General Properties of Materials

Properties of Building Materials

- A material can be considered as a building construction material if the quality and capacity
of such is capable to its application.
-
1. PHYSICAL - Properties that shows the quality and condition of a material without exerting
forces.
2. MECHANICAL - Property of material that can be found out by applying and exerting forces.
3. CHEMICAL – Property of material against chemical actions or combinations.
4. ELECTRICAL – Property that conduct or to resist electricity.
5. MAGNETIC – Property of material like permeability and hysteresis that is required in the case
of generators.
6. THERMAL – Property that absorb heat and is required to design proper ventilation.

Materials Engineering Concepts

Materials engineers are responsible for the selection, specification, and quality control of
materials to be used in a job. These materials must meet certain classes of criteria or materials
properties (Ashby and Jones, 2011). These classes of criteria include:

▪ economic factors
▪ mechanical properties
▪ nonmechanical properties
▪ production/construction considerations
▪ aesthetic properties
▪ economic Factors
The economics of the material selection process are affected by much more that just the cost of
the material. Factors that should be considered in the selection of the material include:

▪ availability and cost of raw materials

▪ manufacturing costssection 1.2 Mechanical properties 23
▪ transportation
▪ placing
▪ maintenance

Physical Properties Of Engineering Materials:

1. DENSITY – It is the ratio of mass of the material and its volume.

2. POROSITY – It is the ratio of volume of pores to the volume of material.
3. DURABILITY – Property of a material to withstand against the combined action of atmospheric
and other factors.
4. SPECIFIC WEIGHT – γ = ρδ is equal to the product of density of material and standard gravity
due to acceleration.
5. SPECIFIC GRAVITY – Is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference
substance.
6. WATER ABSORPTION – The capacity of a material to absorb and retain water. It is expressed in %
of weight of dry material. It depends up on the size, shape and number of pores of material.
7. WATER PERMEABILITY – The ability of a material to permit water through it is called water
permeability. Dense materials like glass metals etc. are called impervious materials which cannot
allow water through it.
8. FIRE RESISTANCE – The ability to withstand against fire without changing its shape and other
properties. Fire resistance of a material is tested by the combined actions of water and fire.
Fireproof materials should provide more safety in case of fire.
9. WEATHERING RESISTANCE – The property of a material to withstand against all atmospheric
actions without losing its strength and shape. Weathering effects the durability of material. For
example corrosion occurs in iron due to weathering. To resist this paint layer is provided.

Mechanical properties

The mechanical behavior of materials is the response of the

material to external loads. All materials deform in response to
loads; however, the specific response of a material depends on its
properties, the magnitude and type of load, and the geometry of
the element. Whether the material “fails” under the load
conditions depends on the failure criterion. Catastrophic failure of a
structural member, resulting in the collapse of the structure, is an
obvious material failure.
 Examples of Functional Failures:
- Pavement may fail due to excessive roughness at the surface, even though the stress levels
are well within the capabilities of the material.
- A building may have to be closed due to excessive vibrations by wind or other live loads,
although it could be structurally sound.
1. loading Conditions
There are 2 types of loads these are STATIC and DYNAMIC.
STATIC - loading implies a sustained loading of the structure over
a period. Generally, static loads are slowly applied such that no
shock or vibration is generated in the structure. Once applied,
the static load may remain in place or be removed slowly. Loads
that remain in place for an extended period are called sustained
(dead) loads. In civil engineering, much of the load the materials
must carry is due to the weight of the structure and equipment
in the structure.
DYNAMIC - Loads that generate a shock or vibration in the
structure are dynamic loads. Dynamic loads can be classified as
periodic, random, or transient, as shown in Figure (Richart et al.,
1970).

Periodic – harmonic or
sinusoidal load, repeats itself
with time

Random – the load pattern

never repeats

Transient – an impulse load

that is applied over a short
time interval
 Figure : Types of dynamic loads: (a) periodic, (b) random, and (c)
transient

2. Stress-Strain Relations
Materials deform in response to loads or forces. In 1678, Robert
Hooke published the first findings that documented a linear
relationship between the amount of force applied to a member and
its deformation. The amount of deformation is proportion𝜀al to the
properties of the material and its dimensions. The effect of the
dimensions can be normalized. Dividing the force by the
cross-sectional area of the specimen normalizes the effect of the
loaded area.
𝐹
stress σ = 𝐴
; Dividing the deformation by the original length is
defined as strain ε of the specimen (i.e., e = change in
length/original length). Much useful information about the
material can be determined by plotting the stress–strain diagram.
Figure shows typical uniaxial tensile or compressive stress–strain
curves for several engineering materials.

Figure: Typical uniaxial stress–strain diagrams for some engineering materials:

(a) glass and chalk, (b) steel, (c) aluminum alloys, (d) concrete, and (e) soft rubber.

