Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Materials and Properties
Materials and Properties
• Introduction to Materials
• Properties of Materials
• Metals
• Plastics
• Woods
• Composites
• Heat Treatment
Introduction to Materials
• Materials are used to make or build objects.
• During the past 200 years there has been an
enormous increase in the range of materials
available to us. It is therefore important that the
correct materials be used for a particular use.
• In Selecting the best material you need to look
at 4 things: Physical properties, Cost and Time,
Shaping and Forming and Availability.
Selecting the best material – A checklist
1 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 2 WHAT COST?
The materials
Hardness S The extras (fittings etc)
Tensile Strength E
3 SHAPING & FORMING
Compressive Strength
L Cutting out
Shear Strength
Stiffness
E Moulding
Casting
Toughness
C Joining
Malleable T 4 AVAILABILITY
Corrosive I Are they easy to obtain
Appearance O including fittings.
Weight
N
Conductivity
Properties of Materials
• Each material has many properties. It is
incorrect, for example to describe a material
as just ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ as for example
concrete is strong in compression but weak
in tension.
Hardness Toughness Strength
Brittleness Malleability Ductility
Elasticity Plasticity Conductivity
Density Fatigue Stiffness
Hardness
• The ability of a material to resist wear
indentation and scratching.
An example of a
hardness test that
can be carried
out in the lab.
Different materials
are used and the
depth of indentation
measured
Toughness
• The ability of a material to withstand
blows or sudden impact.
Different materials
are used, the hammer
is swung from the
same height each time
about a fixed fulcrum.
The distance travelled
after impact or
fracture is used to find
toughness
Strength
• The ability of a material to withstand
forces of tension, compression and torsion
Tensile Strength – the ability to withstand
pulling forces or Tension forces
As ring rises
the side of
Coke can is
thinned out
Ductility
• A material that can be pulled or stretched
into a thin wire or thread.
Ball Bearing
drops from most
conductive 1st.
Density
• Is the mass of 1 cubic centimetre (cm 3) of a
substance. (Mass per unit Volume)
Q. Which is heavier a tonne of feathers or
a tonne of lead?
Q. Which has the greatest density?
Mass
Density =
Volume
Fatigue
• Occurs when materials have become
overworked and fracture or fail.
Find picture
Stiffness
• The ability of a material to resist bending
deformation.
Metals
•Ferrous
•Non- Ferrous
Ferrous Metals