Selection and use of Engineering Materials

in the range, reducing the assembly time and just plain

1. What is the motivation for selection of better design, improving the aesthetics and user-
material? friendliness, increasing the added value. The financial
There are two basic situations which motivates for the risk of introducing new products can be considerable.
selection of materials This risk can be reduced by introducing product
(1) development of a new product; updates at regular intervals, so-called 'incremental
(2) improvement of an existing product. innovation'. The financial risk is lessened by making
1. New product development small step changes of lower cost at the introduction of
The successful product must: each new product, rather than dramatic developments
(1) meet the needs of the customer; which are much more risky.
(2) beat the competition to the market; 2. Explain the selection of materials on cost basis?
(3) offer either better performance, more features, or The process of selecting the materials for a
both; given application will be carried out initially in terms
(4) be perceived to offer value for money in terms of of the required properties, but final decisions will
the balance of cost and quality. always involve considerations of cost which in many
If a product does not satisfy the needs or desires of the cases will be the dominant criterion. In the interaction
customer, it will fail. Establishing what these needs or between performance and cost, it is possible to see a
desires are, means spending time with customers and continuous spectrum stretching from applications
potential customers early in the product development which demand the maximum achievement of
process. The temptation to think that the needs of the performance (i.e. performance-oriented products) and
customer are obvious has to be resisted. Effective applications in which considerations of cost must be
management of new technology is critical to success. predominant, (i.e. cost oriented products).
Steps must be taken to reduce the risk of using new Cost oriented products are selected based on the cost
technologies. effectiveness and value analysis, analysis of cost.
The stages of new product development: 1. Cost-effectiveness and value analysis:
(1) Conceptual design: Possible designs are produced Value is the appropriate performance criteria are
as block diagrams representing the main components satisfied (% of satisfaction with the product)
with some idea of layout. Example: Civil engineering contractor will not regard
(2) Embodiment design: This stage involves refining toughness as a cost-effective property when designing
the conceptual designs so that a version exists suitable a bridge, since if his bridge breaks then his
for marketing and manufacturing teams to visualize professional reputation is destroyed with it.
the product, usually from computer-generated images. Cost is value to be paid to achieve a particular
Overall dimensions and shape are emerging at this product.
stage, as are the generic classes of material and Example: Designer will be prepared to incur costs for
processing techniques to be used. the provision of a certain property in proportion to the
(3) Detailed design: at which stage the preferred penalties that will result when it is absent.
layout design is fully dimensioned. Materials and Cost-effective decisions should only be made in the
process selection is also now refined to approach a light of full knowledge relating to:
specification (1) the special requirements of anticipated service
2. Improvement of an existing product (2) the properties of all available materials and their
Redesign can become crucial if your product is losing relationship to those requirements.
out to the competition. Redesign can be the key to the 2. Analysis of cost:
improvement of sales and profit margins, through The total cost of a manufactured article in service is
parts reduction, use of parts common to other products made up of several parts, as shown in Figure 1.

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Whether or not a manufacturer operates in a to choose a material which would combine high yield
competitive market, but particularly if he does, strength and high fracture toughness, or to combine
reduction in the cost of products to the consumer the highest fatigue strength with high temperature
should be the aim, and in this it is as important to creep resistance. Frequently, all that can be done is to
reduce the costs of ownership as it is to reduce the take account of the relative importance of various
purchase price. Unfortunately, most attention is service requirements and pitch the compromise
usually directed towards reduction of purchase price accordingly. Thus it is that in formalized quantitative
since this is the simplest and most direct way of selection procedures, weighting factors are applied to
increasing sales of cost-oriented products. Although individual properties in reaching the best compromise.
reducing the costs of ownership is equally valuable to Frequently the engineer has tended to play
the consumer, there is often less emphasis in this safe. Often he has stuck with a material which he has
direction since it will usually increase the basic used in the past in contexts similar to the new design.
purchase price. The requirement of service is:
1. to increase the life time of the product/component
2. to overcome the sudden failures
3. to increase the efficiency
4. for smooth operation of the machine
Generally service is nothing but the maintenance
provided to the machine to overcome the sudden
failures/to run the machine smoothly. In this
connection the causes of failure in service are given
bellow:
1. Errors in design
This obviously includes errors in terms of the material
selected, or of the condition in which a given material
should be supplied. If a particular component is
grossly overdesigned (by which is meant the use of an
excessively high factor of safety) this is not only
economically disadvantageous but may result in
The variable costs (i.e. production costs) arise, of overloading other parts of a composite structure.
