PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

STRUCTURE
Atom is the smallest particle of an element which may or may not have independent existence. If they are not independent, then two or more atoms make a building block of the material, named as molecules. Solids on the basis of the arrangement of the atoms or molecules are being classified mainly into two types: Crystalline Solids Amorphous Solids

CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS
Solids, in which atoms or molecules are arranged in a definite !" pattern, are called crystalline solids.

AMORPHOUS SOLIDS
In these solids, atoms do not have any regular arrangement .

ENGINEERING MANUFACTURING MATERIALS

#rom crystalline solids, mainly we are concerned with $

1. METALS
#rom amorphous solids, %&ASS, '&AS(ICS, )*++,),'-&./,)S A0" C,)A/ICS are most of concern.

IMPORTANCE
,very material has its own importance according to the manufacturing re1uirement as metals are very soft, usually when are in pure form but can be hardened according to the re1uirement by mixing the other

metals, making alloys. Ceramics are highly electrical insulators and highly resistive to heat conduction. 'olymers are flexible and highly resistive to corrosion. (hey are also good in their strength.

2.STRUCTURE AND SHAPE

Structure of a material depends that which kind of solid that. If the material is crystalline, then their shape will be definite. And if solids will be of type amorphous, arrangement of atoms or molecules will not be regular in the structure and conse1uently shape would not be regular.

IMPORTANCE
Crystalline solids have sharp melting points and they do break along definite planes. 2hile amorphous solids do not have sharp melting points. (hat is why glass can be softening over a range of temperature. So according to the re1uirement we select a material for our purpose.

3. DENSITY
3/ass of the material divided by its volume is called "ensity of the material.4 Solids have more density than to the li1uids and li1uids have more density to the gases.

4. MELTING POINT
3(he temperature at which a substance starts deforming5structural failure6at 7 atm pressure is called the melting point of that material.4

IMPORTANCE
2ith this information ,one can estimate the environment with which the material can with stand.

5.BOILING POINT
3(he temperature at which a material5li1uid6 starts converting into gaseous state at sea level 57 atm6 pressure is called +oiling point of that material5li1uid6.4

IMPORTANCE
(his factor is important in determining the fluidity of a fluid which is an important feature in manufacturing processes. -) 3(emperature, at which the vapor pressure of a li1uid becomes e1ual to the external pressure, is called +oiling point of the li1uid.4

CHEMICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES

1.METALS
3,lements which have a tendency to form 8ve ions by loosing electrons are termed as metals.4 9ere we will discuss some chemical properties of metals.

2. ATOMIC RADIUS
3(he half of the distance between the centers of two ad:acent atoms ,is termed as Atomic )adius.4

3. ATOMIC NUMBER
30umber of electrons in the valence shell or number of protons in the nucleus is termed as Atomic 0umber.

4. ATOMIC WEIGHT
3(otal number of all protons and electrons in the nucleus is called the Atomic 2eight of the element.4

5. METALLIC CONDUCTION
3/ost metals are of conductors of electricity because of the availability of free electrons through out the metallic lattice. (his property is called /etallic Conduction.4

6.BOND ENERGY

3,nergy re1uired to break all bonds in one mole of the substance.4

7. VALENCY
3(endency of a substance to attract shared pair of electrons towards itself.4

8. IONI ATION ENERGY

3/inimum energy re1uired to remove most loosely bound electron from gaseous atom.4

!. VAPOUR PRESSURE
3'ressure exerted by the vapors of a li1uid in e1uilibrium with the li1uid at a given temperature.4

THERMAL PROPERTIES
D"#$%$&$'%
3(hese are the properties of the material, depends upon the temperature of the environment in which the material is being placed.4 Some of the basic thermal properties of the materials are discussed as follows: a. Specific 9eat b. (hermal Conductivity c. (hermal ,xpansion

1. SPECIFIC HEAT
3(he specific heat or heat capacity of a material is a amount of energy that must be given or extracted to produce a change of 7 degree in temperature.4

IMPORTANCE
(he change in temperature is an important property for the processes in which heating or cooling take place such as casting, molding

etc. Also we control the brittleness of the material by increasing or decreasing the time of cooling after melting the metal for molding.

2. THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
3It measures the rate at which heat can be transported or conducted through a material.4

IMPORTANCE
(hermal conductivity is directly proportional to the electrical conductivity. So with the help of this property we can tell that which elements 5materials6 are good conductors to electricity by seeing their thermal conductivity.

3. THERMAL E(PANSION
/aterials mostly expand on heating and contract on cooling. +ut how much a material will expand or contract on heating or cooling, depends on the type of material.

IMPORTANCE
*sually there is a difference between environment where a part of machine is developed and the environment where it has to be used. So by the information about the thermal expansion of the materials, we will choose such a material which will be suitable for the place where it has to be used.

MECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

1. STRENGTH
3Strength of a material can be defined as the resistance of the material to the maximum amount of various loads which the material can be sustained.

