Topic 4.

1
Properties of materials
Guiding Questions and Tasks
1. compare and contrast physical and mechanical force.
2. identify a situation where the following forces might be applied:
- shear
- tension
- compression
- torsion
- friction
3. Consider the difference in the lengths of the
electricity wires - as shown - in relation to thermal
expansion.
4. Outline the following hardness testing
methods:
- scratch hardness
- static indentation hardness
- dynamic hardness
5. Describe the stress / strain curve of the Young’s modulus for rubbers
6. Define toughness
7. Outline the effect temperature has on toughness
8. Compare malleability, ductility, and brittleness
9. List different applications for Piezoelectric materials
10. List different applications for SMAs
11. List different applications for Photochromic materials
12. List different applications for Magneto-rheostatic and Electro-rheostatic materials
13. List different applications for thermoelectric materials
14. Explain why Thermal expansion (expansivity) is an important consideration where two
dissimilar materials are joined.
15. Give an example of a design context where density is important
16. Give an example of a design context where electrical resistivity is important
17. Give an example of a design context where thermal conductivity is important
18. Give an example of a design context where hardness is important
Topic 4.1 Properties of materials
Materials are often developed by materials engineers to have specific properties. The
development of new materials allows designers to create new products, which solve old
problems in new ways. For example, the explosion of plastic materials following the second
world war enabled products to be made without using valuable metals.

Essential idea:
Materials are selected for manufacturing products based primarily on their properties.

Nature of design:
The rapid pace of scientific discovery and new technologies has had a major impact on material
science, giving designers many more materials from which to choose for their products. These
new materials have given scope for “smart” new products or enhanced classic designs.
Choosing the right material is a complex and difficult task with physical, aesthetic, mechanical
and appropriate properties to consider. Environmental, moral and ethical issues surrounding
choice of materials for use in any product, service or system also need to be considered.

Concepts and principles:

• Physical properties: mass, weight, volume, density, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity,
thermal expansion and hardness
• Mechanical properties: tensile and compressive strength, stiffness, toughness, ductility,
elasticity, plasticity, Young’s modulus, stress and strain
• Aesthetic characteristics: taste, smell, appearance and texture
• Properties of smart materials: piezoelectricity, shape memory, photochromicity,
magneto-rheostatic, electro-rheostatic and thermoelectricity

Guidance:
• Design contexts where physical properties, mechanical properties and/or aesthetic
characteristics are important
• Design contexts where properties of smart materials are exploited
• Using stress/strain graphs and material selection charts to identify appropriate materials
Properties of materials
Properties of materials are categorized according to their Physical Properties or Mechanical
Properties.

Physical properties
The physical properties of a material are unaltered by the application of force. Physical
properties are listed as: mass, weight, volume, density, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity,
thermal expansion and hardness.

Mass
Mass (m) of a body, is a measure of the amount of matter that body contains. It is constant.
The SI unit for mass is kilogram (kg).

Weight
Weight is a force and represents the mass of an object which is acted upon by gravity and is
expressed by Newton’s second law:
Force (weight) = m x ag

ag is acceleration due to gravity. The surface of the Earth has an approximate value of 9.8m/s2,
while on the moon its value is only 1.6m/s2. Weight is therefore a variable quality.
Because it is a force, the SI units for weight are Newtons (N)

Note: People often confuse mass and weight. Remember that weight is a force, and is
measured in newtons. Mass is measured in kilograms (kg).
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/science/energy_electricity_forces/forces/revision/3/]

Volume
The amount of 3-dimensional space an object occupies.

Density
A measure of how much matter is in a certain volume. A gold bar is quite small but has a mass
of 1 kilogram (, so it contains more matter than a similar sized piece of wood. Therefore gold is
more dense than wood.

The density of water is about 1 kg per liter (1 liter of water has a mass of 1 kg), so anything that
floats has a lower density, and anything that sinks is more dense.
[https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/density.html]
Density is important in relation to product weight and size (for example, for portability).
Pre-packaged food is sold by weight or volume, and a particular consistency is required.

