Basic material characteristics
Metal alloy Polymer Composite
High strength, high
stiffness, ductile,
elastic, plastic, large
diversity, isotropic,
recycling, melting,
cheap
Low strength, low
stiffness, ductile (T),
elastic,plastic, large
diversity, isotropic, low
viscosity, high viscosity,
cheap
Highstrength, high
stiffness, brittle, elastic,
large diversity,
anisotropic, expensive
Note: keywords are relative; and situation dependent
-Most keywords are (in)directly related to manufacturing
-Other keywords e.g. related to physical or chemical behaviour:
Electrical, physical or magnetic properties; environmental, etc..
41