ME 2820 Assignment 1

Material Behavior, Heat Treating

Due Friday April 3, 2020

1. Thermal properties and optimal materials selection (14)

In many situations, product designs include parts whose only function is to conduct
or resist the conduction of heat. Materials for these parts are thus chosen entirely on
the basis of their thermal properties. Select the best material from the list provided
for each of the following applications.

(a) Heat shield sandwiched between a hot body and a cold one which minimizes the
steady flux between them. (2)
(b) Heat shield which protects something from short, intense bursts of heat (long
timescale is needed). (2)
(c) Cheap (i.e. not diamond) temperature sensor, in which short timescale of heat
conduction is necessary for rapid response. (2)
(d) Light heat reservoir which must hold as much heat as possible per degree C per
unit weight. (2)
(e) Heat sink for a semiconductor device, which must minimize temperature difference
for a given flux. (2)
(f) Heat sink for melt spinning, in which liquid metal is injected against a rotating
transient heat sink where it is solidified as rapidly as possible, so the material
must conduct heat away from the surface quickly. (4)

Candidate materials:
Material W
k, m·K ρ, cmg 3 J
Cp , kg·K
aluminum 238 2.7 917
copper 397 8.96 386
gold 315.5 19.3 130
silver 425 10.5 234
diamond 2320 3.5 519
graphite 63 2.25 711
lime (CaO) 15.5 3.32 749
silica (SiO2 ) 1.5 2.32 687
alumina (Al2 O3 ) 39 3.96 804

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2. Mechanical Behavior (25)

(a) Describe the events that take place when a specimen undergoes a tension test.
Sketch a plausible (engineering) stress-strain curve, and identify all significant
regions and points between them. Assume that loading continues up to fracture.
(6)
(b) In the equation σ = Kn which represents the true stress-strain curve ofr a ma-
terial, what is the significance of the exonent n? (2)
(c) Describe the difference between elastic and plastic behavior. (2)
(d) What is Hooke’s law? Young’s modulus? Poisson’s ratio? (3)
(e) Why does the fatigue strength of a specimen or part depend on its surface finish?
(3)
(f) A paper clip is made from wire 0.5 mm in diameter. If it is drawn from 25 mm
diameter rod, calculate the longitudinal engineering and true strains to get to the
final wire diameter. (4)
(g) List and explain the desirable mechanical properties of: (5)
i. Elevator cable
ii. Paper clip
iii. Leaf spring for a truck
iv. Piano wire
v. Pressure vessel for containing gas

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3. Polymer extrusion and thermal stress (18)

A cylindrical high-density polyethylene rod 0.02 m in diameter is exiting an extruder

m
at a uniform rate of 0.1 sec and a temperature of 160◦ C. It is cooled by fans to room
temperature which is 40◦ C, with a heat transfer coefficient of 130 mW
2 ·K .

Thermal stress is roughly proportional to temperature difference between the surface

and center of the rod, so we want to estimate that temperature difference.
You may neglect thermal gradients in the lengthwise direction, and assume steady-
state, so the energy transport equation will be
!
∂T ∂ ∂T
ruz =α r
∂z ∂r ∂r

W
HDPE data: k = 0.64 m·K , ρ = 920 mkg3 , cp = 2300 kg·K
J
.

(a) Calculate the Biot number for this situation using the radius as the lengthscale.
(3)
(b) Calculate the Fourier number at z = 0.33m, z = 1m and z = 3.3m (hint: convert
z to time). (4)
(c) Use dimensionless cooling curves distributed and discussed in class to estimate
the temperatures at the center of the rod and the surface at those three distances.
Of these three, which gives the largest temperature difference between the surface
and the center? (7)
(d) If your thermal stress calculation tells you the temperature is too non-uniform
and will lead to product defects, how can you correct this? That is, what simple
design modification would make the temperature more uniform? (Hint: consider
the shape of the T vs. r curves for various dimensionless numbers.) (4)

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4. Crystal-free zone in a glass-ceramic dish (18)

Background Some dishes, such as the Corelle line by Corning, are made of a high-
tech glass-ceramic material in which partial crystallization of the interior puts the
surface in compression, resulting in high bending strength for a thin heat- and chemical-
resistant dish. The glassy phase is stable above a temperature Tc , and the crystalline
phase below that temperature.
During cooling by immersion in a fluid at temperature Tf l , a surface layer cools quickly
enough to avoid any crystallization. The criterion for this is roughly that the tem-
perature must fall below Tnose before time reaches tnose , as indicated in the T-T-T
(time-temperature-transformation) diagram below.

Glass-ceramic “dish” (not to scale)

T-T-T (time-temperature-transformation) diagram

Properties of the glassy phase and process parameters:

W
• Thermal conductivity: k = 0.4 m·K
• Density: ρ = 2400 mkg3
J
• Heat capacity: cp = 900 kg·K
• Heat transfer coefficient: h = 3000 mW
2 ·K

• Dish thickness: L = 0.01m (a thick dish)

4
 • Temperatures: Tinit = 1000K, Tc = 900K, Tnose = 720K, Tf l = 300K; time
tnose = 4 seconds

(a) Considering the Biot number, sketch the temperature distribution (temperature
vs. location at several times, like cooling curves Fig. 9.11) during cooling, ignoring
phase transformations. (6)
(b) Use dimensionless cooling curves to estimate the distante into the plate where
temperature is Tnose when time is tnose . (3)
(c) Redo parts 4a and 4b for a dish 2 mm thick. (6)
(d) What process change can you make so the plate cools faster? (3)

5. Copper grain growth and strength (17)

Pure copper (typically >99.9%) is a great electrical conductor, and in some applica-
tions its strength is important as well. Copper grain growth closely follows Feltham’s
observation,1 i.e.:
H0
 
2 2
D − D0 = K0 t exp − .
kT
For this problem, ignore temperature dependence and use D2 − D02 = constant · t.
In annealed pure copper, nearly all of its strength is based on grain size, that is, intrin-
sic strength is approximately zero.2 Assume temperature across the wire is uniform
because, well, itâĂŹs copper wire, the Biot number is bound to be really small - though
feel free to check this for relatively small heat transfer coefficient values if youâĂŹre
so inclined.
(a) After annealing a 3 mm wire with initial grain size 30 µm at 600◦ C (in vacuum)
for 0.5, 1 and 2 hours respectively, grain size is observed to be 40, 48 and 61 µm
respectively. What do you expect the grain size to be after 4 hours? (6)
(b) Tensile strength of the copper wire as-received and after 0.5 and 1 hours of an-
nealing is measured as 22 MPa, 19 MPa and 17 MPa respectively. What do you
expect the yield strength to be after 2 hours or 4 hours of annealing? (6)
(c) If an application requires at least 16 MPa strength, whatâĂŹs the longest anneal-
ing time which satisfies this requirement? (5)
6. Find four interesting <20-minute videos, one on each of the following topics: (8)
(a) Injection molding of polymers, metals or ceramics
(b) Die casting of metals
(c) Investment or sand casting of metals
(d) Continuous casting of metals

1
See for example: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01129942.
2
See for example: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2005.03.047.