Lecture 1

Welcome to Introduction to Engineering
Materials (ENME1EM)
Introduction Lecture
lecture 1
Lectured by
Mr. Anthony Govender
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Introduction
• Engineering materials are essential for all engineering domains, without them many
products/applications would not be possible.
• Mechanical, civil, chemical, computer, electrical, biomedical, agricultural engineers etc. all
rely on heavily on engineering materials, to create products etc.
• It is thus necessary for an engineer to have a good understanding of material science and
materials engineering.
• Material scientists and engineers, improve materials that currently exist, and discover new
phenomena, and materials.
• An engineer must have a good knowledge of material properties available, to make a
material selection of an application.
• A few examples of engineering applications of materials are illustrated below.
Introduction
• The steel bolt - the designer of the bolt, a mechanical engineer, would be concerned about the type of steel
used to manufacture the bolt, such that it can withstand the loads experienced by the bolt. For example,
stainless steel, carbon steel, alloy steel etc. all candidate materials for the bolt, and have different strengths.
• The engineer would also take into consideration the environment that the bolt is used in, and whether the
material would experience corrosion etc. for example, is it been used in the outdoors, or at high
temperatures near a furnace or engine? Are questions that would be asked by the engineer.
• The concrete bridge - the civil engineer designing the bridge, would select an appropriate concrete grade for
the bridge, that can withstand the compressive, tensile, torsional stresses etc. experienced by the bridge.
He/she would also have to consider the different types of steel reinforcement for the bridge.
• The electrical conductor - the electrical engineer, designing the conductor, would search for the copper
grade that has the least electrical resistance for the conductor, to reduce resistive heat losses. Heat losses on
an electrical system, increase operating costs, and thus should be minimized. He/she would also have to
consider the strength of the wire for the application, so that it doesn’t fail in service.
• The human hip implant - the biomedical engineer, would search for a material that has properties such as
been light weight and strong, so that the person using the implant would not have difficulty moving. The
material for the implant should also not corrode whilst been in the human body. Two materials are generally
used for these reasons, such as titanium (been very strong and light weight) and stainless steel (less
expensive than titanium, but more dense than titanium). Titanium is however very costly.
• In all applications, the cost of the material used is a major factor, and generally the material that meets the
requirements for the lowest cost, is used.
Material Science
• Is the field of science that studies the relationships between the
microstructure, synthesis and processing, and properties of materials.
• Factors such as material microstructure, chemical composition,
synthesis and processing, and performance to cost ratio, are all related.
These factors must be taken into consideration, by an engineer, when
selecting a material for a product.
• Material microstructure refers to the arrangement of the atoms of the
material, or the structure of the material when viewed under high
magnification, under a microscope. The microstructure characteristics
affects the properties of the material. An example of the microstructure
of steel is illustrated on the top right image.
• Synthesis and processing – synthesis refers to the extraction of
materials from there natural state, and processing refers to the shaping
of materials into useful forms. For example, iron is extracted from iron
ore, which is synthesis, and the shaping of the iron into useable forms
such as sheet, tube etc. is referred to as processing.
Materials Engineering
• Is the field that focuses on how to transform materials into products,
by applying knowledge of materials.
• For example, in designing an engine block for a car.
• A mechanical design engineer would need to assess the materials that
are available, for the engine block. The material would need to be
strong and able to withstand high temperatures from fuel combustion.
Metals such as aluminum and cast iron are normally used for engine
blocks.
• The engineer would also need to consider manufacturing processes for
the engine block. For example, is it more economical to cast the shape
of the engine block, or to machine it from a block of steel/aluminum. If
the casting process is selected, the engineer should be aware of the
melting point of the metal selected, and other casting parameters,
such as solidification time etc.
• If machining is selected to create the engine block, the engineer should
be able to select an appropriate tool for machining, and specify
lubricants types etc. that are to be used in the process. He should also
have knowledge of the machinability of the steel or aluminum.
Classes of materials
There are generally five classes of materials,
1. Metals and alloys
2. Ceramics, glasses and glass ceramics
3. Polymers
4. Composites
5. Semiconductors
Generally the mechanical, electrical and physical properties

