A List of Common Building Materials With Their Uses and Properties

20 Types of Building Materials
A list of common building materials with

their uses and properties.
A material is a substance that people find
useful such that it is produced for economic
reasons. Materials are commonly used to
produce parts, components and products.
They are also used to build infrastructure,
buildings and landscapes. Materials can also
be consumed in processes such as farming,
manufacturing and logistics. The following
are common types of material.
Plastic
A broad category of organic compounds that are molded into a
wide variety of parts, components, products and packaging. Plastic
is inexpensive and highly versatile and is widely used. It is often
negatively perceived as plastic waste commonly ends up in
waterways and oceans with chemicals from plastic leaching into
water and ending up in food.
Metals
Metals and alloys such as iron, aluminum, titanium, copper, tin,
nickel, silver, gold, steel, brass and bronze.
Wood
Products of woody plants including pine, spruce, oak, elm, cherry,
maple, linden, ash, bamboo, rattan and cork. Wood used in
construction serves to sequester carbon. It is also a renewable and
sustainable resource if forests are managed responsibly.
Paper
A highly processed wood product that is used in a wide
variety of products such as boxes, packaging, books and
toilet paper.
Natural Textiles
Flexible natural materials used in clothing, furniture and a
variety of other products. Natural textiles include cotton,
wool, flax, silk, hemp and cashmere. Textiles are fibers that
are typically formed into long threads and woven into cloth.
Synthetic Textiles
Textiles produced from chemicals include polyester, acrylic,
nylon, spandex and carbon fiber.
Leather
A durable and flexible material made from animal skin, mostly
cattle.
Fibers
Other fiber materials beyond textiles. Natural fibers such as wood
fiber are often used to make other materials such as paper and
wood products. Synthetic fibers include metallic fibers, carbon
fiber, fiberglass and optical fiber.
Glass
Glass is a solid material that is often based on the chemical
compound silica that is a naturally occurring type of sand. Glass is
valued for its transparency and hardness and is used to make a
wide range of products including windows, glassware and fiber
optic cables.
Composite Materials
Combining materials with different properties to produce materials
that are strong, light and/or cheap. Examples include reinforced
concrete composed of steel and concrete, composite wood made
from wood fiber and adhesives, reinforced plastic such as plastics
strengthened with carbon fiber and ceramic matrix composites
made with ceramics and metal.
Minerals
Minerals are naturally occurring chemical compounds. These
include talc, gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, quartz, topaz and
corundum.
Stone
Stones are solid aggregates of minerals such as flint, granite,
limestone, sandstone and gems. Small rocks such as gravel and
sand are also common materials.
Concrete
A composite material made with chemicals, water, minerals,
gravel, crushed rocks and sand. Concrete production emits
significant amounts of carbon dioxide. However, in theory
concrete could be used to sequester carbon.
Plaster
A material that is similar to concrete for use in interiors. Often
made from gypsum, lime or cement. Plaster is not a strong
material that is not used for load-bearing structures. It is easy to
shape and is somewhat softer than concrete.
Ceramic
A category of non-metallic hard material that includes
earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, bone china and boron
carbide.
Rubber
Natural and synthetic rubbers valued for their stretch ratio,
resilience and waterproof qualities.
Foam
Materials that have an internal structure that traps air such
that they are lightweight. Foams have a variety of applications
such as thermal insulation, sound proofing and padding for
furniture.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a type of material that is valued for its
electrical properties. Semiconductor materials aren't exactly
a conductor such as gold or a insulator such as glass but fall
somewhere in-between. They are often made from silicon
with controlled impurities added to change the properties of
the material for different applications. Semiconductors are
primarily used in electronics including computing units and
solar panels.

Rare-earths
A collection of metals that have various industrial uses. There
are 17 rare-earth elements namely cerium, dysprosium, erbium,
europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium,
neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium,
scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium and yttrium. Despite
their name, most rare-earths are plentiful in the Earth's crust
but concentrated deposits of rare-earths that are inexpensive to
extract and refine are relatively rare.

https://simplicable.com/new/materials

A List of Common Building Materials With Their Uses and Properties

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A List of Common Building Materials With Their Uses and Properties

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A List of Common Building Materials With Their Uses and Properties

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

20 Types of Building Materials

A list of common building materials with

You might also like