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Material Selection for Optimal Environmental Impact in Fizzy Drink Container

based on Ashby’s Chart

Research · September 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1473.3289

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 Final Year Project, 2011-2012
School of Mechatronics Engineering, UniMAP

Material Selection for Optimal Environmental Impact in Fizzy Drink Container based on
Ashby’s Chart

Nurul Syahida binti Mohd Azmi

Dr Zol Bahri Haji Razali

School of Mechatronic Engineering

University Malaysia Perlis
Kampus Tetap Ulu Pauh, 02600 Arau,
Perlis, Malaysia
Email: syahida_azmi@yahoo.com / zolbahri@unimap.edu.com

fizzy drink container needs to design to be a

Abstract suggestion design for industries.

The purpose of this project was to select a material
for fizzy drink container based on Ashby’s chart due
to less environmental impact. Its looks at one
particular method of material selection in
mechanical design: material selection chart by
Ashby, and show how this methodology can be
extended to take environmental factors into account.
The design specification is depends on function of
the container packaging. Our objectives are to get
weightiest and lowest cost of manufacture for 5
chosen materials. Data taking by the validated data
and 5 log scale chart are plotted with the same
range scale to compare with Ashby’s chart. Then,
the chart are proven by calculation from the theory
in materials selection for mechanical design based
on Ashby’s method. Finally, the materials chosen
will be validated again with the other method in
quantitative method of materials selection.
Keywords
Material selection, Ashby’s chart, mechanical
design, Quantitative Method.
In engineering design, material selection is
carried out in a number of ways. There are many
factors affecting the material choice but the most
important is mechanical performance. But, at the
same time, the design consideration must follow the
environmental consideration due to make less harm
to our world. Thus, Ashby method is chosen as the
method is the best solution regarding to
environmental issues.
This project is distinguishing 5 materials chosen
to be compared on Ashby’s charts. 5 materials are
chosen based on most familiar materials used by
industries which are Aluminum, Stainless Steel 304,
Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate
(PET) and E-glass [1]. Graphs are plot based on data
of materials to match with Ashby’s graph. The
objectives for this project are to select a best
material suggested to industries due to reduce an
environmental impact which have to lower the cost
and minimize the weight by using Ashby’s chart and
to plot few charts that can match with Ashby’s chart
in order to get the lowest cost and lightest weight.

In general, the material selection process is

1. Introduction
This project relates to materials selection for
fizzy drink container due to get less environmental
impact as fizzy drink or soft drink is the most
popular beverage nowadays which tends to have an
environmental impact widely. In particular, new
performed based on performance indices in chart [4].
As an alternative approach, digital logic methods
have been occasionally used in material selection for
certain engineering application [5]. In order to select
an appropriate material for a particular application
the designer can use materials handbook, or
international standard sources. However,
knowledge-based system for selecting and ranking

the materials for a particular application are also
available in some literature [6, 7]. The information
on the development and application of the materials
selection method for the design of fizzy drink
container is scare in literature. Then, material with
less weight of manufacture and less cost is finally
chosen
The main purpose of the present work is to
develop a suitable material selection method and
apply that for the selection of best candidate material
for fizzy drink container using Ashby’s chart and
finally rank the materials according to the
performance indices using digital logic method.
2. Methodology
2.1 Materials Properties
2.1.1 Tensile Test
Tensile testing is one of the more basic tests to
determine stress – strain relationships. A simple un-
axial test consists of slowly pulling a sample of
material in tension until it breaks. Test specimens for
tensile testing are generally either circular or
rectangular with larger ends to facilitate gripping the
sample [2].
The typical testing procedure is to deform or
“stretch” the material at a constant speed. The
required load that must be applied to achieve this
displacement will vary as the test proceeds. During
testing, the stress in the sample can be calculated at
any time by dividing the load over the cross-
sectional area:
σ =P/A
The displacement in the sample can be measured
at any section where the cross-sectional area is
constant and the strain calculated by taking this
change in length and dividing it by the original or
initial length:
ε=ΔL/L0
The stress and strain measurements and
calculations discussed so far assume a fixed cross
sectional area and a change in length that is
Final Year Project, 2011-2012
School of Mechatronics Engineering, UniMAP
measured within the constant cross sectional test
area of the sample [3]. These stress and strain values
are known as engineering stress and engineering
strain. The actual stress and strain in the materials
for this type of test are higher than the engineering
stress and strain; this is obvious when considering
that as the tension and elongation increase, the
volume of the section of material being tested
decreases.
2.1.2 Tensile Test for Plastic (PET and PP)
The ability to resist breaking under tensile stress
is one of the most important and widely measured
properties of materials used in structural
applications. The force per unit area (MPa or psi)
required to break a material in such a manner is the
ultimate tensile strength or tensile strength at break.
The rate at which a sample is pulled apart in the test
can range from 0.2 to 20 inches per minute and will
influence the results.
The analogous test to measure tensile properties
in the ISO system is ISO 527. The values reported in
the ASTM D638 and ISO 527 tests in general do not
vary significantly and either test will provide good
results early in the material selection process.
Separate tensile test methods are commonly applied
to polymer films (ASTM D882) and elastomers
(ASTM D412) .
Specimens are placed in the grips of the
universal tester at a specified grip separation and
pulled until failure. For ASTM D 638 the test speed
is determined by the material specification. For ISO
527 the test speed is typically 5 or 50mm/min for
measuring strength and elongation and 1mm/min for
measuring modulus. An extensometer is used to
determine elongation and tensile modulus.
Elevated or reduced temperature test procedure:
A thermal chamber is installed on the universal test
machine. The chamber is designed to allow the test
mounts from the base and crosshead of the universal
tester to pass through the top and bottom of the
chamber. Standard test fixtures are installed inside
the chamber, and testing is conducted inside the
controlled thermal environment the same as it would
be at ambient temperature. The chamber has internal
electric heaters for elevated temperatures and uses
external carbon dioxide gas as a coolant for reduced

