What are Construction and Building Materials?

Construction and building materials are an integral part of architecture as well as an intense subject. Simply put, 'construction' is the process of constructing a building or a structure. During the last few years, new technologies and materials have been developed for building construction. In this article, we will discuss the history of building construction, the properties of some common materials used in building construction, their characteristics, techniques of construction, and their use in architecture.

Building Materials

Building materials are those materials that are used in the construction sector to make a building or any type of structure. Different types of materials are used in construction work with different grades and properties, for example, bricks, cement, sand, steel bars, aggregates, tiles, stones, plaster of paris (POP) etc. are all building materials. . All these are used as per requirement by building design and proper instructions. Some of the common building materials used in construction are as follows:

1. Brick
Bricks are made by casting wet clay into uniform rectangular blocks, then these rectangular blocks are dried in the sun to harden and placed in fire kilns. Normally the size of a good standard brick is 19 cm x 9 cm x 9 cm. With mortar, its size becomes 20 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm. The upper surface of the brick which usually bears the manufacturer's name or stamp is called a frog.

2. stone
Stone is a natural material. In which a piece of rock is shaped with the help of heavy cutting tools like chisels and hammers. The stones used in buildings are obtained from rocks, in construction, it is used as a material for foundations, walls, arches, roofs, lintels, paving, and also in the construction of sidewalks and roads, etc. They are also used in building bridges, piers and dams.

3. Cement
The material used for adding cement is What joins another material together to provide a rigid or solid state. Generally, cement is made by grinding stones and burning them. It is clay like, which contains some amount of carbonate of magnesia and lime. In India, cement bags are usually available in 50 kg, while in the United States, the usual quantity of cement bags is 43 kg. Generally cement is dark green to gray in color. Its texture is smooth, and it is free from lumps, and it is an important material used in mortars.

4. Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular or granular material that is usually formed by splitting of sandstone and mineral particles. It is similar to clay from the point of view of texture and it can also be recognized and classified on the basis of the size of its particles. The use of sand in construction depends on the size of its particles. It is generally divided into three classes in size - fine, medium, and coarse-grained. Sand is also used as the main material in mortar. Rivers and seas are natural resources for obtaining sand.

5. Aggregates
Aggregate is a solid inorganic and inert material like stone. It is generally used in mortar only. In addition, aggregates are also used to make Portland cement concrete (a mixture of chemical components such as calcium, silica, iron and alumina). Aggregates can also be classified on the basis of their different properties and types, such as they can be coarse and fine according to size, light, normal or heavy in weight, from the point of view of the source, they are classified into two types, natural and man-made. can be done.

6. Mortar
Mortar is a paste prepared by mixing cement or lime (binding material), sand (fine aggregate) and the required amount of water. It is used to join brick or stone structures. Similarly, it has two main materials, fine aggregate, and binding material. which is called matrix. Its durability and strength mainly depend on the quality and quantity of the matrix. It can be classified as a mixture of different grades such as M15 (1: 2: 4), M20 (1: 1.5: 3), M25 (1: 1: 2), etc. It is also defined as the ratio of cement:sand: aggregate. These three materials are important elements for this.

7. Tiles
Tile is a flat slab made of durable and flexible materials such as stone, ceramic, metals and glass. It was first used as a building material in Egyptian civilization, it also signifies royalty, prosperity and glory at that time. In medieval times, it was usually made using clay (a locally available material), and solidified by burning and heating. In other words, it can be called a thin slab made of clay in different sizes. Nowadays, tiles are being made in factories with different varieties such as HD tiles, mosaics, vitrified, ceramic (glazed, unglazed, matte finish, glossy, etc.). The 'large scale tile industry' in India is in Gujarat.

8. Timber
Timber is derived from the English word 'Timberian' which means 'to build'. In common language, it is called wood, which is used for carpentry, building structures and other engineering works. Only the trunk of a tree, whose circumference is at least 600 mm, can be used for construction work. The age of the wood is identified by the sapwood (number of rings) formed on the trunk of the tree. Seasoning of timber is an important process. Only after this process the girl is suitable for construction work. It is used for various works, such as doors, windows, furniture, formwork for cement concrete, centering, temporary bridges, boats, musical instruments and instruments, etc.

In this article, we discussed some of the basic materials used in building construction. In our upcoming articles, we will discuss in detail about each material's properties, manufacturing process, their techniques and uses.