Electrical Resistivity
Electrical conductivity (σ) and electrical resistivity (ρ)are the measure of how easily free
electrons move through a material.

Temperature has the greatest effect on resistivity.The reasons for these changes in resistivity
can be explained by considering the flow of current through the material. The flow of current is
actually the movement of electrons from one atom to
another under the influence of an electric field. Electrons
are very small negatively charged particles and will be
repelled by a negative electric charge and attracted by a
positive electric charge. Therefore if an electric potential
is applied across a conductor (positive at one end,
negative at the other) electrons will "migrate" from atom to
atom towards the positive terminal.
Only some electrons are free to migrate however. Others
within each atom are held so tightly to their particular
atom that even an electric field will not dislodge them. The
current flowing in the material is therefore due to the
movement of "free electrons" and the number of free
electrons within any material compared with those tightly
bound to their atoms is what governs whether a material
is a good conductor (many free electrons) or a good
insulator (hardly any free electrons).
The effect of heat on the atomic structure of a material is
to make the atoms vibrate, and the higher the
temperature the more violently the atoms vibrate.
In a conductor, which already has a large number of free
electrons flowing through it, the vibration of the atoms
causes many collisions between the free electrons and
the captive electrons. Each collision uses up some energy
from the free electron and is the basic cause of resistance. The more the atoms jostle around in
the material, the more collisions are caused and hence the greater the resistance to current
flow.
[http://www.learnabout-electronics.org/Resistors/resistors_01a.php]

Electrical resistivity is particularly important in selecting materials as conductors or insulators.

Thermal conductivity
Thermal conductivity (K) is the measure of the efficiency with which thermal energy will travel
through a material. The higher the thermal conductivity, greater is the rate at which the heat will
flow.
Metals have a high thermal conductivity,
while polymers and ceramics have a low
thermal conductivity and are insulators
rather than conductors of heat.
When a temperature gradient exists,
temperature will flow from high to low.

Thermal conductivity is important for objects

that will be heated or must conduct or be
insulated against heat gain or loss.

Thermal expansion
Thermal expansion (expansivity) is the measure of a material’s increase in dimensions when
that material is heated.
When a material is heated, the gain in thermal energy causes an increase in the atomic
vibrations, which leads to an increase in
atomic separation, which in turn leads to
an increase in the material’s overall
dimensions.

Consider railway lines, which are lengths

of steel. As these are heated by the sun,
they expand. If it were not for the
expansion space [see figure on the right]
then the rails would buckle.

Thermal expansion (expansivity) is

important where two dissimilar materials
are joined. These may then experience large temperature changes while staying joined.

Hardness
Hardness is the ability of a material to resist
scratching or abrasion.
Hardness tests fall into three broad categories:
Scratch Hardness Test
Static Indentation Hardness Test
Dynamic Hardness

Hardness is important where resistance to penetration or

scratching is required. Ceramic floor tiles are extremely
hard and resistant to scratching. Another design context
would be bearings and brake pads.

Mechanical properties
The mechanical properties of a material describe how it will react to the application of force.
There are many different types of force including:
● shear
● tension
● compression
● torsion
● friction
● electrical
● gravitational

Tensile and Compressive Strength

The compressive modulus of a material
gives the ratio of the compressive stress
applied to a material compared to the
resulting compression, essentially how
easy it is to squash the material between
thumb and finger or in a vice.
The compressive strength gives the stress
that is needed to destroy the sample by
crushing.

