Selection of Building Materials: Raw Materials, Manufacturing Process, Onsite Installation, Testing Techniques, Advantages and Disadvantages

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the raw materials, manufacturing process, onsite installation, testing techniques, advantages and disadvantages of using concrete for commercial projects. It covers topics such as the manufacturing process of concrete, preparation of Portland cement, mixing of Portland cement with other materials, onsite installation of concrete process, curing, and testing techniques to verify the quality and conformance. Additionally, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using concrete for commercial projects.

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SELECTION OF BUILDING MATERIALS
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

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QUESTION 1
Introduction
Concrete refers to a toughened material usually made by merging a chemically inert collection
(gravel, crushed stones or sand), a binder usually synthetic or natural cement, water, and
chemical additives. Most individuals use the term ‘cement' to refer to concrete the term, in fact, it
denotes different constituents; Cement usually comprises an extensive different types of fine
crushed dusts which toughen the moment they are mixed with water (Amato, 2013). As the
concrete hardens up, it obtains a stone-like uniformity which makes it the best construction
material for the construction of bridges, roads, sewage systems, waterways, airports, factories,
railroad, bulk transit systems, buildings among other structures.
Raw materials for the manufacturing of concrete
The concrete is usually made up of cement, fine mineral aggregate, course mineral aggregate, in
the ratio of 1:2:4. Even though these ratios are habitually diverse depending on flexibility and
strength in order achieve desired use of the concrete. Additionally, concrete encompasses a
varied variety of chemicals that instill the desired features for the particular use. The Portland
cement used is made up of a mixture of a calcareous material mostly aluminum, silica and
limestone usually found as shale or clay (Wang, Yang, et al. 2012).
Concrete contains in small amount magnesium and iron oxide. Aggregates comprise 75% of the
of the concrete in volume. The aggregates usually improve the flow and the formation of cement
paste at the same improves structural performance of concrete. The fine grade is made of

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constituent part of up to 20mm in size, while the course grade aggregates include particles from
20mm.In the massive construction, aggregate particles sizes can be more than 38millimeters.
The aggregates can also be grouped depending on the rocks which are made up of granite, basalt,
and flint among others. Another type of aggregates which are used to make concrete is known as
pozzolana, a siliceous and aluminous that forms the calcium silicate hydrates which are the
foundation of the cement.
Manufacturing process of concrete.
The process of manufacturing concrete is simple. Firstly, the preparation of Portland cement is
done. Afterwards, the other constituents of concrete such as aggregates, admixtures any
necessary fibers together with water are mixed to create concrete. Then the concrete is
dispatched to the site and positioned, compressed and treated (Aïtcin, 2011).
Preparation of Portland cement
Silica, limestone and alumina which are the basic constituents of Portland cement are dried on
the ground and converted into fine powder, then mixed with set amounts, warmed and heated
again to very high temperatures which sets ablaze all the contaminants without necessary
blending the ingredients. Thereafter, the mix is burned in a huge rotary (kiln) at a temperature of
2550 degree Fahrenheit. At this temperature, the materials to some extent fuse into the substance
usually referred to as clinker. A up-to-date kiln can also produce as much as 6200 tons of clinker
per day.

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The obtained clinker is cooled and then ground to a fine powder in a ball mill or a tube. Ball mill
refers to a strong rotating drum that is full with steel balls of various sizes which grid and crush
the clinker. Then Gypsum is supplemented to it during the process of grinding. The last
component comprises of quite a number of compounds: calcium silicate, tricalcium silicate, tetra
calcium aluminoferrite and tricalcium aluminate (Baeza et al. 2014).
Mixing of Portland cement with other materials
The prepared Portland cement blended with other constituents: admixtures, aggregates, water
and fiber. The aggregates are added or pre-blended at the ready-mix concrete plant under
ordinary working conditions. Mixing process applies stirring or rotation to cover the superficial
of aggregate with cement cream and mix the other components evenly. A range of continuous or
batch blenders are applied. Fibers can be added if preferred through a variety of ways such as
premixing, direct spraying, impregnating or hand laying up (Li et al. 2011). The silica emission

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is usually used as a dispersing or densifying agent. The figure below shows the overall concrete
manufacturing .
Onsite installation of concrete process
Once the concrete has been transported to the site, it must be placed and compressed. The two
operations are done almost at the same time. The placing need to be performed so that the
separation of several ingredients is evaded and the filled compaction which is aimed at removing
all the air bubbles (Pillar, Woolman and Corp 2010). Whether buggies or chutes are used during
this operation, the position is the most important aspect to in achieving this aims. The rates of

