PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF BRITTLENESS

MATERIALS - A material is said to be brittle if it cannot undergo

elastic or plastic deformation, but it breaks under
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES & CHARACTERISTICS external force.
- Physical properties of material are those which can be - Glass, cast iron etc. are brittle materials.
observed without change of identity of material. - This property is opposite to ductility.
- Physical properties of metals are density, color, size and HARDNESS
shape, specific gravity of material, porosity. - It is the ability of a material to resist scratching, wear
and abrasion.
DENSITY OF MATERIAL - Hardness is the ability of a material to cut another
- Density is one of most fundamental physical properties material.
of any material. Density of material is defined as mass - This property is used in selection of cutting tool
per unit volume. materials.
- It is defined as ratio of mass volume of material. It is TOUGHNESS
denoted by “p”. Its unit in SI system is KG/m3. - It is the property of a material to resist fracture due to
- Density is an important in many calculations because high impact loads like hammer blow and to absorb
most designs are limited by either size or weight. certain energy.
- It is measured in terms of energy absorbed per unit
SIZE, SHAPE, AND COLOR OF MATERIAL volume before it fractures.
- Dimension of any metal reflect shape and size of - Materials having good toughness are cast iron, high
material, length, width, height, depth etc. Also, it carbon steel, ceramics etc.
determines specific rectangular, circular, spherical, or RESILIENCE
any other section. - It is the ability of a material to absorb or store energy
when it is subjected to impact loads and shocks.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF MATERIAL - Material releases the stored energy on removal of load.
- It is defined as ratio of density of material with respect - This property is necessary for spring materials.
to density of reference material or substance. CREEP
- It does not have any unit. Sometimes it is also called as - When a part is subjected to a constant stress at high
relative density. For gravity calculation water is
temperature for a period of time, it will undergo a slow
considered as reference substance. and permanent deformation is known as creep.
- This property is useful for machine components
POROSITY OF MATERIAL
subjected to high temperatures like boilers, turbines, IC
- When material is in melting condition, it contains some
engines etc.
dissolved gases within material.
- When material is solidifies these gases get evaporate
and leave behind voids. Porosity of materials represents FATIGUE
quantity of voids in solid materials.
- A material fails at stresses below the yield point when it
is subjected to repeated cyclic loads.
MECHANICAL PROPERTY OF MATERIAL
- In fatigue failure the maximum stress developed in each
- Mechanical properties of material help us to measure cycle is within elastic limit.
how materials behave under load. In order to achieve
- Common examples of parts due to fatigue failure are
optimal system performance, mechanical properties
shafts, connecting rod, gears, springs etc.
include density, hardness and elasticity.
CORROSION RESIST
- Mechanical properties of material reflect relationship
- Corrosion is the gradual destruction of the metal due to
between its response to and deformation from an applied
its exposure to moisture, acids, and other chemicals.
load or force.
- Corrosion resistance is the property of the material to
- Properties of materials that find out its behavior under
resist the corrosion.
applied forces are called mechanical properties.
THERMAL PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF
STRENGTH
MATERIAL
- It is the ability of a material to resist the external forces
- Thermal properties of engineering materials are diverse
without breaking.
and so their uses in different applications. Thermal
- The strength of material depends on types of loading. properties are those properties of material which is
- Various types of strength like tensile, compressive, related to its conductivity of heat.
shear etc. - Thermal properties of material refer to characteristic
behaviors of material under thermal load. Other than
these properties, they do play an important role because
of their physical properties.
STIFFNESS  THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
- It is the ability of a material to resist deformation under - Thermal conductivity can be defined as the rate at which
the action of external forces. heat is transferred by conduction through a unit cross-
- Stiffness is measured by elasticity. section area of a material, when a temperature gradient
ELASTICITY exits perpendicular to the area.
- It is the ability of material to return to its original shape  THERMAL EXPANSION
and size after removal of load. - Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change
- This property is desirable for tool materials. its shape, area, volume, and density in response to a
PLASTICITY change in temperature, usually not including phase
- It is the ability of material to be deformed permanently transitions.
without fracture after removal of load.  SPECIFIC HEAT
- Plastic deformation will take place only when it exceeds - The specific heat is the amount of heat per unit mass
the elastic limit. required to raise the temperature by one degree Celsius.
DUCTILITY - The relationship between heat and temperature change is
