Course Details

Building Materials

Academic Year 2025/26

BIA001 course is part of 4 study plans

​ BPA-SI Summer Semester 1st year

​ BPC-SI / VS Summer Semester 1st year

​ BPC-MI Summer Semester 1st year

​ BKC-SI Summer Semester 1st year

Basic information on the structure and properties of materials in the context of their use in construction.
Methods of determination of physical and mechanical properties and durability with a focus on destructive methods. Basic deformation properties of building materials and their determination.
Properties of building materials according to the classification: stone, aggregates, binders, concrete, mortars, building ceramics, metals, wood, macromolecular substances, bitumen, and composites.
Performing the practical laboratory determination of the properties of selected building materials with individual assignments for individual students, including preparing protocols and assessing compliance with valid standards or product data sheets.

Credits

5 credits

Language of instruction

Czech, English

Semester

summer

Course Guarantor

doc. Ing. Barbara Kucharczyková, Ph.D.

Institute

Institute of Building Testing

Forms and criteria of assessment

course-unit credit and examination

Entry Knowledge

Units of physical quantities and their conversions, fundamental physical laws, and basic mathematical operations.

Aims

Professional knowledge:

  • can describe the basic physical and mechanical properties of the basic types of building materials
  • remember the basic physical and mechanical properties, specifics, advantages and disadvantages of individual materials
  • remember the basic principles of the technology of production, processing and finalisation of materials and products
  • can give examples of the use of selected materials in practice
  • can reproduce basic technical data and principles of determining the properties of materials
  • know the basic principles of work in a laboratory environment

Professional skills:

  • can work with basic measuring instruments for determining dimensions, volume and weight in a laboratory environment
  • can process measured data in the form of a measurement report
  • can assess the compliance of the determined results with normative regulations or technical sheets
  • can determine the basic physical and mechanical properties of building materials by calculation based on the specified inputs
  • can use theoretical and practical knowledge at a basic level for real application in construction (assessment of the compatibility of building materials when combining them, suitability for use in a given environment, calculation of self-weight, volume, transport of materials, load-bearing capacity etc.)

Competencies:

  • ability to work and communicate in a team
  • ability to interpret opinions clearly
  • ability to formulate conclusions of partial activities

Basic Literature

SVOBODA, Luboš: Stavební hmoty . Jaga group, sro, Bratislava, 2009. ISBN 978-80-8076-057-1,  http://people.fsv.cvut.cz/~svobodal/sh/ (cs)
Prezentace z přednášek a laboratorní materiály jsou sdíleny se všemi studenty registrovanými do kurzu prostřednictvím MS Teams - týmu „BIA001_Stavební materiály“. Registrační kód bude poskytnut na začátku kurzu. (cs)
Dalibor, Vojtěch: Materiály a jejich mezní stavy, Praha 2020, ISBN 978-80-7080-741-5 (cs)
STEHLÍK, M.; BÍLEK, V. Building Materials. Akademické nakladatelství CERM, s.r.o. Brno, 2003. p. 1-171. ISBN: 80-214-2544-X (en)
EVERETT, A.; BARRITT, C. M. H. Mitchells Materials. Longman Scientific and Technical, 5th edition, 2014. p. 1-272. ISBN: 9780582219236 (en)
VARGHESE, P. C. Building Materials. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, 2nd revised edition, 2015. p. 1-283. ISBN – 13: 978-8120350915 (en)
DUGGAL, S. K. Building Materials. New Age, 4th revised edition, 2012. p. 1-612. ISBN – 13: 978-8122433791 (en)
Lecture presentations and Laboratory practice materials are shared with all students registered for the course through MS Teams -  "BIA001_Building Materials" team. The registration code will be provided at the start of the course. (en)

Prerequisites

Units of physical quantities and their conversions, fundamental physical laws, and basic mathematical operations.

Offered to foreign students

To offer to students of all faculties

Course on BUT site

https://www.vut.cz/en/students/courses/detail/289616

Lecture

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, elective

Syllabus

  1. Introduction, basic properties of construction materials, Proper laboratory practice, Introduction to the life-cycle of structures. 
  2. Structure and properties of construction materials. 
  3. Building stone and stone products
  4. Aggregate for construction purposess
  5. Binders – non-hydraulic, hydraulics
  6. Mortars – for masonry, rendering, plastering, special.
  7. Concrete I – Fresh concrete – composition, properties, specification.
  8. Concrete II – Hardened concrete – types, properties.
  9. Ceramics.
  10. Wood, Timber elements, Engineered wood materials
  11. Polymers, polymer-based composite materials and products
  12. Metals - Steel, ferrous, and non-ferrous metals
  13. Bitumens, bituminous mixtures, bituminous waterproofing products and roofing

Exercise

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, compulsory

Syllabus

  1. Introductoduction.
  2. Determination of the properties of fresh mortars and binders.
  3. Determination of the properties of building stone and aggregates.
  4. Determination of the properties of ceramic materials.
  5. Determination of the properties of metals.
  6. Determination of the properties of hardened mortars and binders.
  7. Determination of the properties of plastics.
  8. Determination of the properties of concrete.
  9. Determination of the properties of wood and timber.
  10. Determination of selected properties of materials concerning temperature, impact stress and mechanical damage.
  11. Calculations on the properties of building materials for practical use.
  12. Verification of the level of mastery of the practised material practiced.
  13. Summary, credit.