Testing Materials using Scientific Method

Course: Higher National Certificate/Diploma in Engineering Pathways

1. Introduction

Material property is a very important aspect on mechanical engineering. This report investigates the most important attributes of metals, polymers and composite materials commonly used in the industry for mechanical works. This is undertaken to establish the frequent cause of material failure while the developed components are in service. The findings will be used to address the common challenges and complaints raised by the clients using the components from the organization. The findings will also go a long way in assisting in the improvement of developed components in a bit to enhance the durability of the components produced.

Having established the main causes and the most vulnerable materials susceptible to failure, the corrective measures will also be undertaken to develop new components that will be able to outperform the current components. This will enhance the confidence in the company products. This is expected to boost consumer confidence and hence their loyalty to the organization products. This will assist in the provision of quality service and hence an increase in the company revenue as a result.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• a. Project/ Program Schedule Using Critical Path
• b. Project/ Program Schedule Using Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Analysis
• c. Project Budget and Cost Management Plan
• d. Project Health-Earned Value Analysis (EVA)
• 2. Contemporary Project Management Practices
• 3. Material Properties
• a. Tensile Strength
• b. Hardness
• c. Dye penetration
• 4. Referencing

Unit 3 Engineering Science - Testing Materials using Scientific Method

LO1 Examine scientific data using both quantitative and computational methods.

You have access to tensile testing equipment, hardness testing equipment and dye penetrant testing equipment. You are required to carry out tests on these materials and present a formal laboratory report.

a. Project/ Program Schedule Using Critical Path

To assist in the successful execution of the project, the table below outlines the projected steps likely to be undertaken in the successful implementation of the investigation of the project from the start to the end.

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b. Project/ Program Schedule Using Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Analysis

The Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is an approach that classifies the major activities into three main clusters identified as pessimistic time, most-likely and optimistic timeframe. Each of the cluster is allocated some time estimated to complete the task. Shown below is the estimated timelines for the main tasks in the investigation project that is expected to be undertaken.

This information can be summarised as shown below on the PERT chart.

Based on the PERT analysis above, the critical path for the entire project will take a total of 11 days to complete. This is based on the critical path analysis and planning to enhance the actual performance.

c. Project Budget and Cost Management Plan
Most of the data will be conducted in a virtual environment using a simulation software to carry out the data analysis, classification and evaluation. This approach has been preferred owing to the time constraints as well as the resources available for the entire project. This cost cutting method was deemed important and viable to achieving the most out of the project for less.

The proposed costs for the entire project will therefore be as outlined in the table below

It is therefore estimated that the entire exercise will cost a total of $1,950 to be completely run up to the drafting of the final report.

d. Project Health-Earned Value Analysis (EVA)

The project health is a critical analysis of the productivity of the entire project. This is aimed at driving durability and evaluating its overall output. This is important in establishing a component can go or last. According to (Reichel C. W., 2006), the budgeted expenditure in the running of the components is either achieved or the overall cost is much less as compared to the budget. This optimizes the overall expenditure.

The entire project is expected to cost $1,950 to complete. It is however the desire and projection of the management that the cost be kept minimum.

An achievement of the project at $1550 is expected. This will grant the project completion an EVA of 79.49%. (1,550/1,950). This defines the actually efficiency deployed in the realization of the project completion.

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2. Contemporary Project Management Practices
In today's world of technological growth and advancement, it is possible to computerise component testing and evaluation. This makes it easy for projects to be executed successfully without much trouble. The use of technology in the computation of the material hardness is a good example. This and similar tools have made it easier to analyse and detect faults in the materials which can be corrected and addressed in order to enhance component durability.

The enhancement of component durability is expected to help in cutting down the maintenance costs as well as losses attributed to the down-time of the working components. This is however expected to increase the actual costs incurred in the design and production of the physical components. When achieved, the initial costs will be higher though justified. Where the initial budget is limited, the production cost will equally be affected hence affecting the quality of work undertaken.

3. Material Properties

a. Tensile Strength
Metals are described in terms of their strength, hardness and impact resistance. Whereas the strength also referred to as the tensile strength is responsible for the capacity to resist the external forces responsible for deformation, different metals portray a variety of tensile strength (Engineering Toolbox, 2004). The chart below demonstrates the different tensile strengths of different metals known.

While aluminium is lower in the strength rating, carbon steel is ranked at the top. This is explanatory of the varied tensile strength hence the likelihood of a metal breaking or failing to break. All the metals tend to drop in their tensile strength based on the existing temperature. This implies that the major characteristic of degradation is derived from the variation in the physical temperature of the component.

The polymers on the other hand come second to metals in terms of tensile strength. The common polymers listed as tabulated below.

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b. Hardness
Metals are also classified as hard as they have a tendency to resist their penetration by other harder materials. This property is particularly important in maintain the purity and hence the durability of most metals (Modern Plastic Encyclopaedia, (1996). The table below demonstrates the variation in the strength of common metals.

The polymers are not rated as hard materials as they are more malleable and ductile. Their properties are however highly suitable for specific components as opposed to the metals. In this light, their approach in terms of performance and physical property will best be handled under the specific task being carried out.

Composite materials used will tend to formulate a second degree hardness based on the strength of the fibre used. Their tensile strength is therefore rated much far below the metals and polymers.

c. Dye penetration

Most dyes will tend to coat the surfaces of the metals and polymers as their individual particles will not allow for ease of penetration by the common dyes. This makes it possible for the two materials to be best suited for components which do not require the infiltration of such dyes (Mohanty, A.K.; Misra, M.; Drzal, L.T., 2002).

The composite materials are more susceptible to dye penetration owing to their material composition. Most of the composite materials will tend to readily absorb the dye once they come in contact. Their usage is therefore expected to be limited to dye friendly components or parts which will not compromise the quality of work being undertaken.

