19 Building Materials 19.1. Introduction From older times, man has been using various building materials for constructing buildings or shelters for his comfort and safety to avoid the vagaries of nature and to protect himself from wild animals. The most commonly used building materials are stone, bricks, sand, aggregate, lime, cement, surkhi flyash timber, paints, varnishes and distempers. - a - 19.2. Stones Stones are most durable and least expensive of all building materials as far as maintenance is concerned. Stones have been considered as one of the popular building materials right from olden days due to its avail- ability in abundance from natural rocks. 19.2.1 Classification of stones Geologically there are three types of natural rocks, from which stone can be obtained. There are igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks & metamorphic rocks. __ 39.22 Quality of good building stones Good building stone should have good appearance, close grained structure, good strength and hardness to resist abrasive forces, toughness, heaviness (preferably 2.4 to 2.8 specific gravity) durable, non-porous, good dressing properties & resistance to fire. 19.2.3 Tests of Stones _ The following tests are generally carried out for selecting as building material: \_B-Strength test: The crushing strength of a stone is tested with the help of a compression testing machine The normal values of compressive strength of good stone vary between 1000 to 1400 _ “kg/em?. Weak stones may possess compressive strength as low as 250 to 300 kg/em*. (tt) “Hardness test: The hardness of stones is tested by knife seratching. Hard stones normally do not show any scratch. (iii) Attrition test: This testis carried out with the help of Deval’s testing machine which consists of a Gircular drum. About 5 kg of angular pieces of stones and the required number of steel balls are placed in the drum which is rotated at a rate of 30 p.m. for 4 hours. There after, these stone pieces are removed, cleaned and weighed. A good quality stone should not loose appreciable weight, in this test. fin) Water absorption test: This testis usually performed to judge the porosity of the stone. A good stone should not absorb water more than 5% of its weight when it remains immersed tor 24 hours in cold water, — 367368 ong TIVE RAILWAY ENGINEERING —TRACK, WORKS & OTHERS (Specific gravity test: This test is performed to know the heaviness of the stones, Stones of higher specitic gravity are preferred to those which have relatively lower specific gravity. 19.3. Bricks 19.3.1 Introduction Bricks are manufactured by moulding clay in rectangular blocks of uniform size, which are dried and burnt at high temperature to form a dense and compact product. 19.3.2 Constituents of Brick The brick is manufactured out of special type of brick earth consisting of clay and sand; the proportion of clay and earth should be such that when water is added, it can be easily moulded and dried without cracking or warping. It should also contain a small quantity of finely divided lime and oxide of iron. The approximate chemical composition of a good brick earth is as given in table 19.1 Table 19.1 : Various constituents of good brick earth Constituents % Funetion 1. | Clay or alumina (AI,O,) 20% Makes the earth plastic and lends hardness 2 Sand or Silica (Si0,) 60% Prevents shrinkage, cracking or warping. 3 Other ingredients like 20% Gives other properties of bricks lime, iron oxide ete. The other ingredients may include calcium, iron. maganese. magnesium. sodium, potassium, etc. in variable proportion. 19.3.3 Size of bricks Bricks are made of various sizes according to the custom of the local area or design of the makers and purchasers but in all cases the length should be double the width plus the thickness of one vertical joint so that one stretcher along the wall will just cover two headers placed across it with a joint between them. Size:—Unless otherwise specified the size of bricks should be 22.9 om x 11.2.em x 7.0em (9" x 42%," x2. Metric size modular bricks, where used, should be 19cm x 9.0 cm x 9.0.em ( weight 3.2kg) or 19em x ‘9cm x 4 cm (weight 1.6kg) in accordance with the Indian Standard Specification No. IS 1077-1976. 19.3, 4. Manufacture of bricks. Brick making involves the following operations: 1. Preparation of clay. Good brick earth, a mixture of pure clay and sand along with a small quantity of finely divided lime is first dug out, broken up, watered and kneaded well under feet till it becomes a homogeneous mass. The tempered earth is then covered up with mat pieces and allowed to dry gradu- ally till itis just soft-enough for moulding. For manufacturing superior bricks, the clay is generally prepared by pug mills. 