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Unit 3 - 5

The selection of a material is a complex process that considers many factors. An engineer must choose a material that meets dimensional, mechanical, and service requirements while also considering fabrication and cost. The material choice affects processing methods and impacts the final cost. To simplify selection, engineers analyze the component's operating conditions, manufacturing steps, functional needs, and total expenses. Understanding these key details guides the choice of an optimal material.

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28 views4 pages

Unit 3 - 5

The selection of a material is a complex process that considers many factors. An engineer must choose a material that meets dimensional, mechanical, and service requirements while also considering fabrication and cost. The material choice affects processing methods and impacts the final cost. To simplify selection, engineers analyze the component's operating conditions, manufacturing steps, functional needs, and total expenses. Understanding these key details guides the choice of an optimal material.

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Pratik Kikani
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction to Materials Selection:

One of the most challenging task of materials engineer is the proper selection of the material for a
particular job, e.g., a particular component of a machine or structure. An engineer must be in a
position to choose the optimum combination of properties in a material at the lowest possible cost
without compromising the quality.
Factors affecting the selection of materials:

(i) Component shape:

The shape and size of a component has great effect on the choice of the processing unit which
ultimately effects the choice of the material. To make it more clear, we consider an example, let the
best possible production method is selected, under given conditions, it is die casting, obviously, now
the choice of the material becomes limited, i.e. one can only choose materials with lower melting
points, e.g. aluminium, zinc, magnesium and thermoplastics.

(ii) Dimensional tolerance:

There are some materials which can be finished to close tolerance while others cannot. Obviously,
the required dimensional tolerance for finished components will, influence the choice of materials.

(iii) Mechanical properties:

To select a suitable material for specific conditions, all mechanical properties, e.g., toughness,
hardness, strength, etc. guide us.

(iv) Fabrication (Manufacturing) requirements:

Method of processing of the material also affects the properties of a component, e.g., forged
components can be stronger than the casted components. Different types of working processes may
also give different types of fibre structure. However, investment casting can provide precise
dimensions at low cost in comparison to machine operations. Selection of Engineering Materials

(v) Service requirements:

Service requirements are :


dimensional stability,
strength,
toughness,
heat resistance,
corrosion resistance,
fatigue and creep resistance,
electrical and thermal conductivity etc.
(vi) Cost :

(A) Cost of the material:

In most of the cases, the cost of raw material accounts about 50 % of the finished cost. Obviously,
the cost of the material is a major factor which influences the choice of the material or process. We
must note that the use of cheaper material will not always reduce the final cost of the component or
product. Use of cheaper material may be associated with higher processing cost due to large number
of operations to be performed and also more scrap. We can easily see that this sometimes makes the
overall cost more than that of expensive raw material in combination with low processing cost due to
lesser number of operations and lesser scrap. The type of material affects the detailed aspect of
design and hence the choice of material as well as the process is selected at the early design state e.g.
whether the material is to be joined by spot welding, screws or rivetes, must be decided at the design
state. Selection of Engineering Materials

(B) Cost of processing:

In most of the industries, the processing cost (labour cost) and other costs such as overhead costs
account for about 50% of the production cost. Overhead cost in automatic industries is much more
than the other costs. If one can somehow reduce all such costs, the total production cost will
automatically reduce.

vii) Availability of the material:

We may find that sometimes the availability of the material becomes a governing factor. When the
desired material supply is limited, then a costly material which is available in ample quantity may be
chosen.

Procedure for materials selection:


The selection of an appropriate material and its subsequent conversion into a useful product with
desired shape and properties can be a rather complex process. Nearly every engineered item goes
through a sequence of activities that includes:

Summary:
The selection of a specific material for a particular use is a very complex process. However, one can
simplify the choice if the details about:
(i) operating parameters,
(ii) manufacturing processes,
(iii) functional requirements
(iv) cost considerations are known.
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