Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction

Citation

Callister, W. D., Jr., & Rethwisch, D. G. (2018). Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction (10th ed.). Wiley.

Chapter Summary

The tenth edition runs to about 990 pages in 22 chapters, followed by a section of questions and problems organised by chapter, eight appendices (A–H), a glossary, answers to selected problems and an index. Each chapter opens with learning objectives and closes with a summary, an equation summary, a list of symbols, a list of important terms and concepts, and references. Boxed "Materials of Importance" pieces and a few case studies (for example the Liberty ship failures, carbonated beverage containers and the Boeing 787) are scattered through the text. The publisher describes the book as organised around the three main types of material (metals, ceramics and polymers), plus composites, and around the relationship between structural elements and properties.

Chapter 1: Introduction

The opening chapter gives a historical perspective, separates materials science from materials engineering, and argues for studying materials from the standpoint of selection: in-service conditions, deterioration during service and cost. Its organising idea is the link between processing, structure, properties and performance, illustrated with three aluminium oxide discs of different transparency; a footnote extends the scheme with reuse and recyclability. The chapter also sorts materials into metals, ceramics, polymers, composites and advanced materials, and previews six groups of properties (mechanical, electrical, thermal, magnetic, optical and deteriorative).

Chapters 2–4: Atomic Structure and Interatomic Bonding; The Structure of Crystalline Solids; Imperfections in Solids

These chapters build the structural vocabulary. Chapter 2 covers electrons in atoms, the periodic table and primary and secondary bonding. Chapter 3 treats unit cells, metallic crystal structures, density computations, crystal systems, crystallographic points, directions and planes, close-packed structures, anisotropy, X-ray diffraction and noncrystalline solids. Chapter 4 covers point defects, impurities and composition, dislocations, interfacial and bulk defects, and microscopy with grain-size determination.

Chapter 5: Diffusion

Diffusion mechanisms, Fick's first and second laws, the factors that influence diffusion, and diffusion in semiconducting materials, with a box on aluminium interconnects in integrated circuits.

Chapters 6–8: Mechanical Properties of Metals; Dislocations and Strengthening Mechanisms; Failure

Chapter 6 introduces stress and strain, elastic and plastic deformation, tensile properties, true stress and strain, hardness, and property variability with design and safety factors. Chapter 7 returns to dislocations and slip systems and then to the ways metals are strengthened (grain-size reduction, solid solution, strain hardening) and softened (recovery, recrystallisation, grain growth). Chapter 8 covers fracture and fracture mechanics, fatigue (the S–N curve, crack initiation and propagation) and creep.

Chapters 9–11: Phase Diagrams; Phase Transformations: Development of Microstructure and Alteration of Mechanical Properties; Applications and Processing of Metal Alloys

Chapter 9 moves from definitions and unary diagrams to binary isomorphous and eutectic systems, the Gibbs phase rule and the iron–iron carbide diagram. Chapter 10 addresses transformation kinetics, isothermal and continuous-cooling transformation diagrams and the mechanical behaviour of iron–carbon alloys, including tempered martensite. Chapter 11 turns to ferrous and nonferrous alloys, forming, casting, 3D printing, annealing, heat treatment of steels and precipitation hardening.

Chapters 12–13: Structures and Properties of Ceramics; Applications and Processing of Ceramics

Chapter 12 covers ceramic crystal structures, silicates, carbon, imperfections, ceramic phase diagrams and mechanical behaviour, including brittle fracture. Chapter 13 covers glasses, clay products, refractories, abrasives, cements, advanced ceramics and their fabrication, including powder pressing, tape casting and 3D printing.

Chapters 14–15: Polymer Structures; Characteristics, Applications, and Processing of Polymers

Chapter 14 describes hydrocarbon and polymer molecules, molecular weight, shape and structure, thermoplastics and thermosets, copolymers and crystallinity. Chapter 15 covers mechanical behaviour (including viscoelasticity), melting and the glass transition, polymer types and applications, polymerisation, additives and forming techniques.

Chapter 16: Composites

Particle-reinforced and fibre-reinforced composites, polymer-, metal- and ceramic-matrix composites, structural composites and nanocomposites.

Chapter 17: Corrosion and Degradation of Materials

Electrochemical considerations, corrosion rates and their prediction, passivity, forms of corrosion and prevention, oxidation, and the degradation of ceramics and polymers.

Chapters 18–21: Electrical Properties; Thermal Properties; Magnetic Properties; Optical Properties

Chapter 18 runs from electrical conduction and band structure through semiconductors, the Hall effect and devices to dielectric behaviour. Chapters 19–21 deal in turn with heat capacity, thermal expansion and conductivity; magnetism and superconductivity; and light–solid interactions, luminescence, lasers and optical fibres.

