MEMS 361 MATERIALS SCIENCE – Fall 2010

Exam 1. Pracatice Questions

1. a) Briefly describe ionic bonding, covalent bonding, and metallic bonding. Explain why
elastic modulus is higher in materials with covalent and ionic bonding than in materials with
metallic bonding.
b) The net potential energy between two adjacent ions, EN may be represented by
EN = (-A/r) + ( B/rn)
Calculate the bonding energy E0 (corresponding to the equilibrium inter-ionic spacing) in terms
the parameters A, B, and n

2.a)Draw the unit cells of (i) face centered cubic and (ii) body centered cubic crystal structures.
Show and write the Miller Indices of the close packed planes and close packed directions in these
two crystal structures. Calculate the atomic packing factors for these two types of crystal
structures.

b) Figure 1 shows the diffraction pattern obtained from tungsten powder. Index the diffraction
peaks and calculate the lattice parameter "a" of Al. Wavelength of radiation used =0.154 nm
3. a) Define the terms:
i) Engineering stress and engineering strain
ii) True stress and true strain
iii) Resilience and Toughness
iv) Creep deformation
b) Compare the engineering stress and strain with the true stress and strain for the tensile test of
a low-carbon steel which has the following test values:
Load applied to specimen = 17,000 lb, initial specimen diameter = 0.500 in, and
diameter of specimen under 17,000 lb load = 0.472 in.

4. a)What is a fatigue test SN curve? How does the SN curve of a carbon steel differ from that of
a high-strength aluminum alloy?
b) The fatigue data for a brass alloy are given as follows:

Stress Amplitude (MPa) Cycles to Failure

310 2 x 105
223 1 x 106
191 3 x 106
168 1 x 107
153 3 x 107
143 1 x 108
134 3 x 108
127 1 x 109

Suppose that the fatigue data were taken from torsional tests, and that a shaft of this alloy
is to be used for a coupling that is attached to an electric motor operating at 1500 rpm. Give the
maximum torsional stress amplitude possible for each of the following lifetimes of the coupling:
(a) 1 year, (b) 1 month, (1) 1 day, and (d) 2 hours.

5. a)What is creep deformation? How are the values of creep exponent n and activation energy
for creep Q determined experimentally? What insight does one gain about creep from the values
of n and Q?
b) How In a laboratory creep experiment at 1000°C, a steady state creep rate of 5 x 10-1% per
hour is obtained. The activation energy for creep for this alloy is known to be 200kJ/mol.
Predict the creep rate at a service temperature of 600°C.

6. a) Briefly discuss the energy based approach and stress intensity based approach to the failure
of materials containing pre existing flaws.
b) Suppose that a wing component on an aircraft is fabricated from an aluminum alloy
that has a plane strain fracture toughness of 26 MPa.m1/2. It has been determined that
fracture results at a stress of 112 MPa when the maximum (or critical) internal crack
length is 8.6 mm. For this same component and alloy, will fracture occur at a stress level
of 125 MPa when the critical internal crack length is 6.0 mm. Why or why not?