3/8/2024

IE0242/IE223: Materials
Science & Engineering

Dr. Rula Allaf

Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering

Chapter 1 - Introduction
What is materials science and engineering (MSE)?
Materials science Materials engineering
• Investigating the • Designing or engineering
relationships that exist the structure of a material
between the structures to produce a given set of
and properties of properties.
materials.
• The role of a materials
• The role of a materials engineer is to create new
scientist is to develop or products or systems using
synthesize materials existing materials, and/or
to develop techniques for
processing materials (esp.
large-scale production).

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4 components in MSE

• The structure of a material usually relates to

the arrangement of its internal components.
• Levels (based on dimensionality):
– subatomic,
– atomic,
– microscopic,
– macroscopic.

Structure
• Subatomic structure involves electrons within the individual atoms and
interactions with their nuclei.
• On an atomic level, structure encompasses the organization of atoms or
molecules relative to one another.
• The next larger structural domain, which contains large groups of atoms
that are normally agglomerated together, is termed “microscopic,” i.e.,
which is subject to direct observation using some type of microscope.
• Finally, structural elements that may be viewed with the naked eye are
termed “macroscopic.”
Bond length
in water
Red blood
molecule
cell

Glucose
Gold atom molecule Virus Human hair Tennis ball

1Å 2Å 1nm 150nm 10µm 100µm 10cm

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Microscopic Structure

Light microscope Scanning electron microscope Transmission electron microscope

m
cm = 10-2 m
mm = 10-3 m
m = 10-6 m
nm = 10-9 m
scale
ሶ
𝑨=10 -10 m

angstrom

Grains of a Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloy which have SEM micrograph of purified TEM image of an individual multi
been polished and etched to show color in nanotube paper. walled carbon nanotube
a light microscope.

micrographs
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4 components in MSE

• A property is a material character in terms of the

kind and magnitude of response to a specific
imposed external stimulus. For example, a
specimen subjected to forces will experience
deformation
– Categories: mechanical, electrical, thermal, magnetic,
optical, and deteriorative.
– Generally, definitions of properties are made
independent of material shape and size.
– Mechanical properties: elastic modulus and strength

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Structure, Processing, & Properties

• Properties depend on structure
ex: hardness vs structure of steel
martensite
(d)
600 Tempered
Hardness (BHN)

martensite 30 m
Pearlite &
500 proeutectoid  (c)
Spheroidite Data obtained from Figs. 10.30(a)
and 10.32 with 0.4 wt% C
400 (b) composition,and from Fig. 11.14 and
(a) associated discussion, Callister &
4 m
300 Rethwisch 8e.
Micrographs adapted from (a) Fig.
30 m 10.19; (b) Fig. 9.30;(c) Fig. 10.33;
200 30 m and (d) Fig. 10.21, Callister &
Rethwisch 8e.

100
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Cooling Rate (ºC/s)
• Processing can change structure
ex: structure vs heat-treatment/cooling rate of steel
HT of steel → Structure of steel → Hardness → Wear behavior

Structure, Processing, & Properties

• Transmittance:
-- Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) may be transparent, translucent, or
opaque depending on the material structure, which have resulted
from the way the materials were processed.
polycrystal: polycrystal:
single crystal low porosity high porosity

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Types of Materials
Three basic classes: metals, ceramics, and polymers.
This scheme is based primarily on chemical makeup
and atomic structure.
• Metals: Materials in this group are composed of one or
more metallic elements (such as iron, aluminum, copper,
titanium, gold, and nickel), and often also nonmetallic
elements (for example, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) in
relatively small amounts. Metallic bonding
– Dense
– Stiff, strong, hard, ductile, tough,
and resistant to fracture
– High thermal & electrical conductivity
– Opaque.

Types of Materials
• Metals: The term metal alloy is used in reference to a
metallic substance (mixtures) that is composed of two or
more elements.

Metal Alloys

Ferrous (Fe is prime constituent) Nonferrous

Steels
Steels Cast Irons
Cast irons
<<1.4wt%C
2.14 wt% C 3-4.5
>2.14wt%C
wt% C
Cu Al Mg Ti
•Bronze (+Sn)
Commonly : Commonly: •Brass (+Zn)
<1.4 wt% C 3-4.5 wt% C

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Types of Materials
• Ceramics: Compounds between metallic & non-metallic
elements (frequently: oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides)-
e.g. Al2O3, SiO2, SiC. Typically, ionic bonding.

Alumina
Silica

– Dense
– Stiff, strong, hard, brittle (lack ductility)
– Non-conducting (insulators) to heat and electricity
– Optically transparent, translucent, or opaque
– Refractory- material that retains its strength at high
temperatures; has a high melting point; chemically and
physically stable at high temperatures
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Types of Materials
• Polymers:
• Polymers include the familiar plastic and rubber materials.
Many of them are organic compounds that are chemically
based on carbon, hydrogen, and other nonmetallic
elements (namely, O, N, and Si).
• A polymer molecule is large, macromolecule; composed
of many simple molecules that are repeating structural
units, often chain-like in nature that have a backbone
(main chain) of carbon atoms
monomer

Repeat structural unit

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Types of Materials
• Covalent bonds hold the atoms in the polymer molecules
together and secondary bonds (van der Waals) then hold
groups of polymer chains together to form the polymeric
material.
• When all of the repeating units along a chain are of the same
type, the resulting polymer is called a homopolymer. Chains
may be composed of two or more different repeat units, in
what are termed copolymers.
• There are two main types of polymers: thermoplastics and
thermosetting polymers.
• The term ‘thermoplastic’ indicates that these materials soften
then melt on heating and harden when cooled, reversibly.
Typically processed by a variety of molding and extrusion
techniques.
• Alternately, ‘thermosetting’ polymers cannot be melted or
remelted; they do not soften upon heating. Excessive heating
causes polymer degradation.

