27-05-2014, 12:44 PM
Engineering Materials and their Properties
Engineering Materials and their.pdf (Size: 298.19 KB / Downloads: 576)
Introduction
The knowledge of materials and their properties is of
great significance for a design engineer. The machine
elements should be made of such a material which has
properties suitable for the conditions of operation. In
addition to this, a design engineer must be familiar with
the effects which the manufacturing processes and heat
treatment have on the properties of the materials. In this
chapter, we shall discuss the commonly used engineering
materials and their properties in Machine Design.
Selection of Materials for
Engineering Purposes
The selection of a proper material, for
engineering purposes, is one of the most difficult
problem for the designer. The best material is one
which serve the desired objective at the minimum
cost. The following factors should be considered
while selecting the material :
1. Availability of the materials,
2. Suitability of the materials for the work-
ing conditions in service, and
3. The cost of the materials
Cast Iron
The cast iron is obtained by re-melting pig iron
with coke and limestone in a furnace known as cupola.
It is primarily an alloy of iron and carbon. The carbon
contents in cast iron varies from 1.7 per cent to 4.5 per
cent. It also contains small amounts of silicon,
manganese, phosphorous and sulphur. The carbon in a
cast iron is present in either of the following two forms:
1. Free carbon or graphite, and 2. Combined car-
bon or cementite.
Alloy Cast Iron
The cast irons as discussed in Art. 2.8 contain small percentages of other constituents like
silicon, manganese, sulphur and phosphorus. These cast irons may be called as plain cast irons. The
alloy cast iron is produced by adding alloying elements like nickel, chromium, molybdenum, copper
and manganese in sufficient quantities. These alloying elements give more strength and result in
improvement of properties. The alloy cast iron has special properties like increased strength, high
wear resistance, corrosion resistance or heat resistance.
Free Cutting Steels
The free cutting steels contain sulphur and phosphorus. These steels have higher sulphur content
than other carbon steels. In general, the carbon content of such steels vary from 0.1 to 0.45 per cent
and sulphur from 0.08 to 0.3 per cent. These steels are used where rapid machining is the prime
requirement. It may be noted that the presence of sulphur and phosphorus causes long chips in machining
to be easily broken and thus prevent clogging of machines. Now a days, lead is used from 0.05 to 0.2
per cent instead of sulphur, because lead also greatly improves the machinability of steel without the
loss of toughness