course, in the primary raw material costs and the 2. Inherent defects in a material properly selected
conversion margins in the fabricated product to cover It is vital to know every feature of a material which in
the cost of the intermediate operations to the finished service could become a critical defect; the ability to
form. The primary cost can be markedly affected by inspect and evaluate such defects within the whole
supplies, marketing methods, international politics, economic frame work of the material use is also
metal stocks (strikes, dumping, etc.) essential
Fixed costs can’t be change with the product to 3. Defects introduced during fabrication
product or depending on the orders. With this During the manufacture of a component using the
manufacturer profit is also require to consider unless material and fabrication method selected, defects in
otherwise the company cannot run. fastening and joining (e.g. welding), poorly controlled
3. Explain the selection of materials based on heat treatment giving quench cracks and internal
service requirements? stresses, poor machining, incorrect assembly and
Material selection always involves the act of misalignment producing unexpected stress levels, may
compromise between the combination of properties to result in subsequent failure in service.
meet the conflicting technical, commercial and 4. Deterioration (gradual failure) in service: The
economic considerations. For example, it is difficult resistance to environmental conditions of chemical
2
attack or corrosion and wear, or the stability of the of several metallic materials are shown in Figure 1. In
microstructure on which mechanical properties materials which yield discontinuously there are clear
depend (as in elevated temperature operation), will measures of strength at the lower yield stress (Figure
have been part of the initial design context, but 1a) and yield point (Figure 1b). The elastic limit and
unusual conditions are sometimes encountered which limit of proportionality are difficult to measure
give rise to a change in performance and premature accurately and are little used today. Figure 1c is
failure. Overload in relation to the mechanical stresses typical of materials which undergo continuous
anticipated would be similarly classified. yielding. The smooth transition from the fully elastic
4. Differentiate in between strength and to the elastic-plastic regime means that there is no
toughness? clear singularity available to provide a definition of
Strength refers to resistance to deformation, and also general yielding. The usual procedure is to measure
to a large elastic range. In the Elastic region of the the stress for a certain plastic strain and call this the
stress-strain relationship, the relationship is described proof stress.
by a linear function Figure 1d refers to a flake graphite cast iron. This is a
Young’s Modulus = stress/strain brittle material and the particular stress strain
At a point called the yield point, the relationship behaviour is governed by the graphite phase. There is
between stress and strain depart from linear, and the no linear part to the curve and no observable yield
material yields, meaning that permanent or inelastic stress.
and plastic deformation occur.
Beyond the yield point or yield strength, less stress is
required for a given amount of strain (deformation).
This proceeds up to the ultimate tensile strength,
which is where uniform elongation is measured. At
this point, a tensile specimen begins to 'neck', i.e. the
change in cross-section becomes non-uniform. Also,
beyond the ultimate tensile strength, the strain
increases without additional stress. If the load is not
immediately removed, the material will strain to
failure.
The term 'strength' is often used rather loosely.
There are three distinct usages:
(1) s t a t i c s t r e n g t h - the ability to resist a short
term steady load at normal room temperature;
(2) f a t i g u e s t r e n g t h - the ability to resist a
fluctuating or otherwise time-variable load;
(3) c r e e p s t r e n g t h - the ability to resist a load
at temperatures high enough for the load to produce a
progressive change in dimensions over an extended
period of time.
Assessment of strength in metallic materials:
The true criterion of strength in a metallic crystal is
Figure 1 Stress-strain curves for metals: (a) impure
the critical shear stress resolved into the plane of
iron, (b) medium-carbon steel, (c) hard brass, and (d)
crystallographic slip. Here various points taken from grey cast iron. Dotted line indicates true stress, taking
the stress-strain curve determined on a bulk into account the ductile reduction of cross section.
polycrystalline specimen have been used as Toughness is the resistance to failure or crack
measurements of strength. Stress-strain curves typical propagation. It is somewhat related to strength. Very
3
strong materials will have low toughness, i.e. low notch, and because the propagation of this brittle
tolerance for flaws or defects. fracture is accompanied by very little plastic
Toughness relates to the amount of energy absorbed in deformation, cleavage in the individual grains of
order to propagate a crack. Materials with high varying orientation causes this part of the fracture
toughness require greater energy to maintain crack surface to have a sugary or crystalline appearance,
propagation. Toughness is described in terms of a with bright reflecting facets. As the crack grows
stress intensity factor (K) or J-integral, or the strain outwards towards the boundaries of the specimen it
energy release rate of nonlinear elastic materials (J). enters regions in which there is less plastic constraint
The assessment of toughness and the mechanism changes to ductile.
