UNIT I

BUILDING MATERIALS
STONES
BRICKS
CEMENT
CONCRETE
STEEL
 Early Use of Metals
• Iron has been used since 4000
BC, at least. The Iron Age
continues even today with the
widespread use of iron and
steel.
• High quality steel was produced
in southern India perhaps as
early as 300 BC.

The Iron Pillar of Delhi, 402 BC

“A testament to the skill of ancient
Indian blacksmiths" because of its
high resistance to corrosion
 Non-ferrous and ferrous metal
Non- Ferrous Metals
Copper, Aluminum, Zinc, Lead, Tin, Titanium, Gold, Silver, etc.

Ferrous Metals
• A ferrous material is the one in which iron is a main
constituent.
• processes to mix different percentage of carbon and to get
the following three useful ferrous
Materials:
1. Cast Iron
2. Wrought Iron
3. Steel
• All ferrous materials contain about 0.5 to 3% silica, less than
2% manganese, 0.15% sulphur and 0.6% phosphorous.
 Types of Iron
Description Cast Iron Wrought Iron Steel
Carbon Content 1.7 – 4.5 % < 0.15 % 0.25 - 1.5%.
Strength Compression 700 200
(N/mm2)
150 375 Fe – 250; Fe – 415 &
Tension
500
Nature Brittle, Not shock Ductile & Brittle Ductile & Malleable
absorbs Absorb shock Absorb shock
Magnetize Property Not magnetized Temporarily Permanently
magnetize magnetize
Rust property Not rust Rust Rust
Melting point 1200°C
Uses •Rain water •Nails, nuts and • Mild steel – 0.25 %
•Sanitary pipes bolts Carbon
•Sanitary fittings •Wires and chains • High carbon steel –
•Manhole covers. • Roofing sheets 0.7 – 1.5 % Carbon
•Railings •Grills and fences •High tensile steel- 0.8
•Spiral stair cases •Window guards % carbon & 0.6 %
•Fire gratings etc. manganese.
• Cover for pumps
Steel

 Steel is probably the most versatile commonly used structural

material.
 Steel is used to a large extent in modern multi-storied buildings.
 Steel is used as reinforcing bars/wires for concrete since concrete is
weak in tension.
 Structural steel is available in various forms and shapes and it is
being used for various structural components.
How is steel manufactured?

2O2  4H 2O  4Fe  4FeOH 2

4FeOH 2  O2  2H 2O  4FeOH 3

Iron Ore Rolling/ other manufacturing

(Fe2O3) Blast Furnace Molten material processes
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon

• Steel is obtained by decreasing the carbon content by

controlled oxidation. The excess oxygen is removed by
incorporating manganese and silicon.
• Classification of steels:
– Mild steel or low carbon steel: carbon content of upto 0.25%.
– Medium carbon steel or carbon steel: C content of 0.3-0.6%.
– High carbon steels: C content of more than 0.6%.
– When elements other than Mn and Si are present, it is called alloy
steel.
– When certain elements, such as Cr and Ni are added, it is called
stainless steel.
Mild steel

It contains a maximum of 0.25% carbon, 0.055% of sulphur and 0.55% of

phosphorus.
Properties of Mild Steel:
• It is malleable and ductile. It is more elastic
• It can be magnetized permanently.
• Its specific gravity is 7.8.
• Its Young’s modulus is 2.1 × 10⁵ N/mm2 or GPa
• It can be welded easily.
• It is equally strong in tension and in compression.
Uses of Mild Steel
• Round bars are extensively used as reinforcement in R.C.C. works.
• Rolled sections like I, T, L, C, plates etc. are used to build steel columns,
beams, trusses etc.
• Tubular sections are used as poles and members of trusses.
• Plain and corrugated mild steel are used as roofing materials.
• Mild steel sections are used in making parts of many machineries.
Types of reinforcement

• Uncoated steel
– Mild steel ribbed bars
– High Yield Strength Deformed (HYSD) bars
– Cold-twisted deformed (CTD) bars (TORsteel)
– Thermomechanically treated (TMT) or Quenched and
Self-Tempered (QST) steel
– Stainless steel
– Prestressing steel
• Coated steel
– Epoxy coated steel
– Galvanized steel
• Fiber-reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars / laminates
Nominal area and mass of reinforcement used in
India – IS 1786
Mechanical properties of some typical reinforcement
used in India – IS 1786
• Grades Fe415, Fe500 and Fe550
–the number indicates the yield stress
–Grade Fe250 mild steel is also available but used only as
secondary reinforcement.
 Forming of Metals
Common processing methods
Melt

Cast as ingot

Mechanically work and shape Cast to shape

e.g – rolling e.g – sand casting
– forging
– die casting
– extrusion – investment casting
– drawing

Finish
e.g – machining
– joining
Illston & Domone
Forming of Metals - Hot working

Hot working processes depend

on plasticity, which is higher at
high temperatures, i.e., above
the recrystallisation temperature.
This allows common metals to
be deformed in compression,
without breaking.
Forming of Metals

• For steel structural members, the usual method is by hot

rolling, with cylindrical or shaped rollers at temperatures
of 1000 °C or more. The members are later allowed to
cool naturally, ending up with an annealed microstructure.
The exposure of the hot metal to air causes a heavy film
of oxide on the surface.

