Project 2. Brick and Masonry

Divide into teams of 4 or 5 students. Choose any aspect of the problem of the brick and masonry in construction. Jointly arrange a presentation of the materials collected in form of PowerPoint demonstration. Try to illustrate your points of presentation.

Suggested issues:

Why is brick so popular as a building material? Do you really think it is the best choice in most cases? Trace the history of the brick, types of brick and their applications.

Unit 5. Concrete and cement

Second only to water, concrete is the most consumed material on earth, with three tonnes per year used for every person. Twice as much concrete is used in construction as all other building materials combined. There is little doubt that concrete will remain in use well into the future.

Vocabulary to memorise

1. сoncrete [‘kɔɳkri:t] - бетон || бетонировать;

2. cement [si’ment] - цемент; цементный раствор || цементировать; скреплять или обмазывать цементным раствором

3. Portland cement - портландцемент

4. fly ash - летучая зола, зольная пыль, зола-унос, зола пылеугольного топлива

5. slag cement - бесклинкерный шлаковый цемент, известково-шлаковый цемент, шлако-портландцемент

6. aggregate - заполнитель, инертный материал (бетона)

7. coarse [kɔ:s] aggregate - крупный заполнитель

8. fine aggregate - мелкий заполнитель

9. gravel limestone ['grævəl 'laimstəun] - известняковая галька, гравий

10. chemical admixture ['kemikəl əd'mikst∫ə] – химическая добавка; примесь, присадка

11. solidify [sə'lidifai] - твердеть; затвердевать; застывать; загустевать

12. harden ['ha:dn] - закаливать; твердеть, набирать прочность (о бетоне)

13. placement ['pleismənt] - укладка (бетона, арматуры)

14. hydration - гидратация, гидратирование

15. bond (together) - соединять; связывать; склеивать; цементировать

16. water and cement paste – водно-цементное тесто

17. crushed stone - щебень, бут; бутовый камень

18. blast furnace ['fə:nis] slag cement - шлакопортландцемент

19. bottom ['bɔtəm] ash - шлак, зольный остаток

20. fluid ['flu:id] - жидкость; жидкая среда, раствор

21. plain concrete - неармированный бетон

22. batching - дозирование (подачи бетонной смеси); приготовление замеса

23. accelerator [ək'seləreitə] - ускоритель схватывания бетона

24. hardening ['ha:dniɳ] - твердение, затвердевание (цементного раствора или бетона)

25. curing ['kjuəriɳ] – (влажная) выдержка бетона; затвердевание (о синтетической смоле, бетоне); схватывание

26. retarder [ri'ta:də] - замедлитель; добавка для замедления процесса схватывания

27. pour [pɔ:] - бетонирование; укладка бетонной смеси; объём бетонной смеси (укладываемой или производимой за единицу времени) || бетонировать; укладывать бетонную смесь;

28. partial setting ['pa:∫əl 'setiɳ] - частичное, неполное твердение (схватывание)

29. аir-entrainer [‘ɛə in'treinə] - воздухововлекающие добавки для гидравлического цемента

30. compressive strength [streɳƟ] - предел прочности при сжатии; прочность на сжатие; сопротивление сжатию

31. plasticizer - пластификатор; смягчитель; материал для придания пластичности (бетонной смеси)

32. water-reducing admixture - разжижающая (пластифицирующая) добавка; водопоглощающая добавка

33. workability [,wə:kə'biliti] - удобоукладываемость (бетонной смеси); применимость; годность (к обработке)

34. plastic ['plæstik] concrete – пластичный бетон

35. consolidatе [kən'sɔlideit] - затвердевать, твердеть; уплотнять(ся)

36. pigment - пигмент, красящее вещество, краситель || окрашивать

37. corrosion inhibitor [kə'rəuʒən in'hibitə] - ингибитор (коррозии); замедлитель окисления, коррозии

38. bonding - связывание; склеивание || связывающий, связующий

39. hydrate ['haidreit] - гидрат || гидратизировать, гидратировать

40. initial [i'ni∫əl] setting – первичное схватывание

41. permeability [,pə:mjə'biliti] - водопроницаемость

42. tensile ['tensail] stress - напряжение при растяжении, напряжение растяжения, продольное натяжение

Pre-Reading exercises

Ex. 1. After you have studied the vocabulary to memorise, look through the words of this exercise.

