Structural Materials: Selection and Economics

Lecture 1: Introduction to externalities of materials selection, comprising social, political, economic, military, cultural, environmental and other effects.

Lecture 2: Introduction to relationship between material cost, abundance and usage. Factors influencing availability such as energy density and recyclability are also discussed.

Lecture 3: Introduction to the properties of materials that influence use in structural applications. Discussion of ratio analysis using among other examples steel, aluminum, and titanium.

Lecture 4: Discusses manufacturing and processing factors that effect material choice in various applications. Introduction to causes of material failures.