The tensile strength of a material is the

stress required to destroy that sample by tension. As with compressive stresses there will be a
clear failure point if the material is brittle. Ductile materials however have several significant
points:

● The limit of proportionality, beyond which the sample no longer obeys Hooke’s Law.
● The elastic limit, beyond which the sample will be permanently distorted.
● The yield stress beyond which there is a significant increase in the ease of distortion.
● The ultimate tensile stress, which is the largest stress that the sample can withstand,
and
● The breaking stress at which the two ends of the sample are separated.
 [http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/impress/text/education/Mechanical%20Properties/index.html

[http://www.setareh.arch.vt.edu/safas/fdmtl_imgs/youngs_%20modulus-01-01.png]

Tensile strength is important in selecting materials for ropes and cables, for example, for an
elevator.

Stiffness
Stiffness is the rigidity of an object —
the extent to which it resists deformation
in response to an applied force. The
more flexible an object is, the less stiff it
is.
Young’s modulus is used to measure a
material’s stiffness: a high Young’s
modulus means a stiff material. The
chart on the right compares the stiffness
of glass, carbon steel, aluminium and
rubber. It can be seen that brittle
materials (glass / ceramics) display linear elastic behaviour and fails with little strain, A soft and
tough material, such as low carbon steel, on the other hand, exhibits a very small initial slope,
but strain hardened and withstands larger strains before failing.

Stiffness is important when maintaining shape is crucial to performance, for example, an aircraft
wing.

Toughness
Toughness is the ability of a material to resist
the propagation of cracks. A material’s
stress-strain curve can be used to give an
indication of the overall toughness of the
material.

Ductility is a measure of how much

something deforms plastically before fracture,
but just because a material is ductile does not
make it tough. The key to toughness is a
good combination of strength and ductility. A
material with high strength and high ductility
will have more toughness than a material with
low strength and high ductility. Therefore, one
way to measure toughness is by calculating
the area under the stress strain curve from a
tensile test.
[https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materials/Mechanical/Toughness.htm]

The chart compares the stress-strain curves of High Carbon Steel, Medium Carbon Steel and
Low Carbon Steel. It is clear that High carbon steel is the most brittle, while Low Carbon Steel is
the most ductile. Comparing the area under the
stress-strain curve shows that Medium Carbon Steel is
the toughest

A common method for testing the toughness of a

material is to measure its resistance to impact. A notch
(V or U profile) is machined into the surface.
The impact toughness of a metal is determined by
measuring the energy absorbed in the fracture of the
specimen. This is simply obtained by noting the height
at which the pendulum is released and the height to
which the pendulum swings after it has struck the
specimen. The height of the pendulum times the weight of the pendulum produces the potential
energy and the difference in potential energy of the pendulum at the start and the end of the test
is equal to the absorbed energy.
[https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materials/Mechanical/ImpactToughness.htm]

Toughness is important where abrasion and cutting may take place.

Design issues
● High toughness is particularly important for components which may suffer impact (cars,
toys, bikes), or for components where a fracture would be catastrophic (pressure
vessels, aircraft).
● Toughness varies with temperature; some materials change from being tough to brittle
as temperature decreases (e.g. some steels, rubber). A famous example of this problem
in steels was the battleships which broke in two in cold seas during the second World
War
[http://www-materials.eng.cam.ac.uk/mpsite/properties/non-IE/toughness.html]

Constance Tipper
Constance Tipper was one of the first women to take the Natural
Sciences Tripos, in 1915. Her major research contribution was to
discover why during the Second World War the Liberty Ships were
breaking in two.
Working from the Engineering Department in Cambridge, Tipper
established that there is a critical temperature below which the
fracture in steel changes from ductile to brittle. The Liberty Ships in
the North Atlantic were subjected to such low temperatures that
they would have been susceptible to brittle failure.
The full implications of her work were not realised until the 1950s
but after that, the Tipper test became the standard method for
determining this form of brittleness in steel.
[http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/125/noflash/1925-1950/tipper.html]

Ductility
Ductility is the ability of a
material to undergo plastic
deformation by extrusion, or by
application of tensile forces. Not
to be confused with malleability,
which is the ability of a material
to be shaped plastically,
generally by compressive
forces. The amount of cold work
that a metal can withstand without failure therefore depends
on the metal’s ductility. The image above shows copper
alloy being rolled into a strip, while the image on the right
shows copper rod being ‘drawn’ through a die: it is the
copper’s ductile property that makes this possible. Copper,
aluminum, and steel are examples of ductile metals

Malleability
Describes a material which can be plastically deformed and shaped when cold, generally by
compressive forces.
A malleable material can be plastic shaped with hammering or rolling without fracture.
Typical malleable materials are mild steel, gold, lead

Malleable materials are ductile, but ductile materials are not always necessarily
malleable.