2. Moulding. The well prepared clay is moulded in rectangular steel or wood moulds without top and bottom, their longer sides project a few centimetres to act as handles, Bricks are usually moulded on a block of wood having a projection 6mm deep and same length and breadth as the inside dimensions of the mould. Moulding of bricks done on the stock board, is called table moulding. 3. Drying. The moulded bricks are then allowed to dry so that these are sufficiently hard to be handled,BUILDING MATERIALS 369 When the bricks become sufficiently hard, these are stacked. Eight or ten layers of bricks on edge with intervals of about one metre between them, are generally stacked. 4, Burning. Well dried bricks are burnt in clamps or kilns to attain desired crushing strength and also to impart red or yellowish colour. 19.3.5. Classification and Characteristics of Bricks as per Indian Standard Institution, According to IS : 1077-1971 the classification and characteristics of bricks are given in a Tabular form (Table 19.2) Table 19.2 : Classifications of Bricks SI. | Type of Bricks Properties ‘Where used (classification) 1. | First class ‘These bricks are well bumt having smooth and | ‘These are used for good structures bricks even surface, with perfect rectangular shape and of | such as outer walls and facing uniform reddish colour. When struck with ‘work where no plastering is other brick, these give a metallic ringing sound. | done. These are also used in ‘These should not leave any mark when scratched | floors and reinforced brick slab; by finger nail; these should not absorb water Such bricks should be laid ‘more than 20% of its weight when in rich mortar immersed cold wae oP hours. 2. | Second class ‘These are not perfectly rectangular in shape and | ‘These are used for internal walls, Bricks are having rough surface but are hard, slightly not exposed to atmosphere. These over burnt and uniform in colour. These give are used in facing work and should] ringing sound when struck with each other. Water} he plastered. These cannot be used absorption should not be more than 22% by, for R.B. work. Such bricks may be weight when immersed in water for@4 hours._ laid in mud or lime mortar. 3. | Third class or “These are not burnt properly in the kilns and ‘These are used for interior Pilla Bricks ray be slightly under burnt, hence these are soft} construction work and at and can be easily broken. These are light red in | places where there is less colour, with yellowish tinge. On striking these do | rainfall or presence of not give a ringing sound. These should not absorb} dampness. ‘more than[25% of water by weight when immersed for 4 hours. LAT aa or over ‘Due to excess fusion and temperature, ‘These bricks are not used in ‘Burt Bricks — bricks get over burnt, loose their shape building construction work. - ‘and get twised. These bricks are dark bluish Inthe form of broken pieces in colour. these may be used as road ‘metal; Also in foundations and floors as soling material. 19.4. Lime 19.4.1 General Lime is one of the oldest building material, which was used widely in the olden days for masonry works as well as for roofs etc. Itconsists of mostly calcium oxide (CaO) mixed with smaller proportion of magnesium oxide (MgO), obtained by burning a natural rock at such a temperature that it slakes when brought in contact with water.wm OBJECTIVE RAILWAY ENGINEERING—TRACK, WORKS & OTHERS 19.4.2 Types of Lime The lime is generally available one of the following types: 1. Quick lime: The calcinated material, major part of which is calcium oxide in natural association with less amount of magnesium oxide and which readily slakes with water, is called Quick lime. Quick lime, if unexposed to the air will absorb moisture and carbon-di-oxide and become an inert powder of calcium carbonate or chalk having no cementing power. 2. Fat Lime: This is a lime with a high calcium oxide content which depends solely on absorption of carbon-dioxide trom air for setting. This can be used for white-washing or in lime-surkhi, lime-coal ash, ime cement or lime coalash-cement composite mortars for masonry and plaster work. This corre- spond in quality to Class ‘C’ lime as specified in IS: 712-1973, for Building Limes. Hydraulic Lime:* This isa lime containing small quantities of silica and alumina and /or iron oxide, which are in chemical combination with some of the calcium oxide contents, giving a putty of mortar, which has the property of setting and hardening under water by chemical reaction. This type of lime should be used for plaster or masonry work, but never in combination with cement, surkhi or coal ash in composite mortars. 