Properties and use of construction materials.

Task 1:
Describe the properties of construction materials.
Brick:
A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in
masonry construction. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand and
lime, or concrete materials. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types,
materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in
bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks.
Fired bricks are one of the strongest construction materials and date back to
5000 BC. The earliest bricks were dried bricks meaning they were made from
earth enriched with clay or mud and dried; usually in the sun, till they were solid
enough to use. Fired brick was used in early Indus valley cities. Roman and Greek
civilizations implemented fired bricks during their empires on a wide scale
constructing many monumental structures using brick. A lot of these still stand
today which is a testament to the strength of fired brick. However, not all
structures were built using fired brick. Some used granite blocks, sandstone etc.
Fired bricks are burned in a kiln which makes them durable. Modern, fired, clay
bricks are formed in one of three processes soft mud, dry press, or extruded.
Normally, brick contains the following
ingredients:
Silica (sand) 50% to 60% by weight
Alumina (clay) 20% to 30% by weight
Lime 2 to 5% by weight
Iron oxide 7% by weight
Magnesia less than 1% by weight
The soft mud method is the most common, as it is the most economical. It starts
with the raw clay, preferably in a mix with 2530% sand to reduce shrinkage. The
clay is first ground and mixed with water to the desired consistency. The clay is
then pressed into steel moulds with a hydraulic press. The shaped clay is then
fired ("burned") at 9001000 C to achieve strength.
In modern brickworks, this is usually done in a continuously fired tunnel kiln, in
which the bricks are fired as they move slowly through the kiln on conveyors,
rails, or kiln cars, which achieves a more consistent brick product. The bricks
often have lime, ash, and organic matter added, which accelerates the burning
process.

For efficient handling and laying, bricks must be small enough and light enough
to be picked up by the bricklayer using one hand (leaving the other hand free for
the trowel).
In the United Kingdom, the usual size of a modern brick is 215 102.5 65 mm
(about 8 58 4 18 2 58 inches), which, with a nominal 10 mm (38 inch)
mortar joint, forms a unit size of 225 112.5 75 mm (9 4 12 3 inches), for
a ratio of 6:3:2.
Bricks are used for homes, buildings, block paving and pavement. Typical
historical and current uses for brick include;
Structural uses: such as foundations walls and floors.
Decorative/ornamental uses: May be cast to from mouldings and other
decorative features may be carved also may be used in a variety of colours,
textures, bonds and joints.
May be concealed by other finish materials such as stucco, plaster or paint, or
may be exposed both on the interior and exterior.
Bricks are also used in the metallurgy and glass industries for lining furnaces.
They have various uses, especially refractory bricks such as silica, magnesia,
chamotte and neutral (chromo magnesite) refractory bricks. This type of brick
must have good thermal shock resistance, under load, high melting point, and
satisfactory porosity.
Bricks are used for building and pavement. Earlier brick pavement was found
incapable of withstanding heavy traffic, but it is coming back into use as a
method of traffic calming or as a decorative surface in pedestrian precincts.
Advantages:
The use of materials such as brick and stone can increase the thermal mass of
building, giving increased comfort in the heat of summer and cold of winter and
can be ideal for passive solar applications.
Brick typically will not require painting and so can provide a structure with
reduced life cycle costs, although sealing appropriately will reduce potential
spalling due to frost damage. Concrete block of the non-decorative variety
generally is painted or stuccoed if exposed.
The appearance especially when well crafted, can impart an impression of
solidity and permanence.
Brick is very heat resistant material and thus will provide good fire protection.
Being much more resistant to cold and moist weather conditions, brick enabled
the construction of permanent buildings in regions where the harsher climate
precluded the use of mud bricks.

Visible brick walls were unpopular and the brickwork was often covered with
plaster. It was only during the mid-18th century that visible brick walls regained
some degree of popularity.
Bricks did have to adhere to British Standard 3921:1985 however this has been
superseded with a European standard.
A common end of life failure is frost damage or thermal expansion where the
bricks are frozen, then thaw and expand creating cracks which can cause
structural damage and failure.
There are also different types of brick such as engineering brick.
Engineering brick is a type of brick used when strength, low water porosity or
flue gas resistance are needed. They can be used for damp proof courses when
using things like membranes or coatings.
Clay engineering bricks are defined in British Standard BS 6100 "Glossary of
building and civil engineering terms" as "brick sized fired clay units having a
dense and strong semi vitreous body, conforming to defined limits for water
absorption and compressive strength."