There are two main ways of assessing materials for The assessment of toughness fracture and propagation
resistance to fracture (toughness): of the crack is accompanied by considerable plastic
(1) the transition temperature approach and deformation. This part of the fractured surface
(2) the fracture mechanics approach. therefore exhibits a fibrous, silky appearance. If the
The first of these methods can be applied only to transition from brittle to tough behaviour is quite
steels in the lower range of strength. In these materials distinct then it is possible to specify a single value of
there is a fairly sharp transition from brittle behaviour temperature to represent the transition. This transition
at low temperatures to tough behaviour at high temperature then gives, for the steel under test, the
temperatures. This transition is generally measured by lower limit of permissible temperature in service. That
some form of impact test such as the Charpy test and is to say, if given steel is to be a candidate material for
the test data may be shown either by plotting the a given application its measured transition
energy absorbed in fracture or the appearance of the temperature must be lower than the temperature of
fracture surface against temperature, giving the intended service.
diagram shown in Figure 1. It is a very simple matter to determine the transition
temperature of very low-strength steels since the
transition between the brittle and tough regions is
nearly vertical. However, as the strength of steel
increases the transition becomes less sharp and it
becomes possible to define the transition temperature
in a variety of ways. One way is to determine the
temperature corresponding to a given value of energy
absorbed. In Figure 1 the fracture appearance
transition temperature (FATT) is based on 50% SA
(shear area). Unfortunately, it is more difficult to
obtain an accurate numerical assessment of fracture
appearance and it is quite common for specifications
to combine both energy values and fracture
Figure 1 Charpy diagram for low-strength steel. appearance in their requirements.
Fracture appearance is described according to the The transition approach fails with high strength
proportions of the fracture surface which appear materials because the transition becomes so indistinct
crystalline or fibrous. The latter is termed the shear as to be almost indeterminate. In terms of energies the
area (SA). Thus: % crystallinity + % SA = 100. upper shelf energy (USE) is not much greater than
Specimens fractured at temperatures close to the that at the lower, and the difference is spread over
transition temperature will show a mixed fracture such a wide range of temperatures that the concept of
appearance. Fracture of a brittle type is initiated in the transition temperature has hardly any meaning (Figure
region of high tri-axial stresses near the root of the 2). It is therefore especially with materials of higher

4
strength that the toughness concepts of fracture Deflections increase as stiffness decreases. Consider,
mechanics have proved so valuable. for example, the end-deflection δ, of a cantilever of
length l, subjected to an end load P, (Figure 1).
Pl 3
The deflection δ is given by  
3EI
Where I is the second moment of area of the cross-
section of the cantilever.
The deflection is given by relative motion between
adjacent parts in an assembly must be provided then
low material stiffness can make design much more
difficult or even impossible. Gordon 1 quotes the
example of the underground passenger train which
was designed to be manufactured in a plastics
material. The design study showed that although in
the unloaded state operation was satisfactory, when
Figure 2 Comparison of Charpy energies for low and the train was loaded with passengers the sliding doors
high-strength steels. could not close due to excessive deflection of the
5. Differentiate in between stiffness and fatique? main structure. An equally important, though less
Stiffness is the ability of a material to maintain its dramatic, example is presented by long lengths of
shape when acted upon by a load. The concept of rotating shafting - correct alignment of the bearings is
stiffness in metals is usually approached through difficult to maintain if the structure on which the
Hooke's Law, which is concerned with the bearings are mounted is of low stiffness.
relationship between stress and strain (although
Hooke's actual terms were load and extension). When
a metal is loaded, the stress-strain curve is at first
approximately linear and its slope is a measure of the
stiffness of the metal. If the loading is in tension or
compression the value of the slope is known as
Young's modulus, or the modulus of elasticity,
denoted by E in the engineering literature; when the
loading is in shear it is known as the modulus of
rigidity, or shear modulus, denoted by G. These two
Figure 1: A cantilever subjected to an end load.
elastic constants are related through Poisson's ratio, v,
Energy absorption
as follows:
When a material is strained it gains elastic strain
E
G energy. The energy per unit volume is then equal to
2(1  v)
the area under the stress-strain curve (Figure 2).
Of course, the stress-strain relationship of materials in
Energy per unit volume = ½ σε, where ε = strain.
general is not always linear, and then stiffness must be
Considering a crash barrier required to absorb the
measured by alternative parameters such as the
kinetic energy of a moving vehicle leaving a roadway,
tangent modulus or secant modulus. This also applies
if Young's modulus of the barrier material were
to metals as they start to enter the plastic range.
reduced by a factor ‘n’, then the maximum retarding
The importance of stiffness
stress would be reduced by n which would be good
There are three reasons why stiffness is important.
