/r/materials
Reddit for Materials Science and Engineering topics
Materials science - an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry. With significant media attention focused on nanoscience and nanotechnology in recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities. It is also an important part of forensic engineering and failure analysis. Materials science also deals with fundamental properties and characteristics of materials.
Related subreddits:
/r/materials
Are concrete roads really better than asphalt?
You wouldn't know any sealant with a shore hardness under 30 that's also very sticky?
Im using white silicone, but the bloody thing isn't sticking very well, it's easily dislodged at the sticking/attachment point
Hello, everyone I’m looking for some assistance with a project of mine. I am looking for a waterproof, abrasion resistant, flexible and durable material with high tensile strength. It’s going to be handled regularly with bare hands so looking for something that is easy to grip and handle.
Right now my top contender is a solid core silicone cord, about 10mm thick. I haven’t had a chance to see this material in person so I am unsure about it. I ordered a rubber cord in similar thickness but it wasn’t “sealed” and chunks/gouges could easily be taken out of the material. Maybe some kind of sealant can be added to something like this?
Was looking for all your smart brains to brainstorm and potentially help me come up with a better material. Appreciate the help!
I'm currently studying for my MEng in Materials Science and Engineering in my 3rd year and trying to decide what to do for my thesis in my final year. I wondered if anyone had any advice about advantages/disadvantages of going into certain sectors. Sectors I'm interested in are nuclear, corrosion, semiconductors, metallurgy, composites ( Ik that what I do for my thesis will not necessarily determine where I can get a job but it would be nice to get going in the right direction.)
TIA
Hi there fellow material nerds
I’m an artist and I do a lot of electroforming with copper. When stuff comes out of the tank it’s kinda shiny and a bit pink. (Upper right corner of the frame)
It will turn a soft brown naturally (face on left) overtime - but I’d like to try something that could accelerate the process. I know there are many commercial patinas out there. But they tend to be rather unpleasant to chemicals and require ventilation /respirators etc.
What I’m looking for is something without vocs and easily available (salt/ h202/ bleach/acid) etc that I could submerge the pieces in and approximate the natural brown patina.
Submerging rather than spraying on is important as it needs to be evenly applied to undercuts. I’d also consider bagging it up and fuming though my experiences doing that with ammonia left a bad taste in my mouth. Ahem. Thanks!
Hi, sorry in advance for asking so many questions on this subreddit! As a high school senior, I just wanted to ask for your take on which country might have the best opportunities for exposing me to the world of semiconductors, so that I can try to study abroad there during my time as an undergrad. I know for the most part, study abroad programs vary from university to university, but I couldn’t really find any info about semiconductors in particular for study abroad programs at the schools I got into. Any general input about this, no matter how specific, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hello everyone. Hope you all are doing well. This could be a long one so bear with me.
So I'm a senior physics student about to graduate in 5 weeks. And due to my research work in Materials science and applications I fell in love with the field and applied to Masters in MSE.
Luckily I got accepted in a good program but here's were I have questions. What am I missing course wise when transitioning between fields. What are some software programs used in the field. And more technical questions related to the major switch.
In my 3 year undergraduate journey I learned the following:
thanks to solid-state and stat mech I learned all there is on metals and their properties on a theoretical level (we even delved into superconductivity briefly)
from my research work. I studied extensively nanoparticles and properties. Along with most characterization techniques (XRD,SEM/EDX,XPS,FTIR and the list goes on)
I studied briefly organic chemistry with a focus on polymers (the aim was to create Nanoparticles-Polymers composites)
and as extra work, I independently studied Materials Science and engineering 1. I'm guessing it's the prerequisite to the course Advanced MSE.
With all that being said. I still feel under-qualified when it comes to the "Engineering" part of the degree as I have no prior experience with engineering in general. And as another person commented on a previous post. The graduate degree in MSE contain a 9 month compulsory work experience (industrial work). I comes from an academia background with no internships and experience in the industrial work field, I feel like my chances are slim.
When it comes to software. I meant what kind of programs do you MSE people use? Like in Chemical engineering the use Aspin as a simulation program. Is their anything similar I need to know about before starting my masters?,also any required programming language I need to learn beforehand?
