INTRODUCTION TO MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Module 4
Syllabus:

Engineering Materials: Types and applications of Ferrous & Nonferrous Metals, silica, ceramics, glass,
graphite, diamond and polymer. Shape Memory Alloys.

Joining Processes: Soldering, Brazing and Welding, Definitions, classification of welding process, Arc
welding, Gas welding and types of flames.

ENGINEERING MATERIALS
Material Science is concerned with the search of basic knowledge about the internal structure, properties
and processing of materials.
Material engineering is concerned with the use of fundamentals and applied knowledge of materials so
that the materials can be converted into products necessary or desired by the society.

Classification of Materials

METALS
Metals can be broken down into two main categories: Ferrous metals and Non-ferrous metals.

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Ferrous metals:
Ferrous metals are pure iron or an alloy which typically consists of iron. The term ‘ferrous’ has been
derived from the Latin term ‘ferrum’ meaning iron. The most common ferrous alloys are steel. Ferrous
metals contain little amounts of other metals or components added, to increase some properties. These
metals are magnetic and offer only slight resistance to corrosion.

Types and Characteristics of Ferrous metals:

1. Stainless Steel – Resistance to Corrosion, high tensile strength attractive appearance.
2. Mild Steel – Ductile, tough, high tensile strength. Due to low carbon content, it cannot be
toughened and tempered.
3. High Carbon Steel - The hardest of the carbon steels. Tough and malleable but less ductile.
4. Cast Iron - Hard, brittle, strong, economical.

Stainless steels or Chromium Steels:

Stainless steel is an iron and chromium alloy. Excellent corrosion resistance, heat resistance and aesthetic
properties have made stainless steel an outstanding material for both industrial and domestic purposes.
Corrosion resistance is majorly due to presence of chromium in them. Corrosion resistance may be
enhanced by using nickel and molybdenum as well.

• Composition: 10.5% chromium, less than 1.2% carbon and other alloying elements.
• Properties: Corrosion resistant, high tensile strength, very durable, temperature resistant, easy formability
and fabrication, low-maintenance (long lasting), attractive appearance, environmentally friendly
(recyclable)
• Applications: Cooking utensils, buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, machines, electrical
appliances, weapons, etc.

Applications of Ferrous Metals:

Ferrous metals are used in a variety of applications. Listed below are its some major uses:
 Crushing machinery
 Bolts and nuts
 Car cylinder blocks and gear wheels
 Machine tool parts, machine handle and engine parts
 Gears and shafts
 Cutting equipments for lathes
 Chisels, files and lathe tools
 Garden tools, hammers, drills, dies and taps
 Metal ropes, springs and wire

Non-Ferrous Metals:
Non ferrous metals include every metal and alloy which do not contain iron. Examples of a few common
non-ferrous metals will include:

 Precious metals like gold, silver and platinum

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  Copper and its alloys such as brass and bronze
 Aluminum and its alloys
 Nickel, Platinum, Titanium, Palladium
 Tin, Lead, Zinc

Aluminum and its alloys:

Aluminum is the world’s most abundant metal and is the third most common element, comprising 8% of
the earth’s crust. Aluminum is one of the lightest engineering metals, having strength to weight ratio
superior to steel.

• Composition: copper, zinc, magnesium, silicon, manganese and lithium. Small additions of chromium,
titanium, zirconium, lead, bismuth and nickel are also made
• Properties: Strength to Weight Ratio, Corrosion Resistance, Electrical and Thermal Conductivity,
recyclability and formability.
• Applications: It is used in Construction of parts in Air Craft, Automotive Vehicles, Space Crafts and
Marine Parts. Electrical applications Such as Electric Wires, Cables, Winding of Motors, Transformers,
Generators etc.,

Applications of Non-Ferrous Metals:

 It is used in the form of bars, tubes, sheets, wires for aircraft, automobile components, rivets and
other structures.
 For cooking utensils, decorative assemblies, wires, rivets etc.
 Used for automobile pistons and other aircraft parts.
 For making electrical cables.
 Heat exchangers
 For making various copper alloys, such as bronze and brass.
 For household appliances, bearings, etc.

Silica:
• Silica (SiO2), is a white or colorless crystalline compound found mainly as quartz, sand, flint, and
many other minerals.
• Silica is a compound of silicon and oxygen.
• Silica is the most abundant mineral found in the crust of the earth.
• It is usually used to manufacture glass, ceramics and abrasives.
• Silica under normal temperature and pressure is a solid, crystallized mineral and it is relatively hard.
• Pure silica is colorless, but if contaminates are present in a sample of quartz, it may be colored.

