Category: Other Building Materials

Adhesives are used to stick two or more parts together so that they behave as a single unit. Adhesives are of three types viz., organic adhesives, synthetic adhesives and rubber-based adhesives. 1. Types of Adhesives (i) Organic Adhesives Organic adhesives are made from animal protein, blood albumen, milk casein or starch, etc. (ii) Synthetic Adhesives…

Geosynthetics are synthetic fabrics which are sufficiently durable to last a long time in any environment. Geotextiles and Geomembrane are the two major products of geosynthetics. 1. Geotextiles Geotextiles are porous fabrics manufactured from synthetic materials that are primarily petroleum products and others such as polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride, nylon, fibre glass, and…

Rubber is a natural material extracted from rubber trees and are also manufactured by chemical processes. The former is known as natural rubber and the latter as synthetic rubber. Natural rubber has high strength, good resistance to wear and tear as well as in flexure. But it has low hysteresis and easily gets affected by…

Some of the materials which are used to a lesser extent in building activities are discussed in this section.

Functions of a matrix are as follows: Thermosetting resins are the most common type of matrix. These resins have the property of reacting chemically under certain time and temperature conditions. Epoxy resins are the most widely used thermosetting resins. Polyester, vinyl ester, phenolic, bismaleimide, epoxy novolac, polymide, etc., are the other matrixes. Composites may be…

The following are the functions of reinforcing fibres: Three most commonly used reinforcing fibres are: (a) glass fibres, (b) carbon and (c) aramid. Glass fibres are the heaviest which provide high flexibility. Carbon is the strongest and heavier. Aramid has moderate stiffness. When more than one reinforcing material is used, that material is called hybrid…

Composite materials are formed by combining two or more different materials to utilise their virtues and minimising their deficiencies. These materials are also called as composites. Depending on the requirement, tougher and lighter materials may be combined. Materials utilised retain their physical and chemical properties independently in the finished product. The composites comprise of the…

Plastics may be classified into two broad groups based on their behaviour with respect to heat, viz., thermo plastics and thermoset plastics. 1. Thermo Plastics These are the plastics which become soft when heated and become hard when cooled. These plastics can sustain repeated softening and hardening for indefinite time. Old scrap and worn-out materials…

Plastics are basically organic substances which may be natural or synthetic resins in origin with or without moulding compounds. Synthetic resins are phenol, formaldehyde, cellulose, vinyl, alkyd, etc. The moulding compounds are catalysts, filters, hardeners, lubricants, pigments, plasticisers, solvents, etc.