MECH205P Engineering Materials, Failure and Design

Revision questions 2017-2018

Here are the revision questions that were promised to you. We shall (and have) been using these
as the basis for our revision sessions but please have a go at these yourself and do not just wait
for me to tackle them in class, given we will not have time to cover all of these in detail.
The exam paper is the same as for 2016-17 – and consists of 3 sections. Section A contains 10
short answer (compulsory) questions and is worth 20% of the total marks, whilst Section B is worth
60%, and consists of 15 compulsory questions that require longer answers. Section C is much like
the traditional UCL paper – with longer questions and some choice. You will need to answer one
question from a choice of 4. The questions in Section C are multipart, and themed, so each
question will cover one broad topic – for example, stainless steel.
Remember that the paper will test your knowledge and understanding of BOTH parts of the
MECH205P module – so you should revise materials theory and failure of materials equally.
Indeed some of the questions will combine both aspects in one question.
If you can write detailled answers to the questions below you'll be in good form to tackle the paper,
but you should also include some reading round the subject and past papers. There is officially
only one year of past papers for MECH205P (with a minor difference in number of questions and
weighting) but if you check out the module it replaced, MECH2011, then further examples of the
questions asked can be found.
Some of the questions below will benefit from the additional notes, available on Moodle, which
cover material we were not able to get through in class. Materials books (as recommended in
your bibliography) will fill in any other gaps. Email me for any specific queries.
The questions below are designed to guide your revision in terms of depth and topic area
– the nature of the exam paper means that (in terms of format) they are closer in length to
the questions found in Section B, than in A or C.

Q1. Explain in detail, the significance of the Pilling-Bedworth ratio as applied to the oxidation of
metals. Titanium has a similar Pilling-Bedworth ratio to nickel and yet nickel alloys are chosen in
preference to those based on titanium for use in high temperature applications such as a jet
engine - why? In this context, what other materials selection criteria might be important?
Q2. What would happen to the microstructure and properties of a typical Al-Cu alloy, as used
for precipitation hardening, when it is slowly cooled from its solution temperature, for example, if it
was cooling after being welded? Use diagrams to illustrate your answer.
Q3. Explain what you understand by the term “oxygen concentration cell” and give some
examples of where such cells might exist in an engineering context. In steel suggest how such a
cell can give rise to “crevice corrosion” and give reasons why such a corrosion mechanism can be
very problematic. How can such cells be avoided in practice?
Q4. SN curves can be used to predict lifetimes for components when no obvious flaws are
present. From a design perspective, what are the major dangers in doing this? What sort of
issues affect the characteristics of SN curves?
Q5. Explain what the benefits are of superalloy single crystal turbine blades in terms of
reducing creep deformation. How are they made? List some of the other methods used by
engineers and metallurgists to tackle creep in these components.
Q6. What is stress corrosion, and how does it differ from corrosion per se? Think of some
examples where stress corrosion might be at work.
Q7. Aluminium alloys do not exhibit a fatigue limit. Explain what this is, where it originates
from, and how, if engineering components are made out of steel, designs could enjoy a much
longer fatigue life. Why is aluminium nevertheless posing a major threat to the dominance of
steel in engineering applications?
Q8. Describe various process that can be used to surface harden low carbon steels. Why are
these employed in engineering practice? If making a gear for a gearbox, what type of steel would
normally be used, and what surface hardening mechanism preferred?
Q9. Detail the heat treatment sequence that is used to produce a precipitation hardened
aluminium alloy. Try to superimpose the heat treatment on an appropriate TTT diagram. What
would happen if the alloy was equilibrium cooled?
Q10. Explain, using diagrams, what is meant by the area effect with regard to electro-chemical
corrosion. How does the area effect contribute to the failure, through corrosion, of tin plated steel
components, and to the protection of zinc plated steel components?
Q11. With reference to precipitation hardening per se, explain what you understand by
coherency strain and, using dislocation theory, detail why it is important in controlling the level of
hardening achieved. Discuss the other requirements of any alloy system if it is to be a suitable
candidate for precipitation or age hardening.
Q12. Describe the microstructural changes that occur during the tempering process as applied to
carbon steels, and suggest a suitable stage at which the tempering process be ended. Why is
tempering carried out in the first place? How would you use a TTT diagram for a tempering
process? Can quenching and tempering be applied to all steels – explain your reasoning.
Q13. Using the concept of glide and climb, discuss the differences between dislocation and
diffusion based creep in a crystalline metal alloy. What is a creep deformation map used for?
Sketch one for a hypothetical metal and label the various zones present.
Q14. There are many different ways in which alloying additions benefit a steel (in terms of
properties) – detail the major mechanisms applicable. What role does manganese play?

