GROUP 1

MATERIAL STRUCTURE AND BONDING

• Structure and bonding. Elements are held

together in different ways and the properties of
chemical compounds are determined by
the bonding between atoms and the attractive
intermolecular forces between molecules.

• Atomic Bonding
There are three primary types of
bonding: ionic, covalent, and metallic.

Example: A typical ionically bonded
material is NaCl (Salt):
Example: Nylon rope is an
example of a material that is
made up of polymers. Polymer
structures typically are long
chains of covalently bonded
carbon and hydrogen atoms in
various arrangements.
MICROSTRUCTURE
Microstructure are material structures seen at the micro level.
Specifically, they are structures of an object, organism, or material as
revealed by a microscope at magnifications greater than 25 times.

When typically mentioned, the microstructure are defects,

impurities, grains, and grain boundary. Simply put, anything that is not
regular from a given crystalline structure is a microstructure. Useful
definitions below:

• Defects in general are simply errors or interruptions in the uniform

crystalline lattice.
• Impurities are atoms (like dirt) that don't belong in the regular
crystalline structure.
• Grains are pure crystals or uniform sections of crystal growth.
• Grain boundaries are boundaries around the separated grains.
MATERIAL CLASSES
• Solid materials have been conventionally grouped into
basic classifications: metals, ceramics, and polymers.
This scheme is based primarily on chemical makeup
and atomic structure, and most materials fall into one
distinct grouping or another, although there are some
intermediates.

• In addition, there are three other groups of important

engineering materials--composites, semi-conductors
and biomaterials. Composites consist of two or more
different materials, where as semiconductors are
utilized because of their unusual electrical
characteristics; biomaterials are implanted into the
human body. We will only cover composites for this
scope of the course.
MATERIAL CLASSES
• Metals
Metals are opaque and lustrous (or shiny) elements
that are good conductors of heat and electricity. Most
metals are malleable and ductile, and are generally more
dense than the other pure solid material. When something
is malleable, it means that they can be molded. Ductile
means that the material can be stretched.

Metals account for about two thirds of all the

elements and about 24% of the mass of the planet. They
are all around us in diverse forms such as steel structures,
copper wires, aluminum foil, and gold jewelry. Metals are
widely used because of their properties: strength, ductility,
high melting point, thermal and electrical conductivity, and
toughness (a character of durability) into a thin wire.
Common Metallic Materials

• Iron/Steel - Steel alloys are used for strength

critical applications
• Aluminum - Aluminum and its alloys are used
because they are easy to form, readily
available, inexpensive, and recyclable.
• Copper - Copper and copper alloys have a
number of properties that make them useful,
including high electrical and thermal
conductivity, high ductility, and good corrosion
resistance.
• Titanium - Titanium alloys are used for
strength in higher temperature (~1000° F)
application, when component weight is a
concern, or when good corrosion resistance
is required
• Nickel - Nickel alloys are used for still higher
temperatures (~1500-2000° F) applications or
when good corrosion resistance is required.
• Refractory materials are used for the highest
temperature (> 2000° F) applications.
Metal Physical Properties:

• Lustrous (shiny)
• Good conductors of heat and electricity
• High melting point
• High density (heavy for their size)
• Malleable (can be hammered)
• Ductile (can be drawn into wires)
• Usually solid at room temperature (an exception is
mercury)
• Opaque as a thin sheet (can't see through metals)
• Metals are sonorous or make a bell-like sound
when struck
What is their structure?
As with all elements, metals are composed of atoms.
What each property tells us in the atomic level?:

• Strong, tough, and high melting point: atoms are

held together by strong bonds
• Ductile: these bonds must also allow atoms to
move
• Thermal and electrically conductive: metal atoms
are free to vibrate without damaging its original
shape and free to transmit electrons through with
the least amount of hindrances (impurities, faults,
not pure crystalline structure...)
MATERIAL CLASSES
• Ceramics

A ceramic has traditionally been defined as “an

inorganic, nonmetallic solid that is prepared from
powdered materials, is fabricated into products through
the application of heat, and displays such characteristic
properties as hardness, strength, low electrical
conductivity, and brittleness." The word ceramic comes
the from Greek word "keramikos", which means
"pottery." They are typically crystalline in nature and are
compounds formed between metallic and nonmetallic
elements such as aluminum and oxygen (alumina-Al2O3),
calcium and oxygen (calcia - CaO), and silicon and
nitrogen (silicon nitride-Si3N4)..
Ceramic Properties

