VU22464 - Select Construction Materials For Building Projects - Materials Research Report Writing - Engineering Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Summary
Australia is a growing country. To keep up with the housing demand, there are many housing estates being established at a quick rate. Many of you will find yourselves working with bulk builders, the methodology behind the bulk builder industry is the flexible variation to the building facade and the selected materials. Creating an opportunity for individual outcomes for the client.
Many different materials are required to build the many different designs that are being offered by companies, like Porter Davis homes and G.J. Gardner homes etc. Attached are some details of a G.J. Gardner Home. Below, I have provided answers and explanation of the materials, that I have chosen for this report.
1. What does the term Low embodied energy mean to the building industry?
Embodied energy means the sum of total energy consumed or required to produce a end product. In terms of building industry, the low embodied energy can be described as the energy required to make a building material from its raw state, which is extraction, then refining, then manufacturing, then transporting and to  delivering the final product.(Wood Solutions, 2020)
Embodied energy is usually derived from the fossil fuels and it could be a particularly important component of the total life cycle energy consumption of that particular materials. Generally, the more highly processed the material, the higher would be its overall embodied energy in its life cycle.(Wood Solutions, 2020)
Considering and choosing low embodied materials in design and construction of house can reduce the environmental impact and financial cost of project immensely. 
Since early days timber is used to create buildings. Especially in Australia Timber is a major material which is locally sourced and has been with low embodied energy. It is often locally available, and it is natural, durable, and recyclable. Its versatility and light weight, which means it can be designed to be easy to disassemble, recover, reuse and/or recycle.(Wood Solutions, 2020)
By using the materials which can be recycled and re-used in future. It has much less embodied energy being compared to single use products and materials and hence its very sustainable as well. 
a. Cement (types): 
Manufacturing process: Cement manufacturing process can be classified into 6 steps, which are explained as follows: 
Step:1 Mining and Transportation-To start the manufacturing process, firstly the main two raw materials limestone and clays, which are needed to manufacture are mined and extracted from earth. The extraction of raw materials may wary from material to material, limestone is extracted by method of drilling and blasting from mines, then it is transport to manufacturing site for further process and for clays are extracted from open mines and then transported to open yard storage (https://www.lafarge.com.eg/, 2020).
Other raw materials needed to manufacture cement are iron ore and sand.
Step:2 Crushing, Milling and storage of raw mix - The limestone obtained from mines, now crushed into fine particles with the helps of industrial crusher machine and various methods of crushing to get the desired particle size. Similar, the clay is converted into desired particle size and both materials are stored for further use. Both limestone and clay stored as raw mix, usually called as raw meal (limestone 70% and clays 30%)(https://www.lafarge.com.eg/, 2020). This fine crushed raw material is known as kiln mix.
Step: 3 Pre-heating, Kiln heating, cooling – The next step is very stored raw materials are pre-heated before making into clinker. The process of making clinker can be dry, wet, or semi dry/wet process, totally depending on the state of raw materials. 
In large rotary kiln, the homogenised raw material mix along with coal is heated at high temperature of 2000°C. clinker starts to form and as this rotary kiln is little inclined the clinker slide down and are cooled to 100-200°C quickly. Then clinker is stored in large silo storage for the final process(Mohsen, 2015).
Step 4 Grinding – Then in this process all the final materials are added to the clinker to have desired cement properties. The main raw material which is added to clinker is gypsum. Now all the materials are grinded into fine raw powder form, which is called cement(Mohsen, 2015).
Step 5 Storage/packing – Now the finished product is stored and packed into bags, in dry cool place. If the storage has moisture, then the cement will absorb that moisture and solidify. 
Step 6 Transportation - Packed cement bags are transported from stored sheds to site, where its used according to the requirement (Mohsen, 2015). 

Properties and characteristics:
Following are listed few characteristics of cement
• The colour should be grey
• It should be very fine (Smooth) when touched and it should feel cool.
• It should be free of lumps
• It should not contain large quantity of silica, alumina or alkalies.

