Monday, January 20, 2014

// // Leave a Comment

Stones - Ingredients, Characteristics and their Functions in Building material


 As a construction professional you should know about the different kind of building materials and their ingredients, uses and characteristics so that you can ensure the proper selection of materials for the particular work. This article will describe the composition, characteristics and uses of various kinds of stones.

Marble: Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock. Click to see the “Types of rock”. Marble is composed of calcite or dolomite. The specific gravity of marble is 2.7 to 2.85 and compressive strength is 550 to It’s available in variety of colors like yellow, black, green, blue, white and red.
Uses: Marble is used as basin counter top, kitchen cabinet top, in stair case and hall as flooring tiles, as table slabs, titled floor, stair steps, face work and as paving stone. It is also suitable for statuary, architectural and decorative purposes.

Granite: Granite is an Igneous rock. it is composed of quart, feldspar, Mica and minerals. It is hard, durable and high resistance to weathering. The specific gravity of this stone is 2.7 and compressive strength is 700 to 1300 kg/cm2. It comes with different color, such as red, pink, brown, grey and green.
Uses: Granite is used as aggregates in concrete, for construction of bridges, piers and marine work. It is also used for railway ballast and road metal. For ornamental purpose granite is also used for face work.
Slate: Slate is a foliated metamorphic rock. Slate is composed of quartz and small amount of feldspar, pyrite, calcite and other minerals. It is non absorbent, compact, fine grained and produce metallic sound when struck. The specific gravity of slate is varies from 2.65 to 2.8 and compressive strength 24 to 36 N/mm2. slate is available in grey, black, dark blue, reddish brown etc.
uses: It is used as interior flooring, exterior paving and decorative purpose etc. For it’s non absorbent characteristic it is also used as damp proofing materials. 
Limestone: Lime stone is a sedimentary rock. Like most sedimentary rock limestone is composed of grains, silica, clay, silt and sand etc. It’s available in different format like compact limestone, granular limestone, magnesia limestone and kanker limestone. The specific gravity of this stone is 2.3 to 2.7 and compressive strength is 77 to 85 N/mm2. Most limestone’s color is sandy. It also can be blackish, greenish and grey. Limestone is less harder than marble.
Uses: Lime stone is used for paving road metal etc.
Sandstone: Sandstone is a sedimentary rock and composed of quartz and feldspar. It’s available in variety of formations fine grained, coarse grained and compact or porous. Like sand Sandstone is available in black, white, grey, brown, red and yellow color. It’s specific gravity varies from 2.65 to 2.95. The compressive strength of sand stone is 650 kg/cm2.
Uses: Sandstone is used for ashlars works and face works. Sandstone is also used in paving, walkway etc. Some sandstone has a weather resisting characteristics and used as a roofing materials. 
Ballast: Ballast is also an Igneous rock. Ballast is made of crushed stone. It is hard, compact and heavy. It is available in blue, grey, red and yellow color. It’s specific gravity is 3.0 and compressive strength varies between 1530 to 1890 kg/cm2.
Uses: Ballast is used as aggregate in concrete, for ornamental works and for rail road ballast.

0 comments:

Post a Comment