ABSTRACT
This research work assessed glass and
its application in building construction using some selected sites in Benin
City, Edo state as case study. The objectives of this research were; to
establish the importance of the use of glass in building project, to compare
the cost between the use of glass and other materials for some selected elements
in building projects. Various literatures were set out to review the objectives
in extensive forms to proffer detail understanding. The research data were
collected through questionnaires administered to the users of glass in the case
study taken by carrying out a field survey. The data collected were subjected
to descriptive analysis. From the findings it was found that there are
different types of glass used in the construction industry of which include;
sheet glass, float glass, plate glass, temper glass, figured glass, laminated
glass, wired glass, and the chief process used for glass production are;
melting of the raw material, refining to achieve homogeneity of the molten
glass, working to form the glass into desired shape, annealing to relieve
internal stresses developed during the working stage. From the findings it was
also observed that glass as a material is mostly used for the construction of
doors, windows in different types of buildings and in place of blocks. Finally
it concluded that glass should be used more extensively in building
construction because it has important construction properties that other
materials lack, glass has good construction properties with different
applications, its technological and aesthetic functionality in building, and
Glass when used, also reduce the total dead load of a building because they are
light in weight and this makes it more relevant especially in high - rise
building and storey buildings.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
As the demand of glass in building construction
increase in our society it becomes necessary for us to have a complete
understanding of its properties, manufacturing process, types and applications.
Generally, glass is light in weight. This is one of the reasons why it is
widely used in building construction. It reduces the dead load on the building
structure. The application of glass in buildings is also due to its aesthetic
properties. Glass has a lustrous nature which makes building beautiful.
(Udegbe, 2005).
Glass is a material which can be
classified as synthetic. It is made up of a mixture of metallic
trioxosilicate(iv). It is prepared by heating a mixture of silicon (iv) oxide
and the appropriate metallic oxides and trioxo-carbonate(iv) at 1300 degree
Celsius – 1400. Small quantities of powered glass and coke are usually added to
improve the quality. The quality of glass produced is dependent on its
composition (Amadin, 2005). According to other schools of thought, glass is a
homogenous isotropic material normally produced by cooling a melt. It is a
solid material that has hardened and become rigid without crystallising. If a
material is allowed to cool slowly, from the liquid state, the cooling curve obtained,
may be either continuous or discontinuous as the temperature falls. There is a
steady decrease in the kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules that make up
the liquid and hence a steady increase in the viscosity of the fluid or
material that show cooling curves, taking into consideration, changes during
cooling from true fluids through stages of steady increase of viscosity into an
apparently solid condition. The atoms or molecules present still have the same
types of random arrangement that existed in the true fluid state. Such
materials are amorphous solids or glasses.
Glass
is an amorphous solid. A material is when it has no long range order. That is,
there is no regularity in the arrangement of its molecular constituents on a
scale larger than a few times the size of these groups. For instance, the
average distance between silicon atoms in vitreous silicon is about 0.36nm and
there is order between these atoms at distance above about 1nm.
Glass is also an inorganic product of
fusion that has cooled to a rigid condition on without crystallizing. Glasses
of commerce are mainly silicates in chemical combination with numerous other
oxidic substances made by melting the source materials together, forming fluid
in various ways. This definition is prone to some object ions because glasses
have been produced without necessarily quenching a melt. For example, radiation
damages, vapour deposition and solution reactions have shown that glasses can
be made without cooling a melt. Regardless of it being used for windows, façade
or interior partitions, glass connects the space, improves the quality of
space, transmits sufficient light and the contemporary types of glass may
contribute to energy saving. It is known that energy is one of the most
important architectonic challenges of our age. (Vigener, 2009). Glass must
nowadays conform to the high standards regarding safety of the users and
passers by, thus they are made resistant to shicks and abrupt temperature
changes, and in chase they would not break in. The manufacturer tried in this
way to keep the risk of injury to a minimum (Vineger, 2009).
It
seems maintenance is a major issue associated with glass that is difficulty in
cleaning especially in high rise buildings. Reflective glass has thermal
stresses during climatic changes.
The
aim of this study is to appraise the best application of glass in building
projects. To achieve this aim, the following objectives where considered:
1. To
establish the importance of the use of glass in building projects.
2. To
compare the cost between the use of glass and other building materials for some
selected elements in building projects.
3. To
identity the different properties, functions and purpose of glass.
This
study is concern with the application of glass in Residential and Commercial
buildings. It also focuses on the relevance of glass in buildings, and types of
glass and their specifications.
This
research at the end of the day will throw more light on glass and its
application in building construction. Its results will be of relevance to
professional builders, civil engineers, architect, quantity surveyors, and all
those who are in the building construction industry. This study will also help
to enhance the use of glass and its application in high rise buildings,
bungalow, storey buildings mostly in Nigeria, it will also help people to know
that glass is essential in building construction.
Benin City is a city(2006 est.pop. 1,147,188) and
the capital of Edo state in southern Nigeria. It is a city approximately
40-kilometers (25mi) north of the Benin river. It is situated 320kilometers
(200mi) by road east of Lagos. Benin is the Centre of Nigeria’s rubber
industry, but processing palm kernel for oil is also an important traditional
industry. The original people and founder of the Edo EMPIRE and Edo people,
were initially ruled by the Ogiso (Kings of the sky) dynasty who called their
land Igodomigodo. The rulers or kings were commonly known as Ogiso. Igodo, the
first Ogiso, wielded much influence and gained popularity as a good ruler. He
died after a long reign and was succeeded by Ere, his eldest son.
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