What do recruiters expect of interns. Will they train us from scratch, or are there some technical skills that I'm supposed to have?
I'm ready to do any learning before my Masters and trying to be as prepared as possible so shoot your advice.
Sorry for the long post, Cheers.
Hello everyone, hope you're all doing well. I'm a high school senior getting ready to go to college, and I just wanted to ask some questions about the combination of majoring in Materials Science and minoring in Electrical Engineering. For context, I'm really interested in the semiconductor side of Materials Science and as of now, would love to learn more about them making/working on them part of my career. Here are the questions:
Would it be wise to pursue this major/minor combo given the fact that engineering is known to be a difficult subject?
Would doing this combo look beneficial to interviewers?
Would doing this combo help me to learn more about semiconductors than just majoring in Materials Science?
Just in case I decide that semiconductors aren't for me later down the line, what are some other overlapping concepts/things between the worlds of Materials Science and Electrical Engineering to your knowledge?
Would pursuing this combo help with getting involved with Quantum Computing?
Any input on these questions would be greatly appreciated! If I have any more inquiries, I'll post them down in the comments. Thank you! :)
Hey everyone, I’m a recent graduate in materials engineering and have my first interview for SpaceX coming up. The position is for materials engineer on the starship in Brownsville. I was wondering if anyone in here has gone through this process and has any tips on how to prepare or what to expect. Thanks!
I'm a software engineer & have been thinking about starting a business in manufacturing as a long looong term goal. I discovered this field (at an obviously superficial level) last year through the "stuff matters" & "liquid matters" books. I realize that most people (including myself in software) have experience only from the employee side, but what advice might you give to someone who's technical and interested in getting into this field as a hobbyist with the hopes of making a business in the future? I have no idea what the ins and outs are, trends, what the job looks like on a day to day basis.
Any books, videos, courses or general advice on how I might get into this for the purposes of creating something for venture? I realize I'm being a bit vague, but that's on purpose, I can see myself getting into any materials specialty if the knowledge books is out there to learn. thanks in advance.
Hi, for a project I'm doing I need to fill a box with materials that resembles sand, clay and dirt and the likes. It is important that this 'soil' is as lightweight as possible. What would you suggest I use?
Thank you!
I am an undergraduate in MSE and I have a project in computational material science. I really like this field and it’s the field I going in the future. So let’s get to the point, I would like some suggestions for the project which would be fun doing it, it will help me to understand the field more, make me use programs that people use in industry’s ( LAMMPS,ASAP,GPAW and etc.) and lastly make me write some code aswell (c++: also bonus question, is c++ useful in the field?.) Any suggestions welcomed !
Thank you in advance
I wanted to gain information on the pay scales of materials engineers in different countries. I am considering switching to CS because materials engineering is essentially non-existent in pakistan whereas CS is booming. Since i am also interested in metallurgy so I am also considering going to an Asian country on Master's scholarship but it comes with the downside of language barrier and uncertain future all over again. Now, i am confused between these two options and to make final decision, i wanted to compare the job prospects, growth potential and salary ranges of both of these fields in different countries to make a final decision.
Kind of a dumb question, but just curious about peoples' thoughts. I am a materials engineering student who loves materials, but also loves living in big cities where I can walk or take a metro/tram to work. So much so that it takes priority over basically everything else when considering a job.
Given how common materials jobs are in manufacturing settings in small towns, have I kind of screwed myself? Do people have any recommendations for industries to focus on where I could incorporate both materials and big walkable cities? Or is my best bet to stay in academia if I want to achieve this?
I mostly apply for jobs in Canada and the EU since those are places I have the right to work.
So this morning, I dropped my phone (Sony Xperia 1 IV), and the glass back plate cracked. Very sad. Oh well, I'm planning to replace it with a metal plate, probably 1-2 mm thickness, lasercut for the camera cut out. This phone is known for thermal throttling and heats up a lot during intense use and the plate will act as a heat sink, I might also stick an actual heatsink to the plate. What would bet the best material for this purpose? I know that I'll be sacrificing wireless charging.
I'm thinking of aluminium or copper.
To my knowledge, they're both good conductors. Aluminium would be easier as I have parameters for the the lasercutter already and less prone to oxidising.
Is copper better than aluminium, enough difference for me to set and try to find the cutting parameters for it. Is it easier to corrode?
