The Choice of Materials

THEME: The Choice of Materials

“Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.”

                                                                                                 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Read, write and learn the following words and word combinations:

development розвиток

to depend on (upon) залежати від

load навантаження

resin смола

porous пористий                                                           

rigid жорсткий

owing to завдяки

inherent притаманний, властивий

brittle крихкий, ламкий

to withstand витримувати, протистояти

tensile stresses напруга розтягування

prestressed concrete попередньо напружений бетон

Read and translate the text:

Which material can be used to the best advantage for a particular part of the building, depends on the kind of load to which it is subjected and on the shape of the part. That the development of the metallurgical and machine-building industry made possible mass production of prefabricated large-size concrete and reinforced concrete structural elements is a well-known factor to influence the choice of materials.

Reinforced concrete is a building material in which the joint functions of concrete and steel are advantageously utilized. Being brittle, concrete cannot withstand tensile stresses and it cannot therefore be used in structures subjected to tensile stresses under load. But if steel is introduced into concrete - it changes the property of the monolith.

There are two kinds of reinforced concrete: ordinary reinforcement and concrete with prestressed reinforcement. To reinforce ordinary concrete structures is to introduce steel rods in stretched zones of concrete elements. Reinforced concrete structures and elements are used both for residential houses and industrial buildings.

In many cases bricks too are very satisfactory for use in the construction. Bricks generally present a pleasing appearance and can be obtained with various qualities, colors, and textures. Being of a high volume weight and high thermal conductivity, ordinary brick is not always satisfactory in building practice. There are other kinds of bricks which are more effective; they are light-weight building bricks, hollow or porous brinks.

One of the most significant facts about both industry and building has been research on synthetics and plastics. Plastics have appeared comparatively recently but, owing to their inherent valuable and diverse properties, have found a wide application in many industrial fields (machine-building, textile industry).

In respect to physical and mechanical properties at a normal temperature of 20°C all plastics are divided into rigid, semi-rigid, soft and plastic. In respect to the number of constituents plastics may be classified as simple and complex.

Plastics consisting of one polymer are referred to as simple. Thus, organic glass consists of one synthetic resin. But in the building field we usually deal with complex plastics, e.g. plastics consisting of a polymer and other components.

 Choose the correct answer.

1. Using prefabricated or precast elements ...

a) depends only on the kind of load to which it is subjected

b) builders perform a considerable amount of building work not in site but at a factory

c) made possible mass production of large-size structural elements

2. Reinforced concrete is a building material in which ...

a) such properties as small volume weight and high thermal conductivity are combined

b) physical and mechanical properties at a normal temperature of 20°C make it semi-rigid and soft

c) the joint functions of concrete and steel are advantageously utilized

3. Bricks generally present a pleasing appearance and ...

a) they are light-weight building materials

b) cannot be used in structures subjected to tensile stresses

c) can be obtained with various qualities, colors and textures

 Match the following words with their Ukrainian equivalents.