Exercises

1. Why a glass bottle can be shaped by blowing, but an Al tube cannot?

 Al has metallic bonding. All the bonds have the same energy. Due to

this Al has a very precise melting point. However, glass is

amorphous. Glass melts in a temperature range. So shaping glass
by blowing is possible.
2. Why a borosilicate glass is thermal shock resistant?
 The borosilicate glass has a very low thermal expansion coefficient.
Due to this property it resists to larger temperature ranges before it
cracks.
3. An Aluminum Oxide cutting tool will be produced. Would you produce
it by casting? If you dont agree, please suggest a production method.
 You cannot melt Al-oxide. I has a very high melting point. PM method
would be more suitable. Production will be in solid state (solid state
sintering). It will be more economical. You cannot cast a ceramic. It will
break into pieces due to excessive residual stresses (thermal stresses)

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4. What do you understand from % theoretical density of a PM
aluminum oxide product?
 A PM product will contain porosity. The TD is the density of the
product if there was no porosity.
5. Why PM of complex parts made of stainless steels are more
advantageous with respect to machining?
 Stainless steel is an expensive material. If a part needs extensive
machining (a complex shape) there will be too much material waste.
If the PM production method can yield similar strength values then it
will be more economical. Press the powder into shape and then
sinter in continuous feed furnaces (like bread making!). As soon as
the sintering is finished the part is ready to use.

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 Questions with Answers

6. How can you produce a graphite powder – Copper matrix

composite?
 Powder metallurgy method is suitable. Mix the powders and solid
state sintering.
7. Comment on the following:
 A tungsten rod will be produced by casting?

 No, because W melts at very high temperatures. So it will be

very expensive to produce by casting. To find a ladle which will

resist to high temperatures is very difficult. Also very expensive
furnaces are needed to melt the W. Instead using W powder and
using PM methods is more suitable to produce this rod. This will
be a solid state production. There will be no liquid formation at
any step.

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 Questions with Answers

7. Can you cut a solid state sintered clay cup into two pieces?
 Yes, but we cannot use a steel cutting tool. Ceramics are very hard.
A WC-Co cutting saw is more suitable.
8. Can metal parts be produced by polymer injection equipment?
 No. Because a metal melts at a constant well-known temperature.
There is no a viscous range for metals. Therefore, injection
moulding is only possible for polymers.
9. How you can fabricate a :
 Refractory brick?
 PM methods. Compaction and solid state sintering.
 A HSS circular saw?
 Casting into mould. Then hot rolling into a circular shape. Then
cutting in the form of thin discs. Final step is machining and heat
treatment to obtain high hardness.
 A tungsten filament?
 PM Methods. W powder is obtained from W-oxide powder by solid
state reaction. Then powder is solid state sintered. Final step is hot
shaping to obtain pore free W rod.
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 Questions with Answers

10. Compare the cutting performance of the following tools:

 HSS tool steel (Hardened steel)

 Only cutting for metals and alloys. It is tough

 WC-Co part

 Cutting for metals and ceramics! Extremely wear resistant.

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