Stronger and less porous engineering bricks (UK Class A) are usually blue due to
the higher firing temperature whilst class B bricks are usually red. Class A bricks
have strength of 125N/mm and water absorption of less than 4.5%; Class B
bricks have strength greater than 75N/mm and water absorption of less than
7%.
Sustainability:
Brick and brick buildings are sustainable because they:
Are highly durable;
Offer long term life performance;
Are low maintenance;
Are energy efficient;
provide healthy and comfortable environments;
Are recyclable.
Sustainability is often compressed into a consideration of energy use defined as
the emission of CO2. Very little clay is wasted during manufacture. Unfired waste
clay is reused in the manufacturing process and less than perfect fired bricks are
crushed and used as aggregates in other parts of the building industry. The
current level of recycled content in brick is 11%.Embodied energy is the amount
of energy it takes to manufacture and supply bricks to their point of use.

Research recently undertaken demonstrates that the proportion of embodied

energy of clay bricks for the modern semi-detached home is equal to just 1.87%
of the overall heating requirement for the home over its 150 year life. The
embodied carbon for brick is 0.244 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of bricks (quarry to
site). Using a UK typical brick weight of 2.35kg the CO2/year for a typical 2
bedroom end of terrace home is no greater than:
15kg of CO2 per year over 150 years
22kg of CO2 per year over 100 years
Recycling:
Recycled brick can be crushed and used for a number of different applications.
Companies often purchase it instead of aggregate (such as gravel) for
construction projects. Bricks can be chipped and used in landscapes. Like the
parent material, the chips look nice and will hold up well even in very cold, windy
or rainy climates. If the bricks are broken down to a very fine material they can
be used in place of sand or even go into new bricks. A local recycling centre can
take bricks also.

Concrete:
Concrete is a composite material composed of coarse aggregate bonded
together with fluid cement which hardens over time. Most concretes used are
lime-based concretes such as Portland cement concrete or concretes made with
other hydraulic cements, such as ciment fondu. However, road surfaces are also
a type of concrete, asphalt concrete, where the cement material is bitumen, and
polymer concretes are sometimes used where the cementing material is a
polymer. The earliest large-scale users of concrete technology were the ancient
Romans, and concrete was widely used in the Roman Empire. The Colosseum in
Rome was built largely of concrete, and the concrete dome of the Pantheon is the
world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Today, large concrete structures (for
example, dams and multi-storey car parks) are usually made with reinforced
concrete. After the Roman Empire collapsed, use of concrete became rare until
the technology was redeveloped in the mid-18th century. Today, concrete is the
most widely used man-made material (measured by tonnage).
The first use of concrete dates back to around 6500BC by Bedouins in the Middle
East in countries such as Syria and Jordan. They discovered the advantages of
hydraulic lime, with some self-cementing properties, by 700 BC. They built kilns
to supply mortar for the construction of rubble-wall houses, concrete floors, and
underground waterproof cisterns. In both Roman and Egyptian times it was rediscovered that adding volcanic ash to the mix allowed it to set underwater.
Similarly, the Romans knew that adding horse hair made concrete less liable to
crack while it hardened, and adding blood made it more frost-resistant.
Crystallization of strtlingite and the introduction of pyro-clastic clays create
further fracture resistance. The romans used concrete extensively throughout the

