NATURE OF MATERIALS

Materials Science is a field involving academic and scientific disciplines of science and

engineering that studies and manipulates the composition and structure of materials over long

scales to control and modify materials properties through synthesis and processing. The emphasis

in materials science is on the underlying relationships between materials' synthesis and processing,

structure, and properties. The emphasis in materials engineering is on how materials can be

translated or transformed into useful devices or structures.

Engineering Materials are defined as substance that is intended to be used for certain applications.

They should have properties like strength, toughness, hardness, ductility, etc. The aluminum

frame, the ceramic dinnerware, the automobiles, jewelry, and everywhere we look we see products

made from these materials. Engineering materials are classified as:

• Metals

• Ceramics

• Polymers

• Composites

• Electronic materials

• Bio-materials

• Advanced or Smart materials.

 Schematic Diagram: Classification of Engineering Materials

Engineering
Materials

Electronic Advanced/Smart
Metals Ceramics Polymers Composites Bio-Materials
Materials Materials

Shape-Memory
Ferrous Non-Ferrous Alumina Thermoplastic Thermosetting Elastomers Carbon Fiber Silicon Man-Made
alloys

Piezoelectric
Cast Iron Aluminium Diamond ABS Butyl Ceramic Germanium Proteins
Ceramics

Magnetostrictive
Carbon Steels Brass Magnesia Acrylic Fluorocarbon Matrix Photonic Artificial
Materials

Alloy Steels Bronze Silicon Nylon Neoprene Metal Matrix Materials Bacterium Optical Fibers

Electrorheological
Stainless Steels Copper Carbide Polyethylene Rubber Glass Fiber Solid-State Lasers Biosensors
Fluids

Lead Zirconia Polystyrene Silicone LEDs Nanomaterials

Magnesium Vinyl

Nickel

Tin

Zinc

Titanium
I. Metals — inorganic materials composed of one or more metallic elements.

• They usually have a crystalline structure and are good thermal and electrical conductors

• Many metals have high strength and high elastic module

• They maintain good strength at high and low temperatures and have sufficient ductility

• They can be strengthen by alloying and heat treatment

• They are least resistant to corrosion

1. Ferrous Materials – the main alloying element in ferrous metals is carbon (C) which

predominantly affects properties of the material. Ferrous alloys with less than 2.14% C are

turned as steels, while those with higher carbon content are termed as cast irons. Based on

the amount of alloying additions, steels are of two kinds: (plain) carbon steels and alloy-

steels, described as follows.

1. Plain Carbon Steels – mechanical properties of plain carbon steels are very

sensitive to carbon content. Therefore, steels are classified based on the carbon

percentage:

• Low Carbon Steels – low-carbon steels (%C < 0.3) are soft steels, also

called mild steels. Carbon present in these alloys is limited, and is not

enough to strength these materials by heat treatment; hence these alloys are

strengthened by cold working process. Their microstructure consists of

ferrite and pearlite, and these alloys are thus, ductile combined with high

toughness. These metals are easily machinable and weldable. Typical

applications of mild steels include bolts, nuts, sheets, plates, tubes, wire

fences, automobiles, body sheets, forged parts, tinned plates, fan blades, etc.
 • Medium Carbon Steels – medium carbon steels (0.3 < %C < 0.5) are

stronger than low carbon steels. These alloys can be heat treated to improve

their strength. Also, these alloys possess better machine ability. Medium

carbon steels are used for rail, road agriculture equipment's, axles, chisels,

Punches, files, cutting tools, shafts, connecting rods, spindles, gears, turbine

buckets, steering arms, clutch discs, wrenches, etc.

• High Carbon Steels – high carbon steels (%C > 0.5) are the strongest and

hardest of the plain carbon steels, and of course, their ductility is very

limited. These are heat treatable, and mostly used in hardened and tempered

conditions. They possess very high wear resistance, and are capable of

holding sharp edges. High carbon steels are used for hand tools, chisels,

punches, files, cutting tools, shafts, connecting rods, spindles, gears, turbine

buckets, steering arms, clutch discs, wrenches, leaf springs, etc.

2. Alloy Steels – is steel that is alloyed with a variety of elements in total amounts

between 1.0% and 50% by weight to improve its mechanical properties.

• Low Alloy Steels – these steels are characterized by a micro-structure

consisting of fine grain ferrite as one phase and a hard second phase of

Martensite and Austensite. Alloying elements in these steels are limited to

5%, in which the carbon can be added up to 0.3%. These are used for

automobile bodies, bridges, building construction, etc.

