Building Materials Book By SK Duggal is considerably modified version of the 2000 edition. New materials are introduced because of the advances in the technology and progress in industry.
The information presented includes characteristics of the Building Materials in regards to their physical and mechanical properties with emphasis on their strength and durability qualities. This edition embodies material changes within the chapters handling Cement, Concrete, Lime and many others. Testing procedures of the Building Materials have been updated for most of the materials as a number of the codes are revised.
Especially, in chapter 3 on Rocks and Stones the part on testing of Stones has been fully re-written. Chapter 8 on Lime has been completely rewritten to form it more reader friendly. Logical developments in chapter 5 on Cement, chapter 10 on Concrete and chapter 20 on Special Cements and Cement Concretes have been made. Admixtures for concrete have been placed in chapter 10 and section on Pointing has been faraway from chapter 12 on Building Mortars. Many newer and upcoming more important concretes like Self compacting Concrete, Bacterial Concrete are introduced in chapter 20 on special Cements and Cement Concrete.
Numerous revision of knowledge and substitutions in description are made not only in these chapters but in other chapters also. Smart Building Materials and composite materials have been introduced in chapter 21 on Miscellaneous Materials. The author will be grateful to the readers for their comments and suggestions for further improvement of the book.