Wood, cement, aggregates, metals, bricks, concrete and clay are the most common type of building material used in construction. The choice of these is based on their profitability for construction projects. There are many types of building materials used in construction, such as concrete, steel, wood, and masonry. Each material has different properties, such as weight, strength, durability, and cost, making it suitable for certain types of applications.
The choice of materials for construction is based on cost and effectiveness in withstanding the loads and stresses acting on the structure. As a structural engineer, I work with my clients to decide the type of materials used in each project based on the size and use of the building. The list of building materials includes cement, steel, sand, concrete, ready-mix concrete, binding wires, aggregates, bricks, blocks, etc. In addition to these, various environmentally friendly building materials are also used.
Construction material is any material that can be used for construction purposes. Typically includes wood, concrete, steel, cement, aggregates, bricks, clay, metal, and more. In the old days, people used pure bricks, wood or straw. But in this modern era, engineers have learned to mix and match the right materials to create higher quality structures.
Of course, the choice is always based on the client's budget and the effectiveness of materials in construction projects. There are different types of building materials used in construction. They range from natural substances, such as clay and wood, to artificial substances such as concrete and steel. The properties of cement depend on the chemical composition, the manufacturing process and the degree of fineness.
There are almost 16 types of cement used in construction, depending on the type of structure. Coarse-grated aggregates are another type of filler material larger than 4.75 mm in size. Coarse-grained aggregates are available in various sizes, from 4.5 mm to 150 mm, with 20 mm being the most commonly used size. Coarse-grated aggregates are widely used in the production of concrete and in the construction of flexible pavements (bituminous and asphalt pavements).
I) Ceramic tiles are durable, can last 10 to 20 years if properly maintained. The materiality of a building is what our bodies make direct contact with; the cold metal handle, the warm wooden wall and the hard glass window would create a completely different atmosphere if they were, for example, a hard glass handle, a cold metal wall and a warm wooden window (than with the new wood translucent from KTH, it's not as absurd as it might seem). Materiality is as important as form, function and location or, rather, inseparable from the three. Here we have compiled a selection of 16 materials that should be part of the design vocabulary of all architects, from the most familiar (such as concrete and steel) to materials that may be unknown to some of our readers, as well as links to comprehensive resources to learn more about many of them.
Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world, making it a good starting material to know it. However, it also has significant environmental impacts, including a carbon footprint of up to 5% of global emissions. To learn all about concrete design, the Concrete Center has a collection of useful reports, many of which are free with registration. One of the oldest and most traditional building materials in the world is, of course, wood.
The material is starting to take on new forms thanks to engineered wood products, and with high-rise buildings and even translucent properties, this diverse material is being taken to new heights. ReThink Wood has a large collection of resources to learn and help architects design with wood. Although this may seem like a cheap and unsustainable material to some, one should not rush to judge the possibilities offered by plastic. We produce a lot, why not recycle it in the form of architecture or bioplastics? What about the new world that comes with 3D printing? The American Chemistry Council has an excellent overview of plastics as a material, as well as a summary of their main uses in architecture, with links to more resources for each.
Another material used for generations in certain geographical parts of the world, stone has a wide variety of textures, colors and strengths. Despite its heavy and solid materiality, it can still be worked with to achieve various forms. The Building Stone Institute has a variety of resources including fact sheets and specification sheets for many of the most common types of stone used in construction. Our most used material to achieve transparency and light is undoubtedly glass, one of the most used façade elements in contemporary architecture.
Some are taking it a step further, trying to expand its properties to create intelligent and sensitive glass. The PPG Glass Education Center is a great place to learn more. Despite its rigid, rectangular shape made to fit in your hand, brick architecture has been proven to create beautiful structures with the right craftsmanship. Innovative thinkers are also finding new ways to incorporate active sustainability into small building elements.
The Brick Development Association has a collection of resources to learn more about brick. We produce an enormous amount of waste that covers a wide range of materials, but knowing its waste is an excellent idea for future architects. Whether it's turning cigarette butts into building material or plastic bottles into earthquake-resistant walls, recycling is something to admire. Steel is a metal alloy of iron and carbon and often another alloying material in its composition to make it stronger and more resistant to fractures than iron.
Thatch is generally used for roofing material with properties such as good insulation, good water resistance and good wind resistance. On the other hand, synthetic building materials are those that are manufactured and undergo many human manipulations. Structural steel is prefabricated in factories and can be easily assembled on site, speeding up the construction process. Tiles can be arranged to form interesting patterns that would otherwise not be possible in conventional flooring materials.
The basic materials of masonry construction include brick, building stone such as marble, granite, limestone, cast stone, concrete block, glass block, and adobe. Foam is an artificial type of building material made of synthetic chemicals made of polyurethane and is used as a packaging material to improve the thermal insulation properties of a building. Of all metals, steel is the most suitable reinforcement material due to the almost same coefficient of thermal expansion. Wood has been used as a building material for thousands of years and, if properly maintained, can last for hundreds of years.
Fly ash is a pozzolan, a substance containing aluminous and siliceous material that forms cement in the presence of water. Concrete is a composite material made from the mixture of cement, aggregates such as sand and crushed stone and water. Structural steel is generally used in the construction of steel structures such as roof beams, skyscrapers, industrial buildings, cold stores, etc. Fly ash can be used as the primary material in many cement based products, such as poured concrete, concrete blocks and bricks.
For example, concrete is an excellent material for building foundations where the weight of the structure meets the ground. . .