• Medium Carbon Steel – typically has a carbon range of 0.31% to 0.60%,

and a manganese content ranging from 0.060% to 1.65%. This product is

stronger than low carbon steel, and it is more difficult to form, weld and cut.
 Medium carbon steels are quite often hardened and tempered using heat

treatment.

• High Carbon Steel – commonly known as "carbon tool steel" it typically

has a carbon range between 0.61% and 1.50% with manganese contents

ranging from 0.30 to 0.90%. High-carbon steels are used for spring

materials and high-strength wires. Once heat treated it becomes extremely

hard and brittle.

3. Other Alloy Steels

• Free Cutting Steels — are characterized by good machinability rendered

by the Sulphur (0.08-0.35%) and lead content. Sulphur present in the form

of Manganese Sulphide (MnS) inclusions improves machinability by

causing the formation of a broken chip and by providing a built-in lubricant.

Mechanical properties increase with increasing carbon concentration (0.15-

0.3%).

• Invar — a nickel-iron alloy Invar contains 36% nickel, and possesses the

lowest thermal expansion among all metals and alloys in the range from

̊ . The alloy is ductile and easily

room temperature up to approximately 230 C

weldable, and machinability is similar to austenitic stainless steel. It does

not suffer from stress corrosion cracking' Most bimetallic strips have invar

as one metal because of its low coefficient of thermal expansion and yellow

brass as other metal for low temperature or a nickel alloy for higher

temperature.
 • Stainless Steels — these steels are called stainless because in the presence

of oxygen these steels develop a thin hard adherent film of chromium oxide

that protects the metal from corrosion. This protective film builds up again

if surface is scratched. For this' minimum chromium required is 10-20%.

Higher the carbon content, the lower is the resistance to corrosion, because

carbon combines with chromium in the steel and forms chromium carbide,

and reduced availability of chromium lowers the passivity of the steel.

However, chromium carbide promotes galvanic corrosion.

➢ High Speed Steels (HSS) are used for high speed cutting tools.

These are of two types: molybdenum type (M-series, 10% MO) and

tungsten type (T-series, 12-18% W). M-series steels generally have

higher abrasive resistance than T-series. can be coated with titanium

nitride and titanium carbide for more wear resistance. These steels

contain tungsten (≈18%) chromium (≈4%) and vanadium (≈1%) in

descending order of percentage composition.

2. Wrought (nodular or ductile) Iron – is an iron alloy with very low carbon content with

respect to cast iron. It is soft, ductile, shock and fatigue resistant, magnetic, has high

elasticity and tensile strength. Graphite flakes of gray cast iron are changed into nodular

form by small addition of magnesium (Mg) or cerium (Ce) to the molten metal. This

permits the material to be somewhat ductile and shock resistant. The resulting structure is

called wrought iron because during the process of manufacturing it is forged or wrought

with large hammers to combine the slag with iron. Due to better corrosion resistance and
 fatigue resistance, wrought irons are used in pumps, compressors, steel mill rolls,

connecting rods, crank shafts, crane hooks, engine bolts, gears, sheet metals dies, etc.

Wrought iron is the only ferrous metal that contains siliceous slag (1-3%).

3. Cast Irons – cast irons contain 2-4.5% carbon and 3.5% silicon. Alloys with this carbon

content melt at lower temperatures than steel; therefore, casting is the most used fabrication

technique for these alloys. Weldability of cast iron is quite low hence brazing, arc-welding

or gases welding with special electrodes are used for fabrication. Cast irons are classified

according to their solidification morphology from the eutectic temperature:

a. Gray Cast Iron – is obtained when molten cast iron is slowly cooled, its cementite

decomposes. Alloying with Si (1-3%) is responsible for decomposition of cementite

which also increases fluidity. The resulting structure contains graphite largely in the

form of flakes. This is called gray cast iron because its fracture path is along the

graphite flakes of gray appearance. Graphite flakes act as stress raisers, resulting in

negligible ductility, weak in tension, though strong in compression. However, the

presences of graphite flakes render vibration damping property by means of internal

friction and therefore they are great material for machine housing.

b. White Cast Iron is obtained either by cooling gray cast iron rapidly or by adjusting

the composition by keeping the carbon and silicon contents within 2.5% and 1.5%,

respectively. It is called white cast iron because of its white crystalline appearance

of the fracture surface. Due to the presence of large amounts of iron carbide instead

of graphite, the metal is very hard, wear resistant and brittle. Rail and flywheels

wheels are made by chilled castings in which white cast iron.

 c. Malleable Cast Iron is obtained by annealing white cast iron in an atmosphere of

carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide between 800 to 900 ̊C for several hours,

during which cementite decomposes into iron and graphite. The graphite exists as

cluster or rosettes in a ferrite or pearlite matrix. Consequently, malleable iron has a

structure similar to that of nodular iron which promotes ductility, strength and shock

resistance, and hence is called malleable. Malleable cast iron is used for automobile

crank shafts, pipe fittings, sprockets, rail roads, conveyor chain links, gear cases,

universal joint yokes, etc.