19.4.3 Slaking of lime As quick lime can not be used for structural purposes, it requires to be slaked to provide soundness in the lime as well as to obtain more plasticity of lime putty. Method of slaking: The common methods employed for slaking lime are: 1. Air Slaking 2. Basket Slaking 3. Platform Slaking 4. Tank Slaking 19.4.4 Lime Field Tests As lime undergoes chemical changes on exposure to atmosphere, its usefulness must therefore be tested at every stage in various field operations i.e. storage, slaking, proportioning. mixing and placing, before accepting it as a building material. 1. Visual Examination : The quality of a lime may be judged to some extent by its colour or shape, as indicated below. Colour / grains ‘Type of lime 1. White colour Pure lime 2. Bluish grey brown or darkish colour ‘Hydraulic lime 3. Powdered lime Hydrated lime 4. Lime with shining particles Presence of free sand particles 2. Hydrochloric acid test : This test is performed to determine the carbonate content of the lime. 19.5 Timber 19.5.1 Introduction Wood has been used as an important Engineering material from the inception of civilisation. With the Scientific development ,the wood may be seasoned and preserved before using it in the construction work. The ‘wood used for constructions of building or other engineering structures is called timber. * N.ReGtandards specification for material & works 1987,BUILDING MATERIALS. an 19.5.2 Structure of a T ber tree (Fig 19.1) By cutting the trunk of a fully developed tree, the various parts visible are given in Fig 19.1 Slashing from inner most position there are Pith, heart wood, Sap wood, Cambium inner bark & outer bark. PER BARK. ANNUALR RINGS, our INNER BARK PITH (OR MEDULLA) CAMBIUM LAYER HEART WOOD, MEDULLARY RAYS SAP WOOD Fig. 19.1 Structure of a Timber tree 19.5.3 Seasoning of timber The process of drying timber under more or less controlled condition is called. seasoning. A freshly felled timber contains a large quantity of timber and in some cases it may be as high as 90 to 100%. On the other hand a well seasoned timber contains only about 10 to 12% of moisture. Timber shrinks during drying and the main object of seasoning is to eliminate this shrinkage before using timber. Timber can be seasoned by following two methods: 1. Natural or air seasoning: This done by stacking the timber structures properly on a well drained place so that there is free circulation of fresh air around each timber piece. It generally takes more than 6 months time for timber to season in modernate climate. Timber seasoned by this method contains about 18% of moisture contact. 2. Artificial or kiln seasoning: Seasoning of timber by this method is done in a masonry chamber equipped with arrangement for heating, controlling humidity and circulating the air in the kiln. Steam is gener- ally used for heating and humiditying the air in the chamber. In the beginning, the seasoning is started at a comparatively low temperature and high humidity. Ini- tially, moisture content in the timber is more and hence at higher temperature, the wood will shrink and cracks will develop. As the moisture of the chamber decreases, the temperature of the chamber is increased. As the timber dries, at the end of seasoning the temperature of the air inside the chamber is raised fairly high and humidity is reduced. The seasoned timber is allowed to cool in the chamber within 20°C of the outside temperature before removal. Seasoning by this method generally takes four to five days under normal conditions. Kiln seasoning is 4 quick method of seasoning timber to the desired moisture content. 19.5.4 Defects in Timber (Fig. 19.2) The following are the most common detects in timber. 1. Heart Shakes. (Fig. 19.2a) These are splits occurring in the centre of the tree. 2. Star Shakes. (Fig. 19.2b) These are splits which radiate either from the centre of timber or from the bark, running in the planes of medullary rays.an OBJECTIVE RAILWAY ENGINEERING—TRACK, WORKS & OTHERS. 3. Cup Shakes. (Fig. 19.2c) These are curved splits which separate the whole or part of one annual Ting from another. These are caused due to unequal growth of timber. 4. Radial Shakes. (Fig. /9.2d) These are similar to star shakes and occur in felled timbers when exposed to sun during seasoning, 5. Rind-galls. (Fig. /9.2c) These are typical enlarged swelling caused generally by the growth of layers over the wounds left after the branches have been cut off Fig. 19.2 Defects in Timber ‘Timber can be preserved by one of the following methods: 1. Charring : Lower ends of the timber posts before embedding in ground, are generally charred to a depth of 1Sem and quenched in water, to prevent attack from dry rots and worms. 