Say which of the words and word groups you are unlikely to come across in the text to come. The text is entitled ‘CONCRETE’.

Portland cement; fly ash slag; wood pulp; pigment; coarse aggregate; gravel; limestone; fine aggregate; wood-lot; sand; bottom ash; manufactured sand; water; laminate flooring; chemical admixtures; placement; hydration; pavement; harvested trees; foundation; motorway; footing; fence; cement paste; cellulose; concrete mixture; crushed stone; recycled aggregate; construction; blast furnace slag; chemical admixture; spruce; plain concrete; accelerant; compressive strength; plasticizers; corrosion inhibitor; bonding agent; initial setting; permeability; tensile stress; placement; timber chipboard; curing; granite.

Ex. 2. Make up negative adjectives with the help of negative suffixes un-, in- (im-, il-, ir-). Use one word instead of the given two.

not sufficient; not desirable; not efficient; not controllable; not obtainable; not supplied; not suitable; not usual; not complete; not natural; not satisfactory; not interesting; not regular; not common; not available; not significant; not essential; not mobile

Call to mind more negative forms (adjectives and adverbs) in English from your personal language experience.

Ex. 3. Translate the following adverbs. Consult the dictionary to make sure.

Commonly, eventually, relatively, excessively, mainly, primarily, interestingly, typically. respectively, significantly, particularly, carefully, generally, normally

Ex. 4. Analyse the composition of the following compound words. Translate the words into Russian.

limestone; stone-like; air-cooled; motorway; however; landscape; man-made; air-entrainer; freeze-thaw; thereby; trade-off; water-reducing; long-term; high-strength; high-performance

Ex. 5 Call to mind related words in English to the adjectives suggested (from your personal language experience). Translate the words.

E.g.: compressive ‘сжимающийся’ – to compress ‘сжимать, сдавливать’ – compressor ‘компрессор’, - compression ‘сжатие, уплотнение’ - to press ‘нажимать, надавливать’ – press ‘пресс; пресса’ - pressure ‘давление’ …

structural, cementitious, chemical, architectural, partial, significant, decorative, obtainable, normal, difficult, desirable, plastic, environmental, problematic, various, available, careful

Consult the dictionary to find more word forms and meanings.

Ex. 6. Translate the following words and word combinations:

cementitious materials; fly ash; slag cement; coarse aggregate; fine aggregate; gravel limestone; manufactured sand; chemical admixtures; to solidify and harden; mixing and placement; to bond components together; to create a stone-like material; to make pavements; parking structures; footings for gates; man-made material; water and cement paste; to develop strength over time; the bulk of a concrete mixture; natural gravel; crushed stone; recycled aggregates; demolition and excavation waste; partial replacements; manufactured aggregates; air-cooled blast furnace slag; bottom ash; crushed glass; landscape designer; chemical admixture; in the form of powder or fluid; plain concrete mix; admixture dosage; accelerant; to slow the hydration of concrete; large pour; partial setting; air-entrainer; to reduce damage; freeze-thaw cycle; decrease in compressive strength; water-reducing admixtures; to increase workability; plastic concrete; corrosion inhibitor; to minimize the corrosion of steel bars; bonding agent; to acquire strength and hardness; initial setting; under specific environmental condition; to provide moist environment; to lower permeability; to increase strength; to dry out excessively; tensile stress; exothermic chemical process of hydration; before curing is complete; to interrupt the hydration process; to lead to damage or failure; exposed surface; permeability of concrete; curing time; serviceability problems.

Read text 1 ‘CONCRETE’. When reading find answers to the following questions?

