CEIR11-Basics

of Civil
Engineering

Dr. Uma Sakthivel

Department of Civil Engineering

National Institute of Technology,

Tiruchirapalli
2 Section-I:
Properties and uses of construction materials - stones, bricks,
cement, concrete, and steel

Stones:
Hard, solid, non-metallic mineral matter of which
rock is made, a building materials
Stone-As building materials
 Based on availability in abundance from natural rock
 Possess strength and durability
 Suitable for retaining walls; abutments; dams; barrages;
road etc Sunday, January 3, 2021
3 Examples of
Building Stone

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4 Historical locations

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5 Other Applications

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6 Classification of
rocks

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7 Igneous Rock

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 Sedimentary
8 rocks

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9 Metamorphic
rocks

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10 Chemical
Classification of
Rocks

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11 Practical Application
of stones in Buildings

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12 Characteristics of good building
stones

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Moh’s hardness Scale
13

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14 Tests on Stones

– Crushing strength test

– Water absorption test
– Abrasion test
– Impact test
– Acid test

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15 Crushing strength test

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 Water
16 absorption test

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17 Abrasion Test

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18 Impact Test

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19 Acid test

– Test conducted in sand stones.

– To check the presence of calcium carbonate, which weakens the weather
resisting quality.
– In this test, a sample of stone weighing about 50 to 100 gm is taken & kept in a
solution of 1% hydrochloric acid for seven days.
– The solution is agitated at intervals.
– A good building stone maintains its sharp edges and keeps its surface intact.
– If edges are broken and powder is formed on the surface, it indicates the
presence of calcium carbonate. Such stones will have poor weather resistance.

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20 Uses of stones

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21 Stone masonry

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22

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23 Stones in Masonry

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Selection of stones
24

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25 Bricks

– Moulding good clay into a block, that is dried and then burnt.
– To replace oldest building stone
– Manufacturing: Hand moulding, sun drying and burning in clamps.
– Size of the bricks are 190 mm × 90 mm × 90 mm & 190 mm
×90 mm ×40 mm
– With mortar joints, size is taken as 200 mm ×100mm × 100 mm
& 200 mm ×90 mm ×40 mm
𝟑" 𝟏" 𝟓" 𝟏"
– Old size of brick is 𝟒 × 𝟐 × 𝟖 and masonry size of × 𝟐 ×
𝟓"
𝟖 commonly used in India.

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26 Types of Bricks

Bricks may be broadly classified as:

– (i) Building bricks
used for construction of walls
– (ii) Paving bricks
Vitrified bricks and used as pavers
– (iii) Fire bricks
Specially made to withstand furnace temperature. silica bricks belong to this
category
– (iv) Special bricks.
– bricks are different from the commonly used building bricks with respect to
their shape and the purpose for which they are made

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Specially shaped bricks
List of Special
bricks
– (a)Specially shaped bricks
– (b) Facing bricks
– (c) Perforated building bricks
– (d) Burnt clay hollow bricks
– (e) Sewer bricks
– ( f ) Acid resistant bricks.

27 Sunday, January 3, 2021

28 (b)Facing Brick
(c)Perforated building bricks
– used in the outer face of masonry – bricks are manufactured with area of
– standard size of these bricks are 190 × perforation of 30 to 45 per cent.
90 × 90 mm or 190 × 90 × 40 mm – area of each perforation should not
– Once these bricks are provided, exceed 500 mm2
plastering is not required – Perforation should be uniformly
distributed over the surface
– manufactured in the size 190 × 190 ×
90 mm and 290 × 90 × 90 mm.

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29 (d) Burn’t Clay Hollow Bricks
(e) Sewer brick
– Light weight. – bricks are used for the construction of
sewage lines.
– used for the construction of partition
walls. – manufactured from surface clay, fire clay
shale or with the combination of these.
– provide good thermal insulation to
buildings. – manufactured in the sizes 190 × 90 × 90
mm and 190 × 90 × 40 mm.
– manufactured in the sizes 190 × 190 × 90
mm, 290 × 90 × 90 mm and 290 × 140 × – Average strength of these bricks should
90 mm. be a minimum of 17.5 N/mm2 .
– thickness of any shell should not be less – water absorption should not be more than
than 11 mm and that of any web not less 10 %.
than 8 mm.