Those are given bellow: for the occupants of the vehicle In less dramatic
Deflections circumstances the increased deflections encountered

5
in compliant structures are often disadvantageous. In this form of failure and other materials in which it is
transport vehicles, for example, the soft ride given by known to occur include concrete and polymers, and
excessively compliant shock absorbers can result in even living matter.
more discomfort than the hard ride encountered with However, fatigue failure was first diagnosed in metals
stiff ones. and most of the research carried out to elucidate the
nature of fatigue has been performed on metallic
materials. The first recorded observations related to
the axles of railway wagons in the 19th century.
Nevertheless, it is only recently that significant
understanding of the micro mechanistic processes
involved, and the rate at which they occur, has
advanced sufficiently to enable the design engineer to
take some account of fatigue in a numerate manner.
The ultimate aim must be to prevent fatigue fracture
occurring altogether, but final solution of the fatigue
problem does not seem to be a realistic prospect for
the foreseeable future. The major problem is the fact
Figure 2 Stress-strain curves for two materials of that fatigue behaviour is dominated by details of
differing stiffness design. Thus, although it is possible to assess the
Failure by elastic instability inherent fatigue resistance of a material, and even find
The simpler methods of stress analysis assume that the ways of increasing it, these efforts usually produce a
overall geometry of a body under load does not rather inconspicuous improvement in the behaviour of
change sufficiently to invalidate the analysis. For many engineering components. This is not just a
example, simple beam theory makes the assumption matter of defective design (although many fatigue
that plane sections remain plane. However, it may failures have been directly caused by shortcomings in
happen, and this applies particularly to thin, slender design): it is rather that many features harmful to
bodies or those incorporating cross-sections of high fatigue resistance are difficult to avoid in practical
aspect ratio, that twisting or buckling of the stressed machine parts. Fortunately some of these harmful
body occurs with the result that failure occurs at loads features can be ameliorated by competent design. For
much lower than those predicted by simple theory. example, the effects of stress concentrations at
Failure by elastic instability can be general or geometric irregularities such as keyways, oil-holes
localized, and some examples are shown in Figure 3. and changes in cross-section are serious but they are
Fatique: now well documented I and the careful designer can
Fatigue is a dangerous form of fracture which occurs do much to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
in materials when they are subjected to cyclic or But undoubtedly the most damaging feature of
otherwise fluctuating loads. It occurs by the engineering design from the point of view of fatigue is
development and progressive growth of a crack and the joint. Unfortunately, the presence of a joint,
the two characteristic and equally unfortunate features whether bolted, riveted, adhesively bonded or welded,
of fatigue fracture are, first, that it can occur at loads can render the fatigue behaviour of large-scale jointed
much lower than those required to produce failure by structures almost totally insensitive to materials
static loading, and second, that during the more or less development. This means that significant
lengthy period of time that is required for fracture to improvements in the fatigue resistance of jointed
propagate to the point of final failure there may be no structures are extremely hard to come by Joints of one
obvious external indication that fracture is occurring. sort or another are very common in engineering
Although fatigue failure is most familiar when it structures, and the materials engineer faces some
occurs in metals, probably no material is immune to
6
difficult problems. However, there are areas in which extreme conditions without fracture. The only
positive contributions can be made. circumstances in which the possibility of creep
First, there are many engineering applications - rupture may safely be neglected are those in which the
helicopter rotor blades and ball races are examples- service condition involves stress relaxation. The
which because of their simplicity of form do respond simplest example here is that of a screwed fastener.
to improvements in materials properties. Second, if When two articles are clamped together by a bolt and
the cost-benefit analysis for the use of an advanced nut, the clamping force is provided by the elastic
material is not favor able, the materials engineer, with extension of the shank of the bolt as the nut is
the design team, must make sure that the design and tightened down. If the conditions of service are such
manufacture is entirely consistent with the materials that creep occurs the stress in the bolt is progressively
to be utilized. Third, it is necessary to continue with relaxed and as it does so the danger of fracture
research into ways of increasing the materials recedes. Of course, the clamping force simultaneously
component of fatigue behaviour the improved decreases and bolts on equipment such as pressure
performance of aircraft alloys and of powder vessels which operate under creep conditions must
metallurgy products, and the recent advances in regularly be retightened, and if this is done often
adhesive bonding, shows that it can be worthwhile. enough, rupture again becomes a hazard.