Applications of Silica:
• The applications of silica are as the manufacture of rubber, glass and plastics.
• Silica, in the form of sand, is used as the key ingredient for the manufacture of metallic components
in engineering and other applications of sand casting.
• Used in pharmaceuticals for making drugs.

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Ceramics:
• A ceramic is an inorganic non-metallic solid made up of either metal or non-metal compounds that
have been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures.
• It has high melting points, low electrical and thermal conductivity values, and high compressive
strengths.
• Also they are generally hard and brittle with very good chemical and thermal stability.

Applications of Ceramics
• Because of their lightweight, they are used in the space industry.
• They are used in the manufacturing of cutting tools, aerospace turbine blades etc.
• They serve as refractory substances.
• They serve as electrical insulators and thermal insulators.

Glass:
• Glass is an inorganic solid material that is usually transparent, hard and brittle.
• Silica is the main constituent of glass
• Other chemical compounds such as sodium oxide, sodium carbonate, and lime or calcium oxide are
added to it in order to get right melting point and viscosity.

Types of Glass:
There four types of glasses, they are:
• Annealed glass: it is the simplest and basic form of glass. It is also known as float glass since it is
formed from the annealing stage of the float process.
• Heat Strengthened Glass: It is a semi-tough glass which is used to provide extra toughness to
resist thermal stress or wind pressure. They are ideal for use in glass in doors, tub and shower
enclosures in building construction.
• Toughened Glass: It is also known as tempered glass and is tough in nature. When the glass breaks,
it forms small granular chunks like square fragments. It is commonly used in mobile screen guards,
vehicles, fire-resistant doors etc.
• Laminated Glass: It is the most common type of glass which features two sheets of glass with a
plastic interlayer separating them. It is widely used in the automotive industry for the manufacture
of vehicles.

Graphite:
• The term graphite is derived from the Greek word “graphein,” which means to write.
• The material is typically grayish-black in color, opaque, and has a radiant black sheen.
• Graphite is a distinct material as it displays the properties of both a metal and a non-metal.
• It has high electrical and thermal conductivity. It is also chemically inert and highly refractory.
• Since graphite displays low adsorption of X-rays and neutrons, it is very valuable in nuclear
applications.

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Types of Graphite
 Natural Graphite: Natural Graphite, an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, is a mineral
composed of graphitic carbon. It is stable over a range of temperatures, with the melting point of
around 3650°C. There are three types of natural graphite.
 High crystalline
 Amorphous
 Flake

 Synthetic Graphite: Synthetic graphite is produced from coke and pith. It is less crystalline in
nature than the natural one. There are basically two types of synthetic graphites. The first one is
electro graphite; pure carbon produced from coal tar pitch, and calcined petroleum coke in an
electric furnace. The second one is synthetic graphite produced by heating calcined petroleum pitch
to 28000C.
Applications of Graphite
• Graphite is used in making pencil lead.
• Graphite is used in the nuclear reactor to control the nuclear fission reaction because of the ability of
graphite to absorb fast-moving neutrons.
• Graphite is used as a conductor of heat and electricity in several processes due to its free electrons.
• Graphite materials are used as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries.
• Graphite is used in high-temperature applications like in the production of phosphorus and calcium
carbide.

Diamond:
 Diamonds are the homogeneous, solid, naturally-occurring and inorganic substances.
 It is the hardest naturally occurring substance known; it is also the most popular gemstone.
 Because of their extreme hardness, diamonds have a number of important industrial applications.
 Natural diamond is carbon crystals that form under high temperature and pressure conditions that
exist only about 100 miles beneath the earth’s surface. It is approximately 99.95 percent carbon.
 Diamonds vary from colourless to black, and they may be transparent, translucent, or opaque. Most
diamonds used as gems are transparent and colourless or nearly so.

Properties of Diamond
 The hardest known material
 Low coefficient of friction
 High thermal conductivity
 High electrical resistivity
 Low thermal expansion coefficient
 High strength
 Resistant to chemical corrosion

Application of Diamond
 They are used in jewellery (such as earrings, nose rings, engagement rings, pendants, etc.)

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  Diamonds are used for industrial purpose. Its property of hardness is useful to drill, grind or cut
materials.

