Author: Haroon Khalil

It is the property of the material to resist the flow of electricity through it. It is a useful property of a conductor.

Physical properties and mechanical properties are important for solid materials, which are used as building construction materials. However, knowledge of electrical, magnetic and chemical properties is also needed to deal with construction activities of buildings under different environments. Electrical properties of materials are discussed briefly below.

Stability is the overall property of a member to maintain the overall equilibrium preventing complete collapse. For example, a component member made out of a particular material is just long enough to prevent buckling when subjected to a force acting along its axis.

When a material is subjected to repetitive fluctuating stress, it will fail at a stress well below than that required to cause a fracture under steady loads. This property is known as fatigue.

Stiffness is the property that enables a material to withstand high stress without large deformation. Stiffness of a material depends on its elastic property. For example, in a structural element, large deformations are undesirable, and the material should be stiff enough to withstand the load.

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.