ABSTRACT
Materials science and technology is a major field of study, still rapidly developing, and clearly a book such as this one cannot and should not try to address it in great breadth or depth. Yet, it is not possible to design and build any physical structure without influence from its materials’ properties. Choice of materials can be a major factor in the success or otherwise of design ideas for precision engineering systems. The approach will be to provide a brief and general exploration of how options for materials choices affect high-precision mechanical systems. Properties that particularly influence ultra-precision devices, miniature mechanisms and so on are considered, noting that they sometimes differ from those governing other, less demanding applications. Graphically oriented methods for data visualisation that help to systematise materials selection processes are used to explore classes of materials that might satisfy the constraints presented by typical precision engineering applications. The higher value associated with precision enables speculation about the relative merits of a design if access to more esoteric materials became economic. Readers of this chapter should gain an insight into the options available to designers and why or when they might be effective choices, sufficient to enable effective discussions of the 520issues with materials specialists. In other words, the chapter offers not a ‘scholarly review’ of ultimate performance or limiting applications, but rather seeks to provide guidance of where to start the selection process.
