LO1 Examine scientific data using both quantitative and computational methods.
LO3 Explore the characteristics and properties of engineering materials.
Assignment Brief and Guidance:
Scenario
You work as a materials engineer and have been tasked with investigating issues with products manufactured by your company. These products are made from polymer, composite and metal components.
Materials are failing in service, but your manager is not sure of the reason for this and has hypothesised that this could be due to degradation caused by fatigue, creep or other means. It has been suggested that types of hysteresis should be considered and/or that there are issues with the specification of materials being used.
Task
Part 1:
You have been given samples of metals together with polymer and composite materials. You have access to tensile testing equipment, hardness testing equipment and dye penetrant testing equipment (destructive/non-destructive tests).
You are required to carry out tests on these materials and present a formal laboratory report.
By comparing and contrasting results obtained in your testing with theoretical material properties you should be able to draw appropriate conclusions. To do this the laboratory report must be structured to follow a formal scientific method thus ensuring your analysis can be relied upon to be scientifically sound.
You should ensure that your report includes the following elements:
• Graphical representations of the quantitative data gathered, using appropriate software.
• The SI units used including prefix notation, symbols and derived units.
• Full citation/references using the Harvard referencing system.
Part 2:
Your manager wants you to 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 (from Part 1).
You should consider the effect of degradation on the appearance of these materials and gather qualitative feedback from colleagues on the potential causes of failure. This feedback/data will be presented, using appropriate graphical software within your report.
Your report should reflect on the application of the scientific method (demonstrated in your laboratory report) for the testing you carried out. There should also be an analysis of all the graphical data presented (qualitative and quantitative information from Part 1 and Part 2).
You should ensure that your report includes the following elements:
• An explanation and comparison of the types of degradation including elastic and magnetic hysteresis.
• A description of the structural properties linked to their respective material properties.
• The SI units used including prefix notation, symbols and derived units.
• Full citation/references using the Harvard referencing system.
