Metal engineering is vital in producing the majority of metal tools and objects that we see throughout day to day life. Metal pressing results in the production of everything from silverware to yard and hand tools, scientific and medical instruments, parts for computers, appliances in your home, and many other intricately designed products.
The Evolution of Metal Engineering
Metal engineering is the mastery of the processes involved in fabricating metal. Technical methods for doing this date as far back as ancient Egypt and Grecian times when metal pressers were discovering various new methods in order to creating weapons and tools out of metal. The processes long ago involved the application of heat or cold to metal sheets while applying force in order to create a desired shape.
Today, the processes involved in metal engineering do not stray far from these basic techniques, but they have evolved through technological advancements which have taken form through the fields of metal engineering. Metallurgical engineers can find employment in a wide range of different industries today. Each industry is focused on producing, refining, manufacturing, and distributing any variety of products or parts made possible through the understanding of metal.
The Basics of Metallurgy
A metallurgical engineer is someone who is technically trained to solve issues with design and development processes of both practical and technological natures. The ability to apply a range of acquired scientific knowledge in order to solve these issues is vital.
This branch of engineering deals solely with metallic elements and inter-metallic compounds. The focus is on their physical and chemical behaviors The three main branches of metallurgic engineering are:
* Physical metallurgy focuses on the development of metallic alloys. The alloys developed through the use of this process are utilized by a wide range of industrious for many different purposes.
* Extractive metallurgy is focused on extracting metals from their ore. This branch is a combination of physical metallurgy and mineral processing.
* Mineral processing is the third branch which focuses on collecting various mineral products from the crust of the Earth to be used for various purposes.
Common and Important Metals
Some of the most commonly studied metals in the field of metal engineering are aluminum, titanium, copper, and nickel. These metals are often experimented with in various ways. Engineers use these metals to create important alloys by mixing them with different metallic compounds. This requires a wealth of knowledge in metallurgic engineering as each of the compounds have different characteristics and properties from one another which affect the outcome of the combination. The creation of new alloys is very important in order to meet a number of different requirements and criteria in the industry of metal fabrication.
