and offices,
schools, health facilities, recreational centers and public gathering areas. It is suitable not only as a finish material,
bringing warmth and natural beauty to interior and exterior applications, but as a structural material, offering a cost-effective
way to meet building code requirements for safety and performance.
Learn about new and innovative uses of wood in buildings, durability best practices, or view case studies showcasing a
range of wood applications and structures.
Metals: Metals are backbone of all engineering projects and products. Various metals are used in one form or another.
Metals are found in compound form like oxides, sulphates, carbonates, phosphates etc. in nature. All metals used for
engineering works are classified into
Ferrous metals Pig Iron
Cast Iron Non-Ferrous metals
Wrought Iron Steel

2. Concrete: Concrete, the most widely used building material in the world, is a sustainable material when properly
designed and constructed. Concrete has been used for construction since ancient times. Modern day concrete
application include dams, bridges, swimming pools, homes, streets, patios, basements, balustrades , plain cement
tiles, mosaic tiles, pavement blocks, kerbs, lamp-posts, drain covers, benches and so on….
It is interesting to note that over six billion tons of concrete is produced each year, and is the second most widely used
substance. Concrete is specific to different applications like rebuilding, mending and construction. Concrete building
components in different sizes and shapes are also made before hand and later applied. They include wall panels,
doorsills, beams, pillars and more. Post-tensioned slabs, is a preferred method for industrial, commercial and
residential floor slab construction.
Ready Mixed concrete is durable and hard wearing and is used for variety of applications owing to its crack-resistance
and durability. Situ concrete is cast in place, on site. Precast concrete finds application in concrete curtain walls,
exterior cladding and structural walls, as it monolithic and can be easily used for two-way structural systems. It is also
adjustable to post tensioning and easily adapts to any building shape.
Cast-in-place concretes
Cast-in-place concrete is an unhardened state, like ready-mix, and is placed in moulds. Ready mixed concrete is
proportioned and mixed off the project site. It finds application in foundations and slabs-on-ground, walls, beams,
columns, floors, roofs, bridges, pavements, and other infrastructure.
Controlled-density fill is used as structural fill, foundation pillar, pavement base an pipe bedding. It is also known as
flow able mortar.
Decorative purpose
The life expectancy of concrete flooring materials is much more than other flooring material. It is used to enhance
concrete applications and to add color and texture to interiors, driveways, pathways and patios
Fiber Cement
Fiber cement is made using a mixture of sand, cellulose fibers and cement. It has a wood-like appearance, is durable
and used for decorative shapes and trim applications.
Green roof
Vegetative roofs are used in residential societies, office buildings, hospitals, schools, recreational facilities, shopping
centers and airports.
Building design
Concrete is used to provide prolonged building benefits by functioning as thermal mass, acoustical barrier and durable
structure
White Topping
It is a Portland cement concrete overlay on existing asphalt concrete pavement and used in airport pavements,
highways, secondary roads, and other pavements.
Other Applications
Beams, drain tiles, piers, steps
Soil solidification
Post, Beam and Deck
Stucco < Tilt-up
Pilasters and round column forms
Insulating Concrete Form
Brick ledge application
Motorways/roads, overpasses and parking structures
Hardscape < Pavers
Brick/block walls and bases for gates, fences and poles
High Performance Admixtures
Building structure, fences and poles
Masonry
Over the years, concrete has established itself as a sturdy building material used for different applications. The inherent
benefits of using concrete as a construction material are durability, fire-resistance, low maintenance, energy efficiency
and environmental friendliness. Owing its generic qualities, it is not surprising that concrete is used more than any
other man-made material on earth.

3. Composites: Composite materials are formed by the combination of two or more materials that retain their respective
characteristics when combined together to achieve properties (physical, chemical, etc.) that are superior to those of
individual constituents. The main components of composites are reinforcing agents and matrix. Commonly used
polymer matrix composites comprise a thermosetting resin matrix in combination with a fibrous reinforcement.
Some advanced thermoplastic resins are also used, whilst some composites employ mineral filler reinforcements,
either alone or in combination with fibrous types. Composites are able to meet diverse design requirements with
significant weight savings as well as high strength-to-weight ratio as compared to conventional materials. Some
advantages of composite materials over conventional one are mentioned below :
Tensile strength of composites is four to six times greater than that of steel or aluminium.
Improved torsional stiffness and impact properties
Composites have higher fatigue endurance limit (up to 60% of the ultimate tensile strength).
Composite materials are 30-45% lighter than aluminium structures designed to the same functional
requirements
Lower embedded energy compared to other structural materials like steel, aluminium etc.
Composites are less noisy while in operation and provide lower vibration transmission than metals
Composites are more versatile than metals and can be tailored to meet performance needs and
complex design requirements
Long life offers excellent fatigue, impact, environmental resistance and reduced maintenance
Composites enjoy reduced life cycle cost compared to metals
Composites exhibit excellent corrosion resistance and fire retardancy
Improved appearance with smooth surfaces and readily incorporable integral decorative melamine
are other characteristics of composites
Composite parts can eliminate joints/fasteners, providing part simplification and integrated design
compared to conventional metallic parts
Ceramics: Ceramics are typically hard and chemically stable materials with valuable applications. Traditional and
advanced are the main types of ceramics, and the advanced ceramics industry is a rapidly growing industry with
important functional applications.
 in electronic and electrical industries advanced ceramic materials like Barium Titanate (BaTiO3), piezoelectric
materials and semiconductor materials are heavily used for producing ceramic capacitors, vibratos, temperature
sensors, oscillators, etc. Ceramics used for this type of applications are called functional ceramics. Specific properties
of advanced ceramic materials are utilized for their industrial applications. Ferroelectricity is such property in
materials like Lead Zirconate Titanate, Lead Titanate, Barium Titanate, etc. Ferroelectric materials have two
properties. One is there should be a spontaneous polarization and the other is the polarization should be able to
reorient. This property is used to produce applications like sensors, pumps, sonar, microphones, etc.
 there are a number of other applications that are found in the other areas too. Magnetic ceramics are another type
of advanced ceramic material that is used for the production of antennas and inductors. Bioceramics like Alumina
with high density and purity is used to dental implants. Eye glasses, chemical ware, and the replacement of hips and
knees, etc. are some of the applications of bioceramic materials.
 Although traditional ceramics have been in use in ancient civilizations, advanced ceramics is a recently developed
field. But they have some extremely important functions and have already shown a rapid growth. Both of these
ceramic materials posses significant importance for the industry and it can be expected that the best is yet to come
especially in the field of advanced ceramics.