4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

Duhok Polytechnique University-Petrochemical Department

2018 / 2019
Material Science
Lecture 03: Metals; Alloys; Mechanical Properties
Lecturer: Dr Farhad M. Ali

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

Properties of metal and alloy can be divided into three categories:

The term “property” is a qualitative or quantitative measure of response of materials to
externally imposed conditions like forces and temperatures or even chemicals. However,
the range of properties found in different classes of materials is very large.

Material properties are a set of characteristics which define each material and distinguish it
from others.

1. Mechanical Properties:

It is the properties of material that determine its behaviour under applied forces.

Examples: strength, toughness, hardness, ductility, elasticity, fatigue and creep

2. Physical Properties:
Characteristics that can be observed without changing the substance into
something else.
Examples: Density, specific heat, melting and boiling point, thermal expansion,
conductivity, electrical and magnetic properties.
3. Chemical Properties:
Characteristics that are observed ONLY when a substance changes into a different
substance.
Examples: oxidation, corrosion, flammability, toxicity.

Mechanical Properties:

➢ Elasticity: ability of a deformed material body to return to its original shape and
size when the forces causing the deformation are removed. A body with this ability
is said to behave (or respond) elastically.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

Explanation: When a body is subjected to an external force the body will tend to
deform. and after removing the force on the body will get its original shape.
Example materials: Rubber (Natural/synthetic)
Some materials are affected a lot by a force e.g., rubber, while others change their
size very little e.g., steel. We are thinking here about pieces of equal size, of course.
Hooke's Law
The more force that is put on to a piece of elastic or a spring the more it will stretch.
If you plot the extension against the force applied to a copper wire or a steel spring
you will get a graph like the one drawn in Figure 1.
As the force is increased so the length of the sample increases and so the extension
gets bigger. You will find that for every Newton increase in the force the length of the
sample will increase by the same amount.

The extension is directly

proportional to the force applied.
Force = constant x extension
This is known as Hooke’s Law.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

If you stretch an elastic material too much it will not go back to its initial size and if it
is stretched even more it will break.
Example problems
If a load of 5 N extends a spring by 4 cm then a load of 15 N will extend it by 12cm.
Remember that it is the extension that is proportional to the force and NOT the total
length of the spring.

You can compare how much different materials will stretch using the following
table. This shows the relative extensions for samples of the same length and
diameter but of different materials using the same force.
Material Extension Material Extension

Diamond 1 mm Concrete 59 mm

Steel 5 mm Beech 67 mm

Copper 8 mm Oak 91 mm

Cast iron 9 mm Pine 83 mm

Aluminium 14 mm Plastic 500 mm

Granite 20 mm Nylon 500 mm

Lead 56 mm Rubber 500 m

Bone 56 mm 100 100

Modulus means ratio or absolute value

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

For tensile or compressive stresses, the modulus of elasticity is called Young’s

Modulus

Example:
A copper wire 1.00 mm in diameter and 2.0 m long is used to support a mass of 5.0
kg. by how much does the wire stretch under this load?
Solution:

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

➢ Plasticity: The ability of non-reversible deformation with respect to the applied

load.
When a load is applied the body is subjected to deformation. when the load is
removed it will not get its original shape
Explanation: It is a permanent deformation. When a body is subjected to an
external force the body will tend to deform. and after removing the force on the
body will not get its original shape. it will maintain the nonreversible deformation.
Example materials: Soft waxes

➢
Elastic and plastic materials
You can divide materials into two main types when you consider their elastic
properties:
(a) those which will go back to their original length when the force is removed after
stretching, these are called ELASTIC materials such as steel and rubber
(b) those which stay stretched after the force is removed- these are called PLASTIC
materials such as putty or plasticine

We use elastic materials in our lives in a variety of ways:

Elastic in springs in watches, beds, ball point pens, cars and trampolines to name
just a few.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

➢ Ductility: The ability of material to change shape (deform) usually by stretching

along its length. Ductility increases with increase temperature.

Explanation: When a body subjected to tensile load. the ability to draw the
material into wires is possible. The materials which are rich in elasticity will have
better ductility.
Example materials: Copper, aluminium.

Ductility can be expressed in two ways:

1) Percent Elongation. 2) Percent Area Reduction

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

➢ Tensile Strength: The ability of a material to stretch without breaking or

snapping. It is expressed as the number of pounds of force required to pull apart a
bar of the material 1 inch wide and 1 inch thick.  = F / A;  is the tensile stress; F
is the force in Ib; A is the cross-sectional area in inch2 and length in Inch.

➢ Malleability: The ability of a material to be reshaped in all directions without

cracking. In other words, malleability measures a solid’s ability to be pounded into
thin sheets. It actually refers to the ability of metal to reform into different shape,
size and structure.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

Explanation: When a body subjected to tensile load. the ability to draw the
material into wires is possible. The materials which are rich in elasticity will have
better malleability.
Examples & Facts: aluminum is very malleable; clay is also malleable.
Substances that are malleable are usually not very brittle. Gold is the most
malleable metal; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter.

➢ Stiffness: The ability of a material to resist deformations under the application of

loads.

Explanation: When a body subjected to load. the body can resist the deformations
Measurement: N/mm (Load / Deformation )
This property Consider in the design of springs.

➢ Toughness: A characteristic of a material that does not break or shatter when

receiving a blow or under a sudden shock
In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to
absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing. One definition of material
toughness is the amount of energy per unit volume that a material can absorb
before rupturing. ... Toughness requires a balance of strength and ductility.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

An impact toughness versus temperature graph for a steel is shown in the image.
It can be seen that at low temperatures the material is more brittle and impact
toughness is low. At high temperatures the material is more ductile and impact
toughness is higher.

The amount of energy per unit volume that a material can absorb before rupturing.
This property Consider in the design of springs.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

Hardness: The ability of a material to resist scratching, wear and tear (the damage
that happens to an object in ordinary use during a period) and indentation (a hole or
mark on the surface of something).

The hard materials can scratch softer materials. In science, we measure hardness
with the Mohs scale.
Examples: glass is 5.5, iron nail is 4.5, steel is 4, brass is 3, diamond is the hardest
and it is 10 on the scale.
This property will highly consider when designing of the sliding parts.

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 03

It is important to understand that the difference in hardness between subsequent

levels is not the same. Diamond (Rank 10) is about 140 times harder than corundum
(Rank 9) which again is about 80 times harder than topaz (Rank 8).

DR FARHAD M. ALI MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-03-2018-2019