MSE- 821

MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR
OF MATERIALS
Lecture 1

ADEEL UMER
Asst. Prof (Dept. MSE)
 What is it useful for?
All engineering structures must endure load.

• Most Engineers: Interested in selecting materials for a given

application to satisfy certain performance criteria. Thus, for most
engineers, a detailed understanding of materials behaviour is important.

• Materials Scientists: Focus on understanding and applying physical

processes that occur within a material during mechanical loading to
satisfy specific performance criteria.

It is critical that you guys understand both approaches!!

Mechanical Behaviour with Length Scales
The Materials Tetrahedron
 General Characteristics of Materials
Metals:
- Strong, stiff, conductive, tough.

Ceramics:
-Strong, stiff, hard, temperature and corrosion resistant, brittle.

Polymers:
-Cheap, lightweight, corrosion resistant, low strength, low stiffness, creep prone.

Composites:
-Strong, stiff, lightweight, expensive.

The different properties exhibited by each class of materials can be tied

directly to their structure (macro, micro, nano)
General Characteristics of Materials
 Applications of Materials

Titanium dental implant Total hip replacement prosthetics

Applications of Materials
 Applications of Materials

Composite materials (reinforcement types)

Strengthening types
Structural Applications of Composite Materials
Polymer (C) Based
Structural Applications of Composite Materials
Metal Based

Ceramic Based
Selection of Materials
 Selection of Materials

Ashby property chart for potential bicycle frame

 Types of Loading
Static: Independent of time.
– Constant in magnitude,
– Constant in direction,
– Constant in location.

Dynamic: Vary with time

– Steady-state – maintain the same character (frequency, amplitude, etc.) over a long
time.
– Transient – change their character with time (e.g., decay)

Deformation: Fracture:
- Macroscopic - Macroscopic
- Microscopic - Microscopic
 Types of Deformations
Time Independent: Time Dependent:
- Elastic - Visco-elasticity
- Plastic - Visco-plasticity

Time Independent Deformation

Elastic Deformation: reversible deformation
- Recovered immediately after unloading.
- Analogous to stretching of atomic bonds.
- Hook’s law applies.

Plastic Deformation: non-reversible deformation

- Extension/strain is not recovered after unloading. Begins at the proportional limit, at this point
the material is said to yield.
- Hook’s law does not apply.
 Types of Deformations
Time Independent: Time Dependent:
- Elastic - Visco-elasticity
- Plastic - Visco-plasticity

Time Dependent Deformation

Visco-Elastic Deformation: reversible deformation
- Recovered over a period of time.
- Also known as ‘rubbery’ behavior.
- Hook’s law does not apply.

Visco-Plastic Deformation: non-reversible deformation

- Deformation occurs over a period of time.
- Occurs at high temperature (T/Tm > 0.4).
- Plastic deformation occurs at a constant load/stress that is below yield point.
 Types of Fracture
What is fracture?

Fracture categories:

Under static loading Under cyclic loading

- Brittle - High/ low cycle fatigue
- Ductile - Fatigue crack growth
- Creep - Corrosion enhanced fatigue failure.

How do we classify fracture? Ductile Brittle

Is fracture the same as failure??

 Explaining Mechanical Behaviour
Strength of materials (mathematical/mechanics):
- Stress
- Strain
- Elasticity
- Plasticity

Micromechanics (materials physics):

- Atomic structure
- Grain texture
- Defects and their content
FEM of a cooling fan

Use of theories of elasticity and plasticity to predict materials response to load (static,
dynamic, fatigue, material strength etc)
Applied regularly in engineering design. Very useful and easy (FEM, finite element
analysis/modelling etc)
The advantage: relatively few constants are required to predict mechanical behavior.
 Explaining Mechanical Behaviour
Some assumptions made
-The body is in static equilibrium
- sum of all moments/forces is equal to zero.

- The body is continuous

- no voids, holes or defects.

- The body is homogeneous

- properties are identical at every point.

- The body is isotropic

- properties do not vary with direction.
 Explaining Mechanical Behaviour
Problems with some assumptions made:
-The body is in static equilibrium
- sum of all moments/forces is equal to zero.

- The body is continuous

- no voids, holes or defects. All materials contain flaws

- The body is homogeneous

- properties are identical at every point. Regions of in homogeneities exists

- The body is isotropic

- properties do not vary with direction. Crystals are inherently anisotropic
 Explaining Mechanical Behaviour
Other problems with some assumptions made:

- Generation and accumulation of dislocations at grain boundaries

leading to hardening effect
- Microstructure changes with time, as in case of high temperature
testing/loading
- Stress concentrations at foreign particle elements, voids etc
- Fundamental changes in material properties causing a transition from
ductile to brittle behaviour

Strength of materials approach is still used.

Along with, the structure of the material must be considered at some scale.
 Typical Materials Engineering Problem
Pure copper (Cu), which has a face centered cubic crystal structure, is highly
deformable and work hardens slowly. With the addition of a small quantity of impurity
such as Au in solid solution, the deformability of Cu decreases significantly and its
work hardening rate increases. Explain what is happening.

An understanding of physical metallurgy and deformation mechanisms is needed here.

 Materials Engineering Problem
Tungsten light bulb filaments
Materials Engineering Problem
Problem:

The filament sags under its own

weight.
This can lead to overheating in the sag
or shorting due to touching of adjacent
coils.
Microstructure also changes due to
recrystallization during service.
Leads to premature failure of the
tungsten coils used in bulbs.
 Materials Engineering Problem

Beginning of recrystallization

As rolled filament

Grain boundary sliding takes place at high temperatures causing failure

 Materials Engineering Problem
How do/did we solve the problem?
 Inhibit recrystallization of tungsten used in the filament

Non-sag tungsten is produced by doping with Potassium, K.

Potassium is insoluble in tungsten and precipitates along its grain boundaries.
K particles, vaporize when the light bulb is turned on, forming a string of 10nm
diameter bubbles which prevent sagging.
 Materials Engineering Problem
How do/did we solve the problem?
 Inhibit re-crystallization of tungsten used in the filament

Non-sag tungsten is produced by doping with Potassium, K.

Potassium is insoluble in tungsten and precipitates along its grain boundaries.
K particles, vaporize when the light bulb is turned on, forming a string of 10nm
diameter bubbles which prevent sagging.

Undoped W, at the beginning of grain growth

Doped W, revealing restricted grain growth