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The Challenge to Teach Materials Engineering

Conference Paper · May 2017

DOI: 10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32

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 The European Proceedings of
Social & Behavioural Sciences
EpSBS

Future Academy ISSN: 2357-1330

http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32

Edu World 2016

7th International Conference

THE CHALLENGE TO TEACH MATERIALS ENGINEERING

Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu (a)*

*Corresponding author

(a) Univeristy of Pitesti, Pitesti, Romania, [email protected]

Abstract

Materials science and engineering combine science and engineering of creation and processing
materials, and adapting their properties. Knowledge concerning materials are needed in the economic
activity carried out for the production of industrial goods, such as the manufacturing processes,
contributing to their rational use, energy saving and environmental protection, to the development of
processing procedures simpler, more direct. The competences accomplished in the fields of engineering
require knowledge in the area of materials (structure and properties) as well the requirement to
permanently learning, about the progress made by the new materials and technologies. Design engineer
must have an opening at new, or at least to keep up with his time, using materials with properties
appropriate, affordable and with an index of use as good, in accordance with their limitations and
performance. The engineer must take into account the permanent processing properties of materials and
the influence of processing on the structure and properties. Only appropriate knowledge of materials,
permanent taking into account the relationship composition-microstructure-property, can ensure a fair
use.

© 2017 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk

Keywords: Materials; properties; knowledge; ability; competences.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0
Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32
Corresponding Author: Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference
eISSN: 2357-1330

1. Introduction
From historical experience of various human communities it shows that a material is especially
important for a society since it can be used on a larger scale. Spectacular progress that it has achieved the
materials science in recent decades, supported by technology and industrialization of certain materials,
have made possible the use of high performance materials in place of the classics and the rise of the index
to use traditional materials. The figure 1 illustrates the evolution of materials in human society.

Fig.1. The evolution of materials in human society

In the future, to deal with the shortage of materials, the project engineer must consider both a
functional design, with a high material utilization, as well as the possibilities of replacing the deficient
materials with new materials or recycling and the classics (Ashby, Bréchet, Salvo, 2001). It is essential
that the engineer possess basic knowledge regarding material properties and limits for the correct choice
and use of them at a higher index, so as to satisfy the requirements of operation, economic and aesthetic
properties of the product. In recent years the European Commission has placed special focus on how six
‘Key Enabling Technologies’ (Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing, Nanotechnologies,
Photonics, Industrial Biotechnologies, and Micro- and Nano-electronics. Materials science and
engineering combines science and engineering of making and processing materials, and adapting their
properties. The social challenges of urbanisation, resource reduction and climate change, demand for a
friendly environment and more sustainable economy. The atomic structure and chemical composition
were the main focuses of materials science research. However, over the last few decades, this focus has
changed considerably as analytical chemistry, the electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and
spectrometry have been developed so as to can analyse materials with accuracy. Because scientists can
now understand what materials are made of (chemical composition) and how they work (physical
properties), the main attention of materials science has shifted to understanding how materials can be

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http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32
Corresponding Author: Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference
eISSN: 2357-1330

improved and what new materials can be developed to meet society’s needs. These scientific advances
caused a revolution in knowledge in materials.

2. The Importance of Knowing the Classification of Materials

Objective reality which surrounds us, existing independently of our consciousness, but reflected in
it in various forms, is made up of matter. It manifests itself in various forms of concrete known as generic
materials. These are characterized by their behaviour in the transformation process (technological
properties) and during their use in the form of finished products (properties of use and aesthetics).Always,
the materials were crucial for the production of goods necessary for human communities. Therefore, the
diversity and level of their processing could constitute criteria for characterizing the level of civilization
of a social group at a time. For some useful objects, the materials are used in the form of: substances, raw
materials and finished products.
If, in order to pass from stone to metal, human communities had tens of thousands of years, for
discovering and inventing various range of materials that come in contact, people had only need two,
three centuries of searching and sometimes stronger nor both. The continuation of this work requires a
systematic study on the classification criteria and characterization, which must correspond to the best the
demands imposed by technological development and the increasingly complex demands of industrial
products. In the diagram in figure 2 are presented the most important of these criteria (chemical
composition, degree of processing, field of use, properties).