6. What is creep? Explain the behavior of a The evaluation of creep
material during creep test? All materials creep under load at all temperatures, but
Creep is deformation that occurs over a period of a very wide range of creep behaviour is revealed when
time. Under certain conditions it will, if allowed to do comparisons are made in terms of the three important
so, culminate in fracture. Generally, creep is the result parameters that describe the creep process- namely,
of an externally applied load but can also occur as the stress, temperature and time. The generalities of creep
result of self-weight. Lead sheet, when used on an behaviour are well understood, i.e. the higher the
inclined roof or vertical face, will, after a period of temperature and the higher the stress the greater is the
years, be thicker at the bottom than it is at the top; not creep rate and the shorter is the time to fracture, but
necessarily a serious matter. After extensive creep, the complete quantitative description of the creep
however, the lead will often exhibit cracks, which is behaviour of engineering materials, particularly of
more serious. complex heat resisting materials, is often lengthy and
There are thus two aspects to the creep phenomenon, complex.
one being concerned with deformation; the other with
fracture or creep rupture. A typical deformation-
limited situation is that of a blade in a steam turbine
which must not lengthen in service to the point at
which it fouls the casing. An example of a rupture-
limited situation is the tungsten filament of an electric
light bulb. Although the windings may sag due to
progressive creep strain, thereby decreasing the output
of light, the lamp does not actually fail until the coil
breaks. In many applications it is necessary to Figure 1 Conventional creep curve, showing the
consider both forms of failure. In aircraft engines, for stages of creep
example, it is deformation within prescribed limits Creep behaviour is described by the conventional
which must form the initial basis of design, but it is creep curve (Figure 1), made up of three successive
also recognized that during emergencies the service stages, viz: primary (or transient), secondary (or
conditions will for a short time be severely steady state) and tertiary. This behaviour is exhibited
exacerbated and the designer then needs to know for by all simple materials, whether metals, plastics or
how long a given part will operate under these ceramics, but complex materials may show
7
considerable variations. An engineering part should (b) Separable anode/cathode type (sep. A/C). Certain
spend the majority of its service life in the steady-state areas of the metal can be distinguished experimentally
range of creep since once the tertiary stage is entered as predominantly anodic or cathodic, although the
the creep strain accelerates rapidly to fracture. distances of separation of these areas may be as small
The strain rate during the steady-state regime is often as fractions of a milli metre. In these reactions there
described as follows: will be a macroscopic flow of charge through the

 Q  metal.
  A n exp  
 RT  (c) Interfacial anode/cathode type (interfacial A/C).
where σ is stress, T is temperature, A is a constant, n One entire interface will be the anode and the other
is the stress exponent and Q is the activation energy will be the cathode. Thus a metal/metal oxide
for creep (J/mole). These are material constants which interface might be regarded as the anode and the metal
must be determined experimentally; n typically takes oxide/oxygen interface as the cathode.
a value between 3 and 8, but may be higher. The selection of materials for resistance to
7. Critically discuss the materials selection for atmospheric corrosion:
corrosion and wear resistance of the materials? The most significant factor controlling the probability
Corrosive attack is the result of chemical reaction at of corrosive attack is whether or not an aqueous
the interface between the material and the associated electrolyte is likely to be provided by condensation of
environment. At its simplest it can be regarded in moisture under prevailing climatic conditions.
terms of a normal bulk reaction, with the free energy Clearly, hot, dry or cold, icy conditions give less
for the reaction, and the thermodynamic activity (i.e. attack than wet, as does a clean atmosphere as
effective concentration) of the reactants providing the compared to the industrial or marine atmospheres
driving force for the process, i.e. determining the containing sulphur dioxide and salt respectively. Even
stability of the system. The actual rate at which the within given areas, differing microclimates can exist
corrosion process occurs, i.e. the reaction kinetics, is as a function of direction of exposure to sun, wind and
controlled by the rates at which transport mechanisms polluting sources. In the case of sulphurous acid
operate within the reactants at a common interface and attack the effect is more noticeable in the winter,
within the corrosion product developing between when more fuel is burned and conditions are generally
them. It is difficult to classify the various types of wet.
corrosive attack. Traditionally, a broad division into The selection of materials for resistance to
'wet' and 'dry' corrosion reactions has been employed, oxidation at elevated temperatures:
determined by the presence or absence of water or an Whilst traditionally corrosion has been treated on a
aqueous solution. A more rational classification for 'wet' and 'dry' basis, 'dry' oxidation corrosion can be
metals has been given by Shreir I as follows: considered as an electrolytic process of an interfacial
(1) Film-free chemical interaction in which there is anode/cathode type. Since the corrosion rate is
direct chemical reaction of a metal with its governed by the transport of ions and electrons
environment. The metal remains film-free and there is through the produced film, equatable to a current, it is
no transport of charge. clear that the oxidation rate will be low where the
(2) Electrolytic systems: (a) Inseparable oxide film has a high electrical resistance and where it
anode/cathode (insep. A/C) type. The anodes and is not prone to mechanical rupture.
cathodes cannot be distinguished by experimental The selection of materials for resistance to
methods although their presence is postulated by corrosion in water
theory, i.e. the uniform dissolution of metals in acid, The corrosion of materials in water depends, of
alkaline or neutral aqueous solutions, in non-aqueous course, on the substances that are dissolved, or
solution or in fused salts. suspended, in it and also upon its temperature.
