Content area
Full text
Ai odd as it seems, engineers sometimes misunlerstand the role of material properties. In atempting to solve a problem, they often seek a stronger material without truly understanding which material properties rould be used to eliminate problems. Often, using a stronger material does not offer improvement, leaving the engineer dumbfounded.
It is the combination of the properties of the material and the properties of the welded section that determine the behavior of the entire system. Typical material properties that could affect the system include yield strength, fatigue strength, tensile strength, compressive strength, toughness, modulus of elasticity and ductility. section properties include the cross sectional area, the moment of inertia, the section modulus and the section's torsional resistance.
An old ad. that featured a how tie and slide aile suggesting that it's probably 60 years old, illustrated the need to understand the fundamentals of material properties. This ad presents a g(xxJ opportunity to consider the role of the material, and the role of section geometry.
The advertisement proclaimed "At last! For equal weight, magnesium is 18 times as stiff as steel of equal weight. Here's proof." To sulistantiate the promoter's claim, a demonstration board had been created, comparing the performance...