Properties of cement are described in 3 types, which is listed below
Physical properties(B, n.d.)
• It is an exceptionally good binding material.
• It is easily workable.
• It very good moisture resistant.
• It hardens early.
• It has good plasticity.
Mechanical Properties(B, n.d.)
• The compressive strength after 3 & 7 days should be greater than 11.5 N/mm2and 17.5 N/mm2.
• The tensile strength after 3 & 7 days should be greater than 2 N/mm2and 2.50 N/mm2.
Chemical Properties(B, n.d.)
• The ratio of aluminium to iron oxide should be more than 0.66.
• On igniting, it should not lose more than 4%.
• Weight of insoluble residue should be less than 1.5%.

Application of Cement:
• Cement is most common building material.
• Cement is also use as decorative applications.
• Cement is also used as furniture products.

Supplier and Australian Standards
The below are the list of supplier of cement in Australia: Selleys , Gingo, Lanko and Baston.
 They have to meet AS 1379 Supplement 1-2008 Specification and supply of concrete— Commentary (Supplement 1 to AS 1379—2007), AS 3972-1997 Portland and blended cements.

b. Bricks and pavers
Manufacturing process: Brick is of most important building material. It’s manufacturing process has four stages in order manufacture a good brick.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Stage 1 Preparation of clay – For preparation of clay there are half-dozen of steps to  obtain perfect raw material for brick. As we need pure clay, we remove the first 200mm depth of clay soil, which may contain impurities and foreign materials, its known as unsoiling of clay. Now the pure clay is dug out of the soil layers, its called digging. That dugout layer is spread on flat ground. Now the in next stage, the clay is filtered out any vegetable material, stones, rocks, etc. If any large matter is present than is screened and washed until fine clay is obtained. If any lumps are found, then it is crushed by crushing machines into fine powder. This process is was known as cleaning. In weathering stage, now clay is exposed to atmosphere so it gets soften. Now depending on desired final product, in this stage all the raw clay materials are added to clay, which is known as blending. Now after mixing of all raw materials, water is added to the clay and mixed very well manually by feet or cattle or by machine, depending on size project. By doing this clay obtains its plastic nature, which is suitable for moulding.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Stage 2 Moulding – In this stage, the processed clay is moulded into desired shape but mostly commonly rectangle shape (Brick shape). Depending on size of project moulding are done in two ways, which is hand moulding for small size project and machine moulding for large size projects. Hand moulding as two different process such as ground moulded bricks and table moulded bricks. Where machine moulding has two different machine todo moulding namely plastic clay machines and dry clay machines.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Stage 3 Drying - After moulding stage, now bricks are naturally dried, so they do not develop any cracks and all the moisture is removed from it. Drying of brick can be from 3 to 10 days, but it may vary from weather as well. In some cases, some special dryers are used to remove the moisture from bricks.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Stage 4 Burning - This is one of the important stage of brick manufacturing process, here dried bricks are burned in small clamps or large kilns to a desired degree of 1100°C and in this stage bricks gain strength and hardness.(Anupoju, n.d.)
Types of bricks: Types of bricks are distinguished into two main categories, depending its manufacturing process, which is Sun- Dried (Unburnt bricks) and Burn bricks. However ever there are six types of bricks, those are listed below(Anupoju, n.d.)-
• Sun- Dried (Unburnt bricks) – This type of brick is mostly used for temporary structures. These bricks are dried in direct sunlight in manufacturing process, so they do not gain more strength and hardness.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Burnt Bricks –Burnt bricks are great quality brick and are strong and hard compared to sun-dried ones. Moreover, burnt bricks are classified into 4 categories depending upon their quality and finishes, which are named in descending order for quality and finishes: First class, second class, third class and fourth-class bricks.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Fly Ash Bricks - Fly ash bricks are manufactured from fly ash and water. They have better properties than regular bricks and high resistance as well. They have many advantages compared to standard bricks in construction.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Concrete Bricks - These are usually manufactured on site from cement, sand, coarse aggregate and water. They are mostly used in facades, fences and have good aesthetic finish as well.(Anupoju, n.d.)
• Engineering Brick – This brick has are used in specific areas where there is a lot of chemical interaction in structure. These bricks have very high compressive strength.
• Calcium Silicate Brick – These types of brick are specially used in ornamental work and made from sand and lime. Commonly known as sand lime bricks.(Anupoju, n.d.)
Properties of bricks: There are 3 main properties of bricks. They are listed below(Anupoju, n.d.): 
• Hardness- A standard good quality brick should possess resistance to abrasion. 
• Compressive strength - The load carried by brick per unit area is known as compressive strength. A standard brick should have minimum of 3.5N/mm2 .They should not be crushed below this load.
• Water Absorption- When immersed in water it should absorb more than 20% of its weight.

