Use Of Nanomaterials On Civil Engineering- A Review

Nano-composite plastics and carbon nanotubes have been utilized for industrial and consumer packaging, the later offering an improved packaging solution for electronics components by making the materials used lighter and stronger. Nano-porous silica is a high porous, low-density solid material that supports various temperatures making it a great insulation product that can be applied in a wide range of fields from pipe insulation to refrigerators and even microelectronics. Nanoparticle based colloids are employed in the manufacturing of sunscreens, paints, and printer inks and nano-coatings can be applied in order to obtain scratch resistant surfaces. Composite nano-materials can be considered the basis for all the other current and future commercial applications of nanotechnology.

Concrete can be looked at as a material made from sand, gravel and cement. According to Lambert (2002), “the first major concrete users were the Egyptians in around 2,500 BC and the Romans from around 300 BC”. Roman concrete like modern concrete was an artificial building material made up of aggregate, binding agent and water. Aggregate could be gravel, chunks of stone, chunks of rubble, broken bricks, etc. Binding agent could be mud , lime or gypsum, mixed with rubbles stone. The Roman added pozzolona, a special volcanic dust found in central Italy (Archserve, n.d). The addition of pozzolona made the bond with the aggregate far stronger than what was traditionally being used. This development drastically changed and shaped construction work in the life of Rome.

“Roman concrete (opus caementicium), like modern concrete, is an artificial building material composed of an aggregate, a binding agent, and water. Aggregate is essentially a filler, such as gravel, chunks of stone and rubble, broken bricks, etc. Binding agent is a substance which is mixed with the aggregate wet (water added) and solidifies when it dries, or "sets." Many materials, even mud, can be a binding agent, and used to make, what we generally call, mortar. Historically lime or gypsum, mixed with rubble stones, have been used as binding agents in making a strong mortar” (Roman Concrete).

Cement is made from a mixture of limestone, sandstone, ash, chalk, iron, and clay. Researchers discovered the Roman concrete contained aluminum tobermorite, a rare mineral that adds extra strength. Cement was used by plebeians because they were the farmers, craftsmen, laborers, and soldiers of ancient Rome.

In order to explore novel physical properties and phenomena and realize potential applications of nanostructures and nanomaterials, the ability to fabricate and process nanomaterials and nanostructures is the first corner stone in nanotechnology. There exist a number of methods to synthesize the nanomaterials, which are categorized in two techniques “top down and bottom up”. Solid state route, ball milling comes in the category of top down approach, while wet chemical routes like sol-gel, co-precipitation, etc. come in the category of bottom up approach. Secondly, characterization of nanomaterials is necessary to analyze their various properties. Therefore, this chapter describes the various methods of synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials. Characterization techniques include XRD, SEM, TEM, EDAX, UV-Visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, etc.

First, concrete durable. Concrete is something that will outlive other products up to three times over (“What Makes…”). In addition to durability, concrete is efficient. Concrete can be made with byproducts from power plants, and other aspects of manufacturing. Concrete is primarily made up limestone, the most abundant material on Earth. Above all of this concrete can be recycled. Concrete can be crushed and recycled into another structure or product, reducing the need to mine the limestone for production. Concrete also allows water to pass through which reduces the chance of flash flooding, erosion, and water table depletion as compared to other materials. This is a major check in the sustainability of concrete; the conservation of soil, landscape and ecosystems. Concrete is a very green option when it comes to building

Roman building using cement (Labate, 2016) dates from the third century BCE. Cement was used with crushed bricks and rock to produce concrete used for building. The cement was made from volcanic dust (pozzolana), lime (calcium oxide) or gypsum (calcium sulphate). This mixture reacts when mixed with water, binding the concrete into a permanent, strong, impermeable structure. The Roman engineers discovered that the use of cement in their mortar dramatically increased its strength. Special types of cement were discovered and used for under-water structures like harbors and bridge piers. Roman workmen perfected the skill of building with concrete, some of which, like the Parthenon, are still intact and beautiful to this day. During the first century CE, Rome had a “Concrete Revolution”, many concrete buildings being built as skill developed.

