Materials and the manufacturing processes form the basis for engineering design

There are well over 1,00,000 engineering materials to choose from

Access to information on 50 to 80 materials, depending on the range of applications we deal
with
Concurrent engineering methods brought materials engineers into the design process at an
earlier stage along with manufacturing engineers
Selection of materials and manufacturing are closely related in determining final product
performance.
Six broad classes of materials metals,polymers,elastomers,ceramics,glasses and composites
Range of materials available to the engineer is much broader than ever before.
Opportunity for innovation in design by utilizing these materials to provide greater
performance at lower cost
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426,20051427
An incorrectly chosen material lead to failure of the part and to unnecessary life-cycle cost.
Selecting the best material for a part
selecting the material that has the properties to provide the necessary performance in service,
processing of material into the finished part

As design proceeds from concept design, to configuration and parametric design, to detail design,
the material and process selection becomes more detailed

Comparison of design methods and tools used at each design stage with the materials and process
selection
1.Conceptual design all materials and processes - Materials selection methodology and charts
developed by Ashby the precision of property data needed is low
2.Embodiment design determining the shape and approx. size of a part decided on a class of
materials and processes material properties must be known to a greater level of precision
3.Parametric design decision narrowed to a single material and few manufacturing processes.
1. Performance characteristics Process of matching values of the properties of the material
with the requirements and constraints imposed by the design
2. Processing characteristics finding the process that will form the material into the required
shape with a minimum of defects at the least cost
3. Environmental profile impact of the material throughout its life cycle on the environment
4. Business consideration cost of the part ( both purchase cost of the material and processing
cost)
Expressed in terms of Physical,chemical, thermal,electrical or chemical properties

Material properties are the link between basic structure and composition of material and the
service performance of the part
Property characteristics of material classes

Metals Ceramics Polymers

Strong Strong Weak

Stiff Stiff Compliant
Tough Brittle Durable
Electrically conducting Electrically Insulating Electrically Insulating

High thermal conductivity Low thermal conductivity Temperature sensitive

Aim is to improve the properties of materials by understanding various aspects of structure.
Structure can vary from atomic dimensions to the dimensions of a macroscopic crack in a
fillet weld. Method of altering structure are through composition control, heat treatment and
deformation processing.
1. First task in materials selection is to determine which properties are relevant to the situation.
Elastic limit measures first significant deviation from elastic behaviour, 0.2 % offset yield
strength
Relations between some common failure modes and the mechanical properties most closely
related to the failures.

S.No Failure Material property

mode
1 Yielding Yield strength,shear yield strength

2 Buckling Compressive yield strength,modulus of elasticity

3 Creep Creep rate

4 Wear hardness
Physical properties - crystal structure,density,melting point,vapor
pressue,viscosity,porosity,permeability,reflectivity,transparency,optical
properties,dimensional stability

Mechanical properties hardness,modulus of elasticity,poissons ratio,stress-strain curve,yield

strength,ultimate strength,fatique properties,fracture toughness,creep,wear properties,impact
strength

Thermal properties conductivity,specific heat,co-efficient of expansion,emissivity,absorptivity

Chemical properties corrosion and degradation,oxidation,thermal stability,stress corrosion

Electrical properties - Conductivity, dielectric constant

Materials selection usually involves one of two different situation
1.Selection of materials for a new product or design
2.Reevaluation of an existing product or design to reduce cost, increase reliability, improve
performance
Simple substitution of a new material without changing the design rarely provides optimum
utilization of the material
Materials selection for a new product
1. Define the functions that the design must perform and translate these into required material
properties (stiffness, strength, corrosion resistance) and business factors (cost, availability of
material)
2. Define the manufacturing parameters (No of parts to be produced, size, complexity of part),
its required tolerance and surface finish, general quality level and overall fabricability of the
material
3. Compare the needed properties and parameters with a large material property database to
select a few materials that look promising for the application
4. Investigate the candidate materials in more detail (trade-offs in product performance,cost,
fabricability and availability in the grades and sizes needed for the application).Material
property test and computer simulation often is done in this step.
5. Develop design data. Design data properties are the properties of the selected material in its
fabricated state that must be known with sufficient confidence to permit the part to function
with aspecified levl of reliability.

Materials substitution in an existing design

1. Charectecrize the currently used material in terms of performance, manufacturing
requirements, and cost.
2. Determine which characteristics must be improved for enhanced product function
3. Search for alternative materials
4. Compile a short list of materials and processing routes and use these to estimate the cost of
manufactured parts. Value engineering is a problem solving methodology that focuses on
identifying the key functions of design so that unnecessary costs can be removed without
compromising the quality of the design.