Useful Properties of Engineered Materials

Picking the right material is key to its success. You certainly would not want to build a skyscraper out of plastic nor would you design a space ship out of syrofoam. As an engineer or designer, you must keep in mind the properties that define a material. Today we have the technology to not only analyze materials at the nanoscale level, but to visualize material properties as well.

Look at all of these material properties!

Mechanical
Density 
Hardness 
Surface Compliance
Young's Modulus (Elasticity)
Bulk Modulus (Compressibility)
Yield Strength
Resilience
Viscoelasticity
Wear / Abrasive Resistance

Electrical
Resistivity
Dielectric Constant
Dielectric Strength
Piezoelectricity
Work Function

Magnetic
Magnetoresistance
Magnetic Susceptibility
Magnetization and Coercivity
Magnetostriction

Optical
Refractive Index
Absorbance
Reflectivity

Thermal
Boiling and Melting Point
Glass Temperature
Specific Heat
Thermal Conductivity

Chemical
Absorption
Corrosive Resistance

Topographical
Roughness
Porosity
Grain Size

 

How do you choose the right one for your application?Can you match the Engineering property to the object that makes it useful to society?

Property	Product
Hardness	Hammer, Sandpaper
Refractive Index	Eyeglass Lens, CD
Roughness	Sandpaper
Electrical Resistivity	Wires
Magnetization	Magnets, Floppy disks
Yield Strength	Steel Beams for Buildings

 

All of the properties listed above are useful properties that engineers take consider when selecting a material for a particular application. In this module, you will be taken through an example illustrating the concept that a material's structure, properties, processing and performance are interdependent and interrelated.