Elasticity
Is the measure of a material to stretch under load,
then return to its original dimensions when the load is
removed.

Plasticity
The plasticity of a material is associated with
elongation behaviour that exceeds the elastic region.
Continued deformation beyond the elastic limit leads
to a more complex deformation where the relationship
between stress and strain is no longer linear.
When a material is taken beyond its elastic limits and
the load is removed, the material no longer returns to
its original dimensions, but instead displays some
permanent plastic deformation.

Brittleness
A material that is unable to undergo plastic deformation is described as brittle. Examples of
brittle materials include cast iron, concrete, and some glass products.

Aesthetic characteristics
Some aesthetic characteristics are only relevant to food, while others can be applied to more
than one material group. Although these properties activate people’s senses, responses to them
vary from one individual to another, and they are difficult to quantify scientifically, unlike the
other properties.
Information received from the senses
● sight - colour, reflectivity
● taste - sour, sweet, salty, bitter
● hearing - pith, frequency, acoustics, absorption
● smell - odour, fragrance
● touch - texture

Aesthetic appeal can be an important part of a decision to purchase goods so designers often
manipulate these characteristics in order to appeal to the tastes of the market segment, which
can depend on social and cultural backgrounds. Manipulating these factors can help with
product differentiation.

Smart materials
Smart materials have properties that react to changes in their environment. This means that one
of their properties can be changed by an external condition, such as temperature, light, pressure
or electricity. This change is reversible and can be repeated many times.
There are a wide range of different smart materials. Each offer different properties that can be
changed.
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/design/electronics/materialsrev5.shtml]

Piezoelectricity. When a piezoelectric material is deformed, it gives off a small electrical

discharge. When an electric current is passed through it, it
increases in size (up to a 4% change in volume). These
materials are widely used as sensors in different
environments. Piezoelectric materials can be used to
measure the force of an impact, for example, in the airbag
sensor on a car. The material senses the force of an impact
on the car and sends an electric charge to activate the
airbag.

Piezoelectric Technology by Kelly Bauer

The same technology that powers your car’s airbag sensor has the ability to harness the power
of human footfall and convert it into energy. This idea, applied to running paths, dance floors,
sidewalks and train platforms, could revolutionize the alternative energy industry.
In 1880, brothers Jacques and Pierre Curie, discovered what is now known as the piezoelectric
effect. By applying mechanical stress to crystals such as topaz, quartz, and tourmaline, among
others, the brothers were able to create electrical charges and found the voltage to be in
proportion to the stress. If the name Curie stands out, it’s not surprising.
The Curie family holds five Nobel Prizes and Pierre Curie’s wife, Marie Sklodowska-Curie holds
the distinction of being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person, and only woman,
to win more than once and the only person to win twice in more than one area of science.
The airbag application of their discovery is a simple one to understand. The sensor in your car’s
airbag detects the level of shock when you’re involved in an accident and, if past a certain
threshold, sends an electrical signal which initiates the airbag to deploy. This is but one of many
ways that we are currently using the piezoelectric effect. Another practical application is sonar
technology. Used in ultrasonic transducers both in submarines and also in cars today it helps to
determine the distance between vehicles and their potential obstacles.
While very helpful, these applications only scratch the surface of what piezoelectric technology
can do. Humans produce an immense amount of kinetic energy, but the manufacturing of
systems on a scale large enough to effectively capture that energy has not been possible, until
recent times.
A company called Pavegen has recently developed kinetic energy harvesting and power
generating systems of mind boggling size and application. They envision their technology in
pavements, school corridors and even recently saw it installed on a football pitch in Rio de
Janerio. The pitch has been equipped with 200 kinetic tiles which work with accompanying solar
panels to power the lights for 10 hours at a time. The football pitch, which previously suffered
frequent blackouts, is
now literally
people-powered.

