Dr. Ahmad Nawaz: Lecture 02: Introduction To Engineering Materials and Their Structures
Dr. Ahmad Nawaz: Lecture 02: Introduction To Engineering Materials and Their Structures
Dr. Ahmad Nawaz: Lecture 02: Introduction To Engineering Materials and Their Structures
Ahmad Nawaz
Examples
• Pure metal elements (Cu, Fe, Zn, Ag, etc.)
• Alloys (Cu-Sn=bronze, Cu-Zn=brass, Fe-C=steel, Pb-Sn=solder)
• Intermetallic compounds (e.g. Ni3Al)
Classes and Properties: CERAMICS
Distinguishing features
• Except for glasses, atoms are regularly arranged
• Composed of a mixture of metal and nonmetal atoms
• Lower density than most metals
• Low resistance to fracture: low toughness or brittle
• Low ductility or malleability: low plasticity
• High melting point
• Poor conductors of electricity and heat
• Single crystals are transparent
• Where metals react readily with chemicals in the environment and have low
application temperatures in many cases, ceramics do not suffer from these
drawbacks.
• Ceramics have high-resistance to environment as they are essentially metals
that have already reacted with the environment, e.g. Alumina (Al2O3) and
Silica (SiO2, Quartz).
• Ceramics are heat resistant. Ceramics form both in crystalline and non-
crystalline phases because they can be cooled rapidly from the molten state to
form glassy materials.
Classes and Properties: CERAMICS
• Polymers are attractive because they are usually lightweight and inexpensive
to make, and usually very easy to process, either in molds, as sheets, or as
coatings.
• They are poor conductors of heat and electricity, and tend to be easy to bend,
which makes them very useful as insulation for electrical wires.
Classes and Properties: POLYMERS
Two main types of polymers are thermosets and thermoplastics.
• Thermosets are cross-linked polymers that form 3-D networks, hence are
strong and rigid.
• Thermoplastics are long-chain polymers that slide easily past one another
when heated, hence, they tend to be easy to form, bend, and break.
Classes and Properties: POLYMERS
Elements that compose polymers:
Classes and Properties: POLYMERS
Distinguishing features
• Made primarily from metalloids
• Regular arrangement of atoms (crystals, but not, e.g., solar cell
amorphous Si)
• Extremely controlled chemical purity
• Adjustable conductivity of electricity
• Opaque to visible light
• Shiny appearance
• Some have good plasticity, but others are fairly brittle
• Some have an electrical response to light
Examples
• Fiberglass (glass fibers in a polymer)
• Space shuttle heat shields (interwoven ceramic fibers)
• Paints (ceramic particles in latex)
• Tank armor (ceramic particles in metal)
Engineering Materials: controlling
Processing - Structure - Properties - Performance
Realistically engineering materials:
• Properties (What do we need or want?)
• Deterioration (How long will it last?) Men’s gym shoes last longer! Why?
• Cost (What’s the biggest bang for the buck?)
• Resource depletion (How to find new reserves, develop new
environmentally-friendly materials, and increase recycling?)
In early 1950's, the planes began falling out of the sky. These tragedies
changed the way aircraft were designed and the materials that were
used.
• Until then, material selection for mechanical design was not really
considered in designs.
Structure of Metals
Goals:
CRYSTAL STRUCTURES
Atoms self-organize in crystals, most of the time. The crystalline lattice is a
periodic array of the atoms. When the solid is not crystalline, it is called
amorphous. Examples of crystalline solids are metals, diamond and other
precious stones, ice, graphite. Examples of amorphous solids are glass,
amorphous carbon (a-C), amorphous Si, most plastics
Unit Cell
The unit cell is the smallest structure that repeats itself by translation through
the crystal. The most common types of unit cells are the faced centered cubic
(FCC), the body-centered cubic (FCC) and the hexagonal close-packed (HCP).
Other types exist, particularly among minerals.
Crystalline Solids: Unit Cells
Lattice
Basis
CLOSE-PACKING OF SPHERES
This reduces the problem of examining the packing of like atoms to that of
examining the most efficient packing of any spherical object
Crystalline Solids: Unit Cells
Important Note:
• Lattice points are a purely mathematical concept,
whereas atoms are physical objects.
• So, don't mix up atoms with lattice points.
• Lattice Points do not necessarily lie at the center of atoms.
For example, the only element exhibiting Simple Cubic structure is Po.
In Figure (a) is the 3-D periodic arrangement of Po atoms, and
Figure (b) is the corresponding space lattice.
In this case, atoms lie at the same point as the space lattice.
Unit Cells and Unit Cell Vectors
Possible crystal classes
Possible crystal classes
Unit Cells Types