CE 133 – CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING (LEC)

Course Description:
The course deals with the physical properties of common construction materials primarily metals,
plastics, wood, concrete, coarse and fine aggregates, asphalt and synthetic materials; examination of
material properties with respect to design and use of end product, design and control of aggregates,
concrete and asphalt mixtures, principle of testing; characteristics of test; properties of materials testing
equipment.

WEEK 5: GENERAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

Properties of Materials
Building or Construction materials are engineering materials that are subjected to loads, and are
expected to respond through the process of deformation to the actions of the loading. The properties of
building materials are the basic attributes required for sustainability during load application, which includes
strength, stress/strain, modulus (elastic and shear), ductility, creep, durability, shrinkage, permeability etc.

The knowledge of these properties would provide information on the extent of load tolerance that is
necessary for the active performance of the construction material, according to engineering standard, codes
and specifications.

To finalize the material for an engineering product or application is it important to understand the
mechanical properties of the material. The mechanical properties of a material are those which affect
the mechanical strength and ability of a material to be molded in suitable shape. Some of the typical
mechanical properties of a material include:

 Strength
 Toughness
 Hardness
 Hardenability
 Brittleness
 Malleability
 Ductility
 Creep and Slip
 Resilience
 Fatigue
 Stiffness
 Elasticity
 Plasticity

Strength

It is the ability of a material to resist the externally applied forces without breaking or yielding. The
internal resistance offered by a part to an externally applied force is called stress.

Toughness

It is the ability of a material to absorb the energy and gets plastically deformed without fracturing. Its
numerical value is determined by the amount of energy per unit volume. Its unit is Joule/ m 3. Value of
toughness of a material can be determined by stress-strain characteristics of a material. For good
toughness, materials should have good strength as well as ductility.
For example: brittle materials, having good strength but limited ductility are not tough enough.
Conversely, materials having good ductility but low strength are also not tough enough. Therefore, to be

CE 133 – Construction Materials & Testing | Instructor: Engr. Romel B. San Diego Jr. 1
tough, a material should be capable to withstand both high stress and strain.

Hardness

It is the ability of a material to resist to permanent shape change due to external stress. There are
various measure of hardness – Scratch Hardness, Indentation Hardness and Rebound Hardness.

1. Scratch Hardness
Scratch Hardness is the ability of materials to the oppose the scratches to outer surface layer
due to external force.

2. Indentation Hardness
It is the ability of materials to oppose the dent due to punch of external hard and sharp
objects.

3. Rebound Hardness
Rebound hardness is also called as dynamic hardness. It is determined by the height of
“bounce” of a diamond tipped hammer dropped from a fixed height on the material.

Hardenability

It is the ability of a material to attain the hardness by heat treatment processing. It is determined by
the depth up to which the material becomes hard. The SI unit of hardenability is meter (similar to length).
Hardenability of material is inversely proportional to the weld-ability of material.

Brittleness

Brittleness of a material indicates that how easily it gets fractured when it is subjected to a force or
load. When a brittle material is subjected to a stress it observes very less energy and gets fractures without
significant strain. Brittleness is converse to ductility of material. Brittleness of material is temperature
dependent. Some metals which are ductile at normal temperature become brittle at low temperature.

Malleability

Malleability is a property of solid materials which indicates that how easily a material gets deformed
under compressive stress. Malleability is often categorized by the ability of material to be formed in the form
of a thin sheet by hammering or rolling. This mechanical property is an aspect of plasticity of material.
Malleability of material is temperature dependent. With rise in temperature, the malleability of material
increases.

Ductility

Ductility is a property of a solid material which indicates that how easily a material gets deformed
under tensile stress. Ductility is often categorized by the ability of material to get stretched into a wire by
pulling or drawing. This mechanical property is also an aspect of plasticity of material and is temperature
dependent. With rise in temperature, the ductility of material increases.

Creep and Slip

Creep is the property of a material which indicates the tendency of material to move slowly and
deform permanently under the influence of external mechanical stress. It results due to long time exposure
to large external mechanical stress with in limit of yielding. Creep is more severe in material that are
subjected to heat for long time. Slip in material is a plane with high density of atoms.

Resilience

Resilience is the ability of material to absorb the energy when it is deformed elastically by applying
stress and release the energy when stress is removed. Proof resilience is defined as the maximum energy
that can be absorbed without permanent deformation. The modulus of resilience is defined as the maximum
energy that can be absorbed per unit volume without permanent deformation. It can be determined by

CE 133 – Construction Materials & Testing | Instructor: Engr. Romel B. San Diego Jr. 2
integrating the stress-strain cure from zero to elastic limit. Its unit is joule/m3.

Fatigue

Fatigue is the weakening of material caused by the repeated loading of the material. When a
material is subjected to cyclic loading, and loading greater than certain threshold value but much below the
strength of material (ultimate tensile strength limit or yield stress limit), microscopic cracks begin to form at
grain boundaries and interfaces. Eventually the crack reaches to a critical size. This crack propagates
suddenly and the structure gets fractured. The shape of structure affects the fatigue very much. Square
holes and sharp corners lead to elevated stresses where the fatigue crack initiates.

Stiffness

Stiffness is the ability of a material to resist deformation under stress. The modulus of elasticity is
the measure of stiffness.

Elasticity

It is the property of a material to regain its original shape after deformation when the external forces
are removed. This property is desirable for materials used in tools and machines.
It may be noted that steel is more elastic than rubber.

Plasticity

Plasticity is a property of a material which retains the deformation produced under load permanently.
This property of the material is necessary for forgings, in stamping images on coins and in ornamental work.

Resources:

http://www.mechanicalengineeringsite.com/13-mechanical-properties-material-must-know/

https://www.electrical4u.com/mechanical-properties-of-engineering-materials/

CE 133 – Construction Materials & Testing | Instructor: Engr. Romel B. San Diego Jr. 3