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30 (f) Acid Resistant Bricks

– Bricks are used for floorings likely to be subjected to acid

attacks, lining of chambers in chemical plants, lining of
sewers carrying industrial wastes etc.
– Bricks are made of clay or shale of suitable composition
with low lime and iron content, flint or sand and vitrified
at high temperature in a ceramic kiln.

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 31 Properties of Bricks
– (vii) Strength: Crushing strength of brick should not be less than 3.5
– (i) Colour: Colour should be uniform and bright.
N/mm2. A field test for strength is that when dropped from a height of 0.9 m
– (ii) Shape: Bricks should have plane faces. They to 1.0 mm on a hard ground, the brick should not break into pieces.
should have sharp and true right angled corners. – (viii) Water Absorption: After immersing the brick in water for 24 hours, water
– (iii) Size: Bricks should be of standard sizes as absorption should not be more than 20 per cent by weight. For class-I works this
prescribed by codes. limit is 15 per cent.
– (ix) Efflorescence: Bricks should not show white patches when soaked in water
– (iv) Texture: They should possess fine, dense and
for 24 hours and then allowed to dry in shade. White patches are due to the
uniform texture. They should not possess presence of sulphate of calcium, magnesium and potassium. They keep the
– fissures, cavities, loose grit and unburnt lime. masonry permanently in damp and wet conditions.
– (x) Thermal Conductivity: Bricks should have low thermal conductivity, so
– (v) Soundness: When struck with hammer or with
that buildings built with them are cool in summer and warm in winter.
another brick, it should produce metallic sound.
– (xi) Sound Insulation: Heavier bricks are poor insulators of sound while light
– (vi) Hardness: Finger scratching should not produce weight and hollow bricks provide good sound insulation.
any impression on the brick.
– (xii) Fire Resistance: Fire resistance of bricks is usually good. In fact bricks are
used to encase steel columns to protect them from fire.

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32 Test on Bricks

– i) Crushing strength
– (ii) Absorption
– (iii) Shape and size and
– (iv) Efflorescence.

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33 Crushing strength

– Brick specimen are immersed in water for 24 hours.

– The frog of the brick is filled flush with 1:3 cement mortar and the specimen is
stored in damp jute bag for 24 hours and then immersed in clean water for 24
hours.
– The specimen is placed in compression testing machine with 6 mm plywood on
top and bottom of it to get uniform load on the specimen.
– Then load is applied axially at a uniform rate of 14 N/mm2 .
– The crushing load is noted.
– Crushing strength is the ratio of crushing load to the area of brick loaded.
Average of five specimen is taken as the crushing strength.

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34 Absorption Test

– Brick specimen are weighed dry.

– Then they are immersed in water for a period of 24 hours.
– specimen are taken out and wiped with cloth.
– weight of each specimen in wet condition is determined. The
difference in weight indicate the water absorbed.
– Percentage absorption is the ratio of water absorbed to dry weight
multiplied by 100.
– The average of five specimen is taken.
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– value should not exceed 20 %
 Shape and size

– Bricks should be of standard size and edges should be truly

rectangular with sharp edges.
– To check it, 20 bricks are selected at random and they are stacked
along the length, along the width and then along the height.
– For the standard bricks of size 190 mm × 90 mm × 90 mm.

35 – IS code permits the following limits:

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36 Classification of
bricks based on
their quality
– (i) First class bricks
– (ii) Second class bricks
– (iii) Third class bricks
– (iv) Fourth class bricks

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37 Uses of Bricks

Bricks are used in the following civil works:

– (i) As building blocks.
– (ii) For lining of ovens, furnaces and chimneys.
– (iii) For protecting steel columns from fire.
– (iv) As aggregates in providing water proofing to R.C.C. roofs.
– (v) For pavers for footpaths and cycle tracks.
– (vi) For lining sewer lines.

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38 Cement

– Cement is a commonly used binding material in the construction.

– The cement is obtained by burning a mixture of calcareous (calcium) &
argillaceous (clay) material at a very high temperature
– Grinding the clinker producing to a fine powder.
– It was first produced by a mason Joseph Aspdin in England in 1924.
– He patented as Portland cement.

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39 Flow-diagram of Cement Manufacturing

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40 Types of Cement

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41

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42

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43 Properties of ordinary Portland
cement

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Physical test on cement
44

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45 Sunday, January 3, 2021
46 Crushing Strength Test:

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47 Uses of cement

– (i) Cement slurry is used for filling cracks in concrete structures.

