OVERVIEW OF MATERIALS

WHAT IS A MATERIAL?
GENERAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS
A MATERIAL IS …
A COLLECTION OF ATOMS…

BONDED TOGETHER*…
(used as a material)
PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
ideally

- independant of quantity or shape of material

(intensive)
e.g. ?????
-independant of other material props
(e.g.: hardness is NOT an ‘ideal’ property…
…it is a function of plasticity and stiffness)
TYPES OF PROPERTIES

-socio-economical - deteriotive
(general) corrosion
wear
- Mechanical fatigue
- Electrical creep
- Thermal
- Magnetic
- optical
TYPES OF PROPERTIES

-socio-economical - deteriotive
(general) corrosion
wear
- Mechanical fatigue
- Electrical creep
- Thermal - processability*
- Magnetic - recyclability*
- optical - cosmetic *

Functional materials (bonding)

Structural materials (microstructure)
PROPERTIES ‘JARGON’ PRECISION
-e.g. mechanical properties:

-Stiffness and strength and hardness are all

different

-But are related

PROPERTIES ‘JARGON’
-e.g. strength, hardness, toughness, stiffness are
all different
INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROPERTIES
RULES OF THUMB
BUT EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE
PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS
Properties = materials comparison
NOT materials applications
COMBINED PROPERTIES
-Closer to applications
-e.g. specific strength = strength/density

ρ E UTS
E/ρ UTS/ρ
(g/cm3) (GPa) (MPa)
Fe 7.87 207 262 26.3 33.3
Al 2.71 69 90 25.5 33.2
Ti 4.51 107 520 23.8 115.3
Ni 8.9 180 600 20.2 67

Component needs to be light

CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS

-could be on basis of property ranges

-usually based on atomic bonding type
METALS:

metallic bonding

Dense
Stiff
Strong but i.e. formable*
ductile and

Also: tough
Conducts heat and electricity
 CERAMICS:

ionic/ covalent
Light
REALLY stiff
but i.e. NOT formable*
brittle and
fragile
Also:
Insulative* Heat resistant Corrosion resistant
Wear resistant
 Polymers:
C-H (covalent) bond

Light
Flexible
i.e. formable*
but
and
weak
‘tenacious’
Also:

INSULATOR*
Composites:
Polymer-metal

Metal-ceramic

ceramic-ceramic* (etc.)

Certain properties enhanced…

…at cost of other properties
Not versatile
Difficult to recycle*
Semiconductors: (ceramic)

conductor and insulator

very pure
precisely engineered material
MATERIAL’S FUTURE
 FUTURE MATERIALS
Materials scientist driven
‘Technology push’
Fill in the large gaps
Buck the trend
 FUTURE MATERIALS
Applications driven
Fill in the small gaps
‘Market pull’

Manufacturing driven
Castable materials New manufacturing processes
Formable materials Additive manufacturing
Weldable materials Linear - Friction – stir welding
Machinable materials Nano-fab
 GREEN MATERIALS
Energy Materials
solar photovoltaics Renewable – bio based
nuclear Zirconium Reusable Materials
hydrogen Titanium Repairable materials
wind magnetic materials
Light materials

GREEN MATERIAL PROCESSING

Manufacturing (from mining to final product)

Repair (components)
Repair (materials)
Parallel universe of
MATERIALS
http://www.bodycote.com/fictional-metals