temperatures. The size of the chamber places a
limitation on the maximum elongation that can be
reached, and extensometers are generally limited to
no more than 200° C.
Specimen size: The most common specimen for
ASTM D-638 is a Type I tensile bar. The most
common specimen for ISO-527 is the ISO-3167
Type 1A multipurpose specimen. ASTM D-882 uses
strips cut from thin sheet or film [8].
The tensile modulus is the ratio of stress to
elastic strain in tension. A high tensile modulus
means that the material is rigid - more stress is
required to produce a given amount of strain. In
polymers, the tensile modulus and compressive
modulus can be close or may vary widely. This
variation may be 50% or more, depending on resin
type, reinforcing agents, and processing methods.
The tensile and compressive moduli are often very
close for metals.
2.2 Quantitative Method
A variety of quantitative selection procedures
have been developed to analyze the large amount of
data involved in the selection process so that a
systematic evaluation can be made [3]. Several of
the quantitative procedures can be adapted to use
computers in selection from a data bank of materials.
Experience has shown that it is desirable to adopt the
holistic decision-making approach of concurrent
engineering in product development in most
industries [6].
With concurrent engineering, materials and
manufacturing processes are considered in the early
stages of design and are more precisely defined as
the design progresses from the concept to the
embodiment and finally the detail stages.
Figure 1 defines the different stages of design
and shows the related activities of the material and
manufacturing process selection. The figure
illustrates the progressive nature of materials and
process selection and defines three stages of
selection-namely initial screening, developing and
comparing alternatives, and selecting the optimum
solution.
Final Year Project, 2011-2012
School of Mechatronics Engineering, UniMAP
Having specified the performance
requirements of the different parts, the required
material properties can be established for each of
them. These properties may be quantitative or
qualitative, essential or desirable. For example, the
function of a connecting rod in an internal
combustion engine is to connect the piston to the
crank shaft. The performance requirements are that it
should transmit the power efficiently without failing
during the expected life of the engine. The essential
material properties are tensile and fatigue strengths,
while the desirable properties that should be
maximized are process ability, weight, reliability,
and resistance to service conditions. All these
properties should be achieved at a reasonable cost.
The selection process involves the search for the
material or materials that would best meet those
requirements. The starting point for materials
selection is the entire range of engineering materials.
At this stage, creativity is essential in order to open
up channels in different directions and not to let
traditional thinking interfere with the exploration of
ideas. Steel may be the best material for one design
concept while a plastic is best for a different
concept, even though the two designs provide the
same function. After all the alternatives have been
suggested, the ideas that are obviously unsuitable are
eliminated and attention is concentrated on those
that look practical.
 Final Year Project, 2011-2012
School of Mechatronics Engineering, UniMAP

