Common engineering materials that come within the scope of Material Science may be classified broadly into the following three types:-
- Metals (Ferrous and Non-Ferrous)
- Ceramics
- Organic Polymers
|
Group |
Important Characteristics |
Common Examples of Engineering use |
|
Metals and Alloys |
Lusture, Hardness, Resistance to Corrosion, Thermal and Electrical Conductivity, Malleability, Stiffness and Property of Magnetism. |
Iron and Steels, Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Magnesium, Brass, Bronze, Invar, Super Alloys, Super-conductors, etc. |
|
Ceramics |
Thermal Resistance, Brittleness, Opaqueness to Light, Electrical Insulation, High-temperature Strength, abrasiveness, Resistance to Corrosion. |
Silica, Glass, Cement, Concrete, Refractories, Silicon Carbide, Boron Nitride abrasives, Ferrites, Insulators, Garnets, etc. |
|
Organic Polymers |
Soft, Light in weight, Dimensionally unstable, Poor Conductors of Heat and Electricity, Ductile, Combustible, Low-thermal Resistance. |
Plastics – Poly Vinyl Chloride, Poly Tetra Fluoroethylene, Polycarbonates. Natural and Synthetic Fibers – Nylon, Terylene, Leather, etc. Other uses – Explosives, Refrigerants, Insulators, Lubricants, Detergents, Fuels, Vitamins, Medicines, adhesives, etc. |
Shilpa Sharma
Please shed some light on Composite Materials.
Metallurgist
Composite materials are materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure.
Composite materials are generally used for buildings, bridges and structures such as boat hulls, race car bodies, shower stalls, bathtubs, and storage tanks, imitation granite and cultured marble sinks and countertops. The most advanced examples perform routinely on spacecraft in demanding environments.
Kaushal Dhami
Hi, it is a very important and useful info for me. Thank you for making this website.
Laura
Metals resistant to corrosion?? what about rusting then?
Metallurgist
All of the metals corrode. Rusting is a word which is reserved for iron oxidizing, but the other metals will also form oxides. There are many different kinds of steels, some which rust more easily than others. Stainless steel, for example, pretty much doesn’t rust at all, but it has significant amounts of other elements, usually chromium and nickel, in it.
Aluminum is fairly resistant to damaging corrosion, but it forms a thin oxide layer very quickly, which makes a hard barrier to prevent further oxygen from coming in to interact with the remaining aluminum. This is one reason why aluminum is a favorite in structural coatings (like aluminum siding on houses and aluminum screen doors — they do not fall apart when they form a coating of corrosion). The thin oxide layer is enough to ruin electrical contacts, however, which is why it’s now illegal to make home electrical wiring from aluminum. Copper turns green or black when it oxidizes, and I think the zinc makes a white powder.
Other metals that do not corrode easily or at all that I know of are Platinum and Gold which are very resistant to chemical attack of most kinds.
Mohan Krishna
I want some information about advanced materials in any field can you suggest me
Tarun Saraswat
Sir, what about whisker reinforced plastics?
venkat
The objective of this program is to investigate experimental methods of preparing oriented whisker-resin composites and to study analytically the fundamental micromechanics of such composites. Strands of alumina whiskers totaling about 600 inches, in 18-inch lengths, have been formed by an air elutriation technique. This technique has been the most successful of the numerous methods evaluated for preparing uniaxially oriented whiskers. Incorporation of whisker strands into conventional epoxy resins have resulted in composite tensile strengths as high as 72,000 psi and moduli as high as 24.3 x 10 to the 6th power psi for a whisker loading of 44 v/o. Use of a high modulus epoxy resin, and a whisker loading of 59 v/o, has yielded a composite modulus of 31.3 x 10 to the 6th power psi. These composites have been as large as 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch in cross-section and hence larger than previously studied whisker-resin composites. Whisker compaction, resin cure cycle, tensile specimen preparation, and conditions of tensile loading are all critical factors in achieving high tensile properties. An analytical tensile failure model for discontinuous, uniaxially oriented fiber composites has been developed based on the use of statistical distribution functions characterizing fiber strength and geometry.
Shivani
Hi, I’m Shivani and I want to know the main differenc between plate n sheet in mechanical metallurgy.
kaggwa
i would like to help me to give me the classification and characterization of materials in relation to materials science
Rahul Dhengre
sir..will u please give mi a detail claassificatio of engineering matrials….including steel, cast irons classification..
esse
as a metallurgical engineer,its desired to select material for design and construction of anti burgary frames of a house.list the basic considerations you must take,to facilitate your msterial shored
Shakoor Ahmad
nice, it is a good activities.
surya
please tell me What is the working principle of metallurgical microscope
Mohan Krishna
I want some information about advanced materials in any field can you suggest me
Akshay kumar
i want to know that what is bituminous materials