 Major group of materials
 Metals
 Metals are comparatively malleable, optically reflective,
and electrically conductive. Most metals and alloys are
easily shaped by forming. Their disassociate electron
bonding makes them excellent conductors of electricity and
heat. Almost all metals have an orderly arrangement of
atoms, resulting in a crystalline structure that may have
multiple crystal phases bordering each other.
 Ceramic
 A ceramic is a non-metallic material composed of inorganic
molecules, normally prepared by heating a powder or
slurry. Many common ceramics are made up of oxides or
nitride compounds and are highly crystalline with long-
range molecular order. Some ceramics are partially or fully
amorphous, with no long-range molecular order; these are
typically classified as glassy materials.
 Composites
 are mixtures of two or more bonded materials. Composites
are the mixture of multiple materials, which in combination
offer superior properties to the materials alone. Structural
composites usually refer to the use of fibers which are
embedded in a plastic. These composites offer high strength
with very little weight.
 polymers
 Natural polymers include such materials as silk, shellac,
bitumen, rubber, and cellulose. However, the majority of
polymers or plastics used for engineering design
are synthetic and often they are specifically formulated or
“designed” by chemists or chemical engineers to serve a
specific purpose.
 Mechanical properties
 Brittleness: Ability of a material to break or shatter without
significant deformation when under stress; opposite of
plasticity,examples:glass,concrete,castiron,ceramics etc.
 Bulk modulus: Ratio of pressure to volumetric compression
(GPa) or ratio of the infinitesimal pressure increase to the
resulting relative decrease of the volume. brass has highest
bulk modulus of 116 GPa.
 Coefficient of restitution:the ratio of the final to initial
relative velocity between two objects after they collide.
Range : 0-1, 1 for perfectly elastic collision.
 Compressive strength: Maximum stress a material can
withstand before compressive failure (MPa)
 Creep: The slow and gradual deformation of an object with
respect to time
 Ductility: Ability of a material to deform under tensile load
(% elongation)
 Durability: Ability to withstand wear, pressure, or damage;
hard-wearing.
 Elasticity: Ability of a body to resist a distorting influence
or stress and to return to its original size and shape when
the stress is removed
 Fatigue limit: Maximum stress a material can withstand
under repeated loading (MPa)
 Flexibility: Ability of an object to bend or deform in
response to an applied force; pliability; complementary to
stiffness
 Flexural strength : The stresses in a material just before it
yields.
 Fracture toughness: Ability of a material containing a crack
to resist fracture (J/m^2)
 Hardness: Ability to withstand surface indentation and
scratching (e.g. Brinnell hardness number)
 Malleability: Ability of the material to be flattened into thin
sheets under applications of heavy compressive forces
without cracking by hot or cold working means.
 Mass diffusivity: Ability of one substance to diffuse through
another
 Plasticity: Ability of a material to undergo irreversible or
permanent deformations without breaking or rupturing;
opposite of brittleness.
 difference between tensile and compressive stress
 Tensile Stress
 Tensile stress is a quantity associated with stretching or
tensile forces. Usually, tensile stress is defined as the force
per unit area and denoted by the symbol σ. The tensile
stress (σ) that develops when an external stretching force
(F) is applied on an object is given by σ = F/A where A is
the cross sectional area of the object. Therefore, the SI unit
of measuring tensile stress is Nm-2 or Pa. Higher the load
or tensile force, higher the tensile stress.
