AAiT

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering –, SMIE

Assignment two for the Course
Engineering Materials I (MEng 2121)

Instruction

 Show your steps clearly and well organized.

 Better if your assignment are supported by pictures, equations and formulas if any,
 The assignment should be short and precise.
 Don’t copy what you have got from internet or books as it is, you have to paraphrase it
 The submission date will be on May 28, 2018. Morning – Afternoon Missing the deadline
will not be accepted

Chapter four: Imperfections in Solids

Part one

i. For a given material, would you expect the surface energy to be greater than, the same as, or less
than the grain boundary energy? Why?
ii. (b) The grain boundary energy of a small- angle grain boundary is less than for a high- angle one.
Why is this so?

Part Two

1. Calculate the number of vacancies per cubic meter in gold at 900o C. The energy for vacancy
formation is 0.98 eV/atom. Furthermore, the density and atomic weight for Au are 18.63 g/cm3
(at 900°C) and 196.9 g/mol, respectively.
2. Calculate the energy for vacancy formation in silver, given that the equilibrium number of
vacancies at 800o C (1073 K) is 3.6 x 1023 m -3. . The atomic weight and density (at 800 o C) for
silver are, respectively, 107.9 g/mol and 9.5 g/cm3
3. For a solid solution consisting of two elements (designated as 1 and 2), sometimes it is desirable
to determine the number of atoms per cubic centimeter of one element in a solid
solution,N1,given the concentration of that element specified in weight percent, C1. This
computation is possible using the following expression:

Where
NA- Avogadro’s number and
ρ1 and ρ2 densities of the two elements the
A1 = atomic weight of element
Based on the give information Derive Equation and show Your steps clearly.
4. Aluminum–lithium alloys have been developed by the aircraft industry to reduce the weight and
improve the performance of its aircraft. A commercial aircraft skin material having a density of
2.47 g/cm3 is desired. Compute the concentration of Li (in wt%) that is required

Chapter five Diffusion

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 AAiT
School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering –, SMIE
Assignment two for the Course
Engineering Materials I (MEng 2121)

Part one

a. Cite two reasons why interstitial diffusion is normally more rapid than vacancy diffusion.
b. Briefly explain the concept of steady state as it applies to diffusion and briefly explain the
concept of a driving force for diffusion. And what is the driving force for steady-state diffusion?

c. In the carburization treatment of steels, what are the diffusing species? Why do we use PET
plastic to make carbonated beverage bottles?
d. Why it is that aluminum metal oxidizes more readily than iron but aluminum is considered to be a
metal that usually does not “rust?”
e. What is a thermal barrier coating? Where are such coatings used?
f. Write down Fick’s first law of diffusion. Clearly explain what each term means.
g. What is the difference between diffusivity and the diffusion coefficient? What are the different
mechanisms for diffusion?
h. A certain mechanical component is heat treated using carburization. A common engineering
problem encountered is that we need to machine a certain part of the component and this part of
the surface should not be hardened. Explain how we can achieve this objective.

Part Two

1. Use the diffusion data in the table below for atoms in iron to answer the questions that follow.
Assume metastable equilibrium conditions and trace amounts of C in Fe. The gas constant in SI
units is 8.314 J (mol K).

a. Plot the diffusion coefficient as a function of inverse temperature (1 /T) showing all four
diffusion couples in the table.
b. Recall the temperatures for phase transitions in iron, and for each case, indicate on the
graph the temperature range over which the diffusion data is valid.
c. Why is the activation energy for Fe diffusion higher than that for C diffusion in iron?
d. Why is the activation energy for diffusion higher in FCC iron when compared to BCC
iron?
e. Does C diffuse faster in FCC Fe than in BCC Fe? Support your answer with a numerical
calculation and state any assumptions made.
2. A 0.001 in. BCC iron foil is used to separate a high hydrogen content gas from a low hydrogen
content gas at 650°C. 5 x 108 H atoms /cm3 are in equilibrium on one side of the foil, and 2 x 103
H atoms / cm3 are in equilibrium with the other side. Determine the concentration gradient of
hydrogen and the flux of hydrogen through the foil.

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