Dissolved oxygen is most important since in neutral
solutions it must be reduced at the cathode for the
8
corrosion reaction to proceed and it also accounts for material being preferentially attacked. The
the development of passivating oxide films, where continuation of attack will depend particularly on the
these can be produced. Since oxygen enters the nature of the corrosion product, but there will often be
system by dissolution from the air, its concentration in similarity to the conjoint action of stress and
large masses of water can vary appreciably both in corrosion, as in stress corrosion cracking and
terms of flow and depth. corrosion fatigue.
Several models have been proposed to describe the 8. What is the relationship between materials
processes occurring at moving surfaces in contact. As selection and processing? Explain?
a result of the interfacial forces there may either be There is no profit in selecting a material which offers
displacement of material at the surfaces, with a ideal properties for the job in hand only to find that it
change in shape and dimension, or else there will be cannot be manufactured economically into the
removal of material from surfaces to produce debris, required form. Processing (valueadded) costs are often
or a mixture of both. Where debris is generated the many times the basic material costs of a part and since
wear rate may be assessed as the amount of material there exists a great number and diversity of
removed per unit time or sliding distance. manufacturing processes from which to choose, each
The normal engineering finish provided on surfaces of which will give better results with some materials
cannot be regarded as truly flat. Microscopically it than with others, it is essential to match materials to
consists of asperities and depressions, which may be processes very carefully. Materials selection and
arranged randomly or in ridges, depending on the process selection go hand in hand.
finishing techniques employed. The better the finish For technical reasons, selecting a manufacturing
or polish the less will be this surface roughness. In process is frequently not an entirely free choice. Many
bringing two surfaces together the asperities will metallic a l l o y s - for example, permanent magnet
touch at only a fraction of the total nominal contact materials and advanced creep-resisting nickel-base
area and subsequent behaviour at the asperities will be alloys - are too hard and strong to be mechanically
controlled by the characteristics of the material and worked and must, therefore, be formed by casting or
the load applied. Friction results where the sliding by powder metallurgy; timber can sometimes be
forces have to act against the bonds developed shaped by steaming and bending but more normally
between contacting points. Thus in lubrication we only by cutting and adhesive joining; concrete can
seek to interpose a film of lubricant between the two only be cast; natural stone can only be cut.
surfaces, to minimize the number of points of contact, Processing also influences material properties. For
and to replace them with a system where the bonds to example, short fibre reinforced plastics will tend to
be broken are of much lower strength. display regions of anisotropy when injection moulded;
The effect of environment on wear: rolling of metals will alter the grain structure; casting
There is a very marked effect of gaseous environment conditions will influence the grain structure, and so
on wear in 'dry', unlubricated, systems. Oxidation at on. But these are not disqualifications, merely
the surface, whilst representing a degree of limitations within which the materials engineer must
degradation, may provide a protective film which work.
gives a lower coefficient of friction and less wear, and There are other limiting factors. The reasons for
atmospheres which limit or exclude oxidation may preferring one process to another should ideally be
result in increased wear. Just as the presence of oxide based on considerations that are purely technical and
can reduce the degree of metal contact, so an increase economic: unfortunately, expediency often
in temperature can increase wear by increasing supervenes. The reasons for this are manifold,
asperity deformation and thus the true area of contact. sometimes resulting from crisis situations such as
In aqueous systems there will be a combination of supply failures or trade disputes: a constant factor is
corrosion and mechanical mechanisms operating at the influence of the size and nature of the
the surface, with the mechanically worked asperity manufacturer. This reflects a conflict between the
9
flexibility and control associated with in-house These different types of aircraft cover a wide range of
production, as opposedto buying in components from design requirements. In any given case the important
specialist suppliers, and the capital equipment design-determinant factors will include range, speed
necessary to manufacture with a wide range of and altitude, maneuverability (as in air superiority
production methods. The medium-sized business, fighters), and load.
maximizing in-house production, will favour simple The life of an aircraft consists of a repeated sequence
materials and processes because of the high cost of of operations which is made up of four phases: (1)
providing narrowly-specialized and less widely useful ground, (2) take-off, (3) cruise (civil liners) or
capital equipment, an approach which lacks technical operational (military), and (4) landing.