• One disadvantage of hot forming arises from the

contraction of the dimensions on cooling.

Illston & Domone

Forming of Metals - Cold working

• Many metals and alloys can be cold worked, i.e., shaped at temperatures
below that of recrystallisation.
• This creates an immense amount dislocations, and consequently, work
hardening. As a result the yield strength increases.
• Cold working processes can produce anisotropy in polycrystalline metals
due to the deformation of the grains.
before rolling after rolling

rolling direction
235 mm
Anisotropic – elongated and
oriented grains
Isotropic – equiaxed grains
Cold-Twisted Deformed (CTD) bars - TOR steel

• CTD bars are produced by twisting in cold condition

the steel bars, causing work hardening.
– Higher strength and lower elongation
– Ribs improve the bonding with the concrete
• Chemical Composition
– Carbon: 0.20-0.35%
– Manganese: 0.40-0.80%
– Phosphorus & Sulphur combined: 0.120% max

• CTD bars are no longer in use due to poor corrosion

resistance and stress corrosion cracking issues
Thermomechanically Treated (TMT)
or Quenched and Self-Tempered (QST) Bars
• After hot rolling to the desired size and shape, the low carbon steel bars
are quenched with water and then cooled.
• Quenching converts the surface layer to (hard) martensite while the core
remains as austenite.
• As the bar cools, heat flows from the core to the surface layer turning it
to tempered martensite. The core transforms to ductile ferrite-pearlite.
• Yield Strength = 520-600 N/mm2 and Total Elongation = 18 - 30%.

Varghese
Thermomechanically Treated (TMT)
or Quenched and Self-Tempered (QST) Bars

Varghese;
Thermomechanically Treated (TMT)
or Quenched and Self-Tempered (QST) Bars
• Identification/Selection of TMT/QST bars
– Select only of the hardened periphery and softer core are
uniform and concentric in nature
– Ideal if 20 to 30% of bar cross-sectional area is hardened
periphery
– Not ideal if >50% of bar cross-sectional area is hardened
periphery (ductility reduces)
• Advantages
– Low cost, high strength
– High ductility (good for earthquake regions)
– Elongation around 18-30%
– Excellent weldability (due to lower carbon content)
– No cold working (better corrosion resistance)
– Uniformity
Corrosion Resistant Steel (CRS) TMT reinforcement

• Bars with small quantities of copper and chromium,

and higher than usual percentage of phosphorus.
– Carbon – 0.15%
– Manganese – 1%
– Sulphur – 0.04%
– Phosphorous – 0.10%
– Silicon – 0.45%
– Corrosion resistant elements – 0.50% (minimum)
• Major producers - TATA & SAIL
Stainless steel reinforcement

• Stainless steels are alloys that contain at least 12%

of chromium
• Other alloying elements such as nickel and
molybdenum may also be present
• Chromium oxide layer forms on the stainless steel
surface to prevent corrosion
• These steels offer good resistance to corrosion as
long as the passive film can be maintained
Prestressing steel reinforcement –
7-wire strands
• High strength (1860 MPa)
– Approximately 4.5 times more!
• Low relaxation
– 1000 hour stress relaxation is typically
less than 3.5%
• Necessary for long span construction
– Cable stayed, suspension, prestressed
concrete applications
• Unsheathed and sheathed strands
Epoxy-coated steel reinforcement

• Can be a straight and bend bars

• Bars must be bent before epoxy-coating
• Check for “holidays” on the bar surface
• Provide multiple layers of epoxy coating
• Fusion bonded epoxy coating may be alternative
Significant corrosion can occur if the epoxy-coating
is damaged/scratched

It is more dangerous to
use damaged epoxy-coated steel than
conventional uncoated steel

Courtesy: M. Thomas
Galvanized steel reinforcement

• Initial stable corrosion product

– Calcium hydroxyzincate (at pH < 13.3)
• Zinc’s corrosion products are loose,
powdery minerals that are less
voluminous than iron corrosion
products and are able to migrate away
from the galvanized rebar surface into
the adjacent concrete matrix.
• As a result, corrosion of the zinc
coating causes very little physical
disruption to the surrounding concrete.
Galvanized steel reinforcement

• Substantially higher chloride

threshold (2-4 times) for zinc
coating
• zinc has a much greater pH
passivation range than steel,
making galvanized rebar resistant
to the pH lowering effects of
carbonation as the concrete ages.
• Even when the zinc coating does
start to corrode, its corrosion rate
is considerably less than that of
uncoated steel.
Tension test

• Many of the parameters measured depend not only upon

material properties, but also upon the type of test and
properties of the testing machine.

A.R.Santhakumar
Stress-Strain Diagram (in Tension)

• When the initial area is used in the stress calculation, it

is called nominal stress.
• When actual area of bar is used, it is the true stress.

Not to scale
Gere
Difference between the behavior of hot-rolled steels
Difference between the behavior of cold-rolled steels
Difference between the behavior of hot-rolled and
cold-rolled steels

Hot rolled steel Cold rolled steel

Ductility and Brittleness

(c)2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

Ductility and Brittleness

Ductile failure of Aluminum Brittle failure of Mild steel

Ductility and Brittleness
Bend Test (IS 1608) - Specimen considered to pass
the test, if there is no crack or rupture
Re-bend test - Mandrel Diameter
Re-Bend test

• The test piece bent to an inclined angle

of 135
• Mandrel diameter as given in the Table
(Different from bend test) previous slide
• The bent piece should be aged for 30
min in boiling water
• Piece should be bent back to 157.5 
• The purpose of re-bend test is to
measure the effect of strain ageing on
steel.
• Strain ageing has embrittlement effect
which takes place after cold
deformation by diffusion of nitrogen in
steel
Re-Bend test

• Two further samples in respect of each failure

• If both additional test pass- the test is deemed to have
passed
• Even if one out of two additional test fail, the specimen is
considered to be a failure
Prefabricated steel structures
Various shapes and sections are used for building works
Plates:
 Plates may be of any size or thickness.
 Common uses of plates in building construction are as webs
and flanges of deep beams, column flanges, column base, etc.

Flats:
 These are rolled as in the case of plate but are much longer in
lengths and have shorter widths.
 The widths vary form 18mm to 50 mm. The minimum and
maximum thickness vary from 3mm to 80 mm.
 Flat section may have one rounded side with greater thickness
than the remaining section and this is called bulb ball. T
Angles:
 Angle sections are widely used in steel trusses.
Most common types are angles with equal legs
and with unequal legs and are designated by
ISA width and height of legs of angles.
 The equal angles vary form 20 mm x 20mm to
200mm x 200mm in size and 3mm to 5mm in
thickness.
 The term 20mm x 20mm denotes that the width
of legs is 20mm overall. Unequal angles vary in
size from 20mm x 30mm to 220mm x 100mm
and thickness from 4mm to 20mm.
 Special angles with a square toe, round backed,
acute, square root and bulb types are also
available.
T-Sections:
 These are used for roof trusses and for certain
built up columns.
 They are designated by the width of the stem,
width of the table and by the thickness.
 The standard sizes vary form 40mm x 40mm to
150mm x 150mm with thickness from 6mm to
8mm.
 Special T-Sections with bulbs etc. are also used
to some extent.
Channels:
 Channels are mainly used for beams, columns
and top and bottom chord members of truss.
 They are designated by the depth, flange width
and weight per unit length.
Channels contd…..
 The size varies from 50mm x 75mm x 3kg to 420mm x
100mm x 30kg.
 Whenever stronger channels of lesser depth are required,
these are specially cast with greater thickness than given by
the standards.

• Indian Standard Junior Channels (ISJC)

• Indian Standard Light Channels (ISLC)
• Indian Standard Medium Weight Channels (ISMC)
• Indian Standard Special Channels (ISSC)
Miscellaneous Sections:
• Z-Sections, rail-sections, troughs, bars etc. are used to a
limited extent in steel work for a building.
Joists:
 Rolled Steel Joists or I-Sections are most
commonly used for beams and columns.
 The British Standard Joists Section varies in
size form 7 cm x 4cm to 60 cm x 17 cm. In
U.S.A. I-sections have vary wide flanges are
used.
 ISI handbook gives the following five series of
Beam Sections.
• Indian Standard Junior Beams (ISJB)
• Indian Standard Light Beams (ISLB)
• Indian Standard Medium Weight Beams
(ISMB)
• Indian Standard Wide Flange Beams (ISWB)
• Indian Standard H Beams (ISHB)
Video on Steel manufacturing