LO3 Explore the characteristics and properties of engineering materials.

Question: Write a formal report on the potential in service conditions that may have caused material failure and the structural properties of the metals as well as polymers and composites that you have been investigating

1. Introduction
This task is a continuation of task 1 which focuses mainly on the material degradation and associated effects on the general performance and lifespan of mechanical components. The main materials focused on include the metals, polymers, and composite materials used in the design and development of machine components.
This study is relevant in the address of client complaints concerning the durability of mechanical components. The knowledge of the materials and their properties will go a long way in addressing system challenges pertaining to the selection, design and usage of the components being developed by the organization.

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2. Material Degradation

Material degradation is the process of surface wasting of the materials which is commonly associated with corrosion and oxidation of the materials used in the development of a given engineering component. This is most likely to affect the surface part of the component which is pre-exposed to the conditions most likely to favour the occurrence of the process.
The main materials tested included mild steel which indicated a constant increase in the nominal stress with every increases in the strain on the associated component as shown in the chart below.

With the optimal stress capped at 500 MNm3, the component would certainly break hence the component failure. For a similar component made from copper, the optimal strain level is pegged at 300MNm3 after which the component would break. This can be seen from the chart below.

A similar specimen of brass would slightly perform better that copper but worse than steel at an optimal level of 400

The strain and stress subjected to engineering components of metallic nature would thus be a major cause of the breakage and subsequent component failure.

In being able to stand against the failure metallic hardness is therefore an important feature, with aluminium having a hardness index of 35.9HV, Plastic Perspex at 29.2HV, it is a clear evidence that metals will stand higher survival in terms of pressure as compared to composite materials.

The last part tested was on the cracking with the help of a developers spray, the presence of cracks could easily be uncovered. Where such faults are hidden under the paint works, the chances of component failure is very high.

There are a number of factors which are most likely to favour the occurrence of material failure. These would include exposure to extreme temperatures, moisture and corrosive catalysts.

The exposure to extremely high temperatures was found to affect the metals very much. This was the main cause of metallic component failure with the main causes being continuous exposure to heating and extreme temperatures. This could be associated to friction and general heat exposure. As a result of the exposure, the extreme temperatures are known to catalyse the friction of movable parts and if unchecked, the resulting condition would be component failure (Yan, L.; Chouw, N., 2013).

The second condition was corrosion as a result of exposure to unfavourable moist chemicals. In the presence of the chemicals, the physical surface of the component would undergo slow wasting which eventually leads to physical deformity. It is the deformation which is irreversible that caused the component failure during service. It is therefore critical that operational conditions are known in advance and any likely effect addressed to prevent the occurrence of the failure. This could effectively be carried out be coating the component surface with corrosion resistant chemicals or materials.

The third factor was found to be the chemical reaction of the metals when exposed to moisture in the presence of oxygen. The surface oxidation of the metals was found to be responsible for most of the metal components exposed to the atmosphere. It is therefore critical for such components to be treated with a coat that slows down the oxidation process in order to prolong the lifespan of the component.

Different materials will tend to behave differently in the wake of degradation. The polymers and composite materials will tend to be adversely affected hence becoming unusable. For the metals and some polymers, the surface strength is increased which makes the material to be more resistant to the fracture and other failure expositions.

The overall effect cannot be as such generalised as the material will tent to behave differently. Where corrosion is the main cause as well as the oxidation, we expect to find different appearance of the component which may make it more exposed to other adverse effects (Mohanty, A.K.; Misra, M.; Hinrichsen, G. Biofibers, 2000). This is similar to the tearing up of the polymers and the composite materials.

Material failure is attributed to four main causes. These include the selection of inappropriate materials, poor processing or baking of the materials selected, poor design and lastly the incorrect usage of the material.

When wrong materials are selected for a component, the actual performance of the component will be faulty. This is probably as a result of a failure to observe the general operational environment. This will end up affecting the lifespan of the component. It is therefore very important that the material selected, should match the usage of the component. This will include the stress exposure on the component, the surrounding factors and related aspects (Mohanty, A.K.; Misra, M.; Drzal, L.T., 2002).

After the correct materials have been selected, their treatment also known as baking should be sufficient enough to avoid any likely trouble in the final component. The recommended treatment of the materials selected should be religiously adhered to in order to produce a component that will be durable enough.

The third element is the actual design of the component. This should incorporate all the necessary factors that will support the durability and smooth functioning of the component. Lubrication of the movable parts should be sufficiently provided for in order to have the component working properly.

The last factor deals with the actual usage of the component. It is paramount that each engineering component be used to serve the correct purpose it was designed and developed to serve. Where the correct usage is not adhered to, it is imminent that the component will automatically fail at one point or the other.

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3. Conclusion

Material selection, treatment, component design and the appropriate usage of the mechanical components is a very important holistic approach in ensuring durable components. Failure is likely to arise where either or all of the said factors are employed in the development or usage of the components. It is therefore a critical requirement that the entire process is followed to develop components that will last long. This can be enhanced by paying close attention to make sure that life is added to the components. It is therefore important to have sufficient time deployed in understanding the functional conditions of the component being developed. This should be followed by the close attention in the design and implementation of the appropriate component with the most appropriate material.

FAQ:

• What does it mean to examine scientific data using both quantitative and computational methods?
• Why is it important to use both methods?
• What are some examples of computational methods used in science?
• What kind of software is used for computational data analysis?
• What are some things to keep in mind when using computational methods?
• What are engineering materials?
• What are the key characteristics of engineering materials?
• How do material properties affect engineering decisions?
• How can I learn more about specific engineering materials?
• Are there any tools to help with material selection?

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