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Tech/Engineering - Construction / Civil Engineering | | English term or phrase: materials properties / materials characteristics | I should be grateful for an explanation for the difference between these (in the field of civil engineering), if there is any difference. I have a vague idea that "properties" is more general and "characteristics" more specific to a particular sample or instance.
Is the compressive strength of a specific concrete a "characteristic" or a "property"? |
|   B D FinchKudoZ activityQuestions: 445 (none open) ( 69 closed without grading) Answers: 2522
France
| | Local time: 21:54
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| | English translation:see explanation | Explanation:
The properties of a particular material like concrete describe its strength, durability, density, chemical and thermal resistance, water tightness, pourability, how fast it can be cured, weight, stb.
The characteristics would describe a particular type of concrete used for a particular job, as required and specified, for example concrete for a swimming pool would have to be more watertight than usual.
By varying the components: cement, aggregate, sand, water, reinforcement, admixtures (chemicals and minerals to improve or change certain characteristics) and even temperature, these characteristics can be adjusted for the specific purpose.
Having said all that, the two words are frequently interchanged, and nobody seems to worry about it too much.
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Note added at 1 day55 mins (2010-01-20 10:26:01 GMT)
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Any property, one or more, which distinguishes one cube of concrete from another, is its characteristic.
You can specify (give the "recipe”, for example on a very basic level the proportion of aggregate:cement:water) for concrete “A”, and a different one for concrete “B”, and when you test them, concrete A will have a different compressive strength, but not necessarily a different shear strength.
The higher compressive strength of A, which would be typical for a batch of A cubes, distinguishes them from the B cubes; that’s their characteristic.
You can design two types of concrete with only one different property, or more. In reality a significant change of one property usually affects another, but if you want only one property to be different, it can be done; it can be tailored to the specific requirements.
One particular characteristic is often much more important than any other, that’s why I mentioned water tightness for example, a characteristic, which is especially important for a specific application. This special property then defines the material, becomes the characteristic of the material, and may be given as a distinguishing name to the type. Like: high early strength, high workability, high sulphate resistance, low density, lightweight concrete, etc. The list is endless, because the requirements are diverse, as I already mentioned in my first sentence.
It does not exclude other characteristics, but it does not necessarily mean a group of characteristics. |
| Selected response from:
juvera
Local time: 20:54
| Grading comment Thanks juvera. That is really clear and comprehensive.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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1 hr confidence:   peer agreement (net): +1
1 hr confidence: see explanation
Explanation:
The properties of a particular material like concrete describe its strength, durability, density, chemical and thermal resistance, water tightness, pourability, how fast it can be cured, weight, stb.
The characteristics would describe a particular type of concrete used for a particular job, as required and specified, for example concrete for a swimming pool would have to be more watertight than usual.
By varying the components: cement, aggregate, sand, water, reinforcement, admixtures (chemicals and minerals to improve or change certain characteristics) and even temperature, these characteristics can be adjusted for the specific purpose.
Having said all that, the two words are frequently interchanged, and nobody seems to worry about it too much.
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Note added at 1 day55 mins (2010-01-20 10:26:01 GMT)
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Any property, one or more, which distinguishes one cube of concrete from another, is its characteristic.
You can specify (give the "recipe”, for example on a very basic level the proportion of aggregate:cement:water) for concrete “A”, and a different one for concrete “B”, and when you test them, concrete A will have a different compressive strength, but not necessarily a different shear strength.
The higher compressive strength of A, which would be typical for a batch of A cubes, distinguishes them from the B cubes; that’s their characteristic.
You can design two types of concrete with only one different property, or more. In reality a significant change of one property usually affects another, but if you want only one property to be different, it can be done; it can be tailored to the specific requirements.
One particular characteristic is often much more important than any other, that’s why I mentioned water tightness for example, a characteristic, which is especially important for a specific application. This special property then defines the material, becomes the characteristic of the material, and may be given as a distinguishing name to the type. Like: high early strength, high workability, high sulphate resistance, low density, lightweight concrete, etc. The list is endless, because the requirements are diverse, as I already mentioned in my first sentence.
It does not exclude other characteristics, but it does not necessarily mean a group of characteristics.
| juvera
Local time: 20:54
Does not meet criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:  Hungarian
PRO pts in category: 55
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| | Grading comment | Thanks juvera. That is really clear and comprehensive. |
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