UES 012 Engineering Materials

Materials Properties and Materials Selection

What exactly we do in Materials Science/Engineering?

The principal goals of a materials scientist and

engineer are to
(1) make existing materials better &
(2) invent or discover new phenomena, materials,
devices, and applications.

Materials Design Tetrahedron

the performance-to-cost ratio, as opposed to

the performance alone, is of utmost
importance

A—the composition,
B—the microstructure, and
C—the synthesis and processing of materials.

These are all interconnected and ultimately

affect the performance-to-cost ratio of a
material or a device.
 Materials Design approach

Processing Structure Properties Performance

Thermal Protection System
Re-entry T
Distribution

Space Shuttle Orbiter

reinf C-C silica tiles nylon felt, silicon rubber

(1650ºC) (400-1260ºC) coating (400ºC)

• Silica tiles
(400-1260ºC):
-- large scale application -- microstructure:
~90% porosity!
Si fibers
bonded to one
another during
heat treatment.
100 mm

21
 Can you identify these materials Materials?

Different processing and structure gave different optical

properties
Advanced Materials-Dr. Paresh H. Salame
Selection of Materials