ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

Civil engineers are often responsible for specifying, designing and manufacturing the materials
with which they build their structures. Studies in construction materials are intended to make
structural, transportation and foundation engineers aware of the fundamental properties of the
materials they use.
Construction Materials have long been strength of civil engineering structures. The research
interests of the Construction Materials faculty include:
composition and performance of cementitious materials
microstructure and nanostructure of cementitious materials
shrinkage, creep and thermal change of concrete
non-destructive testing, sensing and imaging for construction materials and structures
performance of alternative binders
durability and sustainability of construction materials
rheological properties of fresh mixtures
Civil Engineering : Production, structure and properties of engineering materials; ferrous alloys,
treatments, welding, special steels, cast iron; ceramic materials; polymers; composite materials;
concrete, admixtures, structure, creep, shrinkage; asphalt and asphaltic materials; clay materials
and bricks; impact of environment on material response, durability, quality assessment and
control, industrial specifications; recent advances.
The modern civil engineer needs to deal with traditional construction materials as well as
advanced materials. Traditional construction materials, such as timber, steel, asphalt and Portland
cement concrete are often used in many construction projects. Modern materials, such as
polymers and composites are making headway into the construction industry. Significant
research on these materials has led to better understanding of these materials and improved their
strength and durability performance. The traditional materials used today are far superior to those
of the past, and new materials are being specially developed to satisfy the needs of civil
engineering applications.
To a civil engineer the performance of materials in structures and their ability to resist various
stresses are of prime importance. This laboratory experimental work is intended to help students
in civil engineering to understand the physical and structural properties of common construction
materials. This involves the study of Portland cement concrete and concrete making materials
(cement, aggregates, etc.), asphalt concrete, steel and timber, with minor reference to other
advanced materials.
Modern Building Materials
The construction industry consumes more natural resources than any other industry. With
increasing public awareness of the needs and demands of sustainable development and
environmental conservation, no other industry is called on as much as the country's construction
and building industry to evolve their practices to satisfy the needs of our current generation,
without curtailing the resources of future generations to meet theirs. For example, concrete is by
far the most important building material, with billions of tons produced each year worldwide,
and without which the nation's infrastructure is unthinkable. Considerable progress and
breakthroughs have been made in recent years in concrete technology, which have largely gone
unnoticed by the public at large.
It has been said that more progress has been made in the last 25 years than in the previous 150
years since Portland cement was invented. Modern cement composites can now be engineered to
have strengths approaching those of steel, energy dissipation capacities of body armor, and

durability properties that can make products last basically indefinitely, and be as decorative and
aesthetically pleasing as natural stone, yet with superior mechanical properties. Fiber-reinforced
composites permeated the aerospace and automotive industries decades ago and are now slowly
finding their way into civil engineering structures. Smart materials, defined as those materials
that can change their properties in response to external conditions, are also being introduced into
civil infrastructure systems, and so are new developments in metals, with new high-strength steel
alloys and non-corrosive steels that are changing engineering practice. All of these advanced
materials are essential for an efficient renewal and maintenance of our infrastructure and offer
exciting prospects for vibrant research areas. Yet, all of these research efforts should be guided
by the overarching goal of reducing the construction industrys footprint on planet Earth.
One important series of research projects completed under the direction of Professor Meyer
resulted in the successful use of recycled glass as aggregate for concrete products such as floor
tiles, wall panels, table counter tops, etc. Several other projects dealing with the beneficial use of
recycled materials are briefly described on his Web site as well.
Modern Building Materials
The construction industry consumes more natural resources than any other industry. With
increasing public awareness of the needs and demands of sustainable development and
environmental conservation, no other industry is called on as much as the country's construction
and building industry to evolve their practices to satisfy the needs of our current generation,
without curtailing the resources of future generations to meet theirs. For example, concrete is by
far the most important building material, with billions of tons produced each year worldwide,
and without which the nation's infrastructure is unthinkable. Considerable progress and
breakthroughs have been made in recent years in concrete technology, which have largely gone
unnoticed by the public at large.
It has been said that more progress has been made in the last 25 years than in the previous 150
years since Portland cement was invented. Modern cement composites can now be engineered to
have strengths approaching those of steel, energy dissipation capacities of body armor, and
durability properties that can make products last basically indefinitely, and be as decorative and
aesthetically pleasing as natural stone, yet with superior mechanical properties. Fiber-reinforced
composites permeated the aerospace and automotive industries decades ago and are now slowly
finding their way into civil engineering structures. Smart materials, defined as those materials
that can change their properties in response to external conditions, are also being introduced into
civil infrastructure systems, and so are new developments in metals, with new high-strength steel
alloys and non-corrosive steels that are changing engineering practice. All of these advanced
materials are essential for an efficient renewal and maintenance of our infrastructure and offer
exciting prospects for vibrant research areas. Yet, all of these research efforts should be guided
by the overarching goal of reducing the construction industrys footprint on planet Earth.
One important series of research projects completed under the direction of Professor Meyer
resulted in the successful use of recycled glass as aggregate for concrete products such as floor
tiles, wall panels, table counter tops, etc. Several other projects dealing with the beneficial use of
recycled materials are briefly described on his Web site as well.
Recent years have seen enormous advances in the technology of concrete as a material, through
which its strength, compactness and ductility can reach levels never dreamed of before. Thanks
to these improved material properties, the strength and durability of concrete structures is greatly
improved, their weight and dimensions reduced, the scope of concrete as a structural material is
widened and despite the higher material costs overall economy is possible, with positive

