5 ECTS credits
145 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1009376BNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Om een inschrijving te kunnen nemen voor Bouwmaterialen moet men ingeschreven of geslaagd zijn voor Materiaalkunde. Bachelorstudenten ingenieurswetenschappen moet tevens ingeschreven of geslaagd zijn voor het technologieproject Bouwkunde en ten minste 1 van de 3 overige technologieprojecten.
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen
Department and involved faculties/organizations
Materials and Chemistry
Mechanics of Materials and Constructions
Educational team
Herman Terryn
Didier Snoeck (course titular)
Activities and contact hours

36 contact hours Lecture
24 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
Course Content

The content of the course is structured following the material groups, and focuses on the relationship between composition, processing and implementation on one hand, and resulting properties and existing building products on the other hand.

partim Terryn:
Emphasis is put on the introduction of the different materials in building applications. The accent is on the choices one can make in building applications.
- choice of a material, selection of properties, criteria, Ashby diagrams
- material life cycle
- steel and cast iron: production, thermomechanical behaviour, properties, nomenclature
- stainless steels
- aluminium alloys
- copper and zinc
- polymers: thermosets and thermoplastics, thermomechanic behaviour
- glues, adhesion mechanism
- surface treatment of materials

partim Snoeck:
- cement and concrete: components of cement, cement types, hydration mechanism, aggregates, admixtures, concrete design, mechanical and physical properties of concrete
- composite materials
- wood
- construction standards and quality aspects
- guest lectures on glass and/or bitumen

- Lab sessions:

- for the lab session of the part of Herman Terryn the students need to work out a case study about material selection for a selected product or part of the product.  The student needs to think about the materials, forming aspects, joining, recycling and  price. The students have to write a report and give a presentation.
- for the lab sessions of the part of Didier Snoeck, different compositions of mortar and concrete are manufactured in group. The influence of the choice of cement, of the age, of the amount of water, and of the use of a superplasticizer is investigated and has to be explained. A lab session is foreseen where a fibre cementmatrix composite is manufactured by hand lay-up and tested, as a link with research of the department MEMC. A written group report is asked at the end.

Course material
Course text (Required) : Bouwmaterialen, Wastiels, VUB, 2220170007441, 2020
Digital course material (Required) : Powerpoint presentaties gebruikt tijdens de lessen, Wastiels, Canvas
Handbook (Required) : Materials Science and Engineering, An introduction, Callister - Rethwisch, 9de, John Wiley and Son, 9781119453918, 2020
Handbook (Recommended) : Construction Materials, Their Nature and Behaviour, Soutsos -  Domone, 5de, E&FN Spon London, 9781498741101, 2017
Handbook (Recommended) : Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Ashby M.F., 5de, Butterworth-Heinemann, 9780081005996, 2016
Digital course material (Required) : Powerpoint presentaties gebruikt tijdens de lessen, Terryn, Canvas
Additional info

partim Snoeck:
- printed course notes uitgaven VUB
- powerpoint presentation used during the lectures, available on Pointcarré

Terryn:
- slides available on Pointcarré
- book Materials Science and Engineering an introduction auteur William D. Callister, 7th Edition, John Wiley and Son, 2007

Complementary study material:
Illston J.M., Domone P.L.J. 'Construction Materials: Their Nature and Behaviour' 3rd ed E&FN Spon London, 2001.
Ashby M.F. "Materials Selection in Mechanical Design" Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1992

The course can be taught in a hybrid format (online/on-campus). 

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

The student knows what are the typical properties of the different building materials, and have insight why this is so, from the relation between composition, processing and implementation.
The student's ability to make a choice between different building materials, from a critical material reflex.

General competences

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has a broad fundamental knowledge and understanding of scientific principles and methodology of exact sciences with the specificity of their application to engineering.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has a broad fundamental knowledge and understanding of engineering principles and the ability to apply them to analyse key engineering processes and to investigate new and emerging technologies.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has a broad fundamental knowledge and understanding of integrated design methods according to customer and user needs with the ability to apply and integrate knowledge and understanding of other engineering disciplines to support the own specialisation engineering one.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can define, classify, formulate and solve engineering problems,  identify the constraints and is able to delimit and formulate the tasks in order to submit these to a critical examination and to check the solutions for their sustainability and social relevance.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can monitor, interpret and apply the results of analysis and modelling in order to bring about continuous improvement.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can apply an horizontal broadening and vertical deepening of the discipline within a continuously changing society and industrial context, in a multi-disciplinary environment.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can use and evaluate information of technical literature and other information sources.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can correctly report on design results in the form of a technical report or in the form of a paper.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can present and defend results in a scientifically sound way, using contemporary communication tools.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can reason in a logical, abstract and critical way.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can conduct open dialogues, discussions and negotiations, and can write scientific reports and to hold presentations using the most modern ICT technologies.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can work in team, shows creativity and entrepreneurship, and has intellectual mobility.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has consciousness of the ethical, social, environmental and economic context of the work and strives for sustainable solutions to engineering problems including safety aspects.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has a critical attitude towards one’s own results and those of others.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has acquired the tools for knowledge collection towards life-long learning.

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has more advanced fundamental knowledge and understanding of the behaviour of structures, construction materials, soil and fluids (Civil Engineering) and can apply this knowledge to solve basic engineering problems.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Snoeck mon ex theorie with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

    Note: mondeling examen theorie 1/2 Wastiels (60%)
  • Snoeck mon ex labowerk with a relative weight of 10 which comprises 10% of the final mark.

    Note: mondeling examen labowerk 1/6 Wastiels (60%)
  • Terryn mon ex theorie with a relative weight of 27 which comprises 27% of the final mark.

    Note: mondeling examen theorie: 2/3 Terryn (40%)
  • Terryn case study with a relative weight of 13 which comprises 13% of the final mark.

    Note: case study materiaalkeuze en eventueel mondelinge uitleg op examen: 1/3 Terryn (40%)
  • Snoeck groepsverslag labo with a relative weight of 20 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

    Note: schriftelijk groepsverslag labo: 1/3 Wastiels (60%)

Additional info regarding evaluation

partim Terryn (40%):
- Oral examination on theory: 2/3
- Lab sessions report and eventual oral explanation: 1/3
partim Snoeck (60%):
- oral examination about theory: 1/2
- oral examination about lab work: 1/6
- written lab report: 1/3

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Engineering: Civil Engineering (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Architectural Engineering: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Architectural Engineering: Verkort traject (only offered in Dutch)