Fig. 2. Classification criteria and characterization of materials

Knowledge concerning materials are needed in the economic activity carried out for the
production of industrial goods, such as the manufacturing processes, contributing to their rational use,
energy saving and environmental protection, to the development of processing procedures simpler, more
direct.

252
http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32
Corresponding Author: Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference
eISSN: 2357-1330

Grouping in organic and inorganic materials can be satisfactory in a first phase of study, but to
have a more complete picture of them-must be taken into consideration and processing technologies most
appropriate to achieve a finished product.
At present, we can say that the material is only a possibility of obtaining the necessary
characteristics of the finished product, the processing technology that ensures the level of being taxed
property contemplated by the user. In other words, the material turns into finished products in accordance
with the general level of knowledge of the human community that uses them, as a result of processing,
more or less complex, brought together in the form of a manufacturing process. Spectacular progress that
it has achieved the materials science in recent decades, supported by technology and industrialization of
certain materials, have made possible the use of high performance materials in place of the classics and
the increase of the index to use traditional materials. In the present society, the volume of information is
impressive. It is essential that the engineer possess basic knowledge regarding material properties and
limits for the correct choice and use of them at a higher index, so as to satisfy the requirements of
operation, economic and aesthetic properties of the product (Materials Science and Engineering Expert
Committee, 2013).

3. The Importance to Understand Principal Properties of Materials

Means that it is interesting for a human community, at one point, because of the type and level of
their determinable value, either in surface area, either in body mass resulted from the processing carried
out in the production process (Ashby, Shercliff, & Cebon, 2007).
The classification criterion of the characteristics of a material is given by their nature. From this
point of view, intrinsic properties differ (which is due to the intimate structure of the material) and
extrinsic properties or assigned. In the first category are part of the physical properties and chemical
properties (fig. 3), and since the second technological properties and properties to use. Physical properties
take into account interactions between bodies and physical phenomena from the environment. Thus, the
optical properties show bright radiation interaction: insofar as they are absorbed or reflected certain
wavelengths of light, of bodies have certain colours can be glossy or mate. In terms of thermal properties
(thermal conductivity, specific heat, dilation, refraction), the electric (conductivity, resistivity,
respectively) or magnetic (magnetic susceptibility, magnetization intensity, magnetic induction, magnetic
permeability, etc.), they are strongly dependent on the properties of the material (metal, polymer, ceramic,
etc.), i.e. the type of atoms, how links between them, etc.
Given the current technological development, in which hot processing and/or magnetic field are
increasingly used, knowledge of these properties became especially important for the manufacture of
industrial products in conditions of maximum efficiency.
From the point of view of machinery construction and equipment/machines, a special place in this
group of properties they occupy mechanical properties: hardness, resistance to damage by static or
dynamic requests, tenacity, creep, elasticity and plasticity, etc. Physical properties are of great practical
importance because they derive most of their technological properties and usage.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32
Corresponding Author: Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference
eISSN: 2357-1330

Fig.3. Intrinsic properties of materials

In table 1 are presented some of the properties that the materials used in machine building industry
machinery and equipment need to have frequently, their value is strongly dependent of their intrinsic
structure. It is put in evidence the importance of mechanical properties for both processing operations and
use of the finished product. A material which has low hardness in surface area will be machined with a
machining work differently for a material with high surface hardness. Similarly, in service, the product
with low hardness will not be able to be used in operating conditions requiring a good resistance to wear
(for example: in the manufacture of gear wheels), these two characteristics being intertwined. The
material with low hardness can be used if superficial hardness increased his need. The best complex of
mechanical properties of resistance is at metallic materials, which explains their use at very wide-ranging
scale (intensively and extensively). This does not mean that at the other materials (composite materials,
plastics, hard materials, etc.) is not partially achieving some aspects of this group of properties (Dobrescu,
Plaiasu, & Denape, 2008).

