Materials Selection

Six Main classes of materials are metals, polymers, elastomers, ceraniics, glasses, and composites. Selecting best material involves: selecting a material that has the properties to provide necessary performance in service poorly chosen material can add ur~necessarily increase the cost of the part Since there are enormous combination of materials and processes to choose from, Material selection can only be done by introducing simplification and proper methods.

Materials are selected on the basis of FOUR general criteria:

Performance characteristics (properties)

Process of matching values of properties of the material with the requirements and co~istraints imposed by the design
Processing characteristics

Finding the process that will form the material into the required shape with the minimum defects at the least cost

Materials Selection
Environmental profile Impact of niaterial throughout its life cycle on the enviro~iment Business consideration Cost of the part that is made from the material Considers both the purchase cost and cost of process More rational: life-cycle cost, includes the cost of replacing failed parts and the cost of disposing of the material at the end of tlie useful life
The relationship between common failure modes and the mechanical properties of the material is shown in Table below. In most modes of failure, TWO or MORE Mechanical properties interact to control the mechanical behavior.

Material property

Stladed b l h

a r

nntersecmn o rnarertal proper@,ancl laalure mode and~catest i a r a pirrr~.ularrnaqanaf property r inMusrat%al! controllong a part~cular j r s a n farlurc mode

Materials Selection
Ashbv Charts
I Materials selection charts: 1 18 Charts available 1 9 of the Charts:
I Young's modulus against density I Strength against density I Fracture toughness against density
I Young's modulus against strength
I Specific modulus against specific strength

I Fracture toughness against Young's modulus

I Fracture toughness against strength

I

Loss coefficient against Young's modulus

I Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity

Materials Selection
I A common design criterion is to minimize cost or weight. I Lines of constant slope, drawn on the diagram are used depending upon the geometry and type of loading.

simple axial loading, the relationship is E/p = C or o/p = C buckling of a slender column the relationship is E1/'/p = C

bending of a plate, the relationship is E1I3/p = C

For example, selection of a material suitable for a column in compression:

Use the constant slope line, E1/'/p = C All the materials on the lines parallel to the slope line would perform equally in compression

~ Under the constraints of E 2 12 GPa and p I 2 ~ g / r nthe/ only material that could meet this condition would be a c~raphitefibrereinforced polymer (GFRP) or a Kevlar fibre-reinforced pol~nier (KFRP).

Materials Selection
Ashby Chart ( Young9sModulus vs Density)
Ellg~neering
/

ceramics
/

,8

Materials Selection
Ashby Chart (Strength vs Density)
2. Slrenglh -density
Metals, polymers: yield strength Cerarn~cs, glasses: mushing strength

1000

.,
2 5
$

1, 0

10

0.7

1.0

Density, (Mgtm3)

Materials Selection

fi!& 4-5 Chart 3: Fracture roughness.. Ktc, puotted a g a S w s k den,sRyi

~ Z f 3 , F ~

pp. h e T

guide l i m e s of oons'lant

me.

f i ~ $' e @ C . h b i%n y. t . e p minimum weight. dkacture-limited design.

Materials Selection
Methods of Material Selection
There is no method of material selec.l:ion that has evolved to a position of prominence. In other words, there is no such thing as ideal method of material selection. Reasons are complexity of comparisons and trade-offs. A variety of approaches are followed by the designers and the three most common analytical methods of material selection are : Performance indices
9 9

Selection matrices - Pugli selection method Selection with computer-aided database

Materials ~erformance indices

A materials performance index is a group of material properties which govern some aspect of the performance of a component. If the performance index is maximized, it gives the best solution to the design requirement. Consider the tubular frame of a bicycle. Design requirements are light and strong tubular beam of fixed outer diameter. Its function is to carry bending moments. The objective is to minimize the mass, m of the frame. The mass per unit length is:

Materials Selection
Where r is the outer tube radius, t is the wall thickness and p is the density of the material. Equation (1) is called the Objective equation, the quantity to be minimized. The optimization would be done by considering many constraints. First constraint is the strength of the tube. Failure could occur due to buckling, fast fracture, plastic collapse or fatigue. The cyclic bending moment, Mb would be,

Where, oeis the endurance limit and I inertia.

= n r3 t

is the second moment of

The second constraint is that r is fixed but the wall thickness is free so that it will support Mb. By substituting equation (2) into equation (I),

The lightest tube which performs the function and meets the constraints is one that is made from the material with the greatest value of the material performance index MI.

Materials Selection
A change of function, objective or constraints changes the materials performance index. If the function were to select a tube for carrying a torsional load with the constraint of stiffness rather than strength, but still with the objective of minimum weight, then M, = G 1 p where G is the shear modulus. Thus, if the constraint changes from strength to stiffness, the index becomes,

"

Next, if the other constraint, a fixed tube radius is relaxed and replaced with a fixed tube shape (r/t fixed), the materials performance index will become,

and for stiffness, it becomes,

Table 11.5 in the text book is showing a number of performance indices to maximize strength or stiffness for minimum weight for common design situations (i.e. for different common shapes and structures).

Materials Selection
TABLE 11,s

Material Performance Indices

-"' - ', -

+--a +--.

