Materials Science and Technology is one of the most important disciplines for almost all students studying mechanical engineering. Creating new developments that could compete in the international market is impossible to imagine and implement without a thorough knowledge of this subject.
Studying the range of various raw materials and their properties is the course of materials science. Various properties of the materials used predetermine the range of their application in engineering. The internal structure of a metal or composite alloy directly affects product quality.
Basic Features
Materials Science and Structural Materials Technology highlights the four most important characteristics of any metal or alloy. First of all, these are physical and mechanical features that make it possible to predict the operational and technological qualities of a future product. The main mechanical propertyhere is the strength - it directly affects the indestructibility of the finished product under the influence of work loads. The doctrine of destruction and strength is one of the most important components of the basic course "materials science and technology". This science forms the theoretical basis for finding the right structural alloys and components for the manufacture of parts with the desired strength characteristics. Technological and operational features make it possible to predict the behavior of the finished product under working and extreme loads, calculate the strength limits, and evaluate the durability of the entire mechanism.
Main Materials
During the last centuries, metal has been the main material for creating machines and mechanisms. Therefore, the discipline "materials science" pays great attention to metal science - the science of metals and their alloys. A great contribution to its development was made by Soviet scientists: Anosov P. P., Kurnakov N. S., Chernov D. K. and others.
Materials Science Goals
The basics of materials science are required to be studied by future engineers. After all, the main purpose of including this discipline in the curriculum is to teach engineering students to make the right choice of material for engineered products in order to extend their service life.
Achieving this goal will help future engineers solve the following problems:
- Correctly evaluate the technical properties of a material by analyzing the manufacturing conditionsproduct and its useful life.
- To have well-formed scientific ideas about the real possibilities of improving any properties of a metal or alloy by changing its structure.
- Know about all the ways to harden materials that can ensure the durability and performance of tools and products.
- Have up-to-date knowledge of the main groups of materials used, the properties of these groups and the scope.
Necessary knowledge
The course "Materials Science and Technology of Structural Materials" is intended for those students who already understand and can explain the meaning of such characteristics as stress, load, plastic and elastic deformation, state of aggregation of matter, atomic-crystal structure of metals, types of chemical bonds, basic physical properties of metals. In the process of studying, students undergo basic training, which will be useful to them to conquer the specialized disciplines. More advanced courses cover various manufacturing processes and technologies, in which materials science and technology play a significant role.
Who work?
Knowledge of the design features and technical characteristics of metals and alloys will be useful to a technologist, engineer or designer working in the field of operation of modern machines and mechanisms. Specialists in the field of new materials technology can find their place of work in engineering, automotive, aviation,energy and space industry. Recently, there has been a shortage of specialists with a diploma in materials science and technology in the defense industry and in the field of communications development.
Development of materials science
As a separate discipline, materials science is an example of a typical applied science that explains the composition, structure and properties of various metals and their alloys under different conditions.
The ability to extract metal and make various alloys was acquired by a person during the period of decomposition of the primitive communal system. But as a separate science, materials science and materials technology began to be studied a little over 200 years ago. The beginning of the 18th century is the period of discoveries by the French encyclopedist Réaumur, who was the first to try to study the internal structure of metals. Similar studies were carried out by the English manufacturer Grignon, who in 1775 wrote a short report on the columnar structure he discovered, which is formed during the solidification of iron.
In the Russian Empire, the first scientific works in the field of metal science belonged to M. V. Lomonosov, who in his manual tried to briefly explain the essence of various metallurgical processes.
Metal science made a big leap forward at the beginning of the 19th century, when new methods for studying various materials were developed. In 1831, the works of P. P. Anosov showed the possibility of examining metals under a microscope. After that, several scientists from a number of countries scientifically provedstructural transformations in metals during their continuous cooling.
A hundred years later, the era of optical microscopes has ceased to exist. Structural materials technology could not make new discoveries using outdated methods. Optics have been replaced by electronics. Metal science began to resort to electronic methods of observation, in particular, neutron diffraction and electron diffraction. With the help of these new technologies, it is possible to increase the sections of metals and alloys up to 1000 times, which means that there are much more grounds for scientific conclusions.
Theoretical information about the structure of materials
In the process of studying the discipline, students receive theoretical knowledge about the internal structure of metals and alloys. At the end of the course, students should have acquired the following skills and abilities:
- about the internal crystal structure of metals;
- about anisotropy and isotropy. What causes these properties, and how they can be influenced;
- about various defects in the structure of metals and alloys;
- about methods of studying the internal structure of the material.
Practical studies in the discipline of materials science
Department of materials science is available in every technical university. During the course of a given course, the student studies the following methods and technologies:
Fundamentals of metallurgy - history and modern methods of obtaining metal alloys. Production of steel and iron in modern blast furnaces. Pouring of steel and cast iron, methods for improving product qualitymetallurgical production. Classification and marking of steel, its technical and physical characteristics. Smelting of non-ferrous metals and their alloys, production of aluminum, copper, titanium and other non-ferrous metals. Equipment used
- The basics of materials science include the study of foundry production, its current state, general technological schemes for producing castings.
- Theory of plastic deformation, what is the difference between cold and hot deformation, what is work hardening, the essence of hot stamping, cold stamping methods, the range of application of stamping materials.
- Forging: the essence of this process and the main operations. What are rolling products and where is it used, what equipment is required for rolling and drawing. How finished products are obtained using these technologies, and where they are used.
- Welding production, its general characteristics and development prospects, classification of welding methods for various materials. Physico-chemical processes for obtaining welds.
- Composite materials. Plastics. Methods of obtaining, general characteristics. Methods of working with composite materials. Application prospects.
Modern development of materials science
Recently, materials science has received a powerful impetus to development. The need for new materials made scientists think about obtaining pure and ultrapure metals, work is underway to createvarious raw materials according to initially calculated characteristics. Modern technology of structural materials suggests the use of new substances instead of standard metal ones. More attention is paid to the use of plastics, ceramics, composite materials that have strength parameters compatible with metal products, but without their disadvantages.
