Comparative characteristics of construction materials

Each building material has its own list of performance characteristics, therefore, each has its own area of ​​application. Below are comparative characteristics of the most commonly used materials.

Concrete structures

1. Their main advantages: strength and durability, fire resistance, reasonable prices.;
2. But there are also disadvantages. Such structures are heavy. As a result, large costs are required for the arrangement of the foundation, transportation costs, delivery. The installation process will require the presence of heavy construction equipment, which is not only expensive, but also often difficult to implement, especially in rural areas with poorly developed transport infrastructure. In addition, such structures have low thermal insulation characteristics.

Brick

1. The advantages of brickwork include its durability, strength, fire resistance, high thermal insulation.
2. The disadvantages include large financial investments, both in the building materials themselves and in installation work, due to the labor intensity and the involvement of highly paid specialists – masons. Brick buildings are heavy, which increases the cost of the foundation and delivery of materials. A large amount of waste remains during installation.

Wood

1. This is an environmentally friendly material with good thermal insulation. Another relative advantage is the low cost of the material. But this only applies to untreated wood.
2. The disadvantages include a tendency to biogenic corrosion – rotting, damage by fungi and insects, as well as flammability. To eliminate these problems, chemical treatment of the material will be required, which significantly reduces its environmental safety, since highly toxic compounds are used in the processing.

Metal structures (LMK, LSTK)

Pros:

1. Light weight. This allows you to reduce the cost of the foundation, transportation costs, and the use of heavy crane equipment by one and a half times.
2. Quick installation, which does not require highly qualified workers. During assembly, bolted connections are used, building elements manufactured at the factory and ready for assembly are used.
3. Strength, durability, environmental safety.
4. Reliability of thermal insulation due to the use of effective insulation materials.

Disadvantages:

Unprotected metal structures have a low fire resistance limit and low resistance to corrosion when in contact with aggressive environments. However, these problems can be easily and economically solved using the “external frame” system.

The cost of construction is significantly affected by the lightness of structures, it is considered the most important technical and economic characteristic. The lower the weight of the building structure, the lower the amount of costs in the following categories:

• the cost of arranging the foundation: both the materials used and the work;
• logistics costs (loading, unloading, transportation);
• the cost of using lifting mechanisms during the construction of the facility.

Lightness is defined as the ratio of the design resistance of the supporting building structures (R) to the specific gravity (P) of the material. The table shows a comparison of materials by their lightness.

The table shows that the top lines of the rating are occupied by steel structures. The best ratio of load-bearing capacity to weight is found in galvanized LSTC profiles.