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compaction and placing should be equal to each other, that is achieved by use of external
vibrators. Interior vibrator usually uses a poker which houses a motor-driven shaft. The moment
the poker is injected into the concrete, regulated vibrations usually arises to compress the
concrete to the required levels. The exterior vibrators are usually used for thin in-situ or precast
sections having a thickness or shape inappropriate for the internal vibrators. these kind of
vibrators have strictly clambered to the formwork.
Curing
Once the concrete has been placed on site, the concrete must be cured to ensure that it does not
harden quickly before it is finished. The strength of concrete is usually affected by the amount of
moisture available during the drying procedure. As the cement hardens, the concrete contracts. If
site restrictions stop the concrete from shrinking the tensile stress will be crated, and thus waning
the concrete (Kuma, Srikanth and Rao 2012).
Site/ Laboratory testing techniques to verify the quality and conformance
Both laboratory and site tests on concrete are very significant to assess the consistency,
durability and mechanical strength of the concrete. The tests are related to the concrete both in
the hardened and fresh state. The durability of concrete and the methodology on how the tests
were to be carried out are specified respectively, in varicose standards, specifications, test
procedures and in other approved documents (Bungey and Grantham 2014).
Tests on the fresh concrete

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To carry out the tests on fresh concrete is to establish some essential properties to ensure proper
application of the concrete on sites, such as workability, consistency, density and air content of
the fresh concrete. The tests which are carried out on the fresh concrete ensure proper fluidity
without the separation of the various constituents' materials and to establish parameters which
are premonitory on the quality of the same after hardening concrete (Bartos, 2013).
Tests on the hardened concrete
The tests which are carried out on the hardened concrete are aimed at the behavior the concrete
will have on the service condition, for instance when the concrete is to perform the function they
were designed for. The tests on the hardened concrete are divided into physical and mechanical
tests by taking into account the general properties that are required for the concrete (Kovler and
Roussel 2011).
Both the physical and mechanical tests are aimed at determining the structural characteristics of
the materials that are used and at the same time to analyze the structural behavior of the concrete.
The table below shows the tests carried out on hardened concrete.

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Test of durability
There are many factors which contribute to the degradation of concrete such as corrosion of the
reinforcement which might be induced by the chlorides and carbonation; thawing/action of
freezing and the chemical attack. The mentioned factors can also contribute to the deterioration
of the durability and capacity of structures. The durability testing usually establishes the
characteristics of the materials and structures. Durability determines the characteristics of the
material and the structure which might cause malfunctioning in the long term. The table below
shows the tests carried out for durability (Pleau and Pigeon 2014).

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Advantages and disadvantages of using concrete for the commercial project
The use of concrete in the construction of commercial projects has many advantages and
disadvantages as discussed below.
Advantages
 The ingredients of concrete are readily available in most areas.
 Unlike other building materials concrete is free from flaws and defects.
 Concrete can be manufactured with varied strength or other qualities depending on the
use.
 Concrete has a very high durability
 With the use of solid work, the concrete can be cast into any shape.

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 The casting of concrete can be done in the working place which makes it very
economical
 Concrete has very low maintenance costs. Concrete has the ability to withstand high
temperatures
 Concrete is usually resistant to water and wind. With that, it can be used for the
construction of the commercial project in storm-prone areas (Pacheco and Jalali 2011).
Disadvantages
Even though concrete has many advantages when used in construction there are many
setbacks also associated with the use of concrete some of them include;
Concrete is usually less ductile
The weight of concrete is very high compared to its strength.
The constituents of concrete can contain soluble salts which may cause efflorescence
Compared to other construction materials, the tensile strength of concrete is very low (Thorpe
and Zhuge 2010).
QUESTION 4
evaluating the use of proper references and citations for the report/presentation
It is very essential to cite the sources used in the report or the presentation because;
 The proper referencing and citation shows the reader that there was proper research
which was done by listing all the sources that were used to obtain the data

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 Proper referencing and citation make the researchers be responsible scholars by
giving credit to other scholars and researchers and at the same time acknowledge their
ideas.
 Referencing and in-text citation helps to reduce the plagiarism by quoting directly
where the data was obtained from.
 Proper referencing and citation help the reader to track down the sources that were
used by the use of footnotes and reference list or bibliography (Lewis, 2015).

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References
Aïtcin, P.C., 2011. High performance concrete. CRC press.
Baeza-Brotons, F., Garcés, P., Payá, J. and Saval, J.M., 2014. Portland cement systems with the
addition of sewage sludge ash. Application in concretes for the manufacture of blocks. Journal
of Cleaner Production, 82, pp.112-124.
Bartos, P., 2013. Fresh concrete: properties and tests (Vol. 38). Elsevier.
Bungey, J.H. and Grantham, M.G., 2014. Testing of concrete in structures. Crc Press.
Kovler, K. and Roussel, N., 2011. Properties of fresh and hardened concrete. Cement and Concrete
Research, 41(7), pp.775-792.
Kumar, M.J., Srikanth, M. and Rao, K.J., 2012. Strength characteristics of self-curing
concrete. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology ISSN, pp.2319-1163.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health
promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.
Li, W., Xiao, J., Sun, Z., Kawashima, S. and Shah, S.P., 2012. Interfacial transition zones in
recycled aggregate concrete with different mixing approaches. Construction and Building
Materials, 35, pp.1045-1055.
Pacheco-Torgal, F. and Jalali, S., 2011. Nanotechnology: advantages and drawbacks in the field of
construction and building materials. Construction and Building Materials, 25(2), pp.582-590
Pleau, R. and Pigeon, M., 2014. Durability of concrete in cold climates. CRC Press.
Pillar, D.R., and Woolman, W.M., Oshkosh Corp, 2010. Concrete placement vehicle

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