2.1 Examine mechanical testing techniques for common material properties

Interrogate mechanical properties of materials, and examine testing methods

1500 words

2.1 Examine mechanical testing techniques for common material properties

A)   

i) Describe the experimental equipment and procedure that would be required to perform a tensile test.

ii) Explain the mechanical properties that can be identified from the resulting stress vs. strain graph obtained from a tensile test.     

B)         

Describe three types of hardness tests that can be carried out on materials, explain how the hardness rating can be found in each case.

C)         

i) Explain the experimental procedure and equipment involved in a Charpy impact test.

ii) What properties of a material can be determined from the Charpy impact test?

2.2 Examine material deformation techniques

A) 

i) Explain the process of cold working a metal and discuss advantages and disadvantages of this process

ii) Fully describe the deformation mechanism of cold working explaining why it is more difficult to deform metals after cold working takes place.      

B)  

i) Describe the three steps involved in the annealing process of a metal explaining how the structure of the metal changes in each case as well as the mechanical properties of the material.

2.3 Analyse impact of grain size, and grain size strengthening

A)

i) Fully explain the impact that decreasing the grain size in materials has on the mechanical properties, explain why this is the case.

ii) Describe one way in which the grain size can be controlled, or refined. Describe the experimental equipment and procedure that would be required to perform a tensile test. 2.1 Examine mechanical testing techniques for common material properties

2.4 Explore strengthening by solid solution strengthening

i) Explain what is meant by solid solution strengthening and describe the difference between substitutional solid solutions and interstitial solid solutions.

ii) Explain why interstitial atoms are more efficient at strengthening materials.

iii) Give four factors affecting the strength of a solid solution

iv) Alloying copper and nickel is one method of strengthening copper. Do some research and investigate the effects of alloying other metals with the CuNi alloy.

2.5 Conduct an analysis of the impact of dispersion strengthening

i) Explain what is meant by dispersion strengthened alloys and describe the mechanism behind this process.

ii) Conduct some research on oxide dispersion strengthened alloys and analyse the impact, on a specific example, that the oxide atoms have on the mechanical properties, compared to the original alloy or metal. 2.1 Examine mechanical testing techniques for common material properties

iii) For your chosen alloy in part ii) Give some applications that the strengthened alloy may have in an engineering context.

Interrogate mechanical properties of materials, and examine testing methods