Applied Mineralogy of Cement Concrete

‘Building materials’ as a generic term encompasses steel, aluminum, copper and a range of metal alloys, glass and glaze, particulate materials like sand, gravel, or crushed rock, and natural stone of sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic origin. Each of these materials sees a wide range of applications, from structural/bearing via functional to merely ornamental and decorative. The wide range of ‘building materials’ application is achieved through an equally wide range of processing, from use ‘as is’ (e.g., stacking boulders to make a retaining wall), through simple re-dimensioning and fi tting (e.g., splitting and sizing of roofi ng slate) to purifi cation and complex treatment in multi-stage processing (e.g., glass, Portland cement clinker, concreting). The use of building materials, their applications and processing has changed considerably with the development of civilization and technology. Consequently, comprehensive coverage of building materials, applications, processing and history would require multiple volumes.