Introduction to Engineering Materials

Ceramics

Metals
Polymers

Composites
 General classification of Materials
Materials

Metals Composites Non-metals

Ferrous metals Non-ferrous metals and Ceramics Polymeric

and alloys - irons, alloys - aluminum, copper, Glasses Thermoplastics plastics
carbon steels, alloy magnesium, nickel, titanium, Glass ceramics Thermoset plastics
steels, stainless steels, precious metals, refractory Graphite, Diamond Elastomers
tool and die steels metals, superalloys
Ferrous and Non-ferrous metals and its properties
• Metal is an element, compound or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and
heat.
• Ferrous metals are metals that consist mostly of iron and small amounts of other elements.
• Non-ferrous metals are metals that do not have any iron in them at all.
Ferrous Metal Non-Ferrous Metal
Types of Ferrous metals

Mild Steel
 It is the alloy of iron and carbon where carbon percentage is
less than 2%.
Applications:- Bolts and nuts, Building girders, Car bodies, Gates
etc.
Cast Iron
 It is very strong and brittle metal. It consist between 2-6%
carbon.
 Applications:- Car brake disc, Car cylinders, Man hole covers,
Metalwork vices etc.
High Speed Steel (HSS)
High speed steel is a metal containing a high content of tungsten,
chromium and vanadium.
Applications:- Drill bits, cutting tools,
High temperature applications etc.
Stainless Steel
 It is an alloy of iron with chromium, nickel and magnesium .
 Stainless steel is very resistant to wear and water corrosion
and rust.
 Applications:- Kitchen sinks, cutlery, teapots, cookware and
surgical instruments.
Types of Non-Ferrous metals

Aluminium
 Light weight, good malleability and formability, high corrosion
resistance, high electrical and thermal conductivity.
 Applications:- Saucepans, cooking foil, window frames,
ladders, bicycles

Cont’d….
Copper
 Very good conductor of heat and electricity.
 Applications:- Electrical components, cookware, plumbing and
roof coverings etc

Cont’d….
Zinc
 Resistant to corrosion, used mainly as coating material.
 Applications:- Used as a coating on screws, steel buckets etc

Tin
 Ductile and very malleable metal and resistant to corrosion
 Applications:- Used as a coating on food cans, beer cans.
Used as whistles, tin foil and soldering.

Cont’d….
Lead
 Soft, malleable metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy
metals.
 Lead has a bluish-white colour after being freshly cut, but it
soon tarnishes to a dull grayish colour when exposed to air.
 Applications:- Used for batteries, roof flashing and X-ray
protection etc.

Cont’d….
Silver
 Soft, white transition metal, it has the highest electrical
conductivity of any element
 Highest thermal conductivity of any metal.
 The metal occurs naturally in its pure, free form.
 Applications:- Used for jewelry, currency coins sports trophies,
mirrors as a reflective metal etc.

Cont’d….
Gold
 Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal.
 Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally
considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing
in air or water.
 Applications:- Used mainly for jewelry and in computers as a

conductor. Used for its reflective powers to protect satellites.

Cont’d….
Magnesium
 Magnesium is a fairly strong, silvery white, light-weight metal
that slightly tarnishes when exposed to air.
 In a powder, his metal heats and ignites when exposed to
moisture and burns with a white flame.
 Applications:- Used in fireworks. It is alloyed with other metals
to make them lighter and more easily welded.
Heat treatment
• “Process of heating and cooling of a metal or alloy in the solid state so as to
produce a particular microstructure and hence the desired properties”.

Objectives of Heat Treatment:

• To improve the mechanical properties like tensile strength, impact strength,
ductility etc.

• To improve Machinability.

• To improve Hardness.

• To modify Magnetic and Electrical properties.

• To refine the grains.

• To produce hard surfaces and soft interiors.

• To relieve internal stresses and residual stress.

Stages of Heat Treatment Process:
Step 1: Heating the metal or alloy to the prescribed temperature.
Step 2: Holding the specimen at that Temperature for a pre determined period of time –
holding time or soaking time depends upon the maximum thickness of the
specimen.
Step 3: Cooling at a rate necessary to obtain a specific microstructure for desired
properties.

Classification of Heat Treatment Process:

• Annealing
• Normalizing
• Hardening
• Tempering
Annealing
This process of heat treatment is a conventional type. Here, the specimen is
heated to a prescribed elevated temperature for an extended period of time
and then slow cooled.
Annealing is carried out to
• Relieve internal residual stresses developed during machining, forging
welding etc.
• Increase softness, ductility and toughness.
• Produce specific microstructure.
Normalizing
Normalizing is similar to annealing except that, Here, the specimen is
heated to a prescribed elevated temperature for an extended period of time
and the cooling is done at a faster rate.
Normalizing is carried out to
• Increase softness, ductility and toughness.
• Produce specific microstructure.
• To improve machinability of low carbon steel
Comparison between Normalizing and Annealing

Normalizing Annealing

1. Normalizing steels are tougher and

1. Less tougher and harder.
harder.

2. Finer and Uniform grain size. 2. Less finer grains.

3. More expensive because of

3. Less expensive hence preferred in
prolonged heat Treatment
Industries.
cycles.

4. Cooling rates are not critical. 4. Cooling rates are critical.

5. Improves Machinability of medium 5. Improves Machinability of

carbon Steels. low carbon Steels.

6. Normalized steels are less ductile. 6. More ductile.

Hardening
Hardening is given to steel components to increase their hardness, wear
resistance, tensile strength and yield strength values.
• Heating steel to a sufficiently high temperature
• Holding (soaking) at that temperature for certain duration.
• Rapid cooling in different media (water or oil or ice bath etc.) to get hardest
phase.
Hardening is generally followed by tempering to reduce internal stresses, improve
wear resistance and improve toughness.
Tempering
• Steel after hardening becomes brittle, develops non-visible micro cracks and is
strained due to internal residual stresses. These undesired symptoms are
reduced by tempering the steel. Tempering is the only heat treatment process
suitable for improving elastic limit and toughness of steel.
• This process involves reheating of the hardened steel to a certain
temperature(< 600 ᴼ C), followed by a slow cooling rate. Reheating permits
partial transformation of microstructure and relieving of the internal stresses.