Design Objec give: Dlinimum Weight for

To Maximize
Strength
* - X XU . _ _

T Maximize u
Stiffness
* I

Dinereat Shapes and Loadings I . . "

"" " "

_ . y - . y y y XX I

I "

"

Bar in .ternion: load, stiffness, langs h are fixed: sction

area is variable Tbssio~x bar: torque, stiFfr~ess, length arc fixed; section area i s variable Beam in befidist;. iaaded with ex ternaI foxes 0s self-weigh;
s~iffwess, length fixed; section area free PLae in be~ding:loaded by external forces or self-weight; stiffness. length, width fixed; thickness free Cylindri~kjll vessel with iirc~errral pressure elastic distort ion, pressure, and radius fixed; wall thickness free Other design objectives, as stated belaw
Thet-rrral irxsmIsmsdon: r.ninlmize heat flux at sliady state; tfai&nes~

cry lp

E1I3ip
-

ofkJ
Maxi~nlze I lrk
C@Pk

Ep P

given
Thermal i~zseckibi~n: minimum temperatktre after specified tima; thickness given

Maximize thermaE shock resistance

--...

-.

o,/Ea

YI_

a = F a i . 3 ~ 1strength (yield or fracture stress as rsppropriaale t problem); E = h u n g ' s tmodulus; G = shear mnodulus; , ~e a p = rlensi~y; C, spacific heat capaci~y; = thermal expansion coefficient;x = thermal conductivity. 4c

Materials Selection
11,12 A canti ever beam is loaded with 3EI. The beam

produce a detection 6 = ion, I = nrV4. De

selecting a material that minimizes the weight of a beam for a given stiffness (P/6). B y using the foIiowing material properties,.select the b e s t material (a) on the basis af performance and ( b )on the basis of cost and performance.

Material
Steel Wood Concrete AIuminum Carbon-fiberreinforced plastic

GNm-"
200 9-14

hi
29 w 103 1-7 x lo3
7.3 x

pl M g m - v p p r o x . Cost, $/ton (1980)

7.8

0.

.f3

458 450

50 69 70-200

lo3

2.4-2.8

300
2,0100 200,8010

18 x 10' I S x 10'

2.7 1.5-1-6

(mpl

Materials Selection
11.12

Find a figure of merit that minimizes weight for a stiffness S=P/6.

The nlass of the bean1 is m

'

=(

n v ' ~ ) ~

EliilU~lat r 2 the eq-r~atiol~ Illass by substituting fi-omthe beair1 i.ng ir1 cIeilectio11eqtlqt1 1 : c 01

The material performance index (figure of merit) is: , 2 = ;4

A '

ton = 450 s 10'"$/ 1 0 ~ ~ Colulm1 (2) gives val-rres tur the xixater-ial perfoi-rniance index using typical values 01-a wide selectio11of stn~ctrzl-a1 ~ilatesials. aIxzilm(3) gives typical values for ~ n a t e ~ icast. i11units of $ / g . f al Col-rtnul (4) adi-rists34 foi- cost by dividing values in (2) by those in (3). .

A inetx-ic toil is 1 CF3 k g or 10" grams. 45 0 -x -

$ ton

(a) 011 the basis of perfor~ixai~ce car-ban-fibel- reirdbrced poly~ner (CFRP) is the s~rpesior terial ina oil the basis of perfoslzxince alone. I ~ ~ l o i ~Iesa expensive rliaterials wood is the best, anti this tlxe g

Materials Selection
is why it has bee11used historically in handles of tennis racquets and shafts of golf clubs. However. other factors such as durability arid strength 111ust often be considered. CFRP has made strong inroads in high end r a c v t s ar~d clubs. Since steel can be readily rolled into wide-flmged beams that have better stiffness to weight than a steel bar (shape factor) it would be tlie best overall selection. Steel is also used as reinforciilg bars in concrete to pe~lllit coll~posite this inaterial to be loaded in tension.
C
C.

(b) Wood and coilcrete are the best ~llaterials the basis of cost if thei low strength in tensioil on is not critical in the design. Thus we find wood conmnly used for bea~iis 11011lehuilditlg and in coilcrete bi roads and compressivz loaded stn1ch1.e~ steel is tl~e overall material for but best structures that illust support heavy loads.
C
ld

Materials Selection
Example of material Selection based on Selection matrices - Pugh selection method Use the information below to construct a Pugh concept selection matrix to aid in deciding which material to select.

Steel Ter ne-coated seed Advantages: low cost at high volumes, modest material cost, meets permeability requirement Disadvantages: shape flexibility, poor corrosion protection from alcohol fueis, lead-containing coating gives problems with recycling or disposal Electsocoated Zn-Ni steel Advantages: low cost at high volumes, effective corrosion protection, material cost, meets permeability requirement
Di sadvantages: weldability, shape flexiblity Stainless steel Advantages: high corrosion resistance, recyclable, meets permeability requ irernents Disadvantages: cost at a volumes, formability, weldability H

Materials Selection
Plastics
HDPE (high-density polyethylene) Advantages: shape Aexihility, low tooling costs at low volumes, weight, CQrrosisn resistance Disadvantages: high tooling costs at high volumes, high materia! cost, does not meet permeability and recyclability requirements Multilayer and barriw HDPE Advantages: same as HDPE plus meets permeability requirement Disadvantages: higher tooling costs at high volume, higher material cost, hard to recycle

Materials Selection
P~xgh seleetio~l chart based on Example 11.8 is given below

Tl~e P11311 concept selection method contkms the split indust17 decision on ma tel-ia 1 selection. Tlle best materials are stainless steel a i d tlle ~nultilayer HDPE. Cost preclrldes the use of stainless steel. F ~ ~ r t hpx-ocess developxnents may bx-i~lg cost of the lm~ltilayer er the HDPE illto the feasible range.