Higher Institute of Petroleum-Ubari Title course: Properties of

material

Lecture: One Department: General

Introduction of material
Manufacturing is the process of converting some material into a part or product.
Everything around you, every item you use, is manufactured. Each object you use
is made up of components.
When you know the properties of material and things around us, we should be able
to answer, in most cases, the ability to detect problems with products, and suggest
alternate materials/processes that could improve them, we should be able to build
a model of a process, and perform analysis that will indicate the optimum
conditions for the use of the process (material) under some specified criteria, we
should gain some understanding of the economics of manufacturing products.

So, Each material can be thought of as having a set of attributes: its properties. It is
not a material, per se, that the designer seeks; it is a specific combination of these
attributes: a property-profile. The properties themselves are standard: density,
modulus, strength, toughness, thermal conductivity, and so on.

Concept of Atom
Rutherford conceived the atom to be a positively charged nucleus, which carried
the greater part of the mass of the atom, with electrons clustering around it. He
suggested that the electrons were revolving round the nucleus in circular orbits so
that the centrifugal force of the revolving electrons was just equal to the
electrostatic attraction between the positively charged nucleus and the negatively
charged electrons. (Another definition: the atom consists of very small nucleus,
revolving around it negative electrons in circular orbits).

The nucleus consists of positively charged protons and balancing parts are not
charge called Neutrons. The atom is in electrically equilibrium, so the number of
positive protons equal to the number of negative electrons. The mass of protons
Page 5 of 7
 -27
approximately equal to the mass of neutrons around: 1.67x10exp kg and the
-31
mass of electrons is 9.11x10exp kg.

The table explains the constants of the main components of atom.

Atomic and Mass Numbers

Atomic number is the number of protons (+P) = the number of electrons (-e)

The atomic number considers one of the main characteristics for the one element
atoms and it is different on other elements atoms.
Mass Number (Atomic weight) is
The Mass Number is the sum of the number of protons (+P) and the number of
neutrons (n) inside nucleus of one atom. The measurement unit is atomic mass
unit (amu).

Isotopes
Isotopes are the groups of same element atoms. It has exactly chemical

Page 5 of 7
properties and same atomic number but different in mass number. This different
result to different in the number of neutrons inside this nucleus of atoms. The
majority of chemical elements have at least one or more than Isotopes, except Fl,
Na and Al did not have Isotopes. For example (Ne):

Valence Number
It is the number of electrons that is available in the last orbit.
Orbits
The distribution of these orbits depends on n= 1,2,3,4......or n= k,l,m,n........ . The
nearest orbit to nucleus is 1 or k, and second 2 or l, and so on.
Maximum Capacity of one shell
2
The maximum number of electrons in a given shell is calculating from 2n , where n
is the number of the shell, first shell n=1 and so on.

Atomic Stability and Electronegativity:

If an atom has a valence of zero, the element is inert. An example is argon, it is has
8 electrons in the last shell. Other atoms prefer to behave as if their outer level are

Page 5 of 7
either completely full, with eight electrons, or completely empty. For examples:
Aluminum has three atoms in its outer level. Aluminum atom readily gives up its
outer three electrons to empty the last shell. On other hand, chlorine contain seven
electrons in the outer level. The reactivity of chlorine is caused by its desire to fill its
outer energy level by accepting an electron.
Electronegativity
The relative tendency of an atoms to accept an electrons and become negative ion
and called an anion.
Electropositivity:
The relative tendency of an atoms to give up an electrons and become positive ion
and called a cation.

The Periodic Table

The Periodic Table provides an invaluable classification of all chemical elements,
an element being a collection of atoms of one type. A typical version is shown in
Table 1.2. Of the 107 elements which appear, about 90 occur in nature; the
remainder is produced in nuclear reactors or particle accelerators. The atomic
number (Z) of each element is stated, together with its chemical symbol, and can
be regarded as either the number of protons in the nucleus or the number of
orbiting electrons in the atom.

Page 5 of 7
The elements are naturally classified into periods (horizontal rows), depending
upon which electron shell is being filled, and groups (vertical columns). Elements in
any one group have the electrons in their outermost shell in the same configuration
and, as a direct result, have similar chemical properties.
Materials in Manufacturing
Most engineering materials can be classified into one of three basic categories:
1. Metals
2. Ceramics
3. Polymers

Their chemistries are different, their mechanical and physical properties are
dissimilar, and these differences affect the manufacturing processes that can be
used to produce products from them.
In addition to the three basic categories, there are:
4. Composites: non-homogeneous mixtures of the other three basic types rather
than a unique category.

Page 5 of 7
 Diagram of three basic Material types plus composites
Metals
Usually alloys, which are composed of two or more elements, at least one of which
is metallic, but they remain ductile, allowing them to be formed by deformation
processes.
Two basic groups of metals:
1. Ferrous metals - based on iron, comprise ~ 75% of metal tonnage in the world:
Steel = iron-carbon alloy with 0.02 to 2.11% C
Cast iron = alloy with 2% to 4% C
2. Nonferrous metals - all other metallic elements and their alloys: aluminum,
copper, gold, magnesium, nickel, silver, tin, titanium, etc.

Ceramics
A compound containing metallic (or semi-metallic) and nonmetallic elements.
Typical nonmetallic elements are oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon.
For processing purposes, ceramics divide into:
Crystalline ceramics – includes:
Traditional ceramics, such as clay (hydrous aluminum silicates)

Page 5 of 7
Modern ceramics, such as alumina (Al2O3).
2. Glasses – mostly based on silica (SiO2)

Polymers
They have moduli which are low, roughly SO times less than those of metals, but
they can be strong - nearly as strong as metals. And their properties depend on
temperature so that a polymer which is tough and flexible at 20°C may be brittle at
the 4°C.
Three categories:
1. Thermoplastic polymers - can be subjected to multiple heating and cooling
cycles without altering their molecular structure
2. Thermosetting polymers - molecules chemically transform (cure) into a rigid
structure upon cooling from a heated plastic condition

3. Elastomers - exhibit significant elastic behavior.

Composites

A material consisting of two or more phases that are processed separately and
then bonded together to achieve properties superior to its constituents.
- They are light, stiff and strong, and they can be tough. Most of the composites at
present available to the engineer have a polymer matrix - epoxy or polyester,
usually – reinforced by fibres of glass, carbon or Kevlar.

Page 5 of 7