4. Non-Ferrous Materials – their main advantage over ferrous materials is their malleability.

They also have no iron content, giving them a higher resistance to rust and corrosion, and

making them ideal for gutters, liquid pipes, roofing and outdoor signs. They are non-

magnetic, which is important for many electronic and wiring applications.

a. Aluminum Alloys – aluminum is characterized by low density of 2.7 g/cm3,

approximately one-third as much as steel (7.83 g/cm3), high thermal and electrical

conductivities, and good corrosion resistant. Aluminum has FCC crystal structure;

therefore, its alloys are ductile even at low temperatures. However, their low

melting point (660 ̊C) restricts their use at elevated temperatures. Aluminum is a

good conductor of heat and electricity. When measured by equal cross-sectional

area, electrical grade aluminum has conductivity which is approximately 62% of

electrical grade annealed copper. However, when compared using equal weight, the

conductivity of aluminum is 204% of copper. Important application of aluminum

alloys includes heat exchangers, screws and rivets, light reflectors, cooking

utensils, aircrafts parts, fuel and air lines, fuel tanks, wires, engine cylinder blocks,
 etc. Aluminum with 11% silicon is used for making engine pistons by die casting

technique in which silicon improves fluidity. Duralumin is an alloy of 94% Al and

4% Cu (and 0.5% Mn + 0.5% Mg).

b. Copper Alloys – unalloyed Cu is soft, ductile (difficult to machine) and has

virtually unlimited capacity for cold work. Copper has two main alloys; Brass (Cu

+ Zn) and Bronzes (Cu + Sn). Brass has higher strength than copper and is less

expensive. Strength increases by adding 40% zinc, but ductility, corrosion

resistance decreases. Hence, up to 30% zinc is used in brass. A small amount of

lead (3%) is added to increase machinability. Addition of Sulphur gives a greatly

increased cutting ability. Tellurium can be used as an alternative to Sulphur to

obtain the same result.

Applications of some important copper alloys are enlisted as follows

• Gun metal (90% Cu+ 10% Sn) is used in boiler valves and mountings.

• Phosphor bronze (70% Cu + 20% Sn + 1% P) is used in worm gears,

springs, wire ropes.

• Gliding metal (95% Cu + 5% Zn) is used in coins, medals.

• Muntz metal (60% Cu + 40% Zn) is corrosion-resistant alloy used for

condenser tubes.

• Tin bronze or phosphor bronze (phosphorus up to 0.3%) is used as

deoxidizer.

• Cupronickel (70% Cu + 30% Ni) is used in coins, utensils, heat exchanger

tubes.

• German silver (65% Cu + 23% Zn +12% Ni) has a color resembling silver.
 • Constanton (58.5% Cu + 40% Ni + 1.5% Mn) is used in rheostats,

thermocouple, heating devices, etc.

c. Magnesium Alloys – the most important property of magnesium (Mg) is its lowest

density (1745 kg/m3) among all structural metals. Its alloys are difficult to form at

room temperatures. Hence, Mg alloys are usually fabricated by casting or hot

working. Magnesium alloys find applications in hand-held devices like saws, tools,

automotive parts like steering wheels, seat frames, electronics like casing for

laptop, cell phones.

d. Titanium Alloys – Titanium (Ti) alloys offer exceptional strength-to-weight ratio,

mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, are biocompatible and have non-

magnetic which is very favorable specific strengths and therefore were found to be

suitable for the aerospace industries, airplane structures, surgical implants, and

petroleum and chemical industries. However, major limitation is its chemical

reactivity at high temperatures, which necessitates special techniques to extract it.