2. Coal Tarring ; Embedded portion of timber fence posts, ends of door and window frames, wooden beams built in walls are usually coal tarred. 3. Painting : Painting the surface of timber members projects it from moisture and thus prolongs its life. Paints possess excellent preservative properties and protect the timber against the attack of white ants. 4. Creosoting: Creosote oil is a dark brown thick liquid; By applying creosote to timber, chances of attacks of white ants and rots are reduced considerably. Creosoting is done for railway sleep- ers, piles and transmission poles by special techniques in creosoting plants. 5. Ascu*: Prophylactic treatment is given to the sleepers by patient chemicals like ASCU (60%) to Prevent infection of timber. This is ncessary as appreaciable time elapses in transferring the timber logs to the treatment plant from the forest depots. A timber treated with Ascu powder developed by F.R.I. (Forest Research Institute). Dehra Dun is immune to the attacks of white ants and may be painted, varnished and polished. 19.6. Paint 19.6.1. Paints Paints are applied on woodwork, metal or brick/cement surface in order to protect the surface from weathering effects. At the same time paints provide decorative finish also. For metals these provide a good protection against corrosive effect of weather. Paint is composed of mainly two components, viz, pigment and organic binder. Pigment is the solid ingredient of the paint while the liquid part is called vehicle. Vehicle is usually linseed oil, vanish or water. ‘* Arsenic Penta oxide, Copper Sulphate and Potassium dichloride solution in water 1:3:4 by weight.BUILDING MATERIALS, 373 Pigment or the solid component of the paint comes in three forms i.c. base, inert filler and colouring pigment. Base is generally a metallic oxide like white lead, red lead, zine oxide, iron oxide and titanium whites. Inert filler is a cheap pigment added to reduce the cost and are in the form of barytes, lithopone, silica. silicates of magnesia or alumina, gypsum, charcoal etc. Colouring pigments add colour to the paint. Liquid ingredient comes in 3 forms viz. vehicle, thinner and drier. Refined linseed oil is a good example of vehicle where as turpentine oil, petroleum spirit and naptha are the examples of thinner which make the vehicle thin enough to give a thin and uniform layer of paint. Driers are used to accelerate the drying of paint. Litharge, lead acetate, manganese di-oxide and cobalt are the commonly used driers. 19.6.2 Process of painting (Table 19.3) Five basic steps should normally get a smooth, beautiful and durable painted surface. Table 19.3 Basic steps in process of painting, ‘Steps of painting Purpose (i) Sanding / Surface preparation “To clean the surface and make it is smooth as possible. Gi) Apply first primer coat To provide adhesion between paint film and surface. (iit) Application of putty To fill crackssurface imperfections by applying putty (iv) Applying second primer To sandwhich putty between coat between initial primer coat & second primer coat to avoid patch painting. () Apply painu/finish (2/3 coats) For the final smooth, beautiful and durable painted surface. Notes: (i) When putty is applied after primer coat, a second coat of primer must be applied before painting. Drying time {for puity is 3 t0 4 hours. (ii) “Major cracks and dents should be repaired with a cement sand mortar, or plaster of paris. Putty should not be used for the same. (iii) First coat should be lightly sand papered with waterproof emery paper before application of second coat. 19.7. Varnish ‘Varnish is a solution of a resinous substance dissolved in either oil, alcohol or turpentine. The solution on drying forms a hard, transparent and glossy film. It is generally used to give a protective and decorative surface to wooden surfaces of doors. windows and furniture. 19.8. Distempers Distempers are water paints consisting of whiting (powered chalk), colouring pigment and glue. Dis- temper may be washable or non washable depending upon the medium used. Distempers provide good sealers ‘over porous surfaces and are good for plaster surfaces. Distempers for exterior use on cement concrete and brick surfaces are provided with weather resistant ingredient. Distempers are more durable and present a smooth and pleasing appearance. Regarding cost wise, itis a good material compared to ordinary white wash in the long run. It gives good results in dry climate but in wet conditions, it gives poor results. il bound distemper is provided with the drying oil mixable with water. Itis available in paste form. ‘When required to use, it is diluted in water. On drying, the oil content of the distempers hardens and forms a durable coating which can be cleaned by washing with water. —*#—_*# —_