Scenario
You have recently been employed as a civil engineering technician by a local contractor. The company has recently appointed a new Managing Director. As well as improving the health and safety record of the company the MD believes that future success will depend on ensuring the work and materials used are environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Tasks
To highlight the importance of this the MD has requested that you produce a report.
Section 1
Select a suitable construction material and investigate its environmental impact over its full lifecycle. Consider its embodied energy and explain the benefits of environmental product declarations and certification (BREEAM, LEED etc). Finally, produce a waste management plan for a project which involves a range of different waste materials.
Section 2
Investigate construction material performance properties, behaviour and consider their use.
(a) Material Testing
(1) highlight the mechanism, rationale and the British Standard guidance for the following ‘fresh’ concrete tests;
Taking a sample
The slump test
The flow test
The degree of compactibility test
The process of making test cubes
(2) The following test results have been submitted from recent concrete cube tests (N/mm2) at 28 days with required strength of 35 N/mm2
Based on this data provide the following information;
Mean and standard deviation of the samples respectively.
Interpretation of results using graphs (e.g. normal distribution curve etc.)
38.3
38.2
39.7
40.4
37.7
38.9
41.6
37.9
38.4
39.2
40.7
40.9
37.9
39.2
37.0
38.2
37.9
40.0
38.5
37.8
38.8
38.9
40.4
37.9
38.1
40.2
36.9
40.5
(3) A tensile test was carried out on a specific material.
The Loadings have been recorded on an excel document however it is incomplete.
Complete the required calculations and enter your results in an excel spread sheet and plot the load/extension graph.
Using your results identify or determine: (Appendix 1)
The elastic and plastic region
The yield stress
The ultimate or maximum stress
The Modulus of elasticity of the material (Young’s Modulus)
(4) Calculate the density of the supplied samples of materials based on measurement and weight.
Record all your results.
Compare your results with researched published density information
