• Selecting an appropriate material is a critical part

of almost all engineering designs

Page 1
• Selecting an appropriate material is a critical part
of almost all engineering designs

• There are many factors to consider:

Strength, stiffness, durability, corrosion,
cost, formability, etc

Page 2
• Selecting an appropriate material is a critical part
of almost all engineering designs

• There are many factors to consider:

Strength, stiffness, durability, corrosion,
cost, formability, etc
• Methods
Experience: how do you get it?
Ashby selection charts
Quantitative ranking of options
Page 3
 References:
• Ashby, M. F., Material Selection for
Mechanical Design, Pergamon Press,
1992.
• Farag, M. H, Materials Selection for
Engineering Design, Prentice Hall, 1997.

Page 4
 Decisions !!!
So many materials,
so much information.

How do we decide?

How do we begin to choose?

Page 5
Material Selection Chart

Page 6
 function

Materials
Attributes: physical,
AREAS OF DESIGN CONCERN mechanical, thermal,
Function, support a load, contain a electrical, economic,
environmental. shape
pressure, transmit heat, etc.
What does component do?
Objective- make thing cheaply, & light
weight, increase safety, etc., or
process
combinations of these.
What is to be maximized or minimized?
Constraints: make thing cheaply, light weight, increase safety, etc., or
combinations of these.
What is non-negotiable conditions to be met?
What is negotiable but desired conditions?
Page 7
 Design Criteria
• How to produce a high quality product,
cheaper, better, and faster.

Page 8
 Design
• Is a process to change an idea or a
certain market demand into detail
information that good enough for
production
• It is always need material selection to fit
with the condition (load, heat or electrical
conduction, heat resistance, corrosion
resistance, wear resistance, hardness,
etc. ) and easy to be processed
Page 9
 Mechanical Design
• Is a design that based on engineering
calculation, production system,
material selection, include coloring
system, safety, shape, consumer
preference, etc.

Page 10
 Design type
1. Original design (new)
2. Adaptive design (development
from existing design)
3. Variant design (change in shape,
size, color, without main function
change)

Page 11
 Original design
 New method, new way, better
 New procedure, wide applications
 New materials, new components
Examples:
1. Gas turbine with high temperature
steel (super alloy)
2. Communication equipments using
fiber optic
3. Etc. Page 12
 Variant design
• The change are limited only in shape,
size, color, etc. but not for function, or
methode
Examples :
• Aeromodel (made of oak wood) → but real
air plane (made of aluminium, komposit,
dll.)
• Model of boiler (made of copper) → real
boiler full scale (made of steel)

Page 13
 Calculation
(Simple)
Cost + Profit = Price
Price (fixed) – Cost = Profit

Page 14
 GENERAL COMMENTS
REGARDING DESIGN :
• Keep it simple! Simple things are easier to produce and
maintain. Keeping it simple may be difficult
(but engineers love a challenge).
• Use standardized or interchangeable parts
whenever possible
• Use off-the-shelf items when ever possible. They
are often cheaper and better quality than you can produce
in-house (why?).
• Take advantage of vendor expertise. Foundries
know the casting business, machine shops now
machining, etc. Team up with them.
• Use as few of parts as possible, and where reducing
total number of parts may not be possible, use common
parts (identical) where possible.
Page 15
 Quantitative Ranking of Options
for Material Selection
• Objective: develop a rational method to select the best
material for an application based upon known material
parameters and the requirements of the application
• Use a 5-step method
1. Select a quantity, Q, to minimize or maximize
2. Classify the variables
3. Determine the relationship between the geometry
variable, the requirements, and material properties
4. Determine Q as a function of requirements and material
properties
5. Rank candidate materials based upon function f2
- 16
Page 16
 Step 1: Select a quantity, Q,
to minimize or maximize
• Mass (weight), m

• Cost, C
are the most common and the only
ones that we will consider

Material Selection
Page 17
Step 2: Classify the variables

• Requirements – variables that have prescribed

values that will not change
• Geometry – variables that define the dimensions
of the component and depend implicitly upon the
material properties
• Material Properties – variables used to define
the material in terms of physical behavior,
mechanical behavior, and cost

