ME437MechanicalSystemDesign-PortlandStateUniversity.docVIP

ME 437 Mechanical System Design Answer to material science questions Ductility is a measure of the material’s ability to deform without fracture. Measure: % elongation before fracture. Design: important in forming. Brittle behavior occurs when % elongation drops roughly below 1%. Toughness is a measure of the material’s ability to absorb energy without fracture. High strength and ductility determine toughness. Strength is the material’s resistance to plastic deformation (yielding). Strength also refers to the material’s resistance to fracture. When strength is used without any other qualifiers, it refers to yield strength. Endurance limit is the stress level that does not lead to fatigue failure in steels and some other metals. Fatigue strength is the stress level for which fatigue failure would not happen for a specified number of loading cycles. Hardness is another measure of resistance to deformation. Measures: Brinell, Rockwell, Vickers. Design: Important criteria for resistance to wear and surface deformation. Also it is an indicator of the material’s strength. Hardenability is a measure of the material’s ability to be deep hardened in heat treatment. Design: Important when very high strengths are required through heat treatment of thick sections. Stiffness is a measure of the material’s resistance to elastic deformation. Measure: Modulus of elasticity. Design: It is important in design of high accuracy machines. Also impacts vibration characteristics of the machines. Porosity refers to the degree of material solidity. It is characterized by voids and pores within a material such as P/M parts containing tiny voids within their structure. Machinability is a measure of a material’s ease of machining (chip forming) and quality of surface finish. Factors related to machinability are strength, hardness, chip breakup, heat resistance, work-hardening, stickiness, and the like. Design: machinability has great impact on th