Material Buildings: Structure, Materials, and Properties
Building Structure
Skeleton: The foundation, beams, and pillars form the building’s skeleton.
Enclosures: These protect the building from external atmospheric agents.
Partitions: Walls and dividers constructed from bricks and plaster.
Coatings: Finishes such as paint and roofing.
Natural Stone Materials
Natural stone is categorized by origin:
- Magmatic or Igneous Rocks: Originating from within the earth, these rocks have a grainy texture and are typically light in color and hard.
- Sedimentary Rocks: Formed by the accumulation of fragments, such as sand, or through crystallization of limestone.
- Metamorphic Rocks: A mixture of previous materials subjected to high temperatures.
Artificial Petrous Materials
These rocks are used to replace mined natural stone.
Glass
Glass is made from sand, lime, and soda. The process involves melting these raw materials at high temperatures and shaping them.
Ceramics
Ceramics consist of construction pieces made from clay.
Conglomerate
A powdered material used to bind other materials. Plaster or gypsum is derived from this, and its composition can be coarse, fine, or prefabricated.
Cement
Cement is crucial in construction, with two main types: common and white.
Concrete
Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel or stone, and water.
Reinforced Concrete
Reinforced concrete is excellent for compressive strength but weak in tension and flexion.
Metal Materials
- Steel: A primary material in building, offering resistance and recyclability.
- Copper: Advantages include malleability, productivity, recyclability, and resistance.
- Aluminum: Lightweight, resistant, mechanically durable, waterproof, and recyclable.
Insulation
Insulation is significant in building for thermal and acoustic conditioning.
Waterproofing
Waterproofing prevents water from passing through construction materials.
Material Ratings
Materials are rated as stony, ceramics and glass, composites, metals, and binders.
Building Elements
Key elements include foundations, structures, soil and roofs, external walls, windows, interior walls.
Material Properties
- Density: Materials have varying average densities.
- Compression Resistance: Stone and ceramic are highly resistant to compression.
- Tensile Strength: Petrous materials have low tensile strength.
- Other Properties: Hardness, brittleness, corrosion resistance, and cost-effectiveness.
Ceramics vs. Glass
The key difference lies in how they are shaped: glass is shaped in a hot state, while ceramics are made from clay and feldspar, manufactured from sand through extrusion or compression.
Glass Production
Glass is made from sandy, alkali oxides, and metallic oxides. Wool glass is a good thermal insulator. Spotlight glass is made using the float glass process.
Mortar and Concrete
- Mortar: Cement, sand, and water.
- Concrete: Sand, gravel, and water (hardens over time). Properties include being economical, durable, fire-resistant, and can be fabricated directly on-site.
Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed concrete enhances resistance.
Glass Manufacturing Process
Glass is obtained from the fusion of quartz sand or ground silica-rich elements. A bitrifying agent is added, then lime for stabilization, brightness, and hardness. Sodium carbonate lowers the melting point. The pasty mass is taken from the oven, passed to a tuner (to remove bubbles), and tempered (hardened). Borosilicate or Pyrex glass (resistant to high temperatures) is created. Hard, transparent glass of any color has an amorphous structure, is impervious to acids, and withstands compression better than fraction, though it is very fragile.
Concrete Under Pressure
Concrete experiences compression at the top and tension at the bottom.
Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete
- Reinforced Concrete: Steel bars are placed within the concrete.
- Prestressed Concrete: Steel bars are placed and tensioned.