Question

Explain the relationship between metallurgical and materials engineering and other engineering disciplines.

Answer 1

• The Materials Science is evolved from Metallurgy.
• Metallurgy is now considered a part of Materials Engineering.

Metallurgical and Materials Engineering is a core branch of engineering that deals with the study of minerals, their processing and their transformation. The program comprises various aspects of minerals including their mechanical behaviour, physical metallurgy, thermodynamics, kinetics etc. The programme prepares the candidates to deal with the production of various products using different materials and elements, whether they are electrical products, chemical products or simply metals.

Metallurgical & Materials Engineering encompasses three inter-related engineering disciplines: mineral processing, extractive (or process) metallurgy, and materials science and engineering.

Materials engineering:

1. Materials Engineering is An interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various fields of science and engineering.
2. The science investigates the relationship between structure of materials and their properties.
3. It also includes elements of applied physics and chemistry, as well as chemical, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering.
4. New developments such as nanoscience and nanotechnology continue to propel materials science and engineering to the forefront of the studies (at many universities) around the world.

Metallurgical engineering:

1. Metallurgical Engineering is a broad field that studies the physical and chemical behaviour of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds and their alloys.
2. The three major branches of this field are physical metallurgy, chemical and extractive.
3. Physical metallurgy deals with the development of the different metallic alloys that are needed for use in other branches of engineering such as construction, manufacturing, transport, defense and so on. Extractive metallurgy involves extracting metal from ore.
4. Metallurgy deals with chemical properties of metals including uniting of different metals with one another to form alloys.