Thus, these alloys are expensive. Titanium alloys possess excellent corrosion

resistance in diverse atmospheres, and wear properties.

e. Refractory Metals – the identifying feature of refractory metals is their resistance

̊ (2000 ̊C). They are

to heat which have high melting points more than of 3632 F

hard, resistant to thermal shock' meaning that repeated heating and cooling will not

easily cause expansion, stress, and cracking which makes them ideal for cutting and

drilling tools. The term refractory metals most often refer to five commonly used

elements:

• Molybdenum (Mo)
 • Niobium (Nb)

• Rhenium (Re)

• Tantalum (Ta)

• Tungsten (W)

f. Other Non-Ferrous Alloys

i. Monel – is primarily composed of nickel (up to 67%) and copper, with

some iron and other trace elements. It is very difficult to machine as it

work-hardness very quickly. It is resistant to corrosion and acids, and some

alloys can withstand fire in the presence of pure oxygen. Monel's corrosion

resistance makes it ideal for marine applications such as piping systems,

pump shafts, seawater valves, trolling wire, and strainer baskets.

ii. Nichrome – is an alloy of Ni and Cr, primarily used as an electric

resistance heating element in wire and strip forms.

iii. Babbitt – also called bearing metal, is any of several alloys used to provide

the bearing surface in a plain bearing. Some common compositions are:

(90% Sn, 10% cu), (89% Sn, 7% Sb, 4% Cu), (80% Pb, 15% Sb, 5% Sn),

where Sb is the symbol of antimony.

II. Ceramics – are inorganic and non-metallic materials, which are hard, abrasion resistant,

brittle, chemically inert, and poor conductors of heat.

• They can be crystalline (ceramics), non-crystalline (glasses) or mixture of both

(glass-ceramics)

• Have high melting points and chemical stabilities

• Have high hardness, high moduli and high temperature strength

 • They are very brittle but with high strength on compression

• Poor electrical conductors

1. Types of Ceramics

a. Glasses – are non-crystalline silicates containing oxides, usually CaO, Na20, K20

and Al2O3. Typical property of glasses that is important in engineering applications

is their optical transparency and ease in fabrication. Glasses are mainly used in

containers, windows, mirrors, building walls, etc.

b. Clay Products – are inexpensive ingredient found naturally in great abundance.

Clay products are mainly of two kinds: structural products (bricks, tiles, sewer

pipes) and white-wares (porcelain, chinaware, pottery, etc.).

c. Refractories – are described by their capacity to withstand high temperatures

without melting or decomposing; and their inertness in severe environments.

Thermal insulation is also an important functionality of refractories.

d. Abrasive Ceramics – are used to grind, wear, or cut away other softer material.

Diamond, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, silica sand and corundum (crystalline

form of Aluminum oxide) are some typical examples of abrasive ceramic materials.

e. Cement – is a binder, a substance used for construction that sets, hardens and

adheres to other materials, binding them together. Cement is seldom used on its

own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement is used with

fine aggregate to Produce mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel aggregates

to produce concrete.
 f. Advance Ceramics – are newly developed and manufactured in limited range for

specific applications. Usually their electrical, magnetic and optical properties and

combination of properties is exploited. Their typical applications include heat

engines, ceramic armors, electronic packaging, optical fiber communication, etc.

III. Polymers – are organic materials which consist of long molecular chains or networks

containing carbon.

• Most polymers are non-crystalline, but some consist of mixtures of both crystalline

and non-crystalline regions

• They have low densities and low rigidity

• Most polymers are poor electrical conductors due to the nature of the atomic bonding

• Most of them are corrosion resistant but cannot be used at high temperatures

• They generally have good strength to weight ratio

Polymers are classified into two main classes:

1. Plastics – are either natural or synthetic organic resins, and are processed by forming

or molding into shapes. They have a wide range of desired properties, such as light

weight, wide range of colors, low thermal and electrical conductivity, less brittleness,

good toughness, good resistance to acids, bases and moisture, high dielectric strength

(use in electrical insulation), etc.

2. Elastomers – also known as rubbers are polymers which can undergo large

elongations under load, at room temperature, and return to their original shape when

the load is released. There are a number of man-made elastomers in addition to

natural rubber. These consist of coil-like polymer chains that can reversibly stretch

by applying a force.
IV. Composites – a composite material is made by combining two or more materials. Most

composites are made of just two materials. One is the matrix or binder to give the

composite unique properties. It surrounds and binds together fibres or fragments of the

other material, which is called the reinforcement. The first modern composite material

was fiberglass. The biggest advantage of modern composite materials is that they are light

as well as strong. The new Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, makes use

of modern composites in its design. More than 20% of the A380 is made of composite

materials, mainly plastic reinforced with carbon fibres. The design is the first large-scale

use of glass-fibre-reinforced Aluminium, a new composite that is 25% stronger than

conventional airframe Aluminium but 20 % lighter.

 References

Dionisio, D.J. (2018). Machine Design and Allied Subjects. Manila, Philippines: Educspace

Learning Services.