Installation Method: Mostly bricks are laid and levelled with help of mason line, which acts as straight for masonry. Then bricks are laid, and then desired layer of mortar is applied. Then another brick layer is laid on top it and excess mortar is removed, and surface is finished accordingly. At the corner bricks are broken into small pieces and laid.

Manufacturing process of pavers: This a fairly simple manufacturing process where raw materials such cement, sand and stone chips are used in proportion of 1:2:4 by volume for manufacturing paving blocks. All these raw materials are mixed, and water is added to it. It is mixed for around 15 minutes. Then they are poured into moulds and with help of vibrators it is properly mixed and air bubbles are removed and compacted properly. N ow they are dried in sunlight for at least 24 hours before removing from mould. They pavers are cured for next 20 days to gain its strength. After this they are dried in shade for 15 days so their initially shrinkage is done and then they can be used. (Technology Innovation Management & Entreprenurship Information Service, n.d.)
Types of paver blocks: There are majorly three types of paver blocks. 
• Natural Stone
• Brick
• Concrete 
Properties of pavers:
• High Compressive strength
• Low water absorption
• High Durability to atmospheric actions

Suppliers and Australian Standard
PGH, Deko, Brighton, Fulton, Austral Bricks, Crause are suppliers in bricks and pavers
Bricks should qualify following Australian Standard AS/NZ 446 (Masonry units and segmental pavers- method of test)

c. Adhesive and sealants
Adhesive: Is a chemically or naturally derived material which bonds two different substance or materials. Adhesive are used in various parts in construction process. For structural connection a structural adhesive is used which is a load bearing material with high modulus and strength to transfer stress without degrading structural integrity.(G.C.Papanicolaou, 2019)
Application of Adhesive:(McCoy Mart, 2020)
• They are used in bonding layer of floors.
• It is used in carpet laying.
• They are used in surface preparation and application of wall coverings/papers.
• They are mixed in cement for joints.
Structural Properties:
• High elastic modulus
• Resist stress at the bond line
• High damping capacity
• High thermal resistance
Sealant: It is a substance used to block the transmission of fluids through the any two different surface or joints. There are many types of sealant like Latex, acrylic, butyl, polysulfide and many more.
Structural Properties:
• Elongation
• Tensile strength
• Modulus of elasticity 
• Compressibility
Australian Standards:
• AS 2329-1980 Mastic adhesives for fixing wallboards
• AS 2370-1980 PVAC emulsion adhesives for wood
• AS 2753-1985 Adhesives - Mastic - For bonding gypsum plaster linings to wood and metal framing members
• Australian Standard 3740-2010 Waterproofing of wet areas within residential buildings.
• Australian Standard 4654.1-2012 Waterproofing membrane systems for exterior use – above ground level Part 1: Materials.
• Australian Standard 4654.2-2009 Waterproofing membrane systems for exterior use – above ground level Part 2: Design and installation.
d. Admixtures: 
Admixtures are powder or fine natural or chemical materials added in concrete mix during mixing of concrete to improve or regulate property of concrete during casting or setting or service stage.

Properties of admixtures(Production of Concrete Admixtures (Additives). Construction Chemicals. Admixture. Chemical Admixtures used in Concrete., 2017)
• To improve workability (Soaps, detergents)
• To reduce setting time(Type D water-reducing admixtures)
• To delay setting time (Gypsum)
• To improve wear resistance (Hydrated Lime)
• To make chemically inert
• To reduce bleeding in concrete
• To increase strength (Calcium chloride)
e. Sandwich panels
f. Concrete cast in situ
g. Fire rated protective coatings
h. Glass
i. Metals
j. Mortars
k. Plaster and plasterboard
l. Plastics
m. Ceramic tiles
n. Pre-cast structural concrete components
o. Sandstone
p. Terracotta and concrete roof tiles
q. Timber products
r. Engineered timber products

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