Materials Engineering Concepts

Flashcards to assist with the understanding of key concepts in Materials Engineering, focusing on definitions of important material properties and behaviors.

Mechanical Properties

Response of material to external loads, including how materials deform under various conditions.

Static Loads

Long-term loads applied and removed slowly, usually due to gravity, causing no vibrations.

Dynamic Loads

Short-term loads that involve shock or vibration, including periodic, transient, and random types.

Stress

Force per unit area acting on a material, calculated as stress = force / area.

Strain

Deformation of a material relative to its original length, calculated as strain = deformation / original length.

Elastic Limit

The maximum stress a material can withstand and still return to its original shape.

Yielding

The phenomenon where strain continues with little or no increase in stress after exceeding the elastic limit.

Brittle Material

Material that exhibits little plastic deformation before failure, e.g., glass or concrete.

Ductile Material

Material that can undergo significant plastic deformation before failure, e.g., structural steel or rubber.

Elastic Behavior

Instantaneous response to load, with the material returning to its original shape upon unloading.

Viscoelastic Behavior

Behavior of materials that exhibit both viscous and elastic responses, such as asphalt and plastics.

Creep

Long-term deformation of materials under constant load, significantly affecting materials like concrete over decades.

Factor of Safety

A design criterion to ensure structures can support loads greater than expected while remaining below failure stress.

Thermal Expansion

The tendency of materials to expand or contract with changes in temperature, which affects mechanical behavior.

Density

The mass per unit volume of a material, influencing various design and structural considerations.

Modulus of Elasticity

A measure of a material's stiffness, calculated as the ratio of stress over strain in the elastic region of the stress-strain curve.