Exam Question Paper

College/ Institute College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences

Department Civil and Environmental Engineering

Exam Author(s) Professor Mizi Fan and Dr Kai Tai Wan

Module Code CE2002

Module Title Civil Engineering Materials

Month May Year 2018

Paper Type End of Year

Duration Two Hours

Answer ALL questions.

Question Instructions This paper consists of five questions and all questions carry equal
marks.

Are calculators Permitted? Yes

*Only College approved calculators are allowed.

Permitted Reference
N/A
Materials

Required Stationery Calculators

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Q1.

(a) Define all Primary Bondings in solids and briefly describe their characteristics.

[9 marks]

(b) The diagrams [1-a], [1-b] and [1-c] of Figure 1 represent the crystal structures
of three typical advanced materials.

(i) Name these materials and briefly describe their unique properties
respectively;
[6 marks]

(ii) They all consist of carbon-carbon bonds, interpret why they have
completely different properties.
[5 marks]

[1-a] [1-b]

[1-c]

Figure 1
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Q2.
(a) Discuss how the transition zone affects the compressive strength and
permeability of hardened concrete compared to hardened cement paste.
[6 marks]

(b) State and explain how the fluidity of concrete changes in the following
situations:

(i) With the same mix proportion, the fineness of the ordinary Portland
cement used is increased from 350 m2/kg to 400 m2/kg.
[3 marks]

(ii) With the same mix proportion, 3%wt to cement of air-entraining agent is
added.
[3 marks]

(c) The weight ratio of a concrete mix is designed as the cement : water : sand :
coarse aggregates = 1 : 0.45 : 1.35 : 1.85 (assuming that the sand and the
coarse aggregates are under saturated surface dry (SSD) condition). The
moisture content of the sand and coarse aggregates in stock is 1.5% and
3.0% respectively. Calculate the weight in stock of cement, water, sand and
coarse aggregates required for casting 5m3 concrete. (Assuming the wet
density of the cast concrete to be 2,350 kg/m3)
[8 marks]
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Q3.
Figure 2 shows the phase diagram of a Cu-Ag alloy of composition 40wt% Cu and
60wt% Ag. A 3kg sample of this alloy is slowly heated up from a temperature of
800ᴼC.

(a) What is the composition of the last solid remaining prior to complete melting?
[4 marks]

(b) If the alloy is maintained at 800ᴼC, calculate the amount of Cu that should be
added to achieve the state that 50% of the alloy is liquid and the remainder
being in the α phase.
[8 marks]

(c) If the alloy is maintained at 900ᴼC, calculate the amount of Ag that should be
added to achieve the state that 50% of the alloy is liquid and the remainder
being in the β phase.
[8 marks]

Figure 2
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Q4.

(a) Explain why timber is one of the most sustainable building materials?
[8 marks]

(b) Wood is an orthotropic material with very different properties in different

directions. Rank the strength from three different tests, I, II and III as
shown in Figure 3 below, and discuss why the strength is different from
one to another.

[12 marks]

Figure 3
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Q5.

A large particle composite consisting of tungsten particles within a copper matrix has
the volume fraction of 0.6 for tungsten. Specific gravity is 8.9 for copper and 19.3 for
tungsten. The modulus of elasticity is 110GPa for copper and 407GPa for tungsten.

(a) Estimate the upper limit of the specific stiffness of this composite.
[10 marks]

(b) Estimate the lower limit of the specific stiffness of this composite.
[10 marks]

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