In Ashby's method energy content may be used

just as any other material property, in composing
material indices for different applications [11]. For
our project, we are plotting 5 charts due to minimize
the weight and save the cost of manufacture which:
1. Young Modulus – Strength chart
2. Young Modulus – Density chart
3. Strength – Density chart
4. Specific Modulus – Specific strength chart
5. Young Modulus – Relative cost per Unit
Volume

3. Result and Discussion

3.1 Plotting the chart

1. Young Modulus – Strength chart

Figure 3.1

2.2.1 Ashby’s method/chart

Ashby’s chart is one of the quantitative

methods for initial screening of materials. Initial
screening is important in order to narrow down the
choices to a manageable number for subsequent
detailed evaluation. This Ashby's chart is interactive. Chart 1
We can highlight materials and label them to find
out what they are and choose materials from the list
to find them on the graph. 2. Young Modulus – Density chart

Ashby's work deals with many material

properties that are classed as environmental. In most
cases these are properties concerning the reaction of
the material to certain environmental conditions such
as heat, moisture, chemicals and so on. [9]

When environmental concerns in materials

selection are taken as meaning the effect the material
has on the environment, e.g. emissions, waste, etc.,
only one small, though very important, area is
covered by Ashby's work; energy content [10].
 Final Year Project, 2011-2012
School of Mechatronics Engineering, UniMAP

3.5 Summary

In this project, PET containers have the least

environmental impact of all soft drink container
systems in terms of the total weight of both total air
emissions and total waterborne wastes. When
evaluating solid wastes, both weight and volume are
important. The more a waste weighs, the more
expensive it is to transport to a landfill. And the
more space a waste occupies, the faster it fills up a
collection truck or a landfill. PET has always been
Chart 2 recognized as the low-weight material, but some
have criticized its high volume-to weight ratio for
contributing disproportionately to the solid waste
3. Strength – Density chart crisis.

4. Conclusion

It was hoped to gain an excellent understanding in

Ashby’s method. Plotting few charts is an interesting
experience that helped in acquiring the
understanding of materials selection that was
paramount for this project. With the help of the
gained knowledge, it was possible to find
appropriate and suitable materials. The work done in
this project has shown that Ashby’s method is very
well capable and quick method to select a material at
initial screening. A great understanding in Ashby’s
method was achieved.

Chart 3 References

[1] W.Bolton, “Properties of Materials,”

4. Specific Modulus – Specific strength chart Materials for Engineering, Eastbourne, pp
23-24. 2000

[2] W.Bolton, “Material Testing”, Materials for

Engineering, Eastbourne, pp 36-42. 2000

[3] http://www.google.com.my/search

[4] Shanian A, Milani A S, Carson C,

Abeyaratne R C. A new application of
ELECTRE III and revised Simos’ procedure
for group material selection under weighting
uncertainty. Knowledge-Based Systems 21
Chart 4 (2008) 709–720.

[5] Jahazi M, Hossein-Nejad S. The
development of an optimum manufacturing
and material selection process for the
fabrication of labyrinth seal strips. Journal
of Materials Processing Technology 152
(2004), 272–275.
[6] Sapuan, S. M. Jacob, M. S. D. Mustapha, F.
Ismail, N. A prototype knowledge-based
system for material selection of ceramic
matrix composites of automotive engine
components, Materials & Design, Volume
23, Issue 8, (2002)701-708. [8] Zhu,F., Lu,
G., Zou, R. On the development of a
knowledge-based design support system for
energy absorber, Materials & Design,
Volume 29, Issue 2, (2008), 484-491.
[7] Zhu,F., Lu, G., Zou, R. On the development
of a knowledge-based design support system
for energy absorber, Materials & Design,
Volume 29, Issue 2, (2008), 484-491
[8] Terry M.Dinan, “An overview of disposal-
reduction credit systems; A case study of
beverage container and old newspapers”,
Congressional Budget Office February1992
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Final Year Project, 2011-2012
School of Mechatronics Engineering, UniMAP
[9] Franklin, “The Environmental Impact of
Soft Drink Delivery Systems”, A
Comparative Analysis NAPCOR Assc 1995
Update.
[10] Holloway L. Material selection for optimal
environmental impact in mechanical design.
Materials and Design, 19 (1993), 133-143.
[11] Richard G. Budynas, J. Keith Nisbett.
Shigley’s, Mechanical Engineering Design,
McGraw Hill, 2008 (Text book).
Evaluated by:
_______________________________________
Supervisor : Dr Zol Bahri
Date : 22nd May 2012
Official stamp :