golden age of their empire. Roman concrete was made from quicklime,
pozzolana and an aggregate of pumice stone.
There are many types of concrete available, made by varying the proportions of
the main ingredients. A main ingredient is aggregate. Aggregate consists of large
chunks of material in the mix. This can be coarse gravel or crushed rocks i.e.
limestone or granite. Along with finer materials like sand. To produce concrete
from most cements water is mixed with the dry powder and aggregate, which
produces a semi-liquid that workers can shape, typically by pouring it into a
form. The concrete solidifies and hardens through a chemical process called
hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components
together, creating a robust stone-like material. Reinforcement is often included in
concrete. Concrete can be formulated with high compressive strength, but
always has lower tensile strength. For this reason it is usually reinforced with
materials that are strong in tension, often steel.
Concrete production is the process of mixing together the various ingredients
water, aggregate, cement, and any additivesto produce concrete. Concrete
production is time-sensitive. Once the ingredients are mixed, workers must put
the concrete in place before it hardens. In modern usage, most concrete
production takes place in a large type of industrial facility called a concrete plant,
or often a batch plant. In general usage, concrete plants come in two main types,
ready mix plants and central mix plants. A ready mix plant mixes all the
ingredients except water, while a central mix plant mixes all the ingredients
including water. A central mix plant offers more accurate control of the concrete
quality through better measurements of the amount of water added, but must be
placed closer to the work site where the concrete will be used, since hydration
begins at the plant. A concrete plant consists of large storage hoppers for various
reactive ingredients like cement, storage for bulk ingredients like aggregate and
water, mechanisms for the addition of various additives and amendments,
machinery to accurately weigh, move, and mix some or all of those ingredients,
and facilities to dispense the mixed concrete, often to a concrete mixer truck.
Modern concrete is usually prepared as a viscous fluid, so that it may be poured
into forms, which are containers erected in the field to give the concrete its
desired shape. There are many different ways in which concrete formwork can be
prepared, such as Slip forming and Steel plate construction. Alternatively,
concrete can be mixed into dryer, non-fluid forms and used in factory settings to
manufacture precast concrete products. There is a wide variety of equipment for
processing concrete, from hand tools to heavy industrial machinery. Whichever
equipment builders use, however, the objective is to produce the desired
building material; ingredients must be properly mixed, placed, shaped, and
retained within time constraints. Any interruption in pouring the concrete can
cause the initially placed material to begin to set before the next batch is added
on top. This creates a horizontal plane of weakness called a cold joint between
the two batches. Once the mix is where it should be, the curing process must be
controlled to ensure that the concrete attains the desired attributes. During
concrete preparation, various technical details may affect the quality and nature
of the product.

Properties
Concrete has relatively high compressive strength however much lower tensile
strength. This is why it is usually reinforced with materials such as steel. The
elasticity of concrete is relatively constant at low stress levels but starts
decreasing at higher stress levels as matrix cracking develop. Concrete has a
very low coefficient of thermal expansion and shrinks as it matures. All concrete
structures crack to some extent, due to shrinkage and tension. Concrete that is
subjected to long-duration forces is prone to creep. Different strengths of
concrete are used for different purposes. Very low-strength - 14 MPa (2,000 psi)
or less - concrete may be used when the concrete must be lightweight.
Lightweight concrete is often achieved by adding air, foams, or lightweight
aggregates, with the side effect that the strength is reduced. For most routine
uses, 20 MPa (2,900 psi) to 32 MPa (4,600 psi) concrete is often used. 40 MPa
(5,800 psi) concrete is readily commercially available as a more durable,
although more expensive, option. Higher-strength concrete is often used for
larger civil projects. Strengths above 40 MPa (5,800 psi) are often used for
specific building elements. For example, the lower floor columns of high-rise
concrete buildings may use concrete of 80 MPa (11,600 psi) or more, to keep the
size of the columns small. Bridges may use long beams of high-strength concrete
to lower the number of spans required. Occasionally, other structural needs may
require high-strength concrete. If a structure must be very rigid, concrete of very
high strength may be specified, even much stronger than is required to bear the
service loads. Strengths as high as 130 MPa (18,900 psi) have been used
commercially for these reasons.
Energy requirements for transportation of concrete are low because it is
produced locally from local resources, typically manufactured within 100
kilometres of the job site. Similarly, relatively little energy is used in producing
and combining the raw materials. The overall embodied energy of concrete is
therefore lower than for most structural materials other than wood.
Degradation
Concrete can be damaged by many processes, such as the expansion of
corrosion products of the steel reinforcement bars, freezing of trapped water, fire
or radiant heat, aggregate expansion, sea water effects, bacterial corrosion,
leaching, erosion by fast-flowing water, physical damage and chemical damage
(from carbonisation, chlorides, sulphates and distillate water). Many concrete
structures are built with an expected lifetime of approximately 100 years, but
researchers have suggested that adding silica fume could extend the useful life
of bridges and other concrete uses to as long as 16,000 years. Coatings are also
available to protect concrete from damage, and extend the useful life.
Recycling
Concrete, which must be free of rubbish, wood, paper and other such materials,
is collected from demolition sites and put through a crushing machine, often
along with asphalt, bricks and rocks.

Reinforced concrete contains rebar and other metallic reinforcements, which are
removed with magnets and recycled elsewhere. The remaining aggregate chunks
are sorted by size. Larger chunks may go through the crusher again. Smaller
pieces of concrete are used as gravel for new construction projects. Aggregate
base gravel is laid down as the lowest layer in a road, with fresh concrete or
asphalt placed over it. Crushed recycled concrete can sometimes be used as the
dry aggregate for brand new concrete if it is free of contaminants.

Steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon primarily. It is widely used due to its high
tensile strength and low cost. The earliest known production of steel are pieces
of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia (Kaman-Kalehoyuk)
and are nearly 4,000 years old, dating from 1800 BC. Horace identifies steel
weapons like the falcate in the Iberian Peninsula, while Noric steel was used by
the Roman military. Since the 17th century the first step in European steel
production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace.
Originally employing charcoal, modern methods use coke, which has proven
more economical. The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of
Henry Bessemer's Bessemer process in 1855, the raw material for which was pig
iron. His method let him produce steel in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel
came to be used for most purposes for which wrought iron was formerly used.
The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or basic Bessemer process) was an improvement
to the Bessemer process, made by lining the converter with a basic material to
remove phosphorus.

Another 19th-century steelmaking process was the Siemens-Martin process,

which complemented the Bessemer process. It consisted of co-melting bar iron
(or steel scrap) with pig iron.

These methods of steel production were rendered obsolete by the Linz-Donawitz

process of basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), developed in the 1950s, and other
oxygen steel making methods. Basic oxygen steelmaking is superior to previous
steelmaking methods because the oxygen pumped into the furnace limited
impurities, primarily nitrogen that previously had entered from the air used.
Today, electric arc furnaces (EAF) are a common method of reprocessing scrap
metal to create new steel. They can also be used for converting pig iron to steel,
but they use a lot of electrical energy (about 440 kWh per metric ton), and are
thus generally only economical when there is a plentiful supply of cheap
electricity. The supply of raw materials is a key issue for the world steel industry.
World steel manages projects that examine the availability of raw materials, such
as iron ore, coking coal, freight and scrap.

Scrap iron is mainly used in electric arc furnace steelmaking. As well as scrap
arising from the making and using of steel, obsolete scrap from demolished
structures and end-of life vehicles and machinery is recycled to make new steel.
Around 500 million tonnes of scrap are melted each year. Iron ore and coking
coal are used mainly in the blast furnace process of ironmaking. For this process,
coking coal is turned into coke, an almost pure form of carbon, which is used as
the main fuel and reductant in a blast furnace. Typically, it takes 1.5 tonnes of
iron ore and around 450kg of coke to produce a tonne of pig iron, the raw iron
that comes out of a blast furnace. Some of the coke can be replaced by injecting
pulverised coal into the blast furnace. Iron is a common mineral on the earths
surface. Most iron ore is extracted in opencast mines in Australia and Brazil,
carried to dedicated ports by rail, and then shipped to steel plants in Asia and
Europe. Iron ore and coking coal are primarily shipped in capesize vessels, huge
bulk carriers that can hold a cargo of 140,000 tonnes or more.
Recycling
Steel is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over
60% globally; in the United States alone, over 82,000,000 metric tons
(81,000,000 long tons) was recycled in the year 2008, for an overall recycling
rate of 83%.
Iron and steel are used widely in the construction of roads, railways, other
infrastructure, appliances, and buildings. Most large modern structures, such as
stadiums and skyscrapers, bridges, and airports, are supported by a steel
skeleton. Even those with a concrete structure employ steel for reinforcing. In
addition, it sees widespread use in major appliances and cars. Despite growth in
usage of aluminium, it is still the main material for car bodies. Steel is used in a
variety of other construction materials, such as bolts, nails, and screws and other
household products and cooking utensils. Steels durability is one of the key
properties that make steel a sustainable material, allowing for the reuse of
countless products - from paper clips to automotive components and rail tracks.
A wide range of steel products, like automotive engines and wind turbines, can
be remanufactured for reuse, taking advantage of the durability of the steel
components. Remanufacturing restores durable used products to like-new
condition. Both reuse and remanufacturing extend the overall product life and
thereby save valuable resources. Its recyclability is another key factor
contributing to steel being a sustainable material. Once steel is produced, its life
cycle is potentially endless because it is easy to recover with magnets and 100%
recyclable without loss of quality. This makes it a permanent resource for society
as long as it is recovered at the end of each product life cycle. 100% of scrap
from steel production and downstream processing is collected and recycled
directly into steel production. Post-consumer scrap has to be collected and
prepared (for example by shredding and baling). Because of the high value of
steel scrap, there are economic incentives that help to maintain high recycling
levels, in addition to environmental benefits.