is different across the classes of materials.
The variation in strength of the different material classes are
illustrated in the figure on the right.
• Metals and alloys, tend to have high density, and high
strength.
• Composites tend to have low density and high strength.
• Polymers tend to have low density and medium to low
strength.
Metals and there alloys
• Metal refers to the pure state of a metallic material.
• Whereas alloys, are pure metals that have small additions of other
elements. Alloying is done to improve the properties of a metal, so that
it can be used in certain application(s).
• Metals and there alloys are known for high strength, good ductility, and
good resistance to shock.
• They also have good thermal and electrical conductivity properties.
• Typical metals that are commonly used in everyday products, are:
• Steel (a combination of iron and carbon) , aluminum (foil), zinc, copper
(bowls), titanium (bicycle frame), nickel etc.
• Some metals also contain nonmetallic elements such as carbon,
nitrogen, hydrogen etc.
• Metals have many uses in industries such as automotive, aerospace,
biomedical, chemical, civil.
• Metals are crystalline, which means that the atoms of the metal are
orderly arranged.
Ceramics and glass
• Ceramics are crystalline, inorganic materials, that consist of metallic and
nonmetallic elements.
• Some examples of natural ceramics are rocks, clay, sand etc.
• Tableware, bricks, refractories, are typical examples of ceramic products.
• Ceramic materials have high temperature melting points, and are generally
poor conductors of electricity and heat. Ceramics are well known for there
high strength in compression.
• Ceramics have high tensile strength, but low elongation, and are thus
brittle materials. They have high hardness and thus good wear resistance.
• Advanced ceramics/engineering ceramics are created to have superior
properties to traditional ceramics. Examples of advanced ceramics are
alumina, silicon nitride, silicon carbide. They have higher strength, better
wear resistance, corrosion resistance, than traditional ceramics.
• Advanced ceramics are used in spark plugs, electrical insulation, electrical
capacitors for energy storage, sensors etc.
• Advanced ceramics are used on space shuttle’s external surfaces, to
provide resistance to heat transfer to the internals of the space craft, upon
entry into the earth’s atmosphere, from space. The ceramic tiles used on a
space craft skin is illustrated in the image on the bottom right.
Glass
• Glass is an amorphous material, often derived from silica.
• Amorphous means that the atoms of the material, are not
arranged in a specific order/pattern, and are randomly
arranged.
• When atoms are found to be ordered/arranged in a
particular pattern, the material is said to be crystalline.
• Glass is found in many applications such as car windows,
light bulbs, glass bottles etc.
• The strength of a glass can be increased by heat treatment,
known as tempering.
• Glass is normally shaped by melting and casting. They can
also be shaped by glass blowing techniques, as illustrated in
the bottom right image.
Polymers
• Polymers are produced by a process known as polymerization.
• They have good electrical resistivity, and good resistance to
heat transfer, which make them good thermal insulators. They
generally have low densities.
• They cannot be used at high temperatures, as they have low
softening and decomposition temperatures.
• Two categories of polymers are thermosetting polymers and
thermoplastic polymers.
• In thermoplastic polymers the molecular chains of the
polymer are entangled, and not rigidly connected. They thus
have good formability and ductility.
• In thermosetting polymers, the molecular chains are cross
linked. They are thus stronger than thermoplastics, but more
brittle.
• Examples of the molecular chains in thermoplastics (left) and
thermosets are illustrated in the top right figure.
• Polymers are used in car bumpers, sports equipment,
automotive parts etc.
Semiconductors
• These are known as electronic materials, as they are used in computers
and electronic circuits.
• They are used in devices such as transistors, diodes, integrated circuits,
light emitting diodes (LEDs) etc.
• Common semiconducting materials are silicon, germanium, and gallium
arsenide.
• Semiconductors have properties between that of a metal and insulator,
hence the term, semiconductor.
• There are intrinsic semiconductors and extrinsic semiconductors. The
properties such as conductivity of intrinsic semiconductors are affected
by temperature.
• The conductivity of extrinsic semiconductors, are dependent on the
amount of dopant atoms added to the semiconductor. Dopant atoms
are such as aluminum, boron, phosphorous, arsenic etc.
• Dependent on the type of dopants used, p-type, and n-type
semiconductors, are created.
• The figure on the top right illustrates two LED’s and a diode. The lower
image is a bipolar junction transistor.
Composite materials
• A composite is a material produced by blending two or more
different materials together. Thus, creating a unique material,
with unique properties. Composites are generally light weight,
and strong, and have high strength-to-weight ratios.
• Common composites include fibrous and particulate composites.
In fibrous composites fibers are embedded in a matrix, whereas in
particulate composites, particles are embedded in a matrix.
• Examples of composites are fiberglass, which is created by placing
glass fibers in a polymer matrix.
• Reinforced concrete is a composite, as it is a combination of
concrete, and steel reinforcement bars. Commonly used by civil
engineers.
• Plywood is a composite material, as it is a combination of layers
of wood and glue, with the layers of wood, having there grain
rotated relative to each other. This results in improved
mechanical strength of the final wood sheet.
• Two commonly used composite materials are glass fiber
reinforced plastic, and carbon fibers in an epoxy matrix.
• The bottom image illustrates drone propellers made from carbon
fiber.

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Welcome to Introduction to Engineering

Generally the mechanical, electrical and physical properties

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