Engineering Fundamentals
This is the process engineers use to identify problems, develop solutions, and improve designs.
What is the Engineering Design Process?
The center of an atom containing protons and neutrons.
What is the nucleus?
Gold, aluminum, copper, and titanium all belong to this specific class of materials.
What are non-ferrous metals?
Defects involving only one or a few atoms are generally classified as this type of defect.
What are point defects?
Manufacturing process where molten metal is poured into a mold.
What is casting?
Name one pillar of sustainability.
Environmental, Economic, or Social.
This field focuses on understanding and developing materials for engineering applications.
What is Materials Engineering?
Negatively charged particles found outside the nucleus.
What are electrons?
This class of materials is typically composed of long molecular chains and includes materials such as polyethylene and PVC.
What are polymers?
A material has atoms arranged in a repeating, orderly pattern throughout the material. What type of structure does it have?
What is a crystalline structure?
Manufacturing process used to make LEGO bricks.
What is injection molding?
Using a product again instead of discarding it.
What is reuse?
In PSPP, the final step describes how a material behaves in service.
What is Performance?
Which bond would you expect to be stronger: the metallic bonds in aluminum or the intermolecular forces between polymer chains?
What is metallic bonding?
An engineer needs a material for a jet engine turbine blade that can withstand extremely high temperatures. Which material class would be the best choice?
What are ceramics?
Why are defects often considered important in materials engineering rather than simply undesirable?
Because defects can influence and sometimes improve material properties such as strength, conductivity, or diffusion.
Manufacturing process that pushes material through a shaped opening.
What is extrusion?
Converting waste into new materials.
What is recycling?
Name the four parts of the PSPP framework.
What are Processing, Structure, Properties, and Performance?
Sodium chloride (table salt) has a high melting temperature because it contains this type of bonding.
What is ionic bonding?
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer combines two material classes to achieve improved performance. What material class does it belong to?
What are composites?
Why is grain size important in metals?
Grain size affects properties such as strength, hardness, and ductility.
Manufacturing process that changes shape through compressive forces.
What is forming?
An engineer must choose between a cheap material that creates a lot of waste and a more expensive material that creates very little waste. Which pillar of sustainability creates this tradeoff?
What are the Environmental and Economic pillars?
Explain how changing processing can affect performance.
Processing changes structure, structure changes properties, and properties affect performance.
A material is extremely hard, has a very high melting temperature, and is a poor electrical conductor. Which type of bonding is most likely dominant?
What is covalent bonding?
An engineer must select a material for an artificial hip implant. The material must be strong, corrosion resistant, and biocompatible. Which material class would most likely be selected and why?
What are metals (such as titanium alloys) because of their strength, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility?
Two metal samples have exactly the same chemical composition, yet one is significantly stronger than the other. An engineer is asked to further increase the strength of the weaker sample but is not allowed to change the elements present in the material. What aspect of the material should be modified, and how could it be changed to improve strength?
Structure. Grain size, defect density, and processing can significantly change strength without changing composition.
Two aluminum parts are made from the same alloy. One is rapidly cooled after processing, while the other is cooled slowly. Predict how their grain structures and properties may differ.
Rapid cooling generally produces finer grains and higher strength; slow cooling produces larger grains and often greater ductility.
Which engineering solution is more sustainable?
A product that lasts 20 years but uses more material to manufacture, or a product that lasts 1 year and must be replaced repeatedly?
Generally, the longer-lasting product because sustainability considers the entire life cycle, not just manufacturing.
A bridge repeatedly develops cracks after several years of use. Explain how an engineer would use the Engineering Design Process to address this problem.
Identify the problem → investigate causes → develop solutions → test/evaluate → implement improvements.
Diamond and graphite are both made entirely of carbon, yet diamond is extremely hard while graphite is soft and slippery. Explain why their properties are so different.
They have different atomic structures and bonding arrangements. Diamond has a strong 3D covalent network, while graphite consists of layers held together by weak forces.
A smartphone contains an aluminum frame, a glass screen, plastic insulation, and a lithium-ion battery. Identify the material class represented by each component and explain why it is used.
A crystal contains a large number of dislocations. Why might this material be stronger than a nearly perfect crystal?
The dislocations interact and hinder each other's movement, making further deformation more difficult and increasing strength.
A company can produce a part by casting or forging. If maximum strength is the goal, which process would likely be preferred and why?
Forging, because it typically refines the grain structure and reduces defects, resulting in higher strength.
An engineer can reduce manufacturing costs by using a material that cannot be recycled, or spend more money on a recyclable material that performs equally well. What factors should be considered before deciding which option is more sustainable?
A sustainable decision should consider the entire life cycle of the product, including raw material extraction, manufacturing energy, transportation, durability, recyclability, waste generation, and environmental impact—not just cost.