3. Elastic Behavior
If a material exhibits true elastic behavior, it must have an
instantaneous response (deformation) to load, and the material
must return to its original shape when the load is removed.
Many materials, including most metals, exhibit elastic behavior,
at least at low stress levels. As will be discussed in Chapter 2,
elastic deformation does not change the arrangement of atoms
within the material, but rather it stretches the bonds between
atoms. When the load is removed, the atomic bonds return to
their original position.
Young observed that different elastic materials have different
proportional constants between stress and strain. For a
homogeneous, isotropic, and linear elastic material, the
proportional constant between normal stress and normal strain
of an axially loaded member is the modulus of elasticity or
Young’s modulus, E, and is equal to
σ
𝐸= ε
; σ = 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ε 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
In the axial tension test, as the material is elongated, there is a
reduction of the cross section in the lateral direction. In the axial
compression test, the opposite is true. The ratio of the lateral
strain, εl, to the axial strain, εa, is Poisson’s ratio,
−ε1
𝑣= ε𝑎

If a homogeneous, isotropic cubical element with linear elastic

response is subjected to normal stresses sx, sy,
and sz in the three orthogonal directions (as
shown in Figure), the normal strains εx, εy,
and εz can be computed by the generalized
Hooke’s law,
σ𝑥−𝑣(σ𝑦+σ𝑧)
ε𝑥 = 𝐸

σ𝑦−𝑣(σ𝑧+σ𝑥)
ε𝑦 = 𝐸

σ𝑧−𝑣(σ𝑥+σ𝑦)
ε𝑧 = 𝐸

Figure: Normal stresses applied

on a cubical element.

Sample Problem

A cube made of alloy with dimensions 50mm x 50mm x 50mm is

placed into a pressure chamber and subjected to a pressure of 90
MPa. If the modulus of elasticity of the alloy is 100 GPa and
Poisson’s ratio is 0.28, what will be the length of each side of the
 cube, assuming that the material remains within the elastic
region?

σ𝑥−𝑣(σ𝑦+σ𝑧) −90−0.28×(−90−90)
Solution: ε𝑥 = 𝐸
= 100000
=− 0. 000396 𝑚/𝑚

ε𝑦 = ε𝑧 =− 0. 000396 𝑚/𝑚

∆𝑥 = ∆𝑦 = ∆𝑧 =− 0. 000396×50 =− 0. 0198 𝑚𝑚

𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 50 − 0. 0198 = 49. 9802 𝑚𝑚

Linear Material – stress-strain relationship follows a straight line

Elastic Material – returns to its original shape when load is
removed and reacts instantaneously to changes in load.

Figure: Elastic behavior: (a)

linear and (b) nonlinear

Initial tangent the slope of the tangent of the

modulus stress–strain curve at the origin

tangent modulus the slope of the tangent at a

point on the stress–strain curve

secant modulus the slope of a chord drawn

between the origin and an
arbitrary point on the
stress–strain curve
chord modulus the slope of a chord drawn
between two points on the
stress–strain curve.

For materials that do not display any linear behavior, such as

concrete and soils determining a Young’s modulus or elastic
modulus can be problematical. There are several options for
arbitrarily defining the modulus for these materials. Figure
shows four options: the initial tangent, tangent, secant, and
chord moduli.

Figure: Methods for

approximating modulus.

4. Elastroplastic Behavior
For some materials, as the
stress applied on the
specimen is increased, the
strain will proportionally increase up to a point; after this point,
the strain will increase with little additional stress. In this case,
the material exhibits linear elastic behavior followed by plastic
response. The stress level at which the behavior changes from
elastic to plastic is the elastic limit.
Figure: Stress–strain behavior of plastic materials: (a) example of
loading and unloading, (b) elastic–perfectly plastic, and (c)
elasto–plastic with strain hardening.

When the load is removed from the specimen,some of the

deformation will be recovered and some of the deformation will
remain as seen in Figure (a).
Figure (b) shows a linear elastic–perfectly plastic response in
which the material exhibits a linear elastic response upon
loading, followed by a completely plastic response.
Figure (c) shows an elastoplastic response in which the first
portion is an elastic response followed by a combined elastic and
plastic response.