Structural Properties
Most steels used throughout Europe are specified to comply with the
European standard EN 10025. However, many national standards also remain in
force. Typical grades are described as 'S275J2' or 'S355K2W'. In these examples,
'S' denotes structural rather than engineering steel; 275 or 355 denotes the yield
strength in newtons per square millimetre or the equivalent mega pascals; J2 or
K2 denotes the materials toughness by reference to Charpy impact test values;
and the 'W' denotes weathering steel. Further letters can be used to designate
fine grain steel ('N' or 'NL'); quenched and tempered steel ('Q' or 'QL'); and
thermomechanically rolled steel ('M' or 'ML').
The austenizing temperature, the temperature where a steel transforms to an
austenite crystal structure, for steel starts at 900 C (1,650 F) for pure iron,
then, as more carbon is added, the temperature falls to a minimum 724 C
(1,335 F) for eutectic steel (steel with only .83% by weight of carbon in it). As
2.1% carbon (by mass) is approached, the austenizing temperature climbs back
up, to 1,130 C (2,070 F). Similarly, the melting point of steel changes based on
the alloy. The lowest temperature at which a plain carbon steel can begin to
melt, its solidus, is 1,130 C (2,070 F). Steel never turns into a liquid below this
temperature. Pure Iron ('Steel' with 0% Carbon) starts to melt at 1,492 C (2,718

F), and is completely liquid upon reaching 1,539 C (2,802 F). Steel with 2.1%
Carbon by weight begins melting at 1,130 C (2,070 F), and is completely
molten upon reaching 1,315 C (2,399 F). 'Steel' with more than 2.1% Carbon is
no longer Steel, but is known as Cast iron. Due to steel being weakened by fire,
protection can be used. Heat transfer to the steel can be slowed by the use of
fireproofing materials, thus limiting steel temperature. Common fireproofing
methods for structural steel include intumescent, endothermic, and plaster
coatings as well as drywall, calcium silicate cladding, and mineral wool insulating
blankets. Steel also has high strength, toughness, stiffness and ductile
properties. It can be developed into nearly any shape making it a handy
construction material. Steel when in contact with water can corrode, creating a
dangerous structure. The steel can be painted to provide water resistance.
Timber
Timber is the unprocessed product of wood. The history of timber or wood can be
dated back millions of years. Since humans existed on the planet wood has been
used in some sort whether to make fires, build houses or make weapons. It is an
extremely sustainable material, very workable and strong when used in the right
applications. During the prehistoric and Neolithic periods, wood was used
extensively by Neanderthals then humans. An example of this would be
combining a worked wooden stick with a piece of flint or stone to create an axe
that the early humans would use to kill or chop down more wood. It was an
extremely popular choice of weaponry and tool during this period until materials
such as bronze, iron and steel were founded. However, wood has been used
throughout history in a variety of different applications.
Its use in construction is very important. It can be used especially in America; as
the main material in house building. Timber frames are used, and then either
wooden planks or bricks are used to create the walls and floors of the building.
Even in other countries such as the UK, timber framing is used. Timber framing
and "post-and-beam" construction are methods of building with heavy timbers
rather than dimensional lumber such as 2x4s. Traditional timber framing is the
method of creating structures using heavy squared-off and carefully fitted and
joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs (larger versions of the
mortise and Tenon joints in furniture). It is commonplace in wooden buildings
from the 19th century and earlier. The method comes from making things out of
logs and tree trunks without modern high tech saws to cut lumber from the
starting material stock. Using axes, adzes, and draw knives, hand-powered auger
drill bits (bit and brace), and laborious woodworking, artisans or farmers could
gradually assemble a building capable of bearing heavy weight without
excessive use of interior space given over to vertical support posts. Since this
building method has been used for thousands of years in many parts of the
world, there are many styles of historic framing. These styles are often
categorized by the type of foundation, walls, how and where the beams
intersect, the use of curved timbers, and the roof framing details. Three basic
types of timber frames in English-speaking countries are the box frame, cruck
frame, and aisled frame. Wood was used in house building extensively in England