I'll insulate some of the pcb so that there's no short circuit, and use thermal glue on some parts to stick it on.
Open to recommendation for other materials as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thank you.
I got accepted to 5 schools for Ms Material Sci.
Any recommendations or opinions? Currently my top 2 choices are Berkeley or CMU.
Thanks!
I know this wouldn’t be the channel to use but does anyone know what material this is, I thought it might have bean reptile skin but I don’t know. It feels like leather and feels a little rubbery.
Hey, how are you? I started as a leader of bodywork and aerodynamics a year ago in a fsae team that is starting out. I was able to make the fiberglass body but there is not enough budget to make the wings
I'm looking for ideas and advice on materials to make them. I am considering the use polypropylene since its cheap, easy to get and good combination of strength and lightness.
Does anyone have experience working with polypropylene or do you know a good manual for handling and molding? Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you!!
I am in search for silicone sheets that function as analog for human skin tissue. My research concluded that I would need silicone sheets of a specific shore hardness for mechanical stretch testing.
I would like to follow the recipe of a study that showed good success in mimicking the biomechanics:
"This composition was named “90-10”, meaning 90 wt % of the two-part elastomer with a hardness of 30 A (45 wt % of part A and 45 wt % of part B), and 10 wt % of the two-part elastomer with a hardness of 00-10 (5 wt % of part A and 5 wt % of part B)."
- Biomechanical Modeling of Human Skin Tissue Surrogates (Chanda. 2018.)
After looking through different products I was able to find the Ecoflex™ 00-30 and Ecoflex™ 00-10 which would be similar to the materials used in the study.
Does someone have experience with casking silicone and combining multiple solutions?
I'd appreciate any advice and recommendations.
Thank you in advance!
Hello
So basically I studied mechatronics engineering
i do not have a chemistry background but in the current company i managed to incorporate polymer based technologies into consumer products and push to market.
the thing is i do not have an in-depth knowledge of polymers - in the sense i do not know how to make it or the mathematics/chemical mixing needed to make something but what im good at is taking an off the shelf research (available through publications), coordinate with the researcher - understand the chemical behavior of said chemistry (say a shape memory polymer), find an application to incorporate it to a consumer product - fine tune it while collaborating with him and push it to market.
i do the same for any new material (smart material) i find through research papers
is the above something that is unique to the company im working or is this normal overseas?
because i want to go oversease one day and im wondering where i will fit because im not a chemist or a chemical engineer - i just know the process, application and knowhow needed to make something commercially viable
im in sri lanka btw
I'm in 12th grade and just got some college decisions back. My top two choices are probably Berkeley or Cornell, and I was curious if any of you guys could give some input for the MSE programs/resources. Georgia Tech, UCSB, and UIUC are also options but I'm definitely leaning toward the two that I mentioned first.
Does anyone have experience with nzvi I’m currently doing by bachelors thesis and I’m feeling kind of lost and need someone who can answer my questions
I'm not really sure if this is off topic or not. But could someone send me or help me find the pdf for
a textbook called Synthesis of inorganic materials 4th ed.
amazon link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/3527344578?tag=textbooks0ca2-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
WorldCat: https://search.worldcat.org/title/1124427697
Help a undergraduate out, it will be really appreciated.
Hey all!
I'm currently studying MSE for my undergrad. I'm debating whether to take a CS minor, so I'm here to ask your opinions!
Context: Taking a CS minor would mean I would get my BSE and Master's in 5 years compared to 4 years of MSE and Nanotech Masters. It would also most likely drag down my GPA. I also already know how to program (Python, R, some front-end), but not advanced data structures or more difficult algos.
Do you think that:
Thanks!
Hello fellow engineers and scientists, I am currently in my last year in a masters in environmental engineering program, and I just wanted to inquire whether I can undertake a masters in Material science and engineering without taking a bachelors. I'm asking this because most universities specify that a physics degree, or something related to material science is required. I don't think environmental engineering is very related to material engineering/ science apart from a few physics, mathematical analysis and chemistry courses I took during my second year in the bachelor program.
I did my bachelors in chemistry and am hoping to start my masters in mat sci and eng in September. Just wondering what jobs you guys have and what background did you come from?