– (ii) Cement mortar is used for masonry work, plastering and pointing.
– (iii) Cement concrete is used for the construction of various structures like
buildings, bridges, water tanks, tunnels, docks, Harbours etc.
– (iv) Cement is used to manufacture lamp posts, telephone posts, railway
sleepers, piles etc.
– (v) For manufacturing cement pipes, garden seats, dust bins, flower pots etc.
cement is commonly used.
– (vi) It is useful for the construction of roads, footpaths, courts for various sports
etc.
Sunday, January 3, 2021
CEIR11-Basics of Civil
Engineering

1.Concrete
2.steel
49 Concrete

Plain concrete, commonly known as concrete, is an intimate mixture of

binding material: fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water.

It can be easily moulded to desired shape & size before it loses plasticity and
hardens.

Plain concrete is strong in compression but very weak in tension.

The tensile property is introduced in concrete by inducting different materials:

RCC, RBC, PSC, FRC, cellular concrete & Ferro cement.
50 Plain concrete

1. Binding material (like cement, lime, polymer)

2. Fine aggregate (sand)
3. Coarse aggregates (crushed stone, jelly)
4. Water

– Small quantity of admixtures like air entraining agents, water proofing agents, workability agents
etc. may also be added to impart special properties to the plain concrete mixture.

– Depending upon the proportion of ingredient, strength of concrete varies. It is possible to

determine the proportion of the ingredients for a particular strength by mix design procedure. In
the absence of mix design the ingredients are proportioned as 1:1:2, 1:1 :3, 1:2:4, 1:3:6 and 1:4:8,
which is the ratio of weights of cement to sand to coarse aggregate
51 Proportion of cement, sand and
coarse aggregates in concrete
52 Functions of various ingredients

– Cement is the binding material. After addition of water, it hydrates and binds
aggregates and the surrounding surfaces like stone and bricks. Generally richer
mix (with more cement) gives more strength. Setting time starts after 30
minutes and ends after 6 hours. Hence concrete should be laid in its mould
before 30 minutes of mixing of water and should not be subjected to any
external forces till final setting takes place.

– Coarse aggregate consists of crushed stones. It should be well graded and the
stones should be from igneous origin. They should be clean, sharp, angular and
hard. They give mass to the concrete and prevent shrinkage of cement. Fine
aggregate consists of river sand. It prevents shrinkage of cement. When
surrounded by cement it gains mobility enters the voids in coarse aggregates
and binding of ingredients takes place. It adds density to concrete, since it fills
53 Variation of strength of concrete
with w/c ratio
• Water used for making concrete should be clean.
It activates the hydration of cement & forms
plastic mass. As it sets completely concrete
becomes hard mass. Water gives workability to
concrete which means water mix the concrete
with ease and place it in final position. More the
water better is the workability. However excess
water reduces the strength of concrete. To
achieve required workability & good strength a
water cement ratio of 0.4 to 0.45 is used, in case
of machine mixing and water cement ratio of 0.5
to 0.6 is used for hand mixing.
54 Preparing and Placing of
Concrete
Following steps are involved in the concreting:
1. Batching
2. Mixing
3. Transporting and placing
4. Compacting.
55
56
57 Machine mixing
– In large and important works machine
mixing is preferred.
– Required quantities of sand & coarse
aggregates are placed in the drum of
the mixer.
– 4 to 5 rotations are made for dry mixing
& then required quantity of cement is
added and dry mixing is made with
another 4 to 5 rotations.
– Water is gradually added, and drum is
rotated for 2 to 3 minutes period which
makes about 50 rotations. At this stage
uniform & homogeneous mix is
obtained.
58 3. Transportation &placing of
concrete
After mixing concrete, that is transported to the
final position. In small works it is transported in iron pans
from hand to hand of a set of workers. Wheelbarrow and
hand carts also may be employed. In large scale concreting
chutes and belt conveyors or pipes with pumps are
employed. Segregation of aggregate from matrix of cement
do not take place during transportation.
Concrete is placed on form works. The form works
should be cleaned & properly oiled. If concrete is to be
placed for foundation, the soil bed should be compacted well
and is made free from loose soil.
Concrete should be dropped on its final position as
closely as possible. If it is dropped from a height, the coarse
aggregates fall early and then mortar matrix. This
segregation results into weaker concrete.
 In the process of placing concrete, air is entrapped. The entrapped air

