ME 437 Mechanical Systems Design
Assignment : Materials and Processes
Due October 25th
This assignment is to be divided between the group members but all the questions are to
be answered. Each question must be answered briefly in no more than two line.
Material science review questions
Mechanical / Physical Properties
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What is ductility?
What is toughness?
What is meant by strength?
What is the endurance limit?
What is fatigue strength?
What is hardness?
What is meant by hardenability?
What is stiffness?
What is meant by porosity?
Manufacturing Properties
10. What is meant by machinability?
11. What characteristics are imortant in measuring machinability?
12. What characteristics are important in formability?
13. What is the difference between welding and brazing?
Material Science Fundamentals
14. What is a polycrystaline metal?
15. What happens in work hardening?
16. What is the recrystalization temperature?
17. What is a solid solution?
18. What is an intermetalic compound?
Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram
19. What is a phase diagram?
20. What is -ferrite?
21. What is austenite?
22. What is cementite?
23. What is pearlite?
24. What is a cast iron?
25. Describe the micro-structure of grey cast iron.
26. Describe the important properties of grey cast irons.
27. Describe the micro-structure of ductile iron.
28. Describe the important properties of ductile iron.
Heat Treatment of Steels
29. What are the objectives of processing heat treatment?
30. What is full annealing?
31. What is normalizing?
32. What is process annealing?
33. What is spheroidization?
34. Describe the micro-structure of martensite.
35. What are the mechancial properties of martensite?
36. How is martensite formed in practice?
37. What is the effect of tempering on martensite?
38. What is retained austenite? [Clue to problem C]
39. What are the possible problems with retained austenite?
40. Describe some of the drawbacks of designing heat treated parts.
41. Name a few surface hardening techniques.
Steel Products
42. What are the class of steel products known as plain carbon steel?
43. What is the carbon content of low-carbon steel and what are its major applications?
44. What is the carbon content of meduim-carbon steel and what are its major
applications?
45. What is the carbon content of high-carbon steel and what are its major applications?
46. What are the main objectives of adding alloying elements to plain carbon steels?
47. What are the main alloying elements in AISI 4340 steel? How much carbon does it
have?
48. What are the improved properties of HSLA steels compared to plain carbon steels?
49. State some of the favorable properties of constructional alloy steels (also known as
Quench-and Tempered Structural Steels).
50. What are free machining steels?
51. What is the main alloying element of stainless steels?
52. What are the four classes of stainless steels?
53. What are the properties of ferritic stainless steels?
54. What are the properties of martensitic stainless steels?
55. What are the properties of austenitic stainless steels?
56. Name some of the engineering application of bronze products.
57. Name some of the engineering applications of brasses.
58. What are high temperature superalloys? Examples?
Reviewing Manufacturing Processes: Answer the following questions in one or two
statements.
1. What is a parting line or parting surface?
2. What is fluidity?
3. What type of shape modifications or allowances are generally incorporated into a
casting pattern?
4. What is the purpose of draft or taper on pattern surfaces?
5. What type of geometric features in casting require the use of cores?
6. What are the material and size limitation of sand casting?
7. What are some of the attractive features of ceramic molds (investment casting)?
8. Name some of the permanent mold casting processes.
9. What are the size and material limitations in die casting?
10. What are the four steps involved in making a powder metallurgy product?
11. What are the size, shape, and material limitations in P/M?
12. What kind of product is a good candidate for P/M production?
13. Name at least five different metal forming processes.
14. What are some of the attractive manufacturing features of hot-working processes?
15. What are some of the negative aspects of hot working?
16. What are some of the advantages of cold working compared to hot working?
17. What are some of the disadvantages of cold working compare to hot working?
18. Name a typical product made by following processes: rolling, forging, upsetting,
extrusion, and hot spinning.
19. How does shot peening improve the fracture resistance of a product?
20. What is springback and why is it a concern during bending?
21. What is the difference between piercing and blanking?
22. Why is it desirable to specify the largest bend radius in bending?
23. Why is tooling cost for spinning relatively low?
24. Name some of the tool material used in cutting metals in machining.
25. Name five different machining processes.
26. Name a few methods of surface hardening.
27. What does EDM stands for?
28. What is the typical thickness limitation of stock in laser-beam machining?
29. What is the role of "gas" in GTAW?
30. What welding method is often used for spot welding when both sides of a part can be
accessed?
31. What is the difference between welding and brazing?
32. What is meant by "pickling" in chemical cleaning?
33. What is the purpose of galvanizing?
34. Name three methods of burr removal.