edge. In contrast, large organizations can develop and For civil planes, take-off is the most demanding
use more advanced materials and methods, by virtue phase. It requires engines to be operated close to full
of the greater turnover. In a special category are the power and the angle of climb must be sufficient to
small specialist firms, working over a narrow range of clear all obstructions in the vicinity of the airport with
activities. High technology is often involved, a sufficient margin of safety and also to comply with
requiring advanced equipment, and their products may stringent noise abatement procedures. In contrast the
be sold widely direct to the market, or they may cruise phase, involving steady-level flight, is
service the needs of large companies, in the latter case relatively undemanding, since modern weather
with less freedom of action. forecasting methods, employing radar to detect high
9. Explain the role of material selection in moisture concentrations, enable storms to be avoided
aerospace applications? and with jet propulsion most weather problems can be
The aerospace industry is in business to provide a avoided (although not, perhaps, clear air turbulence)
means of transport, and the broad service requirement by flying in the stratosphere at, say 12,000m (7.4
to convey maximum cargo at minimum cost is the miles), where the air has only one-quarter its normal
same as for other forms of transport. However, the density. Compared with a short-range machine, a
materials problems are greatly intensified by the fact long-range aircraft spends a much higher proportion
that failure in the air is much more likely to involve of its life in the cruise mode. On the other hand a
catastrophic losses, including loss of life, than it is on military combat jet must not only be capable of a fast
the surface. take-off, but must also be prepared for the succeeding
Lifting a payload against gravity in order to transport operational phase to consist of a succession of high-
it by air is an expensive process, so that designs must speed manoeuvres with possibly an almost total
be as efficient and light as possible. The aerospace absence of steady level flight.
industry therefore makes great demands upon its As with all transport systems, the aim is to maximize
materials. Although always stringent, these demands payload in relation to cost. Costs are determined by
vary according to the nature of the intended service, what has to be paid for the carrier and its propulsion.
e.g. civil or military. Civil aircraft vary in size from Thus, any transport system consists of three
the very small single-seater plane, intended for components. These are (1) payload, consisting of the
pleasure or small-scale commercial operations such as goods and/or passengers carried; (2) the carrier, which
crop-spraying, through a wide range of increasingly includes the hull structure, control systems and crew;
large executive-type planes to the very large jumbo (3) the means of propulsion, made up of the power
transports, capable of carrying 300 or more passengers plant and the fuel. Increasing the payload means
or the equivalent quantity of freight. Military aircraft, reducing one or both of the other two in relation to the
once described either as fighters or bombers, now total weight of the aircraft. According to Page, 3 the
include a wide variety of craft ranging from the high- biggest contribution in this direction so far has been in
flying reconnaissance or 'spy' plane through increased efficiency of power-plant: whereas engine
operational transports and helicopters to the weight may formerly have been equal in weight to
supersonic or terrain- following combat aircraft.
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that of the payload it now more commonly amounts to economic to carry a smaller load if it can be carried
little more than half. faster and thereby catch a market ahead of
10. Discuss the study on materials selection with competitors. This was the case with the tea clippers,
relevance to marine applications? sailing ships designed to carry a rather small cargo of
A ship is a carrier, constructed as a hollow shell tea as fast as the wind could be made to take them.
designed to move its payload at suitable speeds from However, sailing ships pay nothing for their motive
one place to another. The shape and characteristics of power; in contrast, powering modern commercial
the ship are determined mainly by the nature of the cargo vessels requires expensive fuels, where
materials to be carried (which include liquid and solid maintaining high speeds lowers efficiency of fuel use.
cargo, passengers, or the means to conduct warfare), Speed therefore gives way in importance to carrying
but also to some extent by the temperament of the capacity and hull design differs accordingly.
waterway involved. 11. What is the criterion to be considered for the
For maximum structural efficiency a vessel should be selection of materials in nuclear applications?
spherical, and this shape is commonly used for static Explain?
containers. For transport purposes a more convenient There are many different sources of energy and a wide
shape is the cylinder and moving vessels which are range of methods and machinery is employed
totally submerged in the fluid medium which supports harnessing them to produce power for propulsion,
them, such as airships and submarines, approximate to light and heat the critical parts of internal combustion
a cylindrical shape. engines operate at very high temperatures but are
However, surface ships operate at the interface mostly small, whereas a water turbine or a tide mill
between two media of differing density (water and are large but operate at normal atmospheric
air), and are therefore subject to the interaction temperatures. On the other hand, a steam turbine, with
between them - determination of the most suitable its associated equipment, combines both hazards since
shape is therefore a complex matter for which there is it is large and hot. The working fluid of an internal
no comprehensive theory. The shape in the forward combustion engine is air (together with the products
part of a ship must take account of the need to cut of combustion) rather than steam, maximum operating
through rough water and yet have sufficient buoyancy temperatures are much higher. Gas turbine entry
to cope with the action of waves. The major part of temperatures now approach 1350~ (2462~ 2 and
the hull must have good carrying capacity but must materials development has been largely responsible
also be shaped to provide inherent resistance to for this improvement over the 700~ (1292~ of the
rotational instabilities (rolling and pitching) since Whittle W1 engine in 1941. Combustion within a
ancillary stabilizing devices not only reduce speed cylinder closed by a piston allows the reciprocating
through the water but also have limited effectiveness. internal combustion engine to develop even higher
The shape can be assessed approximately in terms of temperatures - in excess of 2000 (3632~ - but since it
the block coefficient, is difficult in practice to lower exhaust temperatures
the ratio of the actual volume of the hull below the much below 500~ (932~ Carnot efficiencies cannot
waterline to that of the rectangular box having the greatly exceed 70%. Further, such high temperatures
same principal dimensions of length, depth and mean that external engine cooling is necessary so that
breadth. Passenger liners may have a block coefficient actual efficiencies may be nearer 40%. In contrast,
as low as 0.55, whereas the corresponding figure for a every effort is made to reduce heat losses from steam
tanker could be 0.85. machines; even so, measured efficiencies are still
Thus, for the same principal dimensions, faster ships much lower than those of the internal combustion
tend to have a smaller volume available for the engine.
