Engineering Materials and Their Properties

ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND
THEIR PROPERTIES
Introduction
• The knowledge of materials and their properties is of great significance for
a design engineer.
• The machine elements should be made of such a material which has
properties suitable for the conditions of operation.
• In addition to this, a design engineer must be familiar with the effects
which the manufacturing processes and heat treatment have on the
properties of the materials.
• In this chapter, we shall discuss the commonly used engineering materials
and their properties in Machine Design
Classification of Engineering Materials
• The engineering materials are mainly classified as :
1. Metals and their alloys, such as iron, steel, copper, aluminium, etc.
2. Non-metals, such as glass, rubber, plastic, etc.
The metals may be further classified as : (a) Ferrous metals, and (b) Non-
ferrous metals.
The *ferrous metals are those which have the iron as their main
constituent, such as cast iron, wrought iron and steel.
The non-ferrous metals are those which have a metal other than iron as
their main constituent, such as copper, aluminium, brass, tin, zinc, etc.
Selection of Materials for Engineering Purposes
• The selection of a proper material, for engineering purposes, is one of the most
difficult problem for the designer.
• The best material is one which serve the desired objective at the minimum cost.
• The following factors should be considered while selecting the material :
• 1. Availability of the materials,
• 2. Suitability of the materials for the working conditions in service, and
• 3. The cost of the materials.
• The important properties, which determine the utility of the material are physical,
chemical and mechanical properties. We shall now discuss the physical and
mechanical properties of the material in the following articles.

The physical properties of the metals include luster, colour, size and shape,
density, electric and thermal conductivity, and melting point. The following table
shows the important physical properties of some pure metals
Mechanical Properties of Metals
• The mechanical properties of the metals are those which are associated with the
ability of the material to resist mechanical forces and load.
• These mechanical properties of the metal include strength, stiffness, elasticity,

plasticity, ductility, brittleness, malleability, toughness, resilience, creep and
hardness. We shall now discuss these properties as follows:
• 1. Strength. It is the ability of a material to resist the externally applied forces

without breaking or yielding. The internal resistance offered by a part to an
externally applied force is called *stress.
• 2. Stiffness. It is the ability of a material to resist deformation under stress. The

modulus of elasticity is the measure of stiffness
• 3. Elasticity. It is the property of a material to regain its original shape after deformation
when the external forces are removed. This property is desirable for materials used in
tools and machines. It may be noted that steel is more elastic than rubber.
• 4. Plasticity. It is property of a material which retains the deformation produced under
load permanently. This property of the material is necessary for forgings, in stamping
images on coins and in ornamental work.
• 5. Ductility. It is the property of a material enabling it to be drawn into wire with the
application of a tensile force.
• A ductile material must be both strong and plastic.
The ductility is usually measured by the terms, percentage elongation and percentage
reduction in area. The ductile material commonly used in engineering practice (in order of
diminishing ductility) are mild steel, copper, aluminium, nickel, zinc, tin and lead.
• 6. Brittleness. It is the property of a material opposite to ductility. It is the property of breaking
of a material with little permanent distortion. Brittle materials when subjected to tensile loads,
snap off without giving any sensible elongation. Cast iron is a brittle material.
• 7. Malleability. It is a special case of ductility which permits materials to be rolled or
hammered into thin sheets. A malleable material should be plastic but it is not essential to be
so strong.
• The malleable materials commonly used in engineering practice are lead, soft steel, wrought
iron, copper and aluminium.
• 8. Toughness. It is the property of a material to resist fracture due to high impact loads like
hammer blows. The toughness of the material decreases when it is heated.
• It is measured by the amount of energy that a unit volume of the material has absorbed after
being stressed up to the point of fracture. This property is desirable in parts subjected to shock
and impact loads.

• 9. Machinability. It is the property of a material which refers to a relative
case with which a material can be cut.
• The machinability of a material can be measured in a number of ways

such as comparing the tool life for cutting different materials or thrust
required to remove the material at some given rate or the energy required
to remove a unit volume of the material. It may be noted that brass can be
easily machined than steel.
• 10. Resilience. It is the property of a material to absorb energy and to

resist shock and impact loads. It is measured by the amount of energy
absorbed per unit volume within elastic limit. This property is essential
for spring materials
• 11. Creep. When a part is subjected to a constant stress at high temperature
for a long period of time, it will undergo a slow and permanent
deformation called creep. This property is considered in designing internal
combustion engines, boilers and turbines.
• 12. Fatigue. When a material is subjected to repeated stresses, it fails at
stresses below the yield point stresses. Such type of failure of a material is
known as *fatigue.
• The failure is caused by means of a progressive crack formation which are
usually fine and of microscopic size. This property is considered in
designing shafts, connecting rods, springs, gears, etc
• 13. Hardness. It is a very important property of the metals and has a
wide variety of meanings. It embraces many different properties such as
resistance to wear, scratching, deformation and machinability etc. It
also means the ability of a metal to cut another metal.
• The hardness is usually expressed in numbers which are dependent on
the method of making the test.
• The hardness of a metal may be determined by the following tests
(a) Brinell hardness test,
(b) Rockwell hardness test,

(c) Vickers hardness (also called Diamond Pyramid) test, and
(d) Shore scleroscope.

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ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND

• The engineering materials are mainly classified as :

2. Non-metals, such as glass, rubber, plastic, etc.

difficult problem for the designer.

• The following factors should be considered while selecting the material :

• 1. Availability of the materials,

• 2. Suitability of the materials for the working conditions in service, and

• 3. The cost of the materials.

mechanical properties of the material in the following articles.

• These mechanical properties of the metal include strength, stiffness, elasticity,

• 1. Strength. It is the ability of a material to resist the externally applied forces

• 2. Stiffness. It is the ability of a material to resist deformation under stress. The

• 4. Plasticity. It is property of a material which retains the deformation produced under

images on coins and in ornamental work.

application of a tensile force.

• A ductile material must be both strong and plastic.

• 7. Malleability. It is a special case of ductility which permits materials to be rolled or

iron, copper and aluminium.

hammer blows. The toughness of the material decreases when it is heated.

and impact loads.

• The machinability of a material can be measured in a number of ways

• 10. Resilience. It is the property of a material to absorb energy and to

(a) Brinell hardness test,

(b) Rockwell hardness test,

(d) Shore scleroscope.

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