Q15. What is the Jominy End-Quench test? Show how the results of this can be used to
determine the thickness of a component that can be correctly hardened via quenching.

Q16. What are HSLA steels, and what advantages do they confer over “traditional” steels of
similar strengths? Are there any negative implications (hint consider failure and flexure)?

Q17. How does tin or zinc plating help stop the corrosion of steel components? Why should
welding fabrication ideally be carried out before galvanising and why sometimes in practice is it
done before? Which is better, Zn or Sn plating from a long term viewpoint – and why?
Q18. If you were to use stainless steel for the internal workings of a pump used to transfer
seawater, what might the consequences be? Are there any design or materials solutions?
Q19. In the context of a jet engine, what exactly is so “super” about superalloys? What
metallurgical mechanisms are utilized in enhancing the mechanical properties of these? Are there
other properties which these alloys have, which lend them to different applications?
Q20. Why is titanium and its alloys an attractive alternative to conventional metals such as steel,
in engineering applications? In particular, consider medical applications such as implants.
Q21. Glass is used as the reinforcing phase for a wide variety of composites. The properties of a
composite will vary depending on the direction (lay) of the fibres within it, and this in turn often
depends on how the composite was fabricated. Comment on how you think strength, stiffness
and toughness will be affected by the orientation of the reinforcing phase.
Q22. Show how TTT diagrams can be created from a set of “S” curves generated by monitoring
the progress of a transformation (such as austenite to pearlite).
Q23. Comment on the advantages and possible disadvantages of using either an alloy steel,
stainless steel, or plain carbon steel for the blade of a food blender. What would you use if the
metal was going to be employed in cryogenic conditions?
Q24. What is the difference between high and low cycle fatigue? Detail and contrast the
micromechanisms operating when a material is subjected to these two regimes.
Q25. In stainless steel, what is the accepted minimum quantity of Cr to render it “stainless”?
What actually makes such a steel “stainless”? Details some of the instances where stainless
steel might actually corrode. Remember to consider and explain “sensitization” and associated
problems with welding.
Q26. State the two equations (parallel and perpendicular to the applied load) used to calculate
the stiffness of a fibre reinforced composite assuming the fibres are continuous (i.e. long) and all
aligned in the same direction with respect to the applied load. Such composites are strong when
loaded in the fibre direction but what is their theoretical strength when aligned perpendicular to
the applied load? How can composites be made more isotropic?
Q27. Give the equation for Miner's Rule. Explain how Miner's Rule can be used to predict the
lifetime of components under fatigue loadings that change with time. What are the failings with
this approach (consider aspects such as the order of the loading and the presence of overloads
and underloads)?
Q28. Explain what you understand by the terms i) galvanic corrosion, ii) stress corrosion, and iii)
crevice corrosion, giving examples found in engineering contexts. Under a microscope, could you
spot stress corrosion easily?
Q29. Explain what the ductile to brittle transition temperature is – and how this is more important
for metals such as steel, than for aluminium or its alloys. What is the temperature in typical
modern structural steels?
Q30. What is “normalising” when considering steels? How does it differ from full annealing and
from a stress relief anneal, after cold working a steel? Include microstructures in your
explanation.
Q31. Sketch out, and label, all the component parts of a hypothetical electrochemical cell.
Explain the functions of each of the parts of the cell, and their influence on the corrosion process.
How does such a cell “translate” into stress, composition and concentration cells, as readily found
in engineering contexts? Given the way the cell works, what factors might affect the rate of
corrosion that is found?
Q32. Precipitation hardening is used in alloys such as those based on Al-Cu but can you think of
any steels which are effectively precipitation hardened, and detail them?
Q33. Why are the flakes in flake graphite cast iron an “issue” when it comes to mechanical
properties? What is the benefit of an SG (spheroidal graphite) iron over a flake cast iron? What
is the fracture strength of an SG iron likely to be limited by? How is possible to generate such a
cast iron, with a matrix of either ferrite or pearlite?
Q34. List the four main microstructural stages that occur within a typical age hardenable Al-Cu
alloy as it is heat treated, and explain how coherency strain plays a part. At what point is the
ageing process usefully stopped and why?
Q35. Using your knowledge of the relationship between the phase diagram for iron-carbon alloys
and their microstructure, provide a concise explanation for the graphical trends observed for the
major mechanical properties as the carbon content is varied. Assume all alloying additions are
ignored and that all steels are in their equilibrium microstructural state.
Q36. What is a fibre reinforced composite and what benefits might it deliver into an engineering
context? Give two examples of such composites.
Q37. Use the standard fracture toughness-stress relationship to estimate the fracture strength of
a grey cast iron if the flakes of graphite are 650 microns long. Assume the fracture toughness of
the metal has been determined to be 5MNm-3/2. (ans. 110MNm2)
Dr A Wojcik May 2018