Material Selection
Page 18
 Step 3: Determine the relationship
between the geometry
variable, the requirements,
and material properties
• Strength
– Bar, axial stress
– Beam, flexural stress
• Stiffness
– Bar, deformation
– Beam, deflection
Material Selection
Page 19
Step 4: Determine Q as a
function of requirements
and material properties

• Q = f1 (requirements) * f2 (material props)

Material Selection
Page 20
 Step 5 : Rank candidate
materials based upon function f2
• If both weight and cost are important then separate
rankings can be generated and results combined
• Calculate geometry variable after ranking materials
– Adjustments may be necessary if calculated
dimensions are impractical (either too large or
too small)
• There may be multiple requirements such as
strength and serviceability
– Often material can be selected based on strength
and then the serviceability requirements checked
Material Selection
Page 21
 Sample Problem
• We must bridge a gap of L = 8’
• The bridge must have a width of b = 4”
• A load P = 300 lb can be applied at any point
• There must be a safety factor X = 1.5 for strength
• The deflection, v, must not exceed 1”
• Weight (mass) and cost have equal importance
OBJECTIVE: select the best candidate material from…
AISI 1020 steel AISI 4340 steel
7075-T6 aluminum Ti-6Al-4V (titanium alloy)
Polycarbonate Loblolly pine
GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymer)
CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer)
Material Selection
Page 22
 Step 1: Select a quantity,Q,
to minimize
Here, mass and cost have equal importance
• Mass, m
• Cost, C
Select Q to be the sum of the normalized mass and
cost
• Q = m/min(m) + C/min(C)

Material Selection
Page 23
 Step 2: Classify the variables
• Requirements: L= 8’, b= 4”, P= 300 lb, X= 1.5, v= 1”
• Geometry: restrict analysis to a rectangular cross-
section, h = height
• Material Properties (need step 3 & 4 results here):
r= mass density, E= Young’s modulus, S= strength,
Cm= cost index

Material Selection
Page 24
 Step 3: Determine the
relationship between the
geometry variable, the
requirements, & material
properties
 We have a simply supported beam with a
rectangular cross-section
 The worst case occurs when the concentrated
load, P, is applied at the center

Material Selection
Page 25
 P h
b

Strength – elastic flexural formula shows the maximum

stress occurs at the extreme fibers of the beam at
midspan Mc
 , M  PL / 4, c  h / 2, I  bh / 12
3

I
PL h 12 3PL
 
4 2 bh 3 2bh 2
1
3PLX  3PLX  2
S  X   h
2bh 2  2bS 

Deflection – from integration, is found to be maximum

at midspan 3 3 3
 3
1
 3
PL 12 PL PL PL
v    h 
48EI 48Ebh3 4 Ebh3  4 Ebv 

Material Selection
Page 26
 Step 4: Determine Q as a
function of requirements
& material properties –
strength basis
1 1
 3PLX  2
3 3  2  r 
m  rbhL  rbL     PL Xb  1 
 2bS  2  S 2 
1
 3 3  2  rCm 
C  Cm m   PL Xb  1 
2  S 2 

f2
Try using strength as the basis for material
selection and then check deflection
Material Selection
Page 27
 Step 4: Determine Q as a
function of requirements
& material properties –
strength basis
1 1
 PL 
3 3
 PL b  3  r 
6 2
m  rbhL  rbL      13 
 4 Ebv   4v   E 
1
 PL b  3  rCm 
6 2
C  Cm m     13 
 4v  E 
f2
Try using strength as the basis for material
selection and then check deflection
Material Selection
Page 28
 Sample Problem Results
• Material selection based only on strength
results in the deflection criterion being
violated
• Material selection based only on
deflection results in the strength criterion
being satisfied
• We can say that deflection governs this
design
• Pine is best, 1020 steel is second best,
CFRP is worst
Material Selection
Page 29