A personal perspective – properties of

materials
© University College of Estate Management 2018

Transcript

1 Hello, this is Madeline and I’m here with Paul

Fitchett again. He’s going to answer a few questions
for us about the properties of materials. So, Paul,
what’s the relationship between the loads on
materials and how they behave?
Yes, this is the other side of the coin; we’ve looked at the external
forces and loads on the elements of a structure. The properties of the
materials that we use are all obviously the other side of the coin and
they’re really important, and elasticity is the main property of all the
materials that are used. So, steel, concrete, timber, they all have elastic
properties and what that means is that, when we pull them, they stretch,
and when we push them, they compress. Some materials stretch and
compress more than others and we need to understand this behaviour
of different materials that we use.

2 Ok, and what is Young’s modulus?

Yes, Young’s modulus – also known as the elastic modulus – is
basically what defines the elasticity of a material. So, when we pull a
piece of steel, we exert a stress on it and it will stretch and it’s the ratio
of the stress over the strain that is the Young’s modulus or the elastic
modulus.

3 Does this have any connection with brittleness?

Not really. Brittle materials have an elasticity. They have a Young’s
modulus; it’s just they’re not as elastic as more non-brittle materials or
ductile materials as we call them. So, a brittle material just cannot
stretch as much as a ductile material.

4 Thanks, Paul, that’s been really interesting.