1. What do you need to make concrete?

2. What is hydration?

3. Where is concrete used besides architectural structures?

4. What materials can be used as aggregate?

5. When are admixtures added to the concrete mix? What are their functions?

6. What conditions are necessary for concrete curing?

7. What damage can improper curing cause?

Then read the text again and do the text-based exercises coming after the text.

TEXT 1. CONCRETE

Concrete is a construction material that consists of cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate (generally a coarse aggregate such as gravel limestone or granite, plus a fine aggregate such as sand or manufactured sand) and water and chemical admixtures.

Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing and placement due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material. It is used to make pavements, architectural structures, foundations, motorways/roads, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles.

Concrete is used more than any other man-made material on the planet.

Aggregates. The water and cement paste hardens and develops strength over time. Both fine and coarse aggregates are used to make up the bulk of a concrete mixture. Sand, natural gravel and crushed stone are mainly used for this purpose. However, it is increasingly common for recycled aggregates (from construction, demolition and excavation waste) to be used as partial replacements of natural aggregates, whilst a number of manufactured aggregates, including air-cooled blast furnace slag and bottom ash are also permitted. Decorative stones such as quartzite, small river stones or crushed glass are sometimes added to the surface of concrete for a decorative "exposed aggregate" finish, popular among landscape designers.

Chemical admixtures. Chemical admixtures are materials in the form of powder or fluids that are added to the concrete to give it certain characteristics not obtainable with plain concrete mixes. In normal use, admixture dosages are less than 5% by mass of cement, and are added to the concrete at the time of batching/mixing. The most common types of admixtures are:

Accelerators speed up the hydration (hardening) of the concrete. Without accelerants, concrete may take centuries to cure.

Retarders slow the hydration of concrete, and are used in large or difficult pours where partial setting before the pour is complete is undesirable.

Air-entrainers add and distribute tiny air bubbles in the concrete, which will reduce damage during freeze-thaw cycles thereby increasing the concrete's durability. However, entrained air is a trade-off with strength, as each 1% of air may result in 5% decrease in compressive strength.

Plasticizers (water-reducing admixtures) increase the workability of plastic or "fresh" concrete, allowing it be placed more easily, with less consolidating effort.

Pigments can be used to change the color of concrete, for aesthetics.

Corrosion inhibitors are used to minimize the corrosion of steel and steel bars in concrete.

Bonding agents are used to create a bond between old and new concrete.

Curing. Because the cement requires time to fully hydrate before it acquires strength and hardness, concrete must be cured once it has been placed and achieved initial setting. Curing is the process of keeping concrete under a specific environmental condition until hydration is relatively complete. Good curing is typically considered to provide a moist environment and control temperature. A moist environment promotes hydration, since increased hydration lowers permeability and increases strength resulting in a higher quality material. Allowing the concrete surface to dry out excessively can result in tensile stresses, which may cause the concrete to crack.

Also, the amount of heat generated by the exothermic chemical process of hydration can be problematic for very large placements. Allowing the concrete to freeze in cold climates before the curing is complete will interrupt the hydration process, reducing the concrete strength and leading to scaling and other damage or failure.

Reading-Comprehension exercise

Ex.7. Say which of the following issues are considered in the text. If they are, say which sentences from the text deal with the issue concerned.

• advantages of concrete,

• types and uses of concrete,

• curing, setting and hardening of concrete

• possible failures,

• different methods of preventing failures,

• different admixture and their uses,

• substitutes for cement,

• the common ingredients of concrete,

• kinds of aggregates,

• the difference between concrete and cement.

Text-based exercises

Ex. 8. Insert into the sentences the right word or word group from the box.

hydration process; gravel limestone; the workability; stone-like material; recycled aggregates; permeability; tiny air bubbles; chemical admixtures; the hydration; exposed aggregate finish; bonding agents; develops strength

1. The coarse aggregate in concrete is normally _______ or granite.

2. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together and creates a ________.

3. The water and cement paste hardens ______ and over time.