Chapter 3 - Materials
3.1 Introduction
An integral aspect of an engineer’s role is converting energy and raw materials into technology, goods and services required by society. Look around you and pick an object. What materials were needed to make that object, and where did they come from? What processes did they go through to get to the final product? What will happen to the product once it's reached the end of its useful life?
Figure 3.1.1 Processes during the life of a magazine
(Source Carbon Model [see reference 1])
Figure 3.1.1 sourced
from Carbon Model under a Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 United States License
http://carbonmodel.org/lca/
The pie chart below shows the percentage of global C02 emissions by source. The first chart shows that 64% is from energy usage and the second splits this up fairly evenly between industry, building and transport. The last chart is the industry section in more detail, showing that steel, cement, paper, plastic and aluminium are all the biggest contributors to C02 emissions worldwide.
Figure 3.1.2 Global sources of C02
(Source Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open [see reference 2])
Figure 3.1.2 sourced with permission
from Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open. This book is available free to
view online
http://withbotheyesopen.com/index.html
Having covered the sustainability issues surrounding energy, we will now cover material production. This will start by outlining the four main materials that are used by industry and other parts of society – steel, aluminium, plastic and cement. The main uses for each of these materials will be discussed and we will look into how they are produced.
Picture sourced from MIT
Opencourseware under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/39134/1-964Fall-2004/OcwWeb/Civil-and-Environmental-Engineering/1-964Fall-2004/LectureNotes/index.htm