Syllabus academic year 2009/2010
(Created 2009-08-11.)
BUILDING MATERIAL SCIENCEVBMF05

Higher education credits: 7,5. Grading scale: TH. Level: G2 (First level). Language of instruction: The course will be given in Swedish. VBMF05 overlap following cours/es: VBM070 och VBM070. Alternative for: V3. Course coordinator: Professor Lars-Olof Nilsson, lars-olof.nilsson@byggtek.lth.se, Byggnadsmaterial. Prerequisites: VBM012 Building Materials. Recommended prerequisits: VBFA01 Building Technology and Building Services. The number of participants is limited to 60 Selection criteria: Achieved course points within the V-programme. Assessment: Written examination. The performance on the written examination forms the basis for the final mark of the course.

Aim
The objective is to give the student a deeper understanding of the relationships between the composition and structure of materials and their mechanical/physical properties and their durability and to give an ability to apply this understanding to various issues in buildings and structures.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

After the course the student should

· understand how properties of materials depend on the composition and structure of materials.

· have deepened knowledge on how material properties are theoretically predicted from their composition and structure.

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

After the course the student should

· be able to use models for predicting material properties and performance of materials

· be able to use this knowledge in advanced applications and to generalize it to completely new applications in buildings and structures.

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

The student should have obtained a clear picture of what knowledge is required to assess properties and performance of new materials or current materials in new applications. The student must realize the importance of the performance of materials in the long-term perspective that production and maintenance of buildings and structures require.

Contents
Deepening of the basic course in Building Materials. The course deals with those important parts of materials in later courses. Material Science (relationship material structure - material properties). Material structure and phase diagrams for different groups of materials. Composite models for transport properties and E-modulus. Fracture mechanical properties. Transport processes in porous materials. Moisture in materials. Long term deformations. Methods of measurement. Material testing and translation of results. Deterioration mechanisms. Service-life calculations. Environmental consequences of materials.

Relevance for an environmentally sustainable development: The construction industry is the country’s largest consumer of materials. Consequently, a sustainable utilization of materials requires a predictable service-life of our structures. Durability aspects are treated in depth in the course.

Literature
Fagerlund, G, Nilsson, L-O: Text book in Building Materials Science (in Swedish), KFS i Lund AB 2010