The material Pavegen

uses is covered with a
soft surface, not unlike
that found on many
playgrounds and can
turn 1 step into 7 watts
of energy. Pavegen
has its sights set on a variety of applications, from treadmills that would use your steps to
charge your cell phone while you work out, to producing energy at concerts and large scale
events, by placing tiles under the dance floors and common areas.
In an age of energy conservation and an ever growing focus on green technology and science,
the harvesting of human created kinetic energy is an exciting addition to the alternative energy
sector. This technology joins the ranks of solar, wind and wave harnessed energy systems.
Fostering inspiration for architects and engineers to design the types of cities and buildings that
were previously seen only in science fiction.
[http://www.biztekmojo.com/00172/piezoelectric-technology]

Shape memory alloys (SMA)

Shape-memory alloys (SMAs), are metals that change shape when heated to an activation
temperature. When cool, they are malleable and can be shaped like a typical metal. However,
when heated to activation, they return to their preset shape. At the atomic level, the crystalline
structure of an SMA changes with heat from one regular structure to another. However, while all
metals will change shape with heat (i.e. melt), SMAs change shape all in solid phase and this
change is reversible. The most commonly used SMA is nitinol (nickel titanium)
[http://makezine.com/2012/01/31/skill-builder-working-with-shape-memory-alloy/]

Applications for pseudo-elasticity include eyeglasses

frames, medical tools and antennas for mobile phones. One
application of shape memory effect is for robotic limbs
(hands, arms and legs). It is difficult to replicate even simple
movements of the human body, for example, the gripping
force required to
handle different
objects (eggs,
pens, tools). SMAs
are strong and compact and can be used to create
smooth, lifelike movements. Computer control of
timing and size of an electric current running through
the SMA can control the movement of an artificial joint.
Other design challenges for artificial joints include
development of computer software to control artificial muscle systems, being able to create
large enough movements and replicating the speed and accuracy of human reflexes.

Photochromism
Photochromicity refers to a material that can described as having a reversible change of colour
when exposed to light. One of the most popular applications is for colour-changing sunglass
lenses, which can darken as the sun brightens. A chemical either on the surface of the lens or
embedded within the glass reacts to ultraviolet light, which causes it to change form and
therefore its light
absorption
spectra.

Photochromic
lenses have
millions of
molecules of
substances such
as silver chloride
or silver halide embedded in them. The molecules are transparent to visible light in the absence
of UV light, which is normal for artificial lighting. But when exposed to UV rays, as in direct
sunlight, the molecules undergo a chemical process that causes them to change shape.
[http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/question412.htm]
Electro-rheostatic (ER) and magneto-rheostatic (MR)
Electro-rheostatic (ER) and magneto-rheostatic (MR) materials are fluids that can undergo
dramatic changes in their viscosity. They can change from a thick fluid to a solid in a fraction of
a second when exposed to a magnetic (for MR materials) or electric (for ER materials) field, and
the effect is reversed when the field is removed. MR fluids are being developed for use in car
shock absorbers, damping washing machine vibration, prosthetic limbs, exercise equipment and
surface polishing of machine parts. ER fluids have mainly been developed for use in clutches
and valves, as well as engine mounts designed to reduce noise and vibration in vehicles.

Thermoelectricity
Thermoelectricity is, at its simplest, electricity produced directly from heat. It involves the joining
of two dissimilar conductors that, when heated, produce a direct current. Thermoelectric circuits
have been used in remote areas and space probes to power radio transmitters and receivers.