Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Second Edition [Paperback]

Michael F. Ashby (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0750643579 | ISBN-13: 978-0750643573 | Publication Date: October 4, 1999 | Edition: 2

New materials enable advances in engineering design. This book describes a procedure for material selection in mechanical design, allowing the most suitable materials for a given application to be identified from the full range of materials and section shapes available. A novel approach is adopted not found anywhere else.

Materials are introduced through their properties; materials selection charts (a new development) capture the important features of all materials, allowing rapid retrieval of information and application of selection techniques. Merit indices, combined with charts, allow optimisation of the materials selection process. Sources of material property data are reviewed and approaches to their use are given. Material processing and its influence on the design are discussed. The book closes with chapters on aesthetics and industrial design. Case studies are developed as a method of illustrating the procedure and as a way of developing the ideas further.

This second edition is updated fully throughout with respect to materials developments and properties. There are new sections on materials selections aids, and new case studies are introduced where appropriate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Well presented and clear with lots of other references."

"I found it one of the best books in the area."

Book Description

The leading text for materials selection in engineering --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2 edition (October 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750643579
• ISBN-13: 978-0750643573
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,931,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable!, September 21, 2000

By 

Stephan Stuecklin "thduggie" (Basel, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Second Edition (Paperback)

As a student in Materials Science and Engineering, this book has again and again been a priceless resource. It contains data and references which are clearly presented and precisely commented, and I often catch myself looking up the graphs or the appendices to find the solution to a particular problem. The Case Studies are very instructive and sometimes even amusing to read; they always reinforce a point previously made and give the reader a sense of history for the object in question (telephone, hair dryer, etc.). But the book doesn't stop at purely functional design; it also covers aesthetic aspects with the motto: "Good design works; excellent design also gives pleasure." This is a pleasing book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great information -- several typos, however, June 5, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Second Edition (Paperback)

The graphs and data provide a lot of good information but the book has several typos in key areas which lead to many hours of frustration. Also, I wish the book was offered in hardcover. I appreciate the desire to keep the costs low for the students, but a book like this will be life long resource for working engineers and I don't feel that the book will hold up well over the years with a soft cover.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible of Material Selection, February 14, 2007

By 

Stephen Pomroy (Portage la Prairie, MB) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Third Edition (Paperback)

5 Stars.

Material Selection in Mechanical Design, by Michael Ashby, is a fantastic book on materials and material selection. I would recommend this book to anybody studying or practicing engineering or material science. The insight provided is invaluable.

The text presents a rational, systematic process for selecting materials in new designs or newly modified designs. With this approach, gone are the days of almost randomly selecting a handfull of materials to study based on personal experience (which is woefully limited in all cases) or what materials might "feel" right. This selection process brings us access to a broader range of materials for consideration as well as a previously unseen level of objectivity in our final selection.

This book is well organized and well written, with theory, data tables/charts, and case studies all bundled into one. The presentation is student friendly and the structure/layout is reference friendly.

Also recommended are Michael Ashby's other material science books:

- Engineering Materials 1: An Introduction to Properties, Applications and Design (with DRH Jones)

- Engineering Materials 2: An Introduction to Microstructures, Processing and Design (with DRH Jones)