Materials and their working properties – test and choose a material
Design & TechnologyMechanical EngineeringAges 13–14
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Sign in to playChoose a material family (papers and boards, hardwoods, softwoods, manufactured boards, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, alloys, thermoforming and thermosetting polymers, textiles) and run 11 workshop tests: tensile, hardness, impact, bend, hammer, conductivity, magnet, water soak, damp and outdoor exposure, heat and reshaping, and density. Each test reveals a property in the material's profile and adds a row to the results table; papers and boards show weight in gsm and thickness in microns. Then pick a product to see which requirements the material meets, with a justification and the stock form to buy.
Lesson: Materials and their working properties: strength, hardness, toughness, elasticity, malleability, ductility, conductivity and density; selecting materials for a product
What it shows
Designers choose materials by their working properties: how strong, hard, tough, flexible, malleable or ductile they are, how well they conduct heat and electricity, and how they behave when wet, outdoors or heated. Here 33 materials from ten families can be put through simple workshop tests. A tensile test gives breaking stress and elongation, an indentation test gives hardness, a pendulum blow shows toughness, and further tests show magnetism, moisture movement, corrosion and whether a polymer is thermoforming or thermosetting. Values are typical figures for teaching; real samples vary with grade, moisture and processing.
How to use
Choose a family and a material with the buttons, pick a test in the list and press Run test; Run all tests fills the whole property profile at once. Compare materials of one family, then of different families. Below, choose a product: each requirement is ticked or crossed, with a verdict, a justification and the stock form to buy. Press Suggest suitable materials to see the best matches, and use the results table to justify a choice.
Parameters you can change
- Material Layout paper (papers and boards), Cartridge paper (papers and boards), Solid white board (papers and boards), Corrugated card (papers and boards), Oak (hardwood), Beech (hardwood), Balsa (hardwood), Pine (softwood), Larch (softwood), Spruce (softwood), MDF (manufactured board), Plywood (manufactured board), Chipboard (manufactured board), Low carbon (mild) steel (ferrous), Cast iron (ferrous), High carbon steel (ferrous), Aluminium (non-ferrous), Copper (non-ferrous), Tin (non-ferrous), Brass (alloy), Stainless steel (alloy), High speed steel, HSS (alloy), Acrylic, PMMA (thermoforming), High impact polystyrene, HIPS (thermoforming), PET (thermoforming), Polypropylene, PP (thermoforming), Epoxy resin (thermosetting), Melamine formaldehyde (thermosetting), Urea formaldehyde (thermosetting), Cotton (textile), Wool (textile), Polyester (textile), Polycotton blend (textile)
- Test Tensile test, Hardness (indentation) test, Impact (toughness) test, Bend test, Hammer (malleability) test, Electrical and thermal conductivity, Magnet test, 24-hour water soak, 7 days damp and outdoors, Heating and reshaping, Density
- Product to choose a material for Outdoor bench seat, Child's toy, Saucepan body, Electrical plug casing, Takeaway pizza box, Line-bent shop sign, Wood chisel blade, Flat-pack bookcase, Everyday T-shirt
Questions to explore
- Why is balsa classed as a hardwood although it is softer and lighter than pine?
- Why are plug casings made from a thermosetting polymer rather than a thermoforming one?
- Which metal containing iron is hardly attracted to a magnet, and why does that surprise people?
