ME19309, Materials Technology

Handout #01
Unit I, Materials Structure, Mechanical Properties and Metallography
Classification of engineering materials
Appropriate selection of material for intended use is the core competence of engineer. If
wrong material is selected for manufacturing a product, product will not be able to perform
its function appropriately or will fail prematurely.
To understand the materials behaviour, we need to classify them systematically. Following
figure shows the classification of engineering materials.
Metals
• Atoms in metals and their alloys are arranged in a very orderly manner and in
comparison to the ceramics and polymers, are relatively dense
• Good mechanical properties
• Generally strong & stiff
• Have heat and electrical conductivity due to availability of free electrons
• Ductile and have good resistance to fracture
• In solid state at RT (Except Hg)
• Crystalline in structure
• Some metals show magnetic properties
• Useful to make structural parts of product/ machine/ equipment
• Some give response to heat treatments and certain properties can be modified

Ceramic Materials
Ceramics are compounds between metallic and nonmetallic elements;
• They are most frequently oxides, nitrides, and carbides (Alumina,Al2O3, silicon
dioxide, silica, SiO2), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (Si3N4), traditional ceramics
composed of clay minerals, porcelain, cement, glass).
• Ceramics are typically very hard and extremely brittle (lack ductility),
• High susceptibility to fracture
• These materials are typically insulative to the passage of electricity (extremely low heat
and electrical conductivities)
• Highly resistant to high temperatures and harsh environments than metals and
polymers.
• With regard to optical characteristics, ceramics may be transparent, translucent, or
opaque
Polymers
• Polymers include various plastics materials.
• Many of them are organic compounds that are chemically based on carbon,
hydrogen, and other nonmetallic elements (viz.O,N, and Si).
• Typically polymers have large molecular structures in chain form
• Some of the common and familiar polymers are polyethylene (PE), nylon, poly vinyl
chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS)
 • These materials typically have low densities
• Mechanical characteristics are not similar to the metallic and ceramic materials
• Not as stiff nor as strong as these other material types
• No/ Low electrical conductivity
• Excellent formability by moulding
• Non Magnetic
• Resistance to environmental corrosion is good
• Some polymers soften on heating, some harden

Semi-conductors
• Materials having electrical properties which are intermediate between the electrical
conductors (like metals/ alloys) and insulators (ceramics/ polymers)
• The presence of impurities in these materials greatly affect on their electrical behaviour.
• They form the basis of modern electronics integrated circuitry

Bio Materials
• Biomaterials are used for implants into the human body for replacement of diseased or
damaged body parts.
• These materials must be accepted by human body and shall not produce toxic
substances
• Some metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and semiconductors are used to produce
implants

Smart materials
• These materials are able to sense changes in their environments and then respond to
these changes in predetermined manners
• This is possible by virtue of properties of some constituent material
• As a response the change in material may be change shape, position, natural frequency,
or mechanical characteristics in response to changes in temperature, electric fields,
and/or magnetic fields.
• Four types of materials can act as smart materials - shape memory alloys, piezoelectric
ceramics, magnetorheological materials, and electrorheological/magnetorheological
fluids.
 • In Shape memory alloys, the deformed material, reverts back to original shapes when
temperature is changed.
• Piezoelectric ceramics expand and contract in response to an applied electric field (or
voltage)or may develop an electric field when their dimensions are changed
• Magneto-rheological materials are a class of smart materials that can convert energy
between the magnetic and elastic states.
• Electrorheological (ER) and magnetorheological (MR) fluids, which can be
transformed from the liquid state into the solid state in milliseconds by applying an
electric or a magnetic field,

Composite Materials
• A combination of two (or more) dissimilar materials, such as metals, ceramics, and
polymers in specific form is called composites.
• The resulting material shows superior combination of properties from both materials.
• A large number of composite types exist that are represented by different combinations
of metals, ceramics, and polymers.
• Examples: fiberglass (glass fibers present in matrix of a polymeric material such as
epoxy resin or polyester).
• carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite used in aerospace applications,
manufacture of sporting equipment

Nano Materials
• The “nano” denotes that the dimensions of structural building blocks of these materials
are of the order of a nanometer (10-9 m)—as a rule, less than 100 nanometers (equivalent
to about 500 atom diameters)
• Example carbon nanotube

Exercise:
Find out at least two products which are manufactured from above classified materials
 ME19309, Materials Technology
Handout #02
Unit I, Materials Structure, Mechanical Properties and Metallography
Mechanical Properties of Materials
• Mechanical properties of materials are the characteristics of material which describe
the way in which material behaves / responds to the external loading conditions-(static
or fluctuating).
• Mechanical properties are the most important technical factors governing selection of
material for any application.
• Service conditions, functional requirements decide the requirements

Exercise
List at least ten products/ parts. Write down the major performance/ functional
requirement of that part and identify the related mechanical property.

Sr Part/ Product Requirement Related Mechanical