Essential Mechanical Properties Every Mechanical Engineer Must Master

Mechanical Properties of Materials

The mechanical properties of materials define the behavior of materials under the action of external forces called loads.

There are a measure of strength and lasting characteristics of the material in service and are of good importance in the design of tools, machines, and structures.

The mechanical properties of metals are determined by the range of usefulness of the metal and establish the service that is expected.

Mechanical properties are also useful for helping to specify and identify metals. And the most common properties considered are strength, hardness, ductility, brittleness, toughness, stiffness, and impact resistance.

List of Mechanical Properties of Materials

The following are the mechanical properties of materials.

1. Strength
2. Elasticity
3. Plasticity
4. Hardness
5. Toughness
6. Brittleness
7. Stiffness
8. Ductility
9. Malleability
10. Cohesion
11. Impact strength
12. Fatigue
13. Creep

#1 Strength

• Strength is the mechanical property that enables a metal to resist deformation load.
• The strength of a material is its capacity to withstand destruction under the action of external loads.
• The stronger the materials the greater the load it can withstand.

#2 Elasticity

• According to dictionary elasticity is the ability of an object or material to resume its normal shape after being stretched or compressed.
• When a material has a load applied to it, the load causes the material to deform.
• The elasticity of a material is its power of coming back to its original position after deformation when the stress or load is released.
• Heat-treated springs, rubber etc are good examples of elastic materials.

#3 Plasticity

• The plasticity of a material is its ability to undergo some permanent deformation without rupture(brittle).
• Plastic deformation will take place only after the elastic range has been exceeded.
• Pieces of evidence of plastic action in structural materials are called yield, plastic flow and creep.
• Materials such as clay, lead etc are plastic at room temperature, and steel plastic when at bright red-heat.

#4 Hardness

• The resistance of a material to force penetration or bending is hardness.
• The hardness is the ability of a material to resist scratching, abrasion, cutting or penetration.
• Hardness indicates the degree of hardness of a material that can be imparted particularly steel by the process of hardening.
• It determines the depth and distribution of hardness is introduce by the quenching process.

#5 Toughness

• It is the property of a material which enables it to withstand shock or impact.
• Toughness is the opposite condition of brittleness.
• The toughness is may be considering the combination of strength and plasticity.
• Manganese steel, wrought iron, mild steel etc are examples of toughness materials.

#6 Brittleness

• The brittleness of a property of a material which enables it to withstand permanent deformation.
• Cast iron, glass are examples of brittle materials.
• They will break rather than bend under shock or impact.
• Generally, the brittle metals have high compressive strength but low in tensile strength.

#7 Stiffness

• It is a mechanical property.
• The stiffness is the resistance of a material to elastic deformation or deflection.
• In stiffness, a material which suffers light deformation under load has a high degree of stiffness.
• The stiffness of a structure is important in many engineering applications, so the modulus of elasticity is often one of the primary properties when selecting a material.

#8 Ductility

• The ductility is a property of a material which enables it to be drawn out into a thin wire.
• Mild steel, copper, aluminium are the good examples of a ductile material.

#9 Malleability

• The malleability is a property of a material which permits it to be hammered or rolled into sheets of other sizes and shapes.
• Aluminium, copper, tin, lead etc are examples of malleable metals.

#10 Cohesion

• It is a mechanical property.
• The cohesion is a property of a solid body by virtue of which they resist from being broken into a fragment.

#11 Impact Strength

• The impact strength is the ability of a metal to resist suddenly applied loads.

#12 Fatigue

• The fatigue is the long effect of repeated straining action which causes the strain or break of the material.
• It is the term ‘fatigue’ use to describe the fatigue of material under repeatedly applied forces.

#13 Creep

• The creep is a slow and progressive deformation of a material with time at a constant force.
• The simplest type of creep deformation is viscous flow.
• Some metals are generally exhibiting creep at high temperature, whereas plastic, rubber, and similar amorphous material are very temperature sensitive to creep.
• The force for a specified rate of strain at constant temperature is called creep strength.

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Conclusion

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