Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department
Module Guide 2014/15
1. Module Title
(Building Materials)
2. Module Code
(CING101)
3. Module Level
(First Year Civil Engineering Students)
4. Module Leader
(Shwan Jalal Abdullah Bajalan)
5. Teaching Semester
(Semester 1)
6. Credit Rating for the module
(3 Units)
7. Prerequisites and co-requisites
Prerequisites
(None)
Co-requisites
(None)
8. Module Summary
This course provides an introductory overview of the various materials
used in construction. After receiving an introduction into fundamental
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principles of structural, physical and long-term performance, students
learn about the choices of materials in terms of behavior.
9. Module Aims

An over view of materials and their development/structural type
(historic, current),

Factors affecting the choice of materials for specific structural
element necessitate the ability to choose the right material for the
right structural element.
10. Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will have the followings:
1. Comparative knowledge of material properties (physical, structural,
…) for some of the common building materials,
2. Understanding of typical and potential applications of these
common materials,
3. Understanding of relationship between material properties and
structural form.
11. Syllabus
 Overview of Materials and Building/Structural Types (Historic,
Current) (week1),
 Principal Properties of Building Materials, Physical Properties
(Density, Bulk Density, Porosity, Water Permeability, etc)
Mechanical Properties (Strength, Hardness, Elasticity, Plasticity)
(week 2 and 3),
 Building Raw Materials ( Classification, Composition and
Characteristics, Manufacturing, Properties, Comparative Behavior,
Applications in Construction) (week 4 to 7),



Rocks and Stones (Classification of Rocks, Quarrying of
Stones, Uses of Stones, Characteristics of good Building Stone,
Deterioration of Stones, Durability of Stones, Preservation of
Stones, Selection of Stones, Common Building Stones, Artificial
Stones ,Applications of Stones) (week 4),
Structural Clay Products (Clay and its Classification, Physical
Properties, Bricks, Classification and Characteristics of Good
Bricks, etc) (week 5),
None Ferrous Metals and Alloys (Aluminum, Copper, Zinc, etc)
(week 6),
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
Ferrous Metals and Alloys (Iron, Pig Iron, Cast Iron, Wrought
Iron, Steel, Rolled Steel, Reinforcing Steel Bars) (week 7).
12. Assessment Strategy
Two exams would take place at week 4 and 7 whereas weekly made up
quizzes and home-works are to urge the students to study their lectures
and to evaluate their comprehension of the lectures contents.
13. Summary Description of Assessment Items
Assessment Description
Type
of Item
Attendance
Q
EXM
HW
EXM
F-EXM
%
Weighting
2%
5%
15%
3%
15%
60%
Grading
Tariff
0-10
0-100
0-10
0-100
0-100
3hrs/week
15 mints
1 hr
1 hr
3 hrs
Week
due
weekly
weekly
week 4
weekly
week 7
14. Learning Session Structure
A lecture of 3 hours of PowerPoint or other forms of presentation with
some extra elaboration on the white board if necessary with some possible
Q & A sessions in between.
15. Learning and Teaching Methods
Lectures of 3 hours per week of PowerPoint or other forms of presentation
which accumulates 19-21 hours of teaching per semester, Q & A sessions
during the class is to be triggered whenever is possible which would help
students to think critically, be involved and stay active all the time besides
the need to bring their English into practice through expressing their
understanding of the lecture’s content, made up quizzes and given homeworks get the students well prepared and ready for their monthly and final
exams which are conducted to estimate their overall ability and
performance at the given module.
16. Plagiarism and Collusion
All students are strongly advised to be familiar with Student Codes of
Conduct on this matter and be aware of Soran University and KRG Ministry
of Higher Education and Scientific Research procedures as outlined in the:
“Teaching Quality Assurance”, etc.
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17. Bibliography
1. Duggal S.K. “ Building materials”, New Age International, 2009.
2. Mehta, Scarborough, Armpriest, “Building Construction: Principles, Materials,
and Systems,Second Edition“. Pearson / Prentice Hall, 2013, ISBN-13: 978-0-13214869-6.
3. P. C. VARGHESE, “ Building materials”, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2005.
17. Authored by
Shwan Jalal Abdullah Bajalan (30-10-2014)
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