(i) Chemical properties: Portland cement consists of the following chemical compounds: (a) Tricalcium silicate 3 CaO.SiO2 (C3S) 40% (b) Dicalcium silicate 2CaO.SiO2 (C2S) 30% (c) Tricalcium aluminate 3CaO.Al2O3 (C3A) 11% (d) Tetracalcium aluminate 4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3 (C3AF) 11% There may be small quantities of impurities present such as calcium oxide (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO). When water is added to cement, C3A is the first…
Mineral fiber products are the most common group of thermal insulations currently in use. Heat transfer in these materials has been the subject of extensive investigations thanks to their numerous and varied applications as building and industrial insulations. Early studies addressed the problem of energy transport in terms of a simple theoretical model. They showed…
Energy efficiency is coming to the forefront in the architecture, as, apart from the significance of a reduced environmental impact and increased comfort for users, the current energy crisis and economic recession has bumped up the importance of the financial cost of energy. Since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, governments all over the…
The European Directive 2010/31/EU states that the measures to improve the energy performance of new and existing buildings should take into account climatic and local conditions as well as indoor climate environment giving the priority to the summer period. The Directive introduces the concept of thermal capacity that is very important in temperate climates during…
The house is not only a roof, but also a home, the place where it is formed the moral climate and on which lasts the family spirit. UN has classified habitat settlements and identified 10 general functions that every habitat should have. (Recreations and interpretation, Preparing the foods, Eating, Relaxing and Sleeping, Study ,WC, Hygienic…
Insulation is a vital part of all contemporary buildings; it performs many functions, all of which influence the cost of the building and its operating cost. This component is essential to be positioned not only in the floors, walls, and ceilings of the buildings, but also using of other key technique to improve the insulating…
Base isolation, also known as seismic base isolation, is one of the most popular means of protecting a structure against earthquake forces. It is a collection of structural elements which should substantially decouple a superstructure from its substructure resting on a shaking ground thus protecting building and bridge structure’s integrity.Base isolation is the most powerful…
There are several methods exist to define the seismic performance levels of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Among these methods, the nonlinear dynamic and the static analyses in which both methods involve sophisticated computational procedures because of the non-linear behaviour of the RCcomposite materials. In order to simplify these analyses for engineers, different suggested guidelines such as FEMA-356 (Federal…
The Confederation Bridge, which was opened for traffic in June 1997, is 12,910 m long and is one of the longest reinforced concrete bridges built over water in the world. The bridge crosses the Northumberland Strait in eastern Canada and connects the province of Prince Edward Island and the province of New Brunswick. The bridge…
Historical, religious and monumental structures and their susceptibility to damage in recent earthqaukes in Turkey are presented and discussed in this chapter. Turkey has a very large number of historical structures and is located in one of the most seismically active regions of the world. Some of these historical and monumental masonry and reinforced concrete…