E(PLANATION)
/aterials or metals behave differently under different load conditions. &oad can be compressive, tensile or torsion. Strength can be

measured by different tests. ,very material has different atomic structure that is why behavior towards different loads is different.

IMPORTANCE)
#or a mechanical purpose, we examine the strength of a material before selecting it to make it in our use for a particular purpose. #or engineering application point of view, firstly we see the part which is to be produced, where it has to be used, what the stresses which it has to bear are and what the conditions of environment 5e.g. temperature6 are where it has to be fitted. (hen accordingly we see and select the suitable material.

2. ELASTICITY
3It defines the limit of the stress till which if we applied force 5stress6 and then if we remove the stress, material will come to its original condition.4

E(PLANATION)
(he maximum amount of load which if we applied and later removed without leaving the material permanently deformed is known as ,lastic &imit. In this way the elements having high value of elastic limit can be chosen for the areas where tensile loads are applied. So by looking the environmental conditions we choose a material for a specific purpose.

3. PLASTICITY
After the elastic limit, the graph of Stress ;s Strain never remains straight. 9ere what happens is, after removing the load, strains are not completely recoverable and some of the permanent deformation developed in the material, although the strain is being produced by applying stress by 9ook<s &aw is not satisfied anymore. (his behavior of the material is called 'lasticity.

IMPORTANCE)
In some of the materials, it is useful because it helps to shape the re1uired product with the raw materials, such as plastic products. Also plasticity helps us to predict the max allowable stress for a material because after that elastic limit will finish and a permanent deformation will occur in the material.

4. DUCTILITY
After the lower yielding point called ="<, strain increases remarkably even with a minor increase in the stress. (his ability of a material to produce large strain 5plasticity6 or plastic deformation is called "uctility. /aterials having high ductility are called ductile materials.

IMPORTANCE)
"uctile materials are chosen where flexibility is re1uired. /achines where shocks are continuous, if machine bed will not be flexible, then it will be broken.

5. MALLEABILITY
3/aterial<s ability to be hammered out into thin sheets is called /alleability.4

E(AMPLE)
&ead is a good example of malleable material.

IMPORTANCE)
/alleable materials are important where metal covering is re1uired on a comparatively larger area. So there we use metal sheets. Also corners and :oints are produced with malleable materials.

6. BRITTLENESS
+rittle materials are those which show comparatively small extensions to fracture in such a way that plastic region of graph 5stress ;s strain6 becomes very small.

E(PLANATION)
In brittle materials, in the tensile test curve, the partially plastic behavior of the materials is very less. So they reach to the fracture point very soon. (hese types of materials are used where no flexibility is re1uired.

7. STIFFNESS

3Stiffness of a material defines its resistance to deformation below the elastic limit4

E(PLANATION)
9ere important point which to be noted is that ,stiffness is being measured :ust in the elastic region where 9ook<s &aw is applicable . 9ere stiffness =,< is the slope of the line

E*+&,"++-+&,.$%
Steeper will be the line, the more will be slope and hence stiffness will be more.

8. TOUGHNESS
32hen a metal combines a high elastic limit with good ductility, the metal is said to be tough.4

E(PLANATION)
#rom definition, we can check that toughness is accompanying good elastic limit with a high value of ductility. It means the materials having good yield strength 5e.g6 cold worked steel alone or having good ductility 5lead6 alone are not tough. >ust those materials having both characteristics called tough.

E(AMPLE)

&ow!Carbon Steel

IMPORTANCE)
(oughness can also be defined as the ability of a material to withstand cracks. /eans the ductility of the material bears the stress and avoid the transfer of cracks due to stresses.

1/. HARDNESS
39ardness of a material is the ability of the material to resist indentation, scratch and nick on the surface.4

E(PLANATION)

As hardness is also an ability to resist stresses producing indentation so it is closely associated with stiffness and so with the elastic limit of a metal.

11.CREEP
3It is a long term effect of elevated temperature on a material.4 -) 3"efects or changing produced in a material due to its placement for a long time in an elevated temperature environment is called C),,'.4

E(PLANATION)
&et if we apply a tensile load with an ob:ect in an elevated temperature for a long time, the ob:ect will elongate continuously until rupture occurs. Although the applied tensile load is less than the yield strength of the material at the temperature of testing.

IMPORTANCE)
(he rate of elongation is although very small, but this consideration is very important in designing turbines, power plants and pressure vessels which have to be operated under high temperatures for a long period$ and mostly these types of failures produce in turbine blades, nuclear reactors, furnaces, rocket motors etc.

12. FATIGUE)
3#atigue is the failure of a material under fluctuating stresses or forces.4

E(PLANATION)
#atigue is the structural failure causes due to the fluctuating force each of which is considered to produce a little amount of plastic

deformation. #atigue is a very important phenomenon for the components sub:ected to repeating and rapidly fluctuating loads.

E(AMPLES)
,xamples of the components facing fatigue are air craft components, turbine blades and vehicle suspensions.