CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
Index:
Materials used in constuction
Construction of buildings
Construction machines
Environmental impact of buildings
Materials used in construction
Materials used in construction are those that are employed in
the edification. In construction we can exploit different types of
materials:
Petrous or stony materials
Aglomerative materials
Concrete
Ceramic materials
Other materials
Petrous or stony materials
Compact rocks: they are blocks of limestone, marble, granite,
slate, sandstone, etc...
Disintegrated rocks: they are fragments of rocks of variable
size. In construction we use:
> Clay: it can absorb water.
> Arids or fragments of the disgregation of rocks. They can
be sand, gravel,...
Aglomerative rocks
When they are mixed with water they turn pasty and when they
solidify they adquire lightnessg
Lime: to obtain this material we heat limestone.
Gypsum: it is mineral in powder and, when we add water to it, we
use it to cover walls or roofs. There are three types:
> Black with impurities.
> White without impurities.
> Plaster.
Cement: its the most used aglomerant. There are a lot of types
(metallurgical,...). The most employed is Portland cement, which is
made up of a mix of limestone and clay and it is cooked in a
rotative oven.
Concrete
It is a mixture of arids, aglomerants and water. There are
different types of concrete, but the most used are:
Regular concrete: it includes powdered cement mixed with
water.
Cellular concrete: it is concrete produced by the addition of an
air entraining agent to the concrete or a lightweight aggreggate
like expanded clay pellets or cork granules.
Cyclopean concrete: it is made up of cement, water and big arids
(of more of 30 cm of diameter).
Reinforced concrete: inside of it there is an armor made up of
steel bars that can be tense before the concrete solidifies, or
after.
Ceramic materials
They are pieces fabric with molded clay and cooked in an oven.
The process of elaboration:
Mixing and molding: clay and water are mixed together and then
it is molded.
Cooked in oven: the molded material is heated inside ovens with
differents temperatures so it doesnt break.
There are different types of ceramic materials:
Bricks: they are pieces of cooked clay. There are two types,
thin bricks and ordinary bricks.
Tiles: they are square or rectangular pieces. We used them for
the tiled of walls.
Roof tiles: they are employed in roofs and covers.
Porcelain: it is covered with varnish. It is used in
baths,...
Other materials
Metals; those we use in construction are:
> Steel.
> Aluminium.
> Copper.
Woods: it is very use in doors, floors,...
Plastics: their use is more common now. They are used in cables,
plugs, insulators, outlets,...
Glass: they are used in windows, doors, decoration,...
Building constructiong
The construction of a building is a long and complex process
that is compound of several phases, and a lot of material is
employed. The different phases are:
Preparation of the land: by clearing-up the field, demolition
and nivelation.
Cimentation: it the placement of the base of the building. It is
underground and the main elements used are blocks, piles,
Building construction
Structure elevation: we build the stilts and the shields. Some
metallic structures are made up of steel beams, but most of
structures are made up of reinforced concrete.
Water covering: it consists of the building of the roof, which
depends a lot of the climate of the place. The most employed
materials are zinc plates, slate and tiles.
Building construction
Pavements placement: above the plates of each floor we place
marble, wood,
Elevation of walls: it consists of the construction of walls and
partitions that close and divide the different floors. For this
phase we use ordinary bricks.
Placement of instalacion: water, electricity, gas, television,
They are made up by specialised workers.
Finished works: the consits of the fines jobs that specialised
workers do too.
Construction machines
In construction several types of machines are used:
Diggers and loaders. They are used in excavation and land's
movements.
Cranes are used for hoisting heavy materials. They consist of
three parts: the tower, the feather and the counterweight.
Construction machines
Lorries transport materials.
Bulldozers are used in the nivelation of the field and rollers
are employed to compact the land.
To prepare the concrete we use a concrete mixer.
Environmental impact of buildings (I)
A building causes an environmental impact since the construction
materials are obtained.
In Europe, a 40% of the energy used is employed in the
construction sector, and most of the energy is spent in heating of
buildings, and a big part of materials are employed in construction
too.
Environmental impact of buildings (II)
The way a person uses the energy spent in the building influence
a lot in the environmental impact.
The uncontrolled construction of building affects a lot in the
natural habitat. There are a lot of cases of illegal buildings or
building corruption.