Tabel 01. Properties of materials

Nr. Properties needed in:
Crt. Name of the property shallow depth area
1. Breaking strengt x
2. Wear resistance x
3. Damping capacity of mechanical x
applications
4. Tenacity/Resilience x
5. Resistance to fatigue x
6. Hardness x
7. Weldability x
8. Density x
9. Deformation x
10. Machinability flang x
11. Surface quality x
12. Heat conductivity x
13. Electrical conductivity x

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http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32
Corresponding Author: Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference
eISSN: 2357-1330

The materials science engineering has to develop the following professional skills:
1. defining the principles and the basics on the materials used in industry;
2. using knowledge of engineering materials for the achievement of the correlation
composition - microstructures - properties;
3. explain the characteristics of the physical and mechanics properties, comprehend the
technological process by various means, distinguish the resistance to the conditions of
operation of materials, depending on preparation and microstructure;
4. appropriate use criteria and standard methods of assessment in the state of the art of
engineering materials for the identification, analysis and control of the quality of the
materials, comprehend the phenomena which appear in various conditions of use,
5. assessment of the defining parameters leading to change properties in specific processes.
The transversal competences which have to be achieved are:
1. development of the capacity to documentary and permanent upgrade of knowledge
on the progress of the traditional materials and the development of new materials
with applications for specific areas;
2. the capacity of synthesis and the correlation between the fundamental knowledge
required for certain applications technological developments;
3. the capacity of organization and the autonomy correlated to the ability to be
integrated and to work in a team;
4. using a computer, software tools in the characterisation and the choice of materials;
5. the capacity to achieve a synthesis bibliographical reference;
6. cultivation of the values and ethics of the profession of engineer.

Learning the basic concepts required on the structure, material properties and criteria for choosing
materials and concepts on materials are the starting knowledge has to acquire a future engineer (Tudor,
2015, p. 985).

4. Conclusions
It may be concluded that a material behaves in a certain way during processing (transformation) to
which it is subjected or service (as a finished product), according to its specific properties/features. The
design of an installation or a product demands a combination of materials. From the large number of
possibilities and combinations, the designer must choose the combination most suited to its objective and
avoid the occurrence of accidents. The competences accomplished in the fields of engineering require
knowledge in the area of materials (structure and properties) as well the requirement to permanently
learning, about the progress made by the new materials and technologies. For the graduates what they will
be working on in design, the knowledge gained will allow them to choose the correct materials in
accordance with the requests of the operation, the interaction with the environmental factors, technologies
available processing and in economic favourable conditions.

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 http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.05.02.32
Corresponding Author: Adriana-Gabriela Plaiașu
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference
eISSN: 2357-1330

References

Ashby, M., Bréchet, Y., & Salvo, L. (2001). Sélection des matériaux et des procédés de mise en oeuvre.
Lausanne: Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, Retrived from
https://books.google.fr/books/about/Selection_des_materiaux.
Ashby, M., Shercliff, H., & Cebon, D. (2007). Materials: engineering, science, processing and design.
Oxford: Elsevier, Retrived from
www.academia.edu/10546976/Materials_Engineering_Science_Processing_and_Design.
Dobrescu, R.N., Plaiasu, A.G., & Denape, J. (2008). Stiinta si ingineria materialelor. Pitesti: Editura
Universitatii din Pitesti.
Materials Science and Engineering Expert Committee. (2013). Materials Science and Engineering in
Europe: Challenges and Opportunities. Printing: Ireg – Strasbourg, www.esf.org/matseec.
Tudor, S.L. (2015). The Role of School Activities in Training /Development of the Professional Skills
Specific for the Teaching Profession, in Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180, 984-989.

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