Polymers:
• Polymers are large molecules made when hundreds of monomers joined together to form long
chains.
• The word polymers come from a Greek word, poly means many and mer means parts.
• Polymers are mainly classified into three types – thermoplastic, thermoset and elastomers.
 Thermoplastic material are softened on heating and hardened on cooling but retain its shape.
 Thermoset materials having the property of becoming permanently hard and rigid when
heated.
 Elastomers are rubber-like solid polymers that are elastic in nature

Applications of Polymers:
 Automobile parts, windshields for fighter planes, pipes, tanks, packing materials, insulation, wood
substitutes, adhesives, matrix for composites, and elastomers are all polymer applications used in
the industrial market.
 Playground equipment, various balls, golf clubs, swimming pools, and protective helmets are often
produced from polymers.
 Conducting polymers are used for making light emitting diode, rechargeable batteries.

Shape memory alloy (SMA):

 A shape-memory alloy is an alloy that can be deformed when cold but returns to its pre-deformed
shape when heated.
 It may also be called memory metal, memory alloy, smart metal, and smart alloy. They can take
large stresses without undergoing permanent deformation.

Types of shape memory alloys

There are two types of shape memory alloys
i. One-way shape memory alloy: A material which exhibits shape memory effect only upon
heating is known as one-way shape memory alloy.
ii. Two-way shape memory alloy: A material which shows a shape memory effect during both
heating and cooling is called two-way shape memory alloy.

Applications of Shape memory alloys:

 They can be formed into various shapes like bars, wires, plates and rings, thus serving various
functions.
 Broken bones can be made with shape memory alloys.
 Memory metals are ideal for many applications that deal with a heated fluid flowing through tubes,
or wire applications where it is crucial for the alloys to maintain their shape in the heated
environment.
 SMA’s find a variety of applications in civil structures such as buildings and bridges. One such
application is Intelligent Reinforced Concrete (IRC), which incorporates SMA wires embedded
within the concrete.
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Joining Process
The process of joining two or more material is called joining process. There are two types of joining
process:
1. Temporary joining
2. Permanent joining

Temporary joining: Without damaging the base material if the joint is removed then it is a temporary
joining process. e.g. bolt and nut, soldering, brazing etc.

Permanent joining: The base metal has to be broken to remove the joint then it is called as permanent
joining process.
e.g. welding, riveting etc

Soldering process:
• It is a temporary joining process, used to join two or more materials by means of filler material,
whose melting point is below 450 degree Celsius
• The filler material used in this process is called solder.
• Soldering involves melting the filler metal (solder) and it flows into the gap between the workpiece
metal.

Types of soldering method:

• Solder iron method
• Torch method
• Induction method
• Resistance method

Soldering Principle (solder iron method)

 It is a type of joining process, used to join two or more materials by means of filler material, whose
melting point is below 450 degree Celsius
 The filler material used in this process is called solder.
 Solder iron method is the most widely used for soldering.

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  Solder iron tip is coated with copper (good conductor of heat).
 Workpiece surface to be joined are cleaned to remove contaminates like oil, rust, paint and other
impurities.
 Suitable flux is applied on the base metal like rosin alcohol and zinc chloride.
 Solder iron is heated to a suitable temperature.
 Solder iron gun and solder is brought at the joint.
 Tip of the solder is melted and molten metal is deposited at the joint.
 Molten solder cools down and solidifies forming a joint.
 The joint is cleaned to remove flux residues in order to prevent corrosion.

Brazing process
 It is a type of joining process used to join similar and dissimilar materials by using a filler metal
whose melting point is above 450 degree Celsius below the melting point of base metal.
 The filler metal used in this process is called as spelter.

Types of brazing process

 Torch brazing
 Induction brazing
 Resistance brazing
 Furnace brazing
 Dip brazing

Brazing Principle (Torch Brazing)

 It is a type of joining process used to join similar and dissimilar materials by using a filler metal
whose melting point is above 450 degree Celsius below the melting point of base metal.
 The filler metal used in this process is called as spelter.
 Torch brazing is the most commonly used type of brazing process.
 Workpiece surface to be joined are cleaned to remove contaminates like oil, rust, paint and other
impurities.
 Suitable flux is applied on the base metal like borax and boric acid.
 Workpiece is broadly heated by flame coming from gas torch.
 Then filler metal called spelter is placed between the two workpiece to be joined.
 Filler metal is heated at the joint with gas torch.

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  Filler metal gets melted and flows through the joint.
 It is allowed for cooling and solidifies forming a joint.
 After solidification joint is cleaned to remove the flux residues in order to prevent corrosion.

