Civil Engineering Materials and the Environment module (CE31001)

This module examines how civil engineering materials are affected by the - often extreme - environments in which they are required to operate in, as well as how the manufacture and use of materials can impact the environment.

You will learn about the mechanisms that cause the deterioration of materials to occur. Then you will learn how to design structures to protect particular combinations of materials from deterioration and fire using the Eurocode standards. Additionally, you will study in detail how the manufacture and use of materials can impact the environment, and look at ways in which this impact can be limited or avoided.

• Steel – joining steel; protection of steel from corrosion; protection of steel from fire.
• Timber – timber defects; protection of timber from fire; protection of timber from biodeterioration.
• Masonry – masonry materials; mortar; chemical and physical deterioration of brickwork and blockwork; protection of brickwork and blockwork from deterioration and fire.
• Concrete – supplementary cementing materials; chemical admixtures; particle packing and mix proportioning; load-dependent and non-load-dependent deformation; specification for concrete durability and fire protection; on-site testing of concrete.
• Environmental impact – UN sustainable development targets; renewable and non-renewable energy; embodied energy; embodied carbon and other pollution issues; waste and recycling; material life-cycles; future directions for construction materials.
• Corrosion lab – hands-on lab examining the electrochemical nature of wet corrosion.
• Concrete lab – hands-on lab: mix concrete and then use a number of destructive and non-destructive methods to determine engineering properties.