Describe the difference between toughness and fracture toughness.

Toughness is generally the resistance to fracture. Toughness is the ability of material to

absorb energy so that fracture will be delayed. Fracture Toughness is the ability of material
with original cracks to resist fracture by absorbing energy.

Discuss the process involve in performing tensile and compressive strength test in a material
In tensile compressive strength test, the specimen is placed in a test rig that is used to
compress materials. Extensometer is then applied to the specimen; this is for determining the
yield strength of the material. After the extensometer has determined the yield strength of the
material, the extensometer is removed. Slowly the test rig is compressing or tensioning the
specimen. After the specimen has been torn of compressed the test results will show on the
computer.

Why is materials engineering important? Discuss your answer in 300 words by citing practical
applications where materials’ engineering plays a vital role.

Materials engineering is important because the efficacy of a material in field service

depends on its properties, that material will often need to have its physical and mechanical
properties tailored to its application. This is where a knowledge of materials science and
engineering is important. For example, steels are widely used. But a steel can be soft, hard,
brittle, ductile, or something else. A materials scientist or a well-studied engineer will know
how to heat treat the steel and add the right alloying additions to achieve, say, the
corrosion resistance or fracture toughness needed for a specific use. Besides, the field of
materials engineering is broad and subsumes aspects of physics, chemistry, mechanics, and
so forth and can’t be encapsulated into neat axioms such as the Newton laws. Even though,
there are numerous happenings that are common to metals, ceramics, semiconductors,
polymers, and part of the purpose of training in materials science is to instill the ability to
recognize the common underlying principles governing seemingly disparate physical
phenomena in materials.
Describe the advantages, disadvantages, applications of the following: 1) Impact
Testing, 2) Fatigue Testing, and Destructive Testing. 

Impact Test

- The Impact test, determines and test the materials’ ability to absorb energy. Some characteristics
that can be seen in the impact test is its toughness, impact strength, fracture resistance, impact
strength etc.

Destructive Testing

- In a destructive testing, the material is damaged so much that the materials can no longer be used.
This test provides vital factors in order to determine the proper material. Some example of
destructive testing is tensile test, compression test, fatigue test, creep rupture test, etc.

Fatigue Test

- Fatigue test determines the lifespan that may be expected from a material exposed to cyclic
loading, however fatigue strength and crack resistance are usually required values as well.