Chapter 22: Environmental and Societal Issues in Materials Science and Engineering

A short closing chapter on environmental and societal considerations and on recycling, with a box on biodegradable and biorenewable polymers.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–5: foundations

• Processing–structure–properties–performance: the central scheme of the discipline, stated in Chapter 1 and referred back to throughout.
• Crystal structure and defects: unit cells, crystallographic directions and planes, and the point, line, interfacial and bulk defects that depart from them.
• Diffusion: atomic transport described by Fick's laws.

Chapters 6–11: metals

• Stress–strain behaviour: elastic and plastic deformation, with design and safety factors.
• Dislocations and strengthening: slip, grain-size, solid-solution and strain-hardening mechanisms.
• Failure: fracture, fatigue and creep.
• Phase diagrams and transformations: equilibrium phases, then the kinetics that produce microstructure in iron–carbon alloys.

Chapters 12–17: other material classes and degradation

• Ceramic and polymer structure–property relations: structures, mechanical behaviour and processing treated in paired chapters.
• Composites: particle, fibre and structural types.
• Corrosion: electrochemical reactions and the forms of attack.

Chapters 18–22: functional properties and sustainability

• Electronic conduction and semiconductors: band structure, carriers and devices.
• Thermal, magnetic and optical response: the remaining property groups introduced in Chapter 1.
• Recycling: the closing chapter's treatment of materials reuse.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• One coherent scheme across all material classes. The paired chapters on metals, ceramics and polymers (structure and properties, then applications and processing) and the closing property chapters follow the framework set out in Chapter 1, so a reader can compare classes on the same terms.
• Study apparatus in every chapter. Learning objectives, summaries, equation summaries, symbol lists and term lists are listed in the contents for each chapter, and the Chapter 1 excerpt cross-references later sections (for example, pointing from the Liberty ship case study to the fracture sections of Chapter 8).
• Reference tables. The appendices include properties of selected engineering materials (density, modulus, strength and ductility, fracture toughness, thermal expansion and conductivity, specific heat, electrical resistivity), costs and relative costs, polymer repeat units and glass-transition and melting temperatures, which support selection exercises.
• Current topics. Wiley lists the Materials Paradigm and materials selection charts, 3D printing, biomaterials, recycling and the Hall effect as new or updated in this edition; the contents show 3D printing sections in the metals, ceramics and polymers chapters.

Limitations

• Length. At about 990 pages the book holds more than a single course can cover; chapters 16–21 and parts of 11–15 are usually selected rather than read in full.
• Breadth over depth. Subjects that have whole textbooks are treated in one chapter: phase transformations, for instance, occupy Chapter 10, about forty-five pages.
• Sustainability is concentrated. Environmental and societal issues appear mainly in the final chapter of about twelve pages, plus a footnote in Chapter 1.
• Problems are separated from chapters. Questions and problems are collected after Chapter 22, so students must turn to the back of the book for exercises.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the general-purpose first textbook in the materials science list. Christopher Hall's Materials: A Very Short Introduction is a short, non-mathematical orientation to the same three material families and can be read beforehand. Ashby, Shercliff and Cebon's Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering: A Design-Led Approach is also a first course; it starts from what engineers need materials to do, so it suits readers who prefer to begin with selection and design, while Callister and Rethwisch begin with atoms and structure and build upward.

Two books go further than Callister and Rethwisch in a single direction. Meyers and Chawla's Mechanical Behavior of Materials takes up the mechanisms behind Chapters 6–8 and 15 in more depth, and Porter, Easterling and Sherif's Phase Transformations in Metals and Alloys is the continuation of Chapters 9–10. The site also lists an earlier (eighth) edition of the same book; the two share the same 22-chapter plan, but this tenth edition is the one with the additions described above.

How to Use This Book

The book is aimed at engineering students of any discipline taking a first course in materials. Chapter 2 starts from electrons in atoms and the periodic table, so no previous materials course is needed; introductory chemistry helps with bonding and the polymer chapters, and introductory physics with the electrical, thermal, magnetic and optical chapters.

A practical plan for a one-semester course:

• Core: Chapters 1–9 in order, with Chapter 10 and the steels sections of Chapter 11 for those who need heat treatment.
• Choose by programme: Chapters 12–15 for ceramics and polymers; Chapter 17 for corrosion; Chapters 18–21 according to whether the programme leans towards electrical, thermal, magnetic or optical applications.
• Selection practice: use the property tables and cost appendix with the Chapter 1 criteria (in-service conditions, deterioration, cost) to compare candidate materials for a simple component.
• Study routine: read the learning objectives first, work the end-of-chapter questions from the back of the book, and use the answers to selected problems for checking.