QUESTION: Describe the statement , ”Selection of materials

is compromise of many factors” [25]

Material selection is one of the foremost functions of effective
engineering design as it determines the reliability of the design in terms
of industrial and economical aspects. A great design may fail to be a
profitable product if unable to find the most appropriate material
combinations. So it is vital to know what the best materials for a
particular design are. How we are going to get an idea about the best
materials for a design? In this aspect engineers use several facts of
materials to come to the most reasonable decision. They are mainly
concentrated on the properties of the materials which are identified as
the potential materials for that specific design.
Getting this selection right the first time by selecting the optimal
combination, your design has enormous benefits to any engineering-
based business. It leads to lower product costs, faster time-to-market,
reduction in the number of in-service failures and, sometimes,
significant advantages relative to your competition.
Material selection involves a complex interaction between component
function, material, process, component shape and costs. Those who
select materials should at least have a broad and basic understanding of
properties of materials and their processing characteristics. The function
of the component must be clearly defined in order that the required
mechanical properties may be identified. An ideal list of requirements
may be easy to arrive at, but a material and process to satisfy all of these
requirements is unlikely to exist and an appropriate compromise must be
found. It is, therefore, important to distinguish essential properties from
desirable properties, those that can be compromised in order to achieve
the essential properties.
 An additional factor in selecting a material for a particular
component is consideration of the manufacturing process. A
 process must be found that is capable of making the component
shape, with the correct accuracy, and with an acceptable cost. In
reality, both material and process selection must be considered
simultaneously since not all materials are compatible with every
process. For example, steel, nickel and titanium cannot be die cast,
ceramic materials cannot be machined using conventional
techniques and the complexity of component shape limits the
process choice further.
 It is also important that both the material and processes used must
be controlled during manufacture. For example, an incoming stock
of raw material, which shows variations in composition and
microstructure, cannot be heat treated and machined easily. A
sheet metal showing variations in its cold worked condition will
exhibit differences in ‘spring back’ characteristics during forming.
A cast component may show inclusions and porosity unless
melting operation, mould filling and solidification of the casting
are controlled. The final functional or mechanical properties of a
component, to a large extent, depend on the degree of control it
receives during its processing.

The properties which directly influence the choice of material , can be

summarized under the following categories:

(i)Mechanical properties

(ii)Physical properties

(iii)Electrical and thermal properties

(iv)Manufacturing and Cost properties

(v)Environmental properties

Mechanical Properties:
This generally means the way in which materials respond when
subjected to certain mechanical forces. Mechanical properties including
elasticity, yield strength, yield stress, ultimate tensile strength and
ductility are usually part of material specifications.

When a certain design is going to be actually produced it must be

subjected to a number of manufacturing practices depending on the
material and the design process. At the completion of production it must
be totally fit for the service phase, too. In order to predict the reliability
of both of these requirements, the materials must be able to withstand a
certain load. Therefore the material must possess a certain strength and
stiffness. Selected materials are examined for strength and stiffness
values, and then potential materials are further inspected for other
desired properties.

Physical Properties:

  Wear of materials

Wear is a problem when the materials are contacting each other in a

product. So it must be ensured that the selected materials have sufficient
wear resistance. One of the best examples for this is designing gears to
cope with wear. There are many production techniques available to
improve the wear resistance and make the material more suitable for the
application. This is also a very important factor to consider when
selecting a material for a particular design. In the engineering design
process this has to be considered with great care.

Corrosion
The importance of material selection in engineering is clearly visible in
corrosive environments. Also it is an important engineering design
criterion for designs open to the environment for a longer period of time.
Some materials are very likely to be corroded in the service depending
on the service environment. Metals like iron are heavily prone to
corrosion if not prepared to resist.

Ability to manufacture

Although the material is well capable of using for the design, it may be
difficult to manufacture. This is particularly applicable in
mechanical engineering design. If this selection criteria is neglected the
manufacture process might be very costly making it unprofitable as a
commercial product. So before selecting the materials this fact also must
be considered. These facts are widely varied with the type of
manufacturing method. For example, when producing a gear its
dimensions must be very accurate. Otherwise the application may not
provide the expected performance. To make the dimensions more
accurate it has to be machined in the production. So the selected material
must able to be machined with a minimum cost. Otherwise there is no
point of selecting that material for that particular gear.

Cost

Cost is a critical fact to consider when selecting materials for a certain

design for most products because they are facing a severe competition in
the market. So you may see that most of the metal or other valuable
materials are replaced by cheap material in most of the designs which
they are applicable such as engineering designs. The cost factor can be
neglected when performance is given the top priority. When estimating
costs, all the associated cost factors must be considered to get a more
reasonable value. It may involve the transportation, processing, etc.
costs.
Electrical and Thermal properties

 In some occasions particular properties of the material may become the
dominant factor over other properties. For example, electrical
conductivity is vital for an electrical application so it must be given the
priority.

An inability to meet the maximum operating temperature may be the

reason to exclude the most profitable material for a certain high
temperature design.

Magnetic properties

There are some instances where one would have to consider the
magnetic properties of the material and environment in which the
material works in before selecting the suitable material.

Whether the material is magnetic or non-magnetic and factors such as

relativity, magneto-motive force, permanent or temporary magnets,
permittivity and how the material react in a magnetic field, would also
have to be taken into account before selecting the suitable material.

In this case higher priority is given to the magnetic properties

compromising other factors such as cost or thermal properties

Selection of materials is a compromise of many factors because in

reaching the best possible candidate that gives the maximum
performance one will certainly have to override factors such as cost. In
the same way one can choose a material that gives the minimum cost
overriding performance.

So, the materials used in a product have a huge impact on the product’s
success. Reduce costs and select materials with properties that don’t
enable meeting the product’s performance or reliability requirements
and be prepared to have poor sales or failure during operations. Select
materials that are more expensive and have high performance and be
prepared to fork out large fortunes.

At the end, one will have to compromise all these factors but at the same
time come out with a material that can do a very good job.

The choice of a material is frequently the result of several compromises.

For example, the technical appraisal of an alloy will generally be a
compromise between corrosion resistance and several other properties
such as strength and weldability. And the final selection may come
down to a compromise between technical and economic factors

Consider the example of wooden airplanes and metal-framed airplanes.

If we were to design an airplane of either material we will have to make
the choice early. The end designs are quite different. So, the material
choice can radically alter the final design.

In the airplane problem mentioned above, we would like a material that

is stiff yet light. What could we do to help arrive at an appropriate
material choice? How could we create some numerical standing that
would help us compare one material with another? The following
considerations would have to be made:

1) Translation: express design requirements as constraints and

objectives 2) Screening: eliminate materials that cannot do the job
3) Ranking: find materials that best do the job

Example: Tie Rod

Function: Support a tensile load

Objective: Minimize mass (m)

Constraints: Required length (l)

Load carrying capability without failure

Free Variables: Cross-sectional area (A)

Material

m = A*L*Density

F/A < Yield Stress

Eliminate free variable

m >= (F)(L) (Density/Yield Stress)

therefore, minimize weight by maximizing

Yield Stress / Density

In this case, to reach the best candidate of a material, a

compromise is made between these factors: density, yield strength,
tensile strength, and tensile load or force.