Last Updated on March 8, 2022 by Admin
Construction materials or Building materials are materials used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, and wood, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many manufactured products are used, some more and some less synthetic. We have discussed the various types of construction materials used in building constructions. Check these construction materials’ name lists with pictures.
The construction materials list includes cement, steel, sand, concrete, ready-mix concrete, binding wires, aggregates, bricks, blocks, etc. apart from these, various eco-friendly construction materials are also used.
Materials used in building construction have to be selected carefully to ensure the safety and long-lasting life of the building. Construction materials’ definition is the materials used in construction projects are called construction materials.
Types of Construction Materials
Buildings can be categorized into five different types of construction: fire-resistive, non-combustible, ordinary, heavy timber, and wood-framed. Based on the construction types, various materials are used in the construction of buildings.
All these construction materials are used in building construction projects. Find below the construction materials list, the name list with pictures, and various construction materials used in house construction.
1. Cement – Construction Materials
A cement is a binder, a substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used but rather to bind sand and gravel together. Cement companies produced mixed with fine aggregate make mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel has to concrete.
2. Structural Steel
Structural steel is a popular construction material used alongside concrete to create impressive and long-lasting buildings. Its versatility, sustainability, and flexibility are the main reasons for its use and cost-effectiveness.
3. Reinforcement Steel
Steel reinforcement bars or rebars are used to improve the tensile strength of the concrete since concrete is fragile in tension but is strong in compression. Steel is only used as rebar because of the elongation of steel due to high temperatures (thermal expansion coefficient) nearly equal to that of concrete.
Carbon steel is the most common form of steel rebar. Rebar is commonly used as a tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures holding the concrete in compression.
4. Bitumen
Bitumen is a material obtained by fractional distillation of crude petroleum as an end product. According to IS: 334-1951, bitumen is a non-crystalline solid or viscous material having adhesive properties derived from oil either by natural or refinery process.
Bituminous materials are used for road construction, roofing, waterproofing, and other applications. For the main application, which is road construction, the primary concerns, as with concrete, are cost and durability.
5. River sand or Natural sand as a Construction Materials
This sand is white-grey and is one of the fine-graded sands used to construct buildings. They are mainly used in concrete and masonry work. They can also be used for RCC, plastering, and other brick or block works.
6. Concrete
Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the entire world. These materials include cement, water, fine aggregate, and crushed stones or gravel. Sand and gravel or crushed stones are fine aggregate and coarse aggregate, respectively.
7. Ready-mix concrete
According to a set engineered mix design, Ready-Mix Concrete is manufactured in a batch plant.
8. Binding wires
Binding Wire is used for tying applications in the field of construction. It is used extensively in the construction sector to tie the rebars at the joints to keep the structure intact. Binding wire is also called annealed wire and is made of mild steel.
9. Fly Ash
Fly ash is a refined powder byproduct of burning pulverized coal in electric power plants. Fly ash is a pozzolan, a substance containing aluminous and siliceous material that forms cement in the presence of water.
Fly ash can be used as prime material in many cement-based products, such as poured concrete, concrete block, and brick.
One of the most common uses of fly ash is in Portland cement concrete pavement or PCC pavement. Using PCC, road construction projects can use a great deal of concrete, and substituting fly ash provides significant economic benefits.
10. Aggregate – Construction Materials
Construction aggregate, or simply aggregate, is a broad category of coarse to medium-grained particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete, and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined materials in the world.
11. Bricks
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements, and other elements in masonry construction. Appropriately, the term brick denotes a block composed of dried clay but is now also used informally to indicate other chemically cured construction blocks.
Bricks can be joined together using mortar, adhesives, or interlocking them. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and period and are made in bulk quantities.
12. Blocks
Blocks are constructed using concrete or cement. They may include a hollow core to make them lighter and improve their insulation properties. They are now used for various purposes, such as the construction of load-bearing walls, retaining walls, partitions, and foundations.
13. Timber (Wood) as a Construction Materials
Timber is used indoors, in the windows, cabinets, cupboards, shelves, tables, railings, etc. Timber is also popularly used in the form of plywood & raw wood. Products like ply blocks and ply boards, heavy patterned doors, and windows are made of solid wood/timber to provide strength, toughness, and durability.
Also, wood is one of the most used natural building materials globally. Hardwoods are commonly used to construct walls, ceilings, and floors, while softwoods are often used to make doors, furniture, and window frames. Some examples of the most popular hardwoods include oak, maple, mahogany, cherry, walnut, and teak.
14. Masonry
Masonry is building structures from individual units, often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves.
The basic materials of masonry construction include brick, building stone such as marble, granite, limestone, cast stone, concrete block, glass block, and adobe.
It is generally a highly durable form of construction. However, the materials used, the quality of the mortar and artistry, and the pattern in which the units are assembled can substantially affect the durability of the overall masonry construction.
Mason or Bricklayer is the person who constructs masonry. Masonry can be classified into A. Stone Masonry. B. Brick Masonry. C. Composite Masonry. D. Cavity walls. E. Lintel & Arches.
Conclusion
Good differentiation of these types of construction materials is that some do not have certain uses given to them. For instance, cement only serves for the maintenance of construction structures, and paint is only made for the correction of colors or put on the material before being sent out to customers. In conclusion, each type of material can be differentiated from the other by the use that it gives to customers.
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