payload. In some circumstances this can be acceptable The difficulties posed by large size are of two sorts.
because, although it is normally desirable to maximize First, it is frequently not easy to find methods of
payload in relation to overall weight, it is sometimes manufacture and treatment that will confer adequate
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and uniform properties on pieces of very large size. bringing out new models and new body shapes more
Where cross-sections of castings are large there is frequently.
always the risk of unsoundness and compositional Aluminium and its alloys
heterogeneity, whilst efforts to minimize section The economics for recycling aluminium are
thickness inevitably increase complexity. Large particularly attractive, as it takes about one-fifth of the
wrought pieces require still larger forging presses original energy required to remanufacture the same
capable of imposing the forces required to effect the amount from scrap 7. This factor, together with the
required deformation and compaction. This alone has corrosion resistance and potential for weight savings,
sometimes been sufficient to limit designed sizes of has resulted in considerable interest in the use of
steam turbine and alternator rotors. aluminium in primary structure applications.
12. Discuss the case study in materials selection for For the primary structure of unitary bodied cars (i.e.
automotive industry? car bodies assembled from about 300 press-formed
The car body and main associated structural panels - the standard production method), it is typical
components are used to emphasize the competition to to select alloys from the A1- Mg 5xxx wrought alloy
steel from aluminium and composite materials, series of work-hardened non-heat-treatable materials.
particularly in the area of body panels. The original alloy chosen was 5251, but this has now
The use of steel been superseded by a high-formability variant of
Current technology for the manufacture of car bodies 5754, as alloys from the 5xxx series can form Luders
has been primarily developed around thelong- bands or 'Stretcher strain' markings which spoil the
established use of mild steel, but changes are taking surface appearance.
place, both in the progression to the use of higher Corrosion damage to automobiles
strength steels and also with the substitution of the There are two particular accelerators in relation to
alternatives, aluminium sheet alloys and polymer steel motor vehicle corrosion-differential aeration and
moldings. Motivation has been in relation to fuel road de-icing salts. The presence of crevices,
economy and performance through reduced weight, in particularly at weld lines between body panels and the
improved durability and ease of maintenance, and accumulation of damp road dirt on retaining surfaces
improved safety in the context of increasingly severe will lead to differential aeration and galvanic action
safety standards. A 10% reduction in vehicle weight, with anodes created where oxygen access is restricted
for example, results in fuel savings of ,,,7% in the city most particularly in the presence of salt as a low
and 4% on longer journeys resistance electrolyte. McArthur 11 places particular
The introduction of plastics emphasis on the role of de-icing salts, maintaining
The use of plastics goes beyond semi-structural that under conditions of restricted front air entry, as
applications, and there are several reasons for the shift controlled by passengers, high speeds cause reduced
from steel to materials with higher specific properties. pressure in the car and replacement air to be drawn in
First, automotive manufacturers are under increasing through the bottom of the doors, sills and rear panels
pressure to make cars lighter and more fuel efficient. at drainage and inside-section paint processing holes.
Increasing safety standards, however, are adding to These are directly over the front wheel track where
the weight of cars, for example, the widespread dense salty mists are formed, some of which can be
introduction of airbags. This increases the need to drawn into the hollow sections, producing aggressive
reduce structural weight. Second, improvements in microclimates internally. He also points out that the
materials and manufacturing technologies have salt is hygroscopic and will thus maintain a moist
simplified assembly with lightweight materials, environment at the point of deposition over a wide
making them very competitive with steel, with the range of atmospheric condition.
potential to increase productivity and lower
manufacturing costs. Third, manufacturers are always ALL THE BEST
looking to shorten product development cycles,
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