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Types of Materials
• Some of the common and familiar polymers are
polyethylene (PE), nylon, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC),
polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), and silicone rubber.

– Low density
– Low stiffness, soft (not hard), ductile, low strength
– Thermal & electrical insulators
– Optically translucent or transparent
– They are relatively inert chemically and unreactive in a
large number of environments.
– One major drawback to the polymers is their tendency
to soften and/or decompose at modest temperatures.
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Types of Materials
• Composites: engineered combinations of two (or more)
distinct materials, of the above three basic material classes,
each of which retains its own distinctive properties, to
create a new material with properties that cannot be
achieved by any of the components acting alone.

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Types of Materials
• Examples:
– Fiberglass (glass-fiber reinforced polymer), in which small glass
fibers are embedded within a polymeric material (normally an epoxy
or polyester). The glass fibers are relatively strong and stiff (but
brittle), whereas the polymer is ductile (but weak and flexible). Thus,
the resulting fiberglass is relatively stiff, strong, and ductile. In
addition, it has a low density
– Carbon-fiber reinforced polymer, stiffer, stronger, more expensive

• reinforcing phase embedded in the matrix phase

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Types of Materials
Room temperature density

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Types of Materials
Elastic modulus

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Types of Materials
Tensile strength

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Types of Materials
Fracture toughness

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Types of Materials
Electrical conductivity

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Advanced materials
• Materials that are utilized in high-technology (or
high-tech) applications. These advanced
materials are typically traditional materials whose
properties have been enhanced, and, also newly
developed or discovered, high-performance
materials. Furthermore, they may be of all
material types (e.g., metals, ceramics, polymers),
and are normally expensive.
– Semiconductors
– Biomaterials
– Smart materials
– Nanoengineered materials

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Advanced materials
• Semiconductors have electrical properties that
are intermediate between the electrical conductors (namely,
metals and metal alloys) and insulators (namely, ceramics
and polymers)- the electrical characteristics of these
materials are extremely sensitive to the presence of minute
concentrations of impurity atoms (doping). They are used in
integrated circuits (IC) in the electronics and computer
industries.

• Biomaterials are employed in components implanted into

the human body for replacement of diseased or damaged
body parts. These materials must not produce toxic
substances and must be compatible with body tissues (i.e.,
must not cause adverse biological reactions). Metals,
ceramics, polymers, composites, and semiconductors may
be used as biomaterials.
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Advanced materials
• Smart materials:
• The adjective “smart” implies that these materials are
able to sense changes in their environments and then
respond to these changes in predetermined manners.
• Components of a smart material (or system) include
some type of sensor (that detects an input signal),
and an actuator (that performs a responsive and
adaptive function).
• Actuators may be called upon to change shape,
position, natural frequency, or mechanical
characteristics in response to changes in
temperature, electric fields, and/or magnetic fields.

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Advanced materials
• Examples of materials commonly used
for actuators: shape memory alloys,
piezoelectric ceramics.
• Materials employed as sensors include
piezoelectric materials.
– Shape memory alloys are metals that, after
having been deformed, revert back to their
original shapes when temperature is
changed

– Piezoelectric ceramics expand and contract

in response to an applied electric field (or
voltage)== ACTUATOR; conversely, they
also generate an electric field when their
dimensions are altered== SENSOR

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Advanced materials
• Nanomaterials:
• Materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, or
composites) with morphological features on
the nanoscale. Graphene

• Nano- is usually defined as smaller

than a 100 nanometers (nanometer=10-9m)
in at least one dimension.
• Dramatic changes in material properties as
size approaches atomic dimensions. Due to
quantum mechanics and surface
phenomena.
• Examples: carbon nanotubes, graphene,
nanocomposites, fullerenes, etc.

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Why should we know about MSE?

• Materials scientists and engineers are

specialists who are totally involved in the
investigation and design of materials.
• Many times, a materials problem is one of
selecting the right material.

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The Materials Selection Process

1. Pick Application Determine required Properties
in-service conditions
Properties: mechanical, electrical, thermal,
magnetic, optical, deteriorative.
2. Properties Identify candidate Material(s)
Material: structure, composition.
cost
3. Material Identify required Processing
Processing: changes structure and overall shape
ex: casting, sintering, vapor deposition, doping,
forming, joining, annealing.

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Why should we know about

MSE?

• The more familiar an engineer or scientist is with the

various characteristics and structure–property
relationships, as well as processing techniques of
materials, the more proficient and confident he or she
will be to make judicious materials choices based on
these different selection criteria (in service conditions
and required material properties, cost, processing).
• Selection always involves a trade off.

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