4. reduces the strength of concrete up to 30%. Hence it is necessary to

remove this entrapped air. This is achieved by compacting the concrete
after placing in a final position. Compaction can be carried out either by

Compaction hand or with the help of vibrators.

of concrete

5
9
Curing of concrete
60
61 Properties of concrete

– Concrete has completely different properties when it is the

plastic stage and hardened stage. Concrete in the plastic
stage is known as green concrete.
– The properties of green concrete includes:
62 1. Workability
63
64 Properties of Hardened concrete
1. Strength: The characteristic strength of concrete is defined as the compressive strength
of 150 mm size cubes after 28 days of curing below which not more than 5 % of the test
results are expected to fail. The unit of stress is N/mm2. As per IS 456 grades the concrete
and its characteristic strength are shown in Table

Strength of concrete depends upon the amount of cement content, quality and grading of
aggregates, water cement ratio, compaction and curing. Strength is gained during initial
stages of concrete. During first 7 days, the strength gained is about 60 to 65 % of 28 days
strength. It is assuming that 28 days strength as the full strength of concrete. However
concrete gains strength after 28 days too.
65

2. Dimensional Change: Concrete shrinks with age. Total shrinkage depends upon the
constituents of concrete, size of member & environmental conditions. Total shrinkage is
approximately 0.0003 original dimension.

Creep: Permanent dimension change due to loading over a long period. Its value
depends upon the stress in concrete, the age of the concrete at the time of loading & the
duration of loading. The ultimate creep strain may be estimated from the values of creep
coefficient. Creep coefficient: defined as ultimate creep strain divided by the elastic strain
at the age of loading.
66
67 Test on concrete 1. Slump test.
2. Compaction factor test.
3. Crushing strength test.

Slump Test: To determine the workability of concrete.

It needs a slump cone for test.
Slump cone is a vessel in the shape of a frustum of a cone with diameter at bottom
200 mm and 50 mm at top and 300 mm high. This cone is kept over a impervious
platform and filled with concrete in four layers. Each layer is tamped with a 16 mm
pointed rod for 25 times. After filling completely, the cone is gently pulled up. The
decrease in the height of the concrete is called slump. Higher the slump, more
workable is the concrete.
68

The ratio W1/W2 is termed as

compaction factor.
69
70 Uses of Concrete

1. As bed concrete below column footings, wall footings, on wall at

supports to beams
2. As sill concrete
3. Over the parapet walls as coping concrete
4. For flagging the area around buildings
5. For pavements
6. For making building blocks.
71 Reinforced Cement Concrete

Concrete is good in resisting compression but is very weak in resisting tension. Hence
reinforcement is provided in the concrete wherever tensile stress is expected. The best
reinforcement is steel, since tensile strength of steel is quite high and the bond between
steel and concrete is good. As the elastic modulus of steel is high, for the same extension
the force resisted by steel is high compared to concrete. However in tensile zone, hair
cracks in concrete are unavoidable. Reinforcements are usually in the form of mild steel
or ribbed steel bars of 6 mm to 32 mm diameter. A cage of reinforcements is prepared as
per the design requirements, kept in a form work and then green concrete is poured.
After the concrete hardens, the form work is removed. The composite material of steel
and concrete now called R.C.C. acts as a structural member and can resist tensile as well
as compressive stresses very well.
72 Properties of R.C.C./Requirement
of Good R.C.C.
1. It should be capable of resisting expected tensile, compressive, bending and shear
forces.
2. It should not show excessive deflection and spoil serviceability requirement.
3. There should be proper cover to the reinforcement, so that the corrosion is prevented.
4. The hair cracks developed should be within the permissible limit.
5. It is a good fire-resistant material.
6. When it is fresh, it can be moulded to any desired shape and size.
7. Durability is very good.
8. R.C.C. structure can be designed to take any load.
Uses of R.C.C.
73
74 REINFORCED BRICK
CONCRETE (RBC)
It is the combination of reinforcement, brick and concrete. It is well known fact that
concrete is very weak in tension. Hence in the slabs, lintels and beams the concrete in the
portion below the neutral axis do not participate in resisting the load. It acts as a filler
material only. Hence to achieve economy the concrete in tensile zone may be replaced by
bricks or tiles. Dense cement mortar is used to embed the reinforcement. The
reinforcement may be steel bars, expanded mesh etc.
75 PRESTRESSED CONCRETE (PSC)