impacts on sustainability as well. Similar advances are underway in reinforcing materials,

notably high strength steel and fibre-reinforced polymers, and in the way they are combined with
concrete into high performance structures. Developments in materials and equipment, as well as
new concepts, have lead to innovative construction techniques, reducing cost and construction
time and making possible the application of concrete under extreme conditions of construction or
environment. All these advances will be highlighted in the book by the top experts in the field of
concrete structures, namely those currently active in the fields leading and truly international
scientific and technical association: the International Federation of Structural Concrete (fib)
www.fib-international.org.
Smart materials find a wide range of application areas due to their varied response toexternal stimuli. The different
areas of application can be in our day to day life, aerospace,civil engineering applications and mechatronics to
name a few. The scope of application of smart material includes solving engineering problems with unattainable
efficiency and provides an opportunity for creation of new products that generate revenue. Sensual
deviceswhich can sense their environment and produce information to make use of in health and usage
monitoring systems (HUMS) find applications in aerospace for the purpose of aircraft checking. An airline
requires umpteen numbers of man power which conduct routine, ramp,intermediate and most important checks in
order to check the health and usage of fleet. Thesechecks involve quite a number of tasks that demands a lot of
time. Hence, an aircraft constructed from a sensual structure has an advantage of self-checking its performance to
agreater level than that of current data recording, and provide ground crews with improved health and usage
monitoring. This would reduce the expenses associated with HUMS and Thus such aircrafts could fly for more
hours without human intervention. These sensualstructures also find application in the area of civil engineering.
They are used to monitor thecivil engineering structures to evaluate their durability. They are also used in food
packagingto keep a check on safe storage and cooking. However, smart materials and structures arenot restricted to
sensing but they also adapt to their surrounding environment and suchmaterials have an ability to move, vibrate
and demonstrate various other responses, inaddition to the sensual aspects. Few applications of such adaptive
materials include thecapability to control the aero elastic form of the aircraft wing to reduce the pull and improve
operational efficiency, to control the vibration of satellites lightweight structures, etc
INTRODUCTION:
The development of durable and cost effective high performance constructionmaterials and
systems is important for the economic well being of a country mainly becausethe cost of civil
infrastructure constitutes a major portion of the national wealth. To addressthe problems of
deteriorating civil infrastructure, research is very essential on smartmaterials. This paper
highlights the use of smart materials for the optimal performance andsafe design of buildings and
other infrastructures particularly those under the threat of earthquake and other natural hazards.
The peculiar properties of the shape memory alloys forsmart structures render a promising area
of research in this field.
TYPES OF SMART MATERIAL:
Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)
Piezo-electric materials
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Concrete (CFRC)
Smart Bricks
Smart Fluid