- It is the property of a material which enables it to be usually expressed in the form shown on the side where c
drawn into thin wires under tensile force. is the specific heat.
- It is measured by percentage elongation. - The relationship does not apply if a phase change is
- Gold, silver, copper, aluminum, mild steel etc. are encountered, because the heat added or removed during
ductile materials. a phase change does not change the temperature.
MALLEABILITY  MELTING POINT
- It is the property of material by virtue of which it can be - Melting point is temperature at which material goes
flattened or bent without cracking when hammered. from solid to liquid state at one atmosphere.
- Gold, silver, copper, aluminum, lead etc. are malleable - Melting point states as transition point between solid
materials. and liquid phases.
- A malleable material may not be ductile. i.e. lead.
 - Melting point is temperature at which pure metal or When light falls on a material, several processes such as
compound changes its state from solid to liquid. reflection, refraction, absorption, scattering etc.
- Melting temperature depends on inter-atomic and
intermolecular bonds nature. REFRACTION
- Therefore higher melting temperature is show by those - When light photons are transmitted through a material,
materials possessing stronger bonds. Covalent, ionic, they causes polarization of the electrons in the material
metallic and molecular are types of solids and they and by interacting with the polarized materials, photons
decrease order of bonding strength and melting point. lose some of their energy. As a result of this, the speed
of light is reduced and the beam of light changes
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS direction.
- Electrical properties are their ability to conduct
electrical current. Various electrical properties are ABSORPTION
resistivity, Electrical conductivity, temperature - When a light beam is strike on a material surface,
coefficient of resistance, dielectric strength and portion of the incident beam that is not reflected by the
thermoelectricity. material is either absorbed or transmitted through the
 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY material. The fraction of beam that is absorbed is related
- It is property of material which resists to the thickness of the materials and the manner in
flow of electric current through material. which the photons interact with the material’s structure.
 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY
- parameter which indicates that how easily REFLECTION
electric current can flow through material. - When a beam of photons strikes a material, some of the
Conductivity of material is give and take light is scattered at the interface between that we media
of resistivity. even if both are transparent. Reflectivity, R, is a
- Electrical conductivity is very useful measure of fraction of incident light which is reflected at
property since values are affected by such the interface.
things.
 DIELECTRIC STRENGTH SCATTERING
- It is property of material which indicates - Here photon interacts with the electron orbiting around
ability of material to withstand at high an atom and is deflected without any change in photon
voltages. energy. This is more vital for high atomic number atoms
 TEMPERATURE OF COEFFICIENT OF and low photon energies. Ex. Blue colour in the sunlight
RESISTANCE gets scattered more than other colors in the visible
- Temperature coefficient of resistance of spectrum and thus making sky look blue.
material indicates change in resistance of material
with change in temperature.
- Resistance of conductor changes with
change of temperature. As noted above,
electrical conductivity values are reported
at 20 degrees centigrade.
 THERMOELECTRICITY
- If link formed by joining to two metals is
heated, a small voltage of millivolt is
produced. This effect is called
thermoelectricity or thermoelectric effect.
- This effect forms basis of operation of
thermocouples and some temperature-
based transducers.

MAGNETIC PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

- Magnetic properties of material are those which
determine ability of material for particular magnetic
application.
- The magnetic property of a material is the atomic or
subatomic response a material to an applied
magnetic field wherein the electron spin and charge
create a dipole moment and a magnetic field.
PERMEABILITY
- It is property of magnetic material which indicates
that how easily magnetic flux is build up in
material. It is determined by ratio of magnetic flux
density to magnetizing force producing this
magnetic flux density.
HYSTERESIS
- Magnetic Hysteresis is an important material by
which is firstly becomes magnetized and then de-
magnetization process.
- Lack of retrace ability of magnetization curve is
called hysteresis and is related to existence of
magnetic domains in material.
- Magnetic hysteresis is rising temperature at which
given material ceases to be ferromagnetic, or falling
temperature at which it becomes magnetic.
COERCIVE FORCE
- This force defined as magnetizing force which is
essential to neutralize completely magnetism in an
electromagnet after value of magnetizing force
become zero.

OPTICAL PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISRICS

- Optical properties that define material response to
incident radiation can be described as transmission,
reflection, and absorption.
- It deals with the response of a material against exposure
to electromagnetic radiations, especially to visible light.