Properties of

Engineering
Material
 General
Classif ication,
P r o p e r t i e s, a n d
Characteristics
of Materials
Classif ication of
Materials
Materials can be classified as
follows:
Ferrous Metals
- metals which contain ferrite or
pure iron.
- It is usually posses some
magnetic properties.
- They are easy to treat, are of
versatile use
and are low in price.
Non – Ferrous Metals
- Does not contain iron.
- Does not posses magnetic
properties
- Due to rare existence, they are
more expensive than ferrous metal.
- used for work piece whose special
characteristics must be superior
to those metal which are ferrous.
Natural Materials

Non-metallic materials that

came from living thing like plants
and animals.
Artificial Materials (Synthetic)
- Development in engineering
materials that may replace natural
materials in the long run.
- These are materials which are
generally man-made and whose
properties are almost the same or
even much better than natural
materials.
P ro p e r t i e s a n d
Characteristics
of Materials
Physical Proper ties
Physical proper ties are divided
into two groups. First are those
can be identified by human senses
l i k e c o l o r, l u s t e r, o d o r, d e n s i t y , a n d
moisture. The second are those
properties which related to
thermal properties..
Color – is the visual perceptual property
corresponding in humans to the categories
called red, blue, yellow, green and others.

Luster – is the quality and intensity of

light reflected by the mirror from the
surface of a material, particularly metals.

Odor – a scent of a material which can be

identified by the sense of smell.

Density – is the unit weight of a material.

Moisture – a slight wetness of a material

which can be identified by the sense of
touch or feel.
Thermal Property
1. Melting temperature – is the temperature
at which the metal start to melt thereby
changing its phase from solid to liquid.
2. Boiling temperature – temperature which
material starts to boil.
3. Recrystallization temp – is the lowest
temp. at which stress free grains appear
in the structure of a plastically deformed
metal.
4. Latent Heat of vaporization – is the
amount of heat required to vaporized a
liquid form and at the same temperature.
5. Latent heat of fusion - is the amount of
heat required to melt a solid, changing its
phase from solid to liquid form and at the
Chemical Properties
1. Corrosion – is the destructive chemical or
electrochemical reaction of a material and its
environment. Corrosive action is usually associated
only with metals in contact with liquids.
2. Tarnishing – a chemical reaction of metal with its
environment. It results in formation of films which
coat the metal. When the films which coat the
metal are chemical compounds having color the
tarnishing may serve to disfigure the product.
6. Specific Heat – Is the ratio of heat
required to raise the temperature of an
equal mass of water.
7. C o n d u c t i v i t y – i s t h e p r o p e r t y
describing the ability of the material to
conduct or to pass electrical current.
8. Resistivity – is a property describing
the specific opposition of the conducting
material to electron flow.
9. Coefficient of expansion – per degree is
the ration of the length, area or volume of
a body for a given rise in temperature to
the original length, area or volume of the
body respectively.
Mechanical Properties
1. Strength – property of a material which is its capacity to resist
the action of applied forces. The strength of a material cannot be
presented by a single number, because of its ability to resist the
action of loads and forces, the kinds of stresses induced, and
other circumstances.
a) Tensile Strength – the capacity of the material to resist the
action of applied tensile force.
b) Compressive Strength-the resistance of a material to
breaking under compression.

c) Shear Strength is a material's ability to resist forces that can

cause the internal structure of the material to slide against
itself
2. Hardness – is the resistance of the material to
penetration by another material. It is
m e a s u r e d b y m e a n s o f B r i n e l l H a r d n e s s Te s t e r .

3. Ductility – is the ability of the material to be

drawn out or stretch.

4. Plasticity – is the ability of the material to be

deformed considerably without rapture.

5. Malleability – a com pressive quality, is the

ability of the material to be flattened by
rolling or hammering.

6 . To u g h n e s s – i s t h e c a p a c i t y o f a m a t e r i a l t o
withstand a shock load without breaking.
7. Brittleness – is the ability of the material
t o f r a c t u re w i t h ve r y s m a l l c h a n g e o f
dimension.
8. Elasticity – is the ability of a material to be
d e f o r m e d a n d re t u r n t o i t s o r i g i n a l s h a p e .
9 . D a m p i n g c ap a c i t y – i s t h e a b i l i t y o f a
material to absorb or damp vibrations, which
i s a p ro c e s s o f a b s o r b i n g e n e r g y v i b r a t i o n
o w i n g t o hy s t e re s i s . T h e a b s o r b e d e n e r g y i s
eve n t u a l l y d i s s i p a t e d t o t h e s u r ro u n d i n g a s
heat.