Classification

It is the systematic arrangement or division of materials into groups on the basis of some
common characteristic

1. According to General Properties

2. According to Nature of Materials

3. According to Applications

1. According to General Properties

(a). Metals (e.g. iron, aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, etc)

Iron as the base metal, and range from plain carbon (> 98 % Fe) to (i). Ferrous: high alloy
steel (< 50 % alloying elements), e.g. cast iron, wrought iron, steel, alloys like high-speed
steel, spring steel, etc

(ii). Non-Ferrous: Rest of the all other metals and their alloys, e.g. copper, aluminium, zinc
lead, alloys like brass, bronze, duralumin, etc

(b). Non-Metals (e.g. leather, rubber, asbestos, plastics, etc)

2. According to Nature of Materials

(a). Metals: e.g. Iron & Steel, Alloys &Superalloys, Intermetallic Compounds, etc

(b). Ceramics: e.g. Structural Ceramics (high-temperature load bearing), Refractories

(corrosion-resistant, insulating), Whitewares (porcelains), Glass, Electrical Ceramics
(capacitors, insulators, transducers), Chemically Bonded Ceramics (cement & concrete)

(c).Polymers: e.g. Plastics, Liquid Crystals, Adhesives

(d). Electronic Materials: e.g. Silicon, Germanium, Photonic materials (solid-state lasers,
LEDs)

(e). Composites: e.g. Particulate composites (small particles embedded in a different

material), Laminate composites (golf club shafts, tennis rackets), Fiber reinforced composites
(fiberglass)

(f). Biomaterials: e.g. Man-made proteins (artificial bacterium), Biosensors, etc

(g). Advanced / Smart Materials: e.g. materials in computers (VCRs, CD Players, etc),
fibreoptic systems, spacecrafts, aircrafts, rockets, shape-memory alloys, piezoelectric
ceramics, magnetostrictive materials, optical fibres, microelectromechanical (MEMs)
devices, electrorheological / magnetorheological fluids, Nanomaterials, etc

3. According to Applications

(a). Electrical Materials: e.g. conductors, insulators, dielectrics, etc

 (b). Electronic Materials: e.g. conductors, semi-conductors, etc

(c). Magnetic Materials: e.g. ferromagnetic, paramagnetic & diamagnetic materials, etc

(d). Optical Materials: e.g. glass, quartz, etc

(e). Bio Materials: e.g. man-made proteins, artificial bacterium

Engineering
Materials

Metals Ceramic Polymers Composites Electronic Bio- Advanced

s Materials Materials / Smart
Materials
Carbon
Fiber
Ferrous Alumina Thermoplastic Ceramic Silicon Man-Made
Diamond Matrix Germanium Proteins
Glass Artificial Shape-Memory Alloys
Magnesia Photonic
Fiber Bacterium Piezoelectric Ceramics
Cast Iron Silicon Materials
Metal Biosensors Magnetostrictive Materials
Carbon Steels Carbide Solid-State
ABS Matrix Optical Fibres
Alloy Steels Zirconia Lasers
Acrylic Electrorheological Fluids
LEDs
Stainless Nylon Nanomaterials
Steels Polyethylene
Polystyrene
Vinyl

Non-
Ferrous

Thermosetting
Elastomers
Aluminium
Brass Epoxy
Bronze Phenolic
Copper Polyester Butyl
Lead Fluorocarbon
Magnesium Neoprene
Nickel Rubber
Tin Silicone
Zinc
Titanium
 Difference between Metals & Non-Metals

Property Metals Non-Metals

Structure Crystalline Amorphic

State Generally solids at room temp. Gaseous & solid at ordinary

temp.

Luster Metallic luster No metallic luster (except

iodine & graphite)

Conductivity Good conductors of heat & Bad conductors

electricity

Malleability Malleable Not malleable

Ductility Ductile Not ductile

Hardness Generally hard Hardness varies

Electrolysis Form anions Form anioins

Excitation of Easy Difficult

valence
electron by
e.m.f.

Density High Low

1. Material Properties

• Physical: e.g. appearance, shape, weight, boiling point, melting point, freezing point,
density, glass transition temperature, permeability

• Mechanical: e.g. strength (tensile, compressive, shear, torsion, bending), elasticity,

plasticity, ductility, malleability, rigidity, toughness, hardness, brittleness, impact,
fatigue, creep, strain hardening, Bauschinger effect, strain rate effect, vibration
resistance, wear

• Thermal: e.g. thermal conductivity, expansion coefficient, resistivity, thermal shock

resistance, thermal diffusivity