• High melting points (so they're heat

resistant).
• Great hardness and strength.
• Considerable durability (they're long-lasting
and hard-wearing).
• Low electrical and thermal conductivity
(they're good insulators).
• Chemical inertness (they're unreactive with
other chemicals).
Ceramic Structures

As discussed ceramics and related

materials cover a wide range of objects.
Ceramics are a little more complex than
metallic structures, which is why metals were
covered first. A ceramic has traditionally been
defined as “an inorganic, nonmetallic solid that
is prepared from powdered materials and is
fabricated into products through the application
of heat. Most ceramics are made up of two or
more elements. This is called a compound. For
example, alumina (Al2O3) is a compound made
up of aluminum atoms and oxygen atoms.
 Depending on their method of formation,
ceramics can be dense or lightweight. Typically,
they will demonstrate excellent strength and
hardness properties; however, they are often brittle
in nature. Ceramics can also be formed to serve
either as an electrically conductive materials or an
insulator, a material preventing the flow of
electricity. Some ceramics, like superconductors,
also display magnetic properties.
EXAMPLE:

Glass, tiles, pottery, porcelain, bricks, cement,

diamond, and graphite
MATERIAL CLASSES
• Polymers

Polymers are substance that are solid and

nonmetallic; a polymer is composed of small molecules
that repeat like links in a chain. These repetitive units are
called monomers. A rubber band gets its stretch
because of this structure.

Since the beginning of time, polymers have been around

in the natural world. Many of them are organic
compounds that are chemically based on carbon,
hydrogen and other metallic elements. These metals
typically have low densities and may be extremely
flexible.
A polymeric solid can be thought of as a material that
contains many chemically bonded parts or units
which themselves are bonded together to form a
solid. The word polymer literally means "many
parts." Two industrially important polymeric materials
are plastics and elastomers. Plastics are a large and
varied group of synthetic materials which are
processed by forming or molding into shape. Just as
there are many types of metals such as aluminum
and copper, there are many types of plastics, such
as polyethylene and nylon. Elastomers or rubbers
can be elastically deformed a large amount when a
force is applied to them and can return to their
original shape (or almost) when the force is
released.
The Structure of Polymers

Engineering polymers include natural

materials such as rubber and synthetic
materials such as plastics and elastomers.
Polymers are very useful materials because
their structures can be altered and tailored to
produce materials 1) with a range of
mechanical properties 2) in a wide spectrum
of colors and 3) with different transparent
properties.
Characteristics of Polymers
Every polymer has very distinct characteristics, but
most polymers have the following general attributes.

• Polymers can be very resistant to chemicals

• Polymers can be both thermal and electrical insulators.
• Generally, polymers are very light in weight with
significant degrees of strength.
• Polymers can be processed in various ways.
• Polymers are materials with a seemingly limitless range
of characteristics and colors.
• Polymers are usually made of petroleum, but not always.
• Polymers can be used to make items that have no
alternatives from other materials.
 Polymers, compared to any other class of
material, has the most vast range of application
known to man. Current applications extend from
adhesives, coatings, foams, and packaging
materials to textile and industrial fibers,
composites, electronic devices, biomedical
devices, optical devices, and precursors for many
newly developed high-tech ceramics.
EXAMPLE:
MATERIAL CLASSES
• Composites

A composite material (also called

a composition material or shortened
to composite, which is the common name) is a
material made from two or more constituent
materials with significantly
different physical or chemical properties that, when
combined, produce a material with characteristics
different from the individual components. The
individual components remain separate and distinct
within the finished structure, differentiating
composites from mixtures and solid solutions
Physical and Chemical Properties

Physical properties are those that can be

observed without changing the identity of the
substance. The general properties of matter such
as color, density, hardness, are examples of
physical properties. Properties that describe how
a substance changes into a completely different
substance are called chemical properties.
Flammability and corrosion/ oxidation resistance
are examples of chemical properties.
Composite Properties

• resistance to chemicals.
• electrical insulating properties.
• thermal insulating properties.
• high strength-to-weight ratio.
• high fatigue resistance.
• high impact strength
Composite Structures
A composite material is basically a
combination of two or more materials, each of
which retains it own distinctive properties.
Multiphase metals are composite materials on
a micro scale, but generally the term composite
is applied to materials that are created by
mechanically bonding two or more different
materials together. The resulting material has
characteristics that are not characteristic of the
components in isolation.
 Composite materials are generally used for
buildings, bridges, and structures such as boat
hulls, swimming pool panels, racing car bodies,
shower stalls, bathtubs, storage tanks, imitation
granite and cultured marble sinks and countertops.
The most advanced examples perform routinely on
spacecraft and aircraft in demanding
environments.
EXAMPLES:

End