Materials for Engineers and Technicians Fourth Edition

R. A. Higgins0750668504, 9780750668507, 9780080464879

This renowned text has provided many thousands of students with an easily accessible introduction to the wide ranging subject area of materials engineering and manufacturing processes for over thirty years. Avoiding the excessive technical jargon and mathematical complexity so often found in textbooks for this subject, and retaining the practical down-to-earth approach for which this book is noted, Materials for Engineers and Technicians is now thoroughly updated and fully in line with current syllabus requirements. Offering a comprehensive guide to materials used by engineers, their applications and selection in a single volume, the fourth edition focuses on applications and selection – reflecting the increased emphasis on this aspect of materials engineering now seen within current vocational and university courses. Materials properties and relevance to particular uses are addressed in detail from the outset, with all subsequent chapters linking back to these essential concepts. Detailed discussion of examples of materials, and additional applications of processes have been incorporated throughout the text, with expanded sections addressing the causes of failure as this relates to material selection. Updated sections in the fourth edition provide a wider ranging discussion of titanium, printed-circuit-board materials and production, silicon chip production, and the applications and forms of modern composite materials. This new edition has been matched closely to the relevant units of the BTEC Higher National Engineering program, as well as catering fully for the requirements of a Level 3 audience. Students of BTEC Nationals will find that the new edition structure covers all the essential topics required for their courses in the early chapters (chapters 1 – 8). Those students following higher level qualifications (HNC / D Engineering, and first year undergraduate Engineering Materials modules within Mechanical, Manufacturing Systems and also Electrical & Electronic Engineering degree courses) will find additional more advanced topics are addressed in the second half of the book. In addition to meeting the requirements of vocational and undergraduate engineering syllabuses, this text will also prove a valuable desktop reference for professional engineers working in product design, who require a quick source of information on materials and manufacturing processes. * Established and renowned text, now completely restructured to match current BTEC National and Higher National syllabus specifications * New edition provides greater emphasis on materials selection, with a new chapter outlining material properties and their relevance to a variety of uses, reflecting current FE and HE course requirements * Avoids excessive technical jargon and mathematical complexity common in textbooks for this subject

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Contents……Page 6
Preface……Page 12
Introduction……Page 16
The requirements……Page 17
The materials……Page 18
Structure of materials……Page 21
The materials society……Page 27
Properties……Page 28
Costs……Page 33
Data sources……Page 34
The tensile test……Page 37
Hardness tests……Page 42
Impact tests……Page 48
Creep……Page 51
Fatigue……Page 52
Other mechanical tests……Page 54
Factor of safety……Page 57
From gas to solid……Page 58
Metal crystals……Page 59
Impurities in cast metals……Page 63
The influence of cooling rates on crystal size……Page 64
Ingot casting……Page 67
Sand-casting……Page 68
Die-casting……Page 69
Centrifugal casting……Page 71
Investment-casting……Page 72
Full-mould process……Page 74
The choice of casting process……Page 75
Slip……Page 77
Annealing……Page 81
Cold-working processes……Page 83
Hot-working processes……Page 85
Grain flow and fibre……Page 86
Metallurgical furnaces……Page 88
Hot-working processes……Page 92
Cold-working processes……Page 95
Powder metallurgy……Page 103
Machining metals……Page 105
Introduction……Page 108
Eutectics……Page 109
Solid solutions……Page 110
Summary: alloys……Page 116
Obtaining equilibrium diagrams……Page 118
Types of equilibrium diagram……Page 121
Precipitation from a solid solution……Page 129
Ternary equilibrium diagrams……Page 132
Selecting and mounting a specimen……Page 134
Grinding and polishing the specimen……Page 136
Etching the specimen……Page 139
The metallurgical microscope……Page 140
The electron microscope……Page 144
Smelting……Page 145
Steel-making……Page 147
Composition of steel……Page 149
The structure of plain-carbon steels……Page 150
Heat-treatment of steel……Page 155
Brittle fracture in steels……Page 161
Principles of hardening……Page 162
Tempering……Page 168
Isothermal heat-treatments……Page 170
Hardenability……Page 172
The Jominy test……Page 174
Heat treatment furnaces……Page 176
Introduction……Page 177
Constructional steels……Page 178
Tool and die steels……Page 183
Stainless steels……Page 186
Magnet alloys……Page 190
The principal effects of the main alloying element……Page 193
Case-hardening……Page 194
Heat-treatment after carburising……Page 197
Nitriding……Page 199
Flame-hardening……Page 202
Induction-hardening……Page 203
Summary of surface-hardening processes……Page 204
Composition of cast irons……Page 205
The influence of cooling rate on the properties of a cast iron……Page 208
‘Growth’ in cast irons……Page 209
Ordinary cast irons……Page 210
High-duty cast irons……Page 211
Malleable cast irons……Page 213
Alloy cast irons……Page 214
Which iron?……Page 215
The extraction of copper……Page 216
Copper and alloys……Page 217
The brasses……Page 218
Tin bronzes……Page 222
Aluminium bronzes……Page 226
Copper-nickel alloys……Page 228
Other copper alloys……Page 229
Extraction of aluminium……Page 231
Properties of aluminium……Page 232
Aluminium alloys……Page 233
Cast alloys which are not heat-treated……Page 235
Wrought alloys which are heat-treated……Page 239
Cast alloys which are heat-treated……Page 243
Nickel and its alloys……Page 245
Titanium and its alloys……Page 249
Magnesium-base alloys……Page 252
Zinc-base alloys……Page 253
Bearing metals……Page 254
Other metals……Page 257
Types of plastics……Page 259
Thermoplastics……Page 262
Thermoplastic materials……Page 264
Thermosets……Page 276
Thermoset materials……Page 277
Elastomers……Page 283
Crystal and glass states……Page 288
Mechanical properties……Page 290
Additives……Page 296
Shaping plastics……Page 298
Silicate-based ceramics……Page 303
Asbestos……Page 306
Clay products……Page 308
Engineering ceramics……Page 310
Properties of ceramics……Page 314
Cement……Page 316
Semiconductors……Page 318
Composition and structure of glass……Page 321
Glass-transition temperature……Page 323
Glass manufacture……Page 324
The properties of glass……Page 326
Metallic glasses……Page 327
Introduction……Page 329
Dispersion-hardened materials……Page 330
Mortar and concrete……Page 332
Tarmacadam……Page 333
Introduction……Page 334
Unidirectional composites……Page 336
Fibres……Page 337
Matrix materials……Page 340
Fibre-composite manufacture……Page 342
Uses of fibre-reinforced composites……Page 344
Reinforced wood……Page 345
Reinforced concrete……Page 347
Adhesives……Page 349
Soldering and brazing……Page 351
Arc-welding processes……Page 353
Electric resistance welding……Page 357
Thermo-chemical welding……Page 359
Solid-state welding……Page 361
Structure of welds……Page 362
Welding of plastics……Page 363
Causes of failure……Page 365
Non-destructive testing……Page 369
Degradation of metals by electrolytic corrosion……Page 375
The protection of metal surfaces……Page 382
Stability of plastics……Page 385
Preservation of timber……Page 387
Service life……Page 389
Introduction……Page 390
Service requirements……Page 392
Choice of shaping process……Page 402
Appendix: Properties of engineering materials……Page 405
Index……Page 407