UNIVERSITY OF MALTA

FACULTY for the BUILT ENVIRONMENT

M.Eng.
Semester 2, 2017

Unit Code: CNM5421 Unit Title: Engineering Materials

Lecturer: Dr. Ruben Paul Borg Sub-Heading: Engineering Materials
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SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

DATE ASSIGNMENT SET: March 2017

PRESENTATION DATE: Date of Examination (To be submitted to Faculty office,

Faculty for the Built Environment)

DELIVERABLES: Report in groups.

CREDITS ASSIGNED: 25% Weighting

METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Report (Print Version and Digital Format)

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT

Engineering Materials
You are required to assess an engineering property for a civil engineering / building
material / product. The characteristic of the product selected shall be of relevance to the
actual performance of the material / product in actual use. In this regard you are required
to present a strategy for assessment of the material / product property including a method
of analysis on the basis of experiments, appraisal of the results and their interpretation to
provide a first understanding of a material / product characteristic.

Notes:

While students are encouraged to consider a wide variety of material / products and also
materials / product characteristic, one should take note of the objectives and the practical
limitations of the study including facilities available, test equipment and time.

In using laboratory facilities, students are expected to respect laboratory regulations and
to take all the necessary safety precautions throughout the process, during the handling of
materials, preparation and any laboratory operation. Students are advised to liaise with
the lecturer and with the laboratory technician throughout.

1
The material / product selected and the properties to be determined shall be first
discussed and agreed with the lecturer who sets the limits, to respect the objectives of the
assignment.

OUTCOMES ENVISAGED/ ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Deliverables:

You shall be required to present a report (A4 format) which shall include the following
sections:

1. Introduction to the material / product

2. Objectives
3. Methodology adopted with clear justification for the selectin of experiment/s
4. Results and interpretation of results
5. Discussion on the results with reference to the performance of the material in use.

The assignment shall be presented not later than the examination day. A front cover sheet
must include the following: Study Unit code and title, date (June 2017), names of
students in alphabetical order.

Assessment:

The assignment shall be assessed with reference to the following criteria:

Ability to identify material or product characteristics and to assess their relevance

to the performance of a material in use.
Ability to devise a strategy for assessment including an experimental plan for the
determination of the material characteristics.
Determination of material properties and interpretation of results obtained.
Assessment of relevance of the results determined through tests with respect to
the actual performance of a material in use.
Identification of limitations of the assessment and its implication on the actual
performance of a material / product.