Concrete is the ultimate building block of society; there are a plethora of ways that it has been used. Romans were some of the first, in recorded history, to use it; they used it to build their aqueducts and even the Colosseum. If anything, the Romans were some of the first to make huge developments in concrete, and they were some of the first to actually use concrete on a large scale. America has also used concrete on a large scale, using concrete to build the Hoover Dam and the Grand Coulee Dam. Those examples show how concrete is an incredibly strong and durable building material that has remained standing after all these years and will continue to be the primary

In this quotation from the author Vitruvius, he explains the process and creation of concrete, emphasizes on its durability and how it can withhold the forces of nature. This new formula had a higher silica content then before, which essentially allowed to concrete to set under water and made it stronger then before.10 Overall, the use of concrete was crucial to construction in ancient Rome because it was extremely durable compared to other materials such as brick, stone, or wood.11 Having a successful and powerful empire was very important to the Roman’s as they believed that without a strong foundation, a strong empire would not be possible.12

In order to discuss concrete; one must first mention cement. Cement is a water-based binder used to bind other building materials together. It is used in the production of mortar and concrete during the construction process. Concrete is a material used in construction, made by mixing aggregate, cement, small stones and water. Cement is important because it hold structures together. Many sources states concrete was invented 1756 by a British Engineer named John Smeaton. He did so by mixing pebbles as a coarse aggregate into a powdered brick into the cement. Years layer in 1824, a English inventor named Mr Joseph Aspdin created the first true artificial cement by burning ground limestone and clay together. He is also noted for creating today’s popular concrete; Portland cement. Many buildings use concrete because of its strong element. It solidifies then hardens after mixing with water and placement due to the chemical process known as hydration. Water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material. Concrete is used to make pavements, pipe, various structures, foundations, roads, bridges, brick walls and so on. It is either produced site-cast or pre-cast. Site-cast Concrete is standard concrete that is poured into site-specific forms and cured on site; the concrete is created on the actually construction site. Precast concrete is a construction

Caltech scientist Julia Greer is developing a coating that builders may one day spray on building material surfaces to increase its strength and change its properties. She developed the polymer – classified as metamaterials - using nanotechnology. Metamaterials create a supporting framework by forming microscopic bonds of unsurpassed strength. Greer suggests that the coating most likely will not find use as a supporting structure (such as a replacement for framing or steel beams), but as reinforcement for glass, metal, ceramic or paper materials. She envisions the compound as a raw material for intelligent windows or new high-tech thermal transfer systems. These materials can also hold a desired shape or take on

The stress-strain behaviour of the nanocomposite was found to be independent of the strain rate.

            By Mitchell Young    Student Number: 212200874  SRT153 Building Materials Science  Unit Chair: Dr Priya Rajagopalan  May 26th 2013    Word Count: 998

Nanotechnology and Applied Nanoscience allow creating innovative nanostructure materials and also technological transformations that excel to develop new materials in every industry i.e. Pharmacy, Chemical, Mechanical, Bio-Medical Science and others. It builds a bridge between the conventional and future technology by teaching lessons to keep environment safe, healthy and in favor of mankind by making contribution to improve of quality of life. Nanoscience open doors for advance researches those are able to change properties of materials by its size and behavior, following all disciplines of engineering while keeping

Many engineering applications in the field of aerospace engineering, automobiles, electronic equipment etc. require very light material with good mechanical properties. Titanium based metal matrix composites with carbon nanotube reinforcement can be a solution for such applications. It can satisfy the requirement of light weight with very good strength. This study focuses on preparing titanium metal matrix composites with CNT reinforcements for various compositions for its mechanical properties. Ti alloys have been widely used as structural materials in aeronautical industries due to their attractive comprehensive properties, such as low density, high strength, ductility, toughness and resistance to fatigue.