Construction materials

Construction materials possess different proper­ties. They differ in durability, strength, weight, fire- and decay-resistance and, naturally, cost.

Wood, timber, brick, stone, concrete, metals, and plastics belong to the most popular building materials. They all have their advantag­es and disadvantages that are taken into account when specialists design a structure.

Wood belongs to naturally growing materials. It is the oldest construction material and is still widely used for different purposes. Wood is popular because it has low weight and is easy to work. Besides, it grows naturally and is cheap. But its usage is limited because of its disad­vantages: it easily burns and decays. Stone also belongs to the old­est building materials. Its advantages are strength, high heat insulation and fire-resistance.

Brick belongs to artificial construction materials. It is used in many countries and in different climates. Bricks vary wide­ly with the method of production and temperature of burning.

Concrete is one of the most popular building materials. It is produced by mixing cement, gravel, water, and sand in the proper amounts.

Wood

Wood has been a highly used building material since prehistoric times. Among other highly used construction materials there are concrete, steel, brick, stone, and plastics. They all differ in their properties and in the methods of usage.

Wood is the oldest building material; it is also the only naturally growing organic material. Is wood strong? Hardly so, because wood always contains some water which decreases its strength. But after the wood is cut, the water content starts to evaporate and as the water content decreases the strength of the cut wood and its hardness start to increase. It is a well-known fact that the drier is the cut wood the greater is its strength and hardness.

Trees grow naturally, so wood is a constantly renewable natural resource. Among other advantages of wood there are its low cost, low weight, and high workability. But, as any other construction material, wood has its disadvantages. The main ones are the following - it is not fire-resistant, it easily burns. Besides, it easily decays.

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Metals

Metals are widely used in modern construction. All metals, with the exception of mercury, are hard- and fire-resistance. The common properties of metals are hardness and high fire-resistant. They can be pulled, forged and melted. They are also good conductors of electricity.

Metals are divided into two main groups: ferrous and non- ferrous.

Ferrous metals are metals or alloy, the main component of which is iron. Iron, steel and their various alloys belong to the group of ferrous metals.

Non-ferrous metals are metals and alloys, the main component of which is not iron, but another element. It may be copper, aluminum, and zinc.

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Bricks

Brick, stone, and timber are the oldest building materials. But bricks belong to artificial (man-made) materials. Their production started in prehistoric times. Since then they have been produced and tested in all types of climate and in many countries. Thousands of years ago the builders in Egypt already knew the advantages of bricks and used them for construction. In those days the production of bricks was quite different from the modem one: bricks were produced not by burning but by drying in the sun, because there was much sunshine in Egypt all the year round. Brick work was also popular in Rome as there were not many forests and as a result little timber there.

In modem times bricks can be made of concrete, mortar, of burnt clay and of a combination of some other substances. For example, different types of clay and shale can be used as raw materials. Accordingly, bricks produced nowadays have different sizes, shapes, colours, and textures. Bricks also vary with the method of fabrication and temperatures of burning. Some types of brick, such as, for example, salmon bricks are underburnt and highly porous. Naturally, their strength is extremely poor. But there exist many other types of brick that are extremely strong and almost glass hard. Between these extremes there lie some other types of brick with different properties.

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