 Compressive Stress
 Compressive stress is the opposite of tensile stress. An
object experiences a compressive stress when a squeezing
force is applied on the object. So, an object subjected to a
compressive stress is shortened. Compressive stress is also
defined as the force per unit area and denoted by the symbol
σ. The compressive stress (σ) that develops when an
external compressive or squeezing force (F) is applied on an
object is given by σ = F/A. Higher the compressive force,
higher the compressive stress.
 major thermal factors to consider when selecting a
material
 Operating TemperatureTemperature
 Temperature is often the first—and sometimes the only—
data point given upon which one is supposed to base alloy
selection. However, one cannot successfully choose an
alloy based on temperature alone. Nevertheless, one simple
guide to alloy selection is an estimate of the maximum
temperature at which a given alloy might have useful long-
term engineering properties. Considering oxidation in air as
the limiting factor, several common alloys, in plate form,
rate as shown in Table 1. Thin sheets will have a lower
limiting temperature because of proportionally greater
losses from oxidation.
 Thermal Stability
 After long exposure to temperatures in the range of 1,100-
1,600°F (590-870°C), many of the higher chromium alloys
precipitate a brittle intermetallic compound known as sigma
phase. Molybdenum contributes to this phase. Sigma
reduces room-temperature impact strength and ductility.
The quantity and morphology of the sigma phase
determines severity of embrittlement. Usually the metal is
brittle only near room temperature, and it retains reasonable
ductility at operating temperatures between 600-1000°F
(315-540°C). Higher nickel grades, such as N08811,
N08330, N06600 or N06601, are not susceptible to
embrittlement by sigma. Because of higher carbon content,
which causes carbide precipitation, cast heat-resistant alloys
lose ductility in service.
 Thermal Expansion
 A major cause of distortion and cracking in high-
temperature equipment is failure to adequately address the
issue of thermal expansion, and differential thermal
expansion. Temperature gradients of only 200°F (110°C)
are sufficient to strain metals beyond the yield point.
 Galling
 Austenitic nickel alloys tend to gall when they slide against
each other. At elevated temperatures, cobalt oxide tends to
be somewhat lubricious. Cobalt or alloys with high cobalt
content, such as cast Super-therm, are resistant to galling at
red heat. For heat treat furnace applications up through
1650°F, Nitronic® 6010 (S21800) has resisted galling well.
 Thermal conductivity of material
 Factors describe the overall
thermal performance of a building.
 Most common form of chemical degradation
 Chemically mediated degradation can be divided into 3
basic classifications:
 aqueous,
 high temperature and,
 biochemical/biological.
o Aqueous degradation involves damage by water, salt water
or acids to metals, which either rust or dissolve. Water and
acids can also damage non-metals e.g. strong acids rapidly
attack concrete. High temperature corrosion is endemic to
any metal used at high temperature and is in fundamental
terms a form of burning although the protective effect of
oxide layers usually prevents rapid destruction of metal
from occuring. Molten metals and salts can be very
destructive solvents of metals
 Stages in a material’s life cycle that are considered when
calculating embodied energy
 Embodied energy is the total energy required for the
extraction, processing, manufacture and delivery of
building materials to the building site.
 The process of assessing embodied energy involves
measuring or estimating the total energy consumed in the
life-cycle of a product.
 A further complication is the concept of ‘embodied carbon’.
This refers to the carbon dioxide emitted as a consequence
of sourcing and processing materials or products, concerned
with mechanical and chemical operations and the by-
products these create.
 Embodied energy is measured as the quantity of non-
renewable energy per unit of building material, component
or system. The units of measurement for embodied
energy are represented as megajoule per kilogram (MJ/kg).
This is the energy density of a material. Embodied
energy can also be expressed in terms of MJ/m2.
 The measurement process involves assessing the relevant
production means, which may include but is not limited to:
 Extraction.
 Manufacturing (including the energy to manufacture
capital equipment, heating and lighting of factories, and so
on)
 Transportation.
 Construction.
 Maintenance.
 Disposal.
 The full measure of the energy processes involved in the
various stages of a product's life is often referred to as
'cradle-to-grave'. However, the embodied
energy of products is often specified in terms of 'cradle-to-
gate’, that is, the energy consumed until the product leaves
the factory gate. An alternative measure is ‘cradle-to-site’,
which is the energy consumed until the product reaches
the construction site.