Strength of concrete in tension is very low and hence it is ignored in

R.C.C. design. Concrete in tension is acting as a cover to steel and
helping to keep steel at desired distance. Thus in R.C.C. lot of concrete is
not properly utilized. The principle of prestressed concrete is to
introduce calculated compressive stresses in the zones wherever tensile
stresses are expected in the concrete structural elements. When such
structural element is used stresses developed due to loading has to first
nullify these compressive stresses before introducing tensile stress in
concrete. Entire concrete is utilized to resist the load.
76 FIBRE-REINFORCED
CONCRETE (FRC)
77 CELLULAR CONCRETE
78 FERRO-CEMENT
79 FERRO-CEMENT
80 Metals as building Materials

Various metals used for building works: broadly classified as ferrous metals and non-
ferrous metals.

FERROUS METALS
Ferrous material is the one in which iron is a main constituent. Iron ore is first
converted into pig iron & then pig iron is subjected to various metallurgical
processes to mix different percentage of carbon to get the following three useful
ferrous materials:

1. Cast iron—carbon content 1.7% to 4.5%

2. Wrought iron—carbon content 0.05% to 0.15%
3. Steel—carbon content 0.25% to 0.25%.

All ferrous materials contain about 0.5 to 3% silica, less than 2% manganese, 0.15%
sulphur & 0.6% phosphorous.
81 FERROUS METALS

1. Cast Iron: Important properties of cast iron are: 2. Wrought iron: It is almost pure iron. It contains
(a) Compression strength is 700 N/mm2 and tensile less than 0.15% carbon. Attempts are made to
strength is 150 N/mm2.
reduce the other impurities during the process of
(b) It is brittle and does not absorb shocks
manufacturing.
(c) Its specific gravity is 7.5.
(d) Its structure is coarse, crystalline and fibrous.
(e) It cannot be magnetised.
Properties of Wrought Iron:
(f) It does not rust-easily.
(g) It has low melting point of about 1200°C.
1. Ultimate compressive strength is 200 N/mm2 &
ultimate tensile strength is 375 N/mm2. 2. It is
Uses of Cast Iron:
ductile and brittle. 3. Its unit weight is 77 kN/m3.
1. It is used for making rain water and sanitary pipes,
sanitary fittings and manhole covers.
4. It melts at about 1500°C. It becomes so soft at
2. It is used for making railings and spiral stair cases.
900°C that two pieces can be joined by hammering.
3. Fire gratings, cover for pumps and motors and
brackets are made with cast irons.
5. It can absorb shocks very well.
6. It forms temporary magnets but it cannot be
magnetised permanently. 7. It rusts more easily.
 (a) Mild Steel: It contains a maximum of 0.25% (b) High Carbon Steel: The carbon contains in this steel is
carbon, 0.055% of sulphur and 0.55% of phosphorus.

82
0.7% to 1.5%.
Properties of Mild Steel: Properties of Carbon Steel:
(i) It is malleable and ductile (i) It is more tough and elastic compared to mild steel.

Mild steel (ii) It is more elastic

(iii) It can be magnetized permanently.
(ii) Welding is difficult.
(iii) It can be magnetized permanently.

and high (iv) Its specific gravity is 7.8.

(v) Its Young’s modulus is 2.1 × 105 N/mm2.
(iv) It is stronger in compression than in tension.

carbon
(v) It withstands shocks and vibrations better.
(vi) It can be welded easily. Uses of High Carbon Steel:

steel
(vii) It is equally strong in tension and in compression. (i) It is used for making tools such as drills, files, chisels.
Uses of Mild Steel: (ii) Many machine parts are made with high carbon steel since
– (i) Round bars are extensively used as it is capable of withstanding shocks and vibrations.
reinforcement in R.C.C. works.
– (ii) Rolled sections like I, T, L, C, plates etc. are
used to build steel columns, beams, trusses etc. (c) High Tensile Steel: It contains 0.8% carbon and 0.6%
manganese. The strength of this steel is quite high. High
– (iii) Tubular sections are used as poles and tensile steel wires are used in prestressed concrete works.
members of trusses.
– (iv) Plain and corrugated mild steel are used as
roofing materials.
– (v) Mild steel sections are used in making parts of
many machineries.