Introduction to

Material Science and

Engineering
Table of Contents

 Introduction
 4 components of Materials Science and
Engineering
 Materials Classification
Introduction
• Materials Science and Engineering
combines engineering, physics and chemistry
principles.
• Materials Science involves investigating the
relationships that exist between the structures
and properties of materials.
• while Materials Engineering is the basis of
these structure-property correlations,
designing or engineering the structure of a
material to produce a predetermined set of
properties.
Useful Words
 Synthesis/Synthesize
In science, especially in chemistry.
Chemists need to mix chemicals.
That’s where the process of
synthesis enter. Synthesis process is
the first step on making new
materials or chemical compounds.
Characterization
After synthesis, next is
characterization, this is the start of
determining the structure and
testing properties of materials.
Four Components of the Disciple of MSE

Aluminum
Oxide (pg 32,
Fig. 1.2)
Classification of
Materials
1. Metals
2. Ceramics
3. Polymers
4. Composites
5. Advanced
Materials
Metals
• Metals are opaque, lustrous elements.
Most metals are malleable and ductile and
are, in general, denser than the other
elemental substances.
• The most abundant varieties in the Earth’s
crust are aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium,
potassium, and magnesium. The vast
majority of metals are found in ores
(mineral-bearing substances), but a few
such as copper, gold, platinum, and
silver frequently occur in the free state
because they do not readily react with
other elements.
Metals
 Inorganic materials (composed of one or
more metallic elements – alloy)
 May contain small amount of non-
metallic elements
 Crystalline structure (arranged in a very
orderly manner)
 Good Thermal and electrical conductors
 Properties at RT
 Strong and ductile (capable of
deformation without fracture)
 Dense
 Resistance to fracture
Ceramics
 Bonds are partially or totally
ionic, covalent and can have
combination of ionic and
covalent bonding.
 Hard and brittle
 Electrical and thermal
INSULATORS
 Can be optically opaque, semi-
transparent, or transparent
Polymers
• Polymer, any of a class of natural or
synthetic substances composed of very
large molecules, called
macromolecules, that are multiples of
simpler chemical units called
monomers. Polymers make up many of
the materials in living organisms,
including, for example, proteins,
cellulose, and nucleic acids.
• The term polymer is often used to
describe plastics, which are synthetic
polymers. However, natural polymers
also exist; rubber and wood.
Polymers
 Polymers are considered organic
materials
 Long molecular chains/ network
containing C, H, and other non-
metallic elements (O, N, Si)
 Mostly non-crystalline or
quasicrystalline
 Properties at RT
 Low Density
 Mechanically Flexible
 Poor electrical conductor
 Properties
METALS CERAMICS POLYMERS

• High density  Low Density  Very low Density

• Medium to High  High Melting  Low melting
melting point point point
• Medium to High  Very high elastic  Low elastic
elastic modulus modulus modulus
• Reactive  Unreactive  Very reactive
 Brittle  Ductile and
• Ductile
Brittle Types
Composites Material
• Mixture of two or more types
of materials
• Designed to ensure a
combination of the best
properties of each component
material.
• Examples
• Plywood
• Masonry
• Fiberglass
Advanced Materials
• These are materials that are utilized in
high-tech applications .
• Advanced materials are typically
traditional materials whose properties
have been enhanced, and also newly
developed, high-performance
materials.
• Examples
• Semiconductors
• Biomaterials
• Smart Materials
• Nanomaterials
References:
• Materials Science and Engineering by William Callister
• MSE notes by Dr. Butch Cervera
• https://mse.umd.edu/about/what-is-mse
• https://depts.washington.edu/matseed/mse_resources/Webpage/Metals/metals.htm
• https://www.britannica.com/science/metal-chemistry
• https://depts.washington.edu/matseed/mse_resources/Webpage/Ceramics/ceramics.htm
• https://www.ggspdt.com/42a-metals-and-metallic-alloys.html
• https://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=metals_crystal_structure
• https://mse.umd.edu/about/what-is-mse/ceramics
• https://smicomposites.com/10-surprising-examples-of-composite-materials/