during the 15th and 16th century as the Tudor style of building houses relied on
wooden framing, close studding and cross frames.
Hard woods vs Soft woods:
Hard wood comes from angiosperm trees that
are not monocots; trees are usually broadleaved. Has vessel elements that transport
water throughout the wood; under a microscope,
these elements appear as pores. Soft wood
comes from gymnosperm trees which usually
have needles and cones. Medullary rays and
tracheids transport water and produce sap.
When viewed under a microscope, softwoods
have no visible pores because of tracheids.
Hardwoods are more likely to be found in highquality furniture, decks, flooring, and
construction that need to last. About 80% of all
timber comes from softwood. Softwoods have a
wide range of applications and are found in building components (e.g., windows,
doors), furniture, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), paper, Christmas trees, and
much more. Examples of hardwood trees include alder, balsa, beech, hickory,
mahogany, maple, oak, teak, and walnut. Examples of softwood trees are cedar,
Douglas fir, juniper, pine, redwood, spruce, and yew. Most hardwoods have a
higher density than most softwoods. Hardwood is typically more expensive than
softwood. Hardwood has a slower growth rate than soft wood. Finally, hard woods
fire resistance is a lot better than soft woods which is poor. In many cases,
hardwoods and softwoods are both used for many of the same purposes, with
more emphasis placed on the type of hardwood or softwood and how dense it is.
Generally, though, softwoods are cheaper and easier to work with than
hardwoods. As such, they make up the bulk of all wood used in the world, with
about 80% of all timber being a softwood. This is impressive considering
hardwoods are much more common in the world than softwoods. Softwoods have
a wide range of applications and are found in building components (e.g.,
windows, doors), furniture, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), paper, Christmas
trees, and much more. Pines are one of the most commonly used softwoods.
Though hardwoods are often more expensive and sometimes more challenging
to work with, their upside is that most though not all are denser, meaning
many hardwoods will last longer than softwoods. For this reason, hardwoods are
more likely to be found in high-quality furniture, decks, flooring, and construction
that need to last.

The process
Mature trees are harvested from pine plantations and also from native forests.
Trees harvested at a younger age can produce smaller logs, which can be turned

into lower value products. Factors such as the site and climatic conditions, the
species, the growth rate, and silviculture can affect the size of a mature tree.
These are sent to timber mills. The native hardwood sawmilling industry
originally consisted of small family-owned mills, but this has recently changed to
include a small number of larger mills. The mills produce large volumes of
standard products, and aim to ensure a "standard quality of product, efficiently
and safely, at low cost, with rapid production time and high output". Once the
timber has manipulated in the required fashion, it can be used for its purpose.
There are many different purposes for wood including: plywood, veneer, pulp,
paper, particleboard, pallets, craft items, toys, instrument-making, furniture
production, packing cases, wine barrels, cardboard, firewood, garden mulch, fibre
adhesives, packaging and pet litter. Western Australia has a unique substance
called bio-char, which is made from jarrah and pine. Bio-char can be used in the
manufacture of silicone and as a soil additive. Energy used in the production of
wood can have a number of factors. These can be, petroleum used in the
vehicles used for harvesting, the type of chainsaw used if any, the fuel used to
run the sawmill and the amount of energy taken to create the by products.
Recycling
Wood is very sustainable and to recycle it, it can be taken to any recycling centre
with a wood recycling facility. Here it can be reclaimed and reused to make all
sorts of materials such as furniture, sawdust, pulp etc. You can also buy recycled
wood from many retailers if you would like to be as eco friendly as possible.

Properties:
Timber is the oldest of structural materials, and though mainly supplanted by
steel, masonry and concrete, it is still used in a significant number of buildings.
The properties of timber are non-linear and very variable, depending on the
quality, treatment of wood, and type of wood supplied. The design of wooden
structures is based strongly on empirical evidence. Wood is strong in tension and
compression, but can be weak in bending due to its fibrous structure. Wood is
relatively good in fire as it chars, which provides the wood in the centre of the
element with some protection and allows the structure to retain some strength
for a reasonable length of time.
The most common cause of failure found is poor design or lack of strength design
(41%). Other important failure causes are poor principles during erection
(14.1%), on-site alterations (12.5%) and insufficient or lacking design with
respect to environmental actions (11.4%). In total, about half of the failures are
related to design. About one fourth of the failures are caused at the building site
(on-site alterations, poor principles during erection). This means that wood
quality, production methods and principles only cause a small part (together
about 11%) of the failures. The problem is therefore not the wood material, but
engineers and workers in the building process, which was also found in similar
investigations performed for other materials. Timber should be protected if it is

allowed to dry out and season properly however companies may want to cover it
in fire retardant coating or paint.

Task 4:

a) Total load = 55KN

10KN+15KN+30KN=55KN
Support force must be equal to total load so if support Rb is 40KN then
Support Ra must be 15KN.
0.5x10-1x15+2x15-2.5x40+dx30=0
d=(2.5x40-15-5)/30=80/30=2.666m
The forces on the beam are equalled out by the supports Ra and Rb which
means there will be no tilting.

References: