Category: Properties Of Construction Materials

Toughness is the property of a material which enables the material to absorb energy without fracture. This is a very useful property of a material, which is applicable in cyclic or instantaneous loading.

Hardness of a material is the ability of the material to resist penetration by a hard material or object. The hardest material is diamond, and the one with least hardness is talcum.

Strength is the property of a material determined by the maximum stress that the material can withstand prior to failure. Strength is defined based on the nature of loading and the nature of stress. There is no unique value which can define strength in all cases. For example, an adequately designed structural member is not…

Malleability is the property of a material by which it can be uniformly lengthened or widened by hammering or rolling without rupture. A malleable material possesses a high degree of plasticity. This property has a wide use in forging, hot rolling, drop stamping, etc. Some malleable materials are wrought iron, copper, mild steel, etc.

Brittleness is the property of a material by which it is not capable of undergoing a significant amount of deformation due to the application of an external load but breaks or ruptures suddenly. This is the most undesirable property of a construction material. Some brittle materials include glass, porcelain, etc.

The ability of a material by which it can be drawn into a wire by external forces is known as ductility. Thus, a ductile material can withstand large deformation before failure. During the process of extension, a ductile material may show a certain degree of elasticity together with a considerable extent of plasticity. Some of…

Plasticity is the property of a material by which a strained material retains the deformed position even after the removal of the external load which caused the deformation. Under large loads of forces, most materials become plastic.

Elasticity is the ability of a material, which under stress, recovers its original shape after the removal of the external load. If the material regains its original shape then it is said to be perfectly elastic. Steel, copper, aluminium, etc., may be grouped under perfectly elastic materials within certain limits of deformation. Thus, for each…

Abrasion is the property of the material which resists the force caused by a moving load

Various mechanical properties of materials are discussed below