Module Overview

Materials Properties & Processes

This module builds on the module ‘Engineering Materials, ENMT2111, year two of the programme. The aim of this module is to prepare the student for a career in a wide range of manufacturing and mechanical industries. It aims to provide the student with an appreciation of the various failure mechanisms, how to recognise them, how to determine the life span, how to reduce or prevent them, and an overview of manufacturing processes determined by different materials. The first part concentrates on various properties (long term) and failure mechanisms.

The second part concentrates on various processes determined by different materials and how the material properties are affected. The importance of the structure-processing-property-environmental relationship is developed further and supported in the laboratory sessions.

Module Code

MATR 3111

ECTS Credits

5

*Curricular information is subject to change

Part A: Properties, failure and prevention:

Fracture

  • Ductile and Brittle Fracture
  • Griffith’s crack theory
  • Factors that affect fracture
  • Structural mechanisms
  • Fracture toughness and critical stress intensity approaches
  • Methods to improve resistance to fracture
  • Identification of fracture mechanisms

 

Fatigue

  • Testing
  • Structural Mechanisms
  • Factors that affect fatigue fracture
  • Estimate life of component e.g. Miner’s Rule.
  • Structural identification of the failure mechanism
  • Approaches to improve fatigue resistance

 

Creep

  • Testing
  • Structural mechanisms
  • Factors that affect creep
  • Estimate life e.g. Arrhenius equation
  • Structural identification of the failure mechanism
  • Processing & creep resistant materials
  • Approaches to improve the creep resistance

 

Corrosion

  • Testing
  • Structural and chemical mechanisms
  • Factors that affect corrosion
  • Structural identification of the failure mechanism
  • Corrosion-resistant materials
  • Approaches to improve corrosion resistance

 

Wear

  • Testing Structural Mechanisms
  • Factors that affect wear
  • Structural identification of the failure mechanism
  • Wear-resistant materials
  • Approaches to improve wear resistance

 

Part B: Processing:

Heat Treatment

  • The relevance of heat treatment for all engineering materials (metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, single crystals), 
  • Structure: atomic, nano, micro-and macrostructures,
  • Mechanisms, 
  • Equilibrium, Iso-thermal and non-isothermal phase diagrams,
  • Heat treatment of plain carbon steels, alloy steels, the effect on structure (phases present) and processes on the mechanical properties,
  • Failure and prevention mechanisms,

 

Powder Metallurgy

  • Manufacture of brittle materials
  • Ceramics and Glasses
  • Structure (nano-, and micro- ), types, properties, applications and manufacture

Materials and process selection

Laboratory Sessions (Metals, Polymers & Composites):

  • Microstructure Analysis
  • Corrosion
  • Heat Treatment
  • Jominy-End Quench Test
  • Research/ Case Study
  • Powder Metallurgy
  • Creep

Lectures

Practical Lab sessions

Continuous Assessment

Module Content & Assessment
Assessment Breakdown %
Formal Examination80
Other Assessment(s)20