Difference between Soldering and Brazing

Soldering process Brazing process

Melting point of the filler metal is less than 450 Melting point of filler metal is more than 450
degree Celsius. degree Celsius and less than base metal.

Filler metal used in this process is called solder. Filler metal used in this process is called spelter.

Flux used in soldering process are zinc chloride Flux used in brazing process are borax and boric
and rosin alcohol. acid.

Strength of join obtained is comparatively low. Strength of joint obtained is comparatively high.

Corrosion problem occur in soldering No corrosion problem.

WELDING

• Welding is a process of joining two similar or dissimilar materials by the application of heat, with or
without the application of pressure.
• Since slight gap exist between the edges of the workpiece, a filler metal is used to supply additional
material to fill the gap.
• However, welding can also be carried out without the use of filler metal.

CLASSIFICATION OF WELDING PROCESS

Plastic Welding: The metal parts to be joined are heated to the plastic state and fused together by
application of pressure. No filler metal is used in this process.

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Fusion Welding: The parts to be joined are heated above their melting point and then allowed for
solidification by cooling. A filler metal may or may not be used during welding.

ELECTRIC ARC WELDING

 Arc welding is a fusion welding process used to join metals. An electric arc from an AC or DC
power supply creates an intense heat of around 6500°F which melts the metal at the join between
two work pieces.
 One end of the power supply is connected to the work table/ workpiece and another end is
connected to the electrode holder.
 The electrode holds the electrode firmly and electrode helps to create arc and also acts as a filler
metal. Electrode is made up of same material as that of workpiece.
 In operation, an arc is stuck by touching the tip of the electrode on the workpiece and small gap is
maintained between the workpiece and the electrode (2 to 4mm), such that the arc still remains
between the workpiece and the electrode.
 High heat at the tip of the arc melts the workpiece and the electrode. Molten metal of the workpiece
combines with the molten metal of the electrode forming a molten metal pool.
 After performing the welding operation, it is allowed for solidification (cooling of workpiece).
 Slag that as formed during the welding is removed at the end to avoid corrosion problems.

GAS WELDING
• Gas welding is a fusion welding process, in which the workpiece are melted by the combustion of
oxygen and the fuel gas (acetylene, hydrogen, propane etc.,).

• The two familiar fuel gas used in gas welding are

a) Mixture of oxygen and acetylene gas called Oxy-Acetylene gas welding.
b) Mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gas called Oxy-Hydrogen gas welding.

Oxy-Acetylene gas welding

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  Fig shows the arrangements of Oxy-Acetylene gas welding process.
 It consists of two large cylinders, one contains oxygen and another contains acetylene gas.
 Two pressure regulators are fitted on the respective cylinders to regulate or control the pressure of
the gas flowing from the cylinder.
 The welding torch is used to mix both oxygen and acetylene gas in suitable proportions and burns
the mixture at its tips.
 By adjusting the pressure regulators suitable proportions of oxygen and acetylene gas enters into the
welding torch.
 The gases get mixed in the torch and burn the mixture at its tip.
 The resulting flame at the torch tip has a temperature of 3100 to 3500oC and this heat is sufficient
enough to melt the workpiece and the filler metal.
 Molten metal of the workpiece combines with the molten metal of the electrode forming a molten
metal pool.
 After performing the welding operation, it is allowed for solidification (cooling of workpiece).
 Slag that as formed during the welding is removed at the end to avoid corrosion problems.

Types of Flames:

Neutral Flame:

As the name implies, this flame has equal amount of oxygen and gases fuel by the volume. This flame
burns fuel completely and does not produce any chemical effect on metal to be welded. It is mostly used for

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welding mild steal, stainless steel, cast iron etc. It produces little smoke. This flame has two zones. The
inner zone has white in color and outer zone has blue color.

Carburizing (Reducing) flame:

This flame has excess of fuel gas. This flame chemically reacts with metal and form metal carbide. Due to
this reason, this flame does not used with metal which absorb carbon. It is smoky and quiet flame. This
flame has three regions. The inner zone has white color, the intermediate zone which is red in color and
outer cone has blue color. This flame is used to weld medium carbon steel, nickel etc.

Oxidizing flame:

When the amount of acetylene reduces from natural flame or amount of oxygen increases, the flame obtain
is known as oxidizing flame. It is hotter than natural flame and has clearly defined two zones. The inner
zone has very bright white color. The outer flame has blue in color. This flame is used to weld copper alloy
like brass, bronze etc.

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