Ces 4
Ces 4
Ces 4
Learning outcomes
Functional Specifications
A spanner is used to work with metals, for tightening and loosening of screws, bolts and nuts. It
must have sufficient strength such that it does not deform easily, must be quite hard and wear-
resistant such that it will not be indented and scratched by other objects, and it must be stiff
enough to avoid deflection during service. In addition, the material for a spanner must be tough
to avoid fracture and breaking. Furthermore, the spanner should have good resistance to
moisture, rain and fresh water to avoid rusting.
Properties Requirements
Based on the above specifications and previous experience, the basic requirements on material
properties for a spanner are listed below.
Select a material which satisfies all (or most) of the above requirements, with cost and other
considerations.
Selection Procedure
(8) A final list of candidate materials will appear in the 3: Results field. All these materials
satisfy the basic requirements. You can print this list by the normal printing procedure.
(9) Double-click on each material in the list to open an Information Table. Note down the
relevant information listed in the following table.
Complete the following table, analyse the data (in particular properties and price),
compare the advantages and disadvantages of the candidate materials, and make your
final decision on which material to use. Give reasons.
Due to the materials properties such as its resistance to corrosion and deformation, along
with the price of the material and the fact that it is more suitable for industrial use, LOW
ALLOY STEEL would be the material that I would select.
You should produce a table of the shortlist materials and their attributes. Give reasons for
your final choice.
Shortlist materials and properties
Cast Al-alloy doesn’t have the highest fracture toughness; however, it is still relatively
high in comparison to the other materials.
Cast Al-alloys also has a high thermal conductivity (around 3 times more than Cast Iron),
for this reason pistons made from this material have less variation in temperature within
the engine.
Cast Al-alloys are also lightweight and are easy to machine, therefore the material is
more ideal for industrial use.
The material with the highest fracture toughness is Titanium alloys, however this is £15
which is more expensive per kg, and generally has the highest price amongst all the other
materials.
Commercially pure titanium could also be a good option as it has a fracture toughness of
57.5, however as the material is going to be used to make pistons, it has to be a material
which is easy to machine, but this material is not ideal for industrial use as it is a material
which is hard to machine. and as the material is very dense, this would make the pistons very
heavy which again makes the material hard to machine, and wouldn’t be ideal in an engine
Three aluminium alloys remain in the equation at this point, Age Hardening Wrought
Alloys being one of them has the highest tensile strength out of the aluminium alloys,
Non-Age-hardening Wrought Al-alloys has the lowest tensile strength, however this has
the highest fracture toughness out of the three remaining Aluminium Alloys so has the
ability to withstand more pressure without fracturing or undergoing any damage.
The process of creating pistons requires materials to undergo either forging or casting,
the Cast Al-alloys are not forgeable, however they are casted and therefore they still
undergo a form of heat treatment during casting and for this reason can be used to
produce pistons, they are also lightweight, and have good structural integrity, as well as
relatively low manufacturing costs. As the mass of the material is low, the force required
to get the piston running and maintain acceleration within the engine will be relatively
low than if the pistons were produced using a different material.
Therefore, the material to be selected in this case would be Cast Al-alloys as it is very cheap in
comparison to other materials and has properties which make the material ideal for usage within
industry.