OVERVIEW
•Important aspect of design for aerospace, mechanical, electrical, thermal,
chemical or other applications is selection of best materials
•Systematic selection of best material for a given application usually
depends on 2 aspects:
1. Properties
2. Cost
•A few examples:
–Thermal blanket must have poor thermal conductivity in order to
minimize heat transfer for a given temperature difference
–Large amounts of copper in superconducting magnets: copper needed
for low resistance path for large currents in case superconductivity lost
– Samarium-Cobalt Permanent Magnets on DS-1
– SR-71 structure: 85% titanium and 15% composite
–Hummer armor – should it be stiff or deflect against a bomb blast
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