Introduction to Construction Materials

Technology Unit 1

Presented by: KM Rodriguez

 Unit 1 - SOIL / Class 1

Syllabus:
-Introduction
-Nature of soil, origin
-Types
-Structure of soil

-Compaction
-Importance of moisture

-Identification of soils

-Soil samples
 Introduction to Construction
Material.
Building material is any material which is
used for a construction purpose. Many
naturally occurring substances, such as
clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs
and leaves have been used to construct
buildings. Apart from naturally occurring
materials, many man-made products are
in use, some more and some less
synthetic.

Building materials can be generally

categorized into two sources, natural and
synthetic.
Introduction to the Materials
World
Materials science or materials engineering is an
interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and
its applications to various areas of science and engineering.

Fundamentals
Materials science deals with fundamental properties and
characteristics of materials;
,rather than haphazardly looking for and discovering
materials and exploiting their properties, the aim is instead
to understand materials so that new materials with the
desired properties can be created.
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Nature of Soil

Origin: Result of weathering,

Top Soil: Uppermost layer of soil – weathered material
erosion and transportation
of earth crust Properties: Contain organic matter, dark colour, smell
Good for growth of vegetation, no strength.

To remove before
engineering projects To use for
gardening
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Types of soil

For engineering purposes soil is considered as a loose deposit, essentially

divided into types according to the sizes of individual particles or graines

COARSE GRAINED PARTICULE SOIL FINE GRAINED PARTICULE SOIL

gravel clay
sand silt
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Structure

Solid, voids Conditions vary from Dry, Semi wet, Wet, to Saturated
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Compaction

Large compaction equipment Adequate level of compaction before erecting

Forcing solid particles closer, the building to avoid differential settlements.
squeezing air out,
increase strength of soil
Unit 1 - SOIL / Importance of moisture

Water acts as soil lubricant reducing friction

between solid particles,
facilitating the bond between them during the
process of compaction.

Not adequate level of compaction and therefore

not good soil strength will be achieved if:

- Little water = big friction forces between

particles – not adequate level of compaction
- Too much water – release the bond between
particles, they will be “swimming”
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Identification of Soil

Fields of identification:
- Compressibility
- Plastic characteristics
(cohesiveness) Compressibility of beach sand
- Dry density
- Colour
- Smell
- Feel
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Identification of Soil

Fields of identification:
- Compressibility
- Plastic characteristics
(cohesiveness)
- Dry density
- Colour
- Smell
- Feel

Fine Soils – ability to stick together

 Unit 1 - SOIL / Identification of Soil

Fields of identification:
- Compressibility
- Plastic characteristics
(cohesiveness)
- Dry density
- Colour
- Smell
- Feel
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Identification of Soil

Fields of identification:
- Compressibility
- Plastic characteristics
(cohesiveness)
- Dry density
- Colour
- Smell
- Feel
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Soil Samples

To conduct soil test, representative samples must be obtained in the field, to be able to study the
soil at the laboratory under controlled conditions. Methods of obtaining samples vary from
undisturbed to disturbed

Core sample Blasting

Samples size of 40kg is

usually taken on the field

Further divided at the Lab

in samples of mass
between 3-5kg
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Sources

Please sent an email to the subject – gmail account requesting to be added to the distribution list

E: cca100s2015@gmail.com
rodriguezk@cput.ac.za

- Presentations, subject program, study guide, tutorial, project brief and others will be shared in
Google drive and emailed to your personal email account.
 Unit 1 - SOIL / Homework

Research two differences between the following soils: - (13 marks)

-Gravel & stone
-Gravel and sand

-Beach and river sand

-Silt and clay

Mention one application of:

a)
-Stone
-Gravel
-Sand

-Clay
-Silt