EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING

MATERIALS
Throughout history, materials have limited design. We designated the ages
mankind has lived by the materials used:
• Stone age
• Bronze age
• Iron age
When man died, the materials he treasured where buried with him:
• Tutankhamen in enameled sarcophagus
• Agamemnon with his bronze sword and mask of gold
Each of these materials represented high technology of their day.
Had they lived and died today, what would they have been buried with:
Titanium watch; carbon-fiber reinforced tennis racket; metal-matrix mountain bike;
Eye glass frames with diamond like coated lenses; polyether-ethyl-ketone crash helmet
Materials of prehistory (>10,000 BC) were:
– Ceramics; natural polymers; and composites
– Weapons (representing technology peaking) were made of wood and flint
– Buildings and bridges were made of stone
– Gold and silver assumed great influence as currency (role in technology was very small)
Bronze age (4000-1000 BC
Rudimentary development of thermo-chemistry allowed metal extraction (copper and zinc)
Iron age (1000BC – 1620 AD)
• Extraction of iron stimulated advances in technology (particularly weaponry)
• Cast iron technology (1620); evolution of steels (1850); light alloys and special steels
(1940s)established dominance of metals in engineering
 Age of steel and other Materials
• By 1960 “engineering materials” meant “metals”. Engineers were given courses in
metallurgy; other materials were barely mentioned
• There had, of course, been developments of other classes of materials: improved
cements, refractories and glasses; rubber, bakelite and polymers (polyethylene)
• Steel production accounts for 90% of world metal output ; unique combination of
properties (strength, ductility and toughness) and low price makes steel
irreplaceable
• Development of new metallic alloys has actually slowed with marked fall in demand
for steel and cast iron in some countries
• On the other hand, polymer and composite industries are experiencing rapid growth
• The same applies to the growth of production of high performance ceramics
Today, we live in the age of an immense range of
materials
Its an era in material evolution has been fast growing
and the range of properties varied
Innovative design, often, means the imaginative
exploitation of properties offered by new and
improved materials
 Designing with Engineering Materials
Number of engineering materials is large. The engineering designer has a vast
menu to select materials that best suit his task
Often the temptation is to choose traditional materials for the application: glass for
bottles; steel for cans (choice maybe safely conservative but rejects opportunity
for innovation
Engineering materials are evolving fast and the choice is now wider
A guiding system is required when selecting materials for engineering applications
As already noted, it is helpful to classify engineering materials into five broad
categories: metal, polymers (including elastomers), ceramics, glasses and
composites (hybrids)
Members of each family have certain features in common: similar properties,
processing routes and applications
 Problems
1. What properties should the head of a carpenter’s hammer
possess? How would you manufacture:
(a) a hammer head
(b) a six inch nail

2. You are required to place a hundred centimeter diameter

microsatellite into orbit. The satellite will contain delicate electronic
equipment that will send and receive radio signals from earth.
Design the outer shell within which the electronic equipment is
contained. What properties will be required and what materials
maybe considered?
 Further Reading
1. Asby, MF and Jones DRH (1996) Engineering Materials 1 and
Introduction to their Properties and Application, 2nd edition, Pergamon
Press, Oxford, UK, ISBN 0-7506-3081-7
2. Callister WD (2003) Material Science and Engineering, an Introduction,
6th edition, John Wiley New York, USA, ISBN 0-471=13576-3
3. Dieter GE (1991) Engineering Design, A material Processing Approach,
2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, USA ISBN 0-07-100829-2
4. Farag MM (1989) Selection of Materials and Manufacturing Processes
for Engineering Design, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA,
ISBN 0-13-575192-6
5. Asby MF (2005) Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, 3rd edition,
Elsevier, Oxford, UK, ISBN 0-7506-6168-2