Sample Problem 2

An elastoplastic material with strain hardening has the

stress–strain relationship shown in Figure 1.6(c). The modulus of
elasticity is 175 GPa, yield strength is 480 MPa, and the slope of
the strain-hardening portion of the stress–strain diagram is 20.7
GPa
a. Calculate the strain that corresponds to a stress of 550 MPa.
b. If the 550-MPa stress is removed, calculate the permanent
strain.
Solution:

a. ε = ( 480
175×10
3 ) + ⎡⎢⎣
20.7×10 ⎦
⎤ = 0. 0061 𝑚/𝑚
⎥
550−480
3

b. ε𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 0. 0061 − ⎡⎢
550 ⎤
3 ⎥ = 0. 0061 − 0. 0031 = 0. 0030 𝑚/𝑚
⎣ 175×10 ⎦
Sample Problem 3
A rod made of aluminum alloy, with a gauge length of 100 mm,
diameter of 10 mm, and yield strength of 150 MPa, was
subjected to a tensile load of 5.85 kN. If the gauge length was
changed to 100.1 mm and the diameter was changed to 9.9967
mm, calculate the modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio.
 Solution:
𝑃 5850 𝑁 6
σ= 𝐴
= −3 2 = 74. 5×10 𝑃𝑎 = 74. 5𝑀𝑃𝑎
π(5×10 𝑚)

Since the applied stress is well below the yield strength, the
material is within the elastic region.
∆𝐿 (100.1−100)
ε𝑎 = 𝐿
= 100
= 0. 001

σ 74.5
𝐸= ε𝑎
= 0.001
= 74, 500𝑀𝑃𝑎 = 74. 5 𝐺𝑃𝑎

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 9.9967−10

ε1 = 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
= 10
=− 0. 00033

−ε1 0.00033
𝑣= ε𝑎
= 0.001
= 0. 33

5. Viscoelastic Behavior - In some cases, materials exhibit both

viscous and elastic responses, which are known as viscoelastic.
Typical viscoelastic materials used in construction applications
are asphalt and plastics.
Time-Dependent response Viscoelastic materials have a delayed
response to load application. For example, Figure (a) shows a
sinusoidal axial load applied on a viscoelastic material, such as
asphalt concrete, versus time. Figure (b) shows the resulting
deformation versus time, where the deformation lags the
load—that is, the maximum deformation of the sample occurs
after the maximum load is applied. The amount of time delayed
of the deformation depends on the material characteristics and
the temperature.
 Figure: Load-deformation response of a viscoelastic material.

6. Temperature and Time Effects - The mechanical behavior of all

materials is affected by temperature. Some materials, however,
are more susceptible to temperature than others. For example,
viscoelastic materials, such as plastics and asphalt, are greatly
affected by temperature, even if the temperature is changed by
only a few degrees. Other materials, such as metals or concrete,
are less affected by temperatures, especially when they are near
ambient temperature.
In addition to temperature, some materials, such as viscoelastic
materials, are affected by the load duration. The longer the load
is applied, the larger is the amount of deformation or creep. In
fact, increasing the load duration and increasing the temperature
cause similar material responses. Therefore, temperature and
time can be interchanged.
7. Work and Energy - When a material is tested, the testing
machine is actually generating a force in order to move or
deform the specimen. Since work is force times distance, the
area under a force–displacement curve is the work done on the
 specimen. When the force is divided by the cross-sectional area
of the specimen to compute the stress, and the deformation is
divided by the length of the specimen to compute the strain, the
force–displacement diagram becomes a stress–strain diagram.
The area under the elastic portion of the curve is the modulus of
resilience [Figure (a)]. The amount of energy required to fracture
a specimen is a measure of the toughness of the material, as in
Figure (b). As shown in Figure (c), a high-strength material is not
necessarily a tough material.

Figure: Areas under stress–strain curves: (a) modulus of

resilience, (b) toughness, and (c) high-strength and
high-toughness materials.

8. Failure and Safety - Failure occurs when a member or structure

ceases to perform the function for which it was designed. Failure
of a structure can take several modes, including fracture, fatigue,
general yielding, buckling, and excessive deformation. Fracture is
a common failure mode. A brittle material typically fractures
suddenly when the static stress reaches the strength of the
material, where the strength is defined as the maximum stress
the material can carry. On the other hand, a ductile material may
fracture due to excessive plastic deformation.
The factor of safety (FS) is defined as the ratio of the stress at failure to the allowable stress for
design (maximum anticipated stress):
 σ𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒
𝐹𝑆 = σ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑

where sfailure is the failure stress of the material and sallowable is the allowable stress for
design. Typically, a high factor of safety requires a large structural cross section and consequently
a higher cost. The proper value of the factor of safety varies from one structure to another and
depends on several factors, including the

▪ cost of unpredictable failure in lives, dollars, and time,

▪ variability in material properties,
▪ degree of accuracy in considering all possible loads applied to the structure, such as
earthquakes,
▪ possible misuse of the structure, such as improperly hanging an object from a truss roof,
▪ degree of accuracy of considering the proper response of materials during design, such
as assuming elastic response although the material might not be perfectly elastic.

*** END of LESSON 2***