ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

Before a material can safely be used in the making of structural parts or members, a number
of its properties must be known. In the case of metals such as steel, cast iron, bronze,
aluminum, and others which are widely used a structural members and machine parts, we
must have reliable information concerning such properties as strength, elasticity, stiffness,
ductility, malleability toughness ,etc.
STRENGHT is the ability of material to resist stress without failure .Several materials ,such
as structural steel, wrought iron ,aluminum, and copper ,have approximately equal strength in
tension and compression ,while their strength in shear ,is about two thirds of that in tension
.The measure of the strength of a material is its ULTIMATE STRESS ,or the greatest force
per unit area it can withstand without rupture.
ELASTICITY is that a property of a material using a body, when deformed ,automatically
recovers its original size and shape after removal of a deforming force .This property is
important in all structures subjected to varying loads and is exceedingly important in
precession tools and machines.
STIFNESS is the property by virtue of which a material can resist deformations .This property
is desirable in materials used in beams columns, machines and machine tools . The measure of
the stiffness of a material is its MODULES OF ELASTICITY, obtained by divining the unit
stress by the unit deformation caused by the stress.
DUCTILITY is a measure of the ability of metal to plastically deform without fracturing.
Ductility is generally associated with tensile properties or the ability to be cold drawn, as in
wire drawing. Copper, aluminum, and wrought iron are among the ductile metals .Percent
elongation and reduction of area in the tension test are the usual measure of ductility. Ductility
is desirable in a member or part which may be subjected to sudden and severe loads, since
evident excessive deformation would give a warning of impending failure.
BRITTLENESS is the opposite of ductility. Brittle materials fall suddenly without warning
when stressed beyond their strength.
MALLEABILITY can be defined as the same as ductility ,except that it is applied to
compression .Thus ,this property enables a material to undergo great change in shape
without rupture under compressive stresses , as for example ,copper ,aluminum , or wrought
iron being hammered into various shapes or steel being rolled into structural shapes or
sheets.
HARDNESS is the ability of a material to resist indentation or abrasion. It is most commonly
measured by the Brinell test ,in which a hardened steel ball 10mm in diameter is forced into
a flat surfaced of a test specimen by a force of 3000 kg. The force divided by the surface area
of the spherical indentation is called the Brinell hardness number.
Some other properties are :

RESILENCE the property which enables a material to absorb, without being permanently
deformed, the energy produced by the impact of a suddenly applied load or below . This
-----essential in steel used for all types or springs, as in automobiles ,watches , etc. where
energy must be absorbed quickly without causing permanent deformation.
TOUGHNESS the ability of a material to absorb energy at high stress without fracture,
usually above the elastic limit. Being above the elastic limit, the stress will cause permanent
deformation. Wrought iron ,for example ,is tough because it can be bent into almost any
shape without fracture.
CREEP the property which causes some materials under constant stress to deform slowly
but progressive over a period of time .
MACHINABILITY the readiness with which a material yields to shaping with cutting tools.