lap 2+3 Report

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MIME 1650 MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING Spring 2020

Introduction to

Materials Science & Engineering – Laboratory

The laboratory portion of MIME 1650 Materials Science & Engineering seeks to give the engineering student a hands-on appreciation of what Material Science is all about. In this portion of the course the student should gain an understanding of material properties and these properties are affected by different processes. The knowledge of these effects is valuable when selecting a material for a part or design. For example, certain applications require a material that will not buckle under stress; others require more strength while others require more ductility. In addition to selecting the right material, engineers must make their design cost effective. There will be seven (7) laboratory exercises spread over the course of the semester. Each student will be required to submit a lab report which will be due one week after the completion of the lab unless otherwise specified. ALL reports must be typed. Failure to do so will result in a rejected report. Details on what is expected from your report are in the Report Requirements section. If there are any questions about a particular lab, please talk to your Teaching Assistant (TA) about your concerns and they will provide the needed help. They can often critique your report upon request. Do not hesitate in asking questions if something is confusing to you as asking questions is an excellent way to learn.

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Laboratory Report Requirements Introduction All engineers and scientists are required to write reports documenting their work. Each organization establishes its own required format. Reports are used for a variety of purposes. First and foremost, it is a historical document of what, when, why and how something was done. A reader of the report should, by the report alone, be able to replicate the experiment. A report is often used by management to determine whether or not a project is meeting expectations. Decisions of where to allocate available resources (such as labor and capitol) are often made based on the written report. Engineers and scientists that communicate well through the written report are in demand by industry. Report Style The report must be clear, concise and complete. A well written report avoids engineering jargon and specialized language. The writer must remember that the reader often does not have the knowledge or background that the writer has. Ideas must be expressed in a logical flow and in complete sentences. Furthermore, the report must be concise. What this means is that the writer should favor simple sentences where possible. Long, flowery sentences with many subordinate clauses and qualifications are not appropriate in an engineering report. On many organizations, the pertinent ideas being reported on must be stated in one page, often called “The Executive Summary.” Regardless of what the organization may require, shorter but complete reports are desired over long reports. A complete report indicates the writer is honestly reporting what happened and why. If a project or experiment failed, the writer should clearly state this and then explain why. The report should be decisive. The report is a historical document of what occurred. Therefore, the report should be written in third person as well as in past tense. Proper English is required throughout the report. Slang words are not understood from generation to generation and may be misinterpreted when a report is read a decade or so after the writing of the report. Since the report is archival, the report must be prepared using word processing software. Hand written reports are not acceptable. Not only is this unprofessional, but it reflects poorly upon the writer. Report Formatting and Presentation The following formatting guidelines must be followed

• Report must be printed on 8 ½ inch x 11 inch (letter size) white paper. • All pages of the report including raw data, appendices and sample calculations should

be numbered with the page number centered or right aligned in the bottom margin (footer).

• Font size should not be smaller than 10 point Times New Roman. • All sections headings should be in bold font. • Report should use double or 1.5 line spacing. • Reports must be stapled in the upper left corner before submission. Stapling of the

report is the author’s responsibility as a stapler will not be provided.

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Report Structure The following report structure is required for all laboratory reports submitted by students in MIME 1650: Materials Science and Engineering – Laboratory. Lab reports will be graded out of 100, with each section weighted as shown.

Title Page 5 points Objective 5 points Abstract 5 points Introduction 10 points Methodology 10 points Procedure 10 points Data 10 points Results 15 points Discussion and Conclusion 15 points References 5 points Appendices 10 points

Title Page The title page will consist of the report title, the names of the author(s) of the report, the laboratory section and the date of the experiment. This will be a single page cover sheet. Objective The objective of the Report should be stated in ONE sentence. Several examples are provided below. “The objective of this report is to describe the automations of the 280-OBI Stamping line at Shiloh Industries.” “The objective of this report is to report the measurements of the sample block taken during Laboratory Exercise One.” “The objective of this report is to investigate the heat treating of AISI 4340 steel.” Abstract The abstract should describe the entire report including significant results. The abstract should not exceed 250 words in length. The Abstract should indicate to the reader what was attempted, what was accomplished and what the results were. Introduction The report introduction should be one or two paragraphs which describe the background material for the report and place the report in context (e.g. why this test is important and what the results of this type of test are used for). It should be interesting to read and should encourage the reader to read the remainder of the report. The material contained in the introduction should be general in nature. The remainder of the report will provide specifics where needed. The main purpose of the introduction is to prepare the reader for what follows in the report.

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Methodology This section provides the reader with a general understanding of the type of experiment which was performed and how it was conducted. The background theory for the experiment should be succinctly discussed. If an analysis method will be used to process the data, it should be described here. This section mostly discusses what method was used for the experiment and the reason why that method is preferred. The length of this section will vary depending on the experiment. Procedure This section describes exactly how the experiments were performed. If necessary, a sketch of the test setup should be provided. Exact equipment (with serial numbers for the specific equipment) used will be described. The order of tasks shall be presented so that any other experimenter should be able to follow the procedure. Long, detailed procedures should be placed in the Appendix and referenced here. Data This section will present the raw data values obtained using the procedure of the previous section. Where the data is lengthy, the raw data is placed in an appendix and referenced here. Actual data recording forms should be placed in the appendix. This section should begin with text describing the data and referring to tables and graphs that contain the actual data values when necessary. This section will consist of only values actually measured. No computations are allowed on the data values. Computations made on data are presented in the next section. Results Results include observations based on the methodology, the procedure and the data. It may consist of computations and presentation of the results in a tabular or graphical form. When the computations involve a long string of computations, the sample computations should be placed in an appendix and referenced in this section. Graphs and Tables The preparation of graphs, figures and tables require that they be clearly labeled and professionally presented. In some cases, this may require that they be presented on a complete page in landscape orientation (i.e. sideways to the normal vertical (portrait) direction). If this is the case, they should be rotated such that the upper right hand corner of the graph, figure or table corresponds to the upper left hand corner of the report. The top of the graph, figure or table will be at the normal left hand margin of the report. Graphs should be plotted using computer software such as Excel, Matlab, Mathcad, etc. Each axis should be labeled with its variable, symbol and appropriate units. An appropriate scale and gridlines should be used. The graph should be labeled with a suitable title. A legend should describe the symbols, line styles on the graph, and units. Gridlines should be numbered according to the scale used. Tables should be treated similarly. Tables should be inserted in the text immediately after they are referenced. Long tables should be placed in an Appendix. Tables should be numbered and

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titled. Each column will be labeled with a short heading, including the units. Where tables run over several pages, the table will have headings on each page. Columns of numbers should be aligned by the decimal point. Columns should be boxed since free form tables are not allowed in the report. Discussion and Conclusion In this section, the writer reports on the conclusions drawn from the experimental work. Conclusions are the important finding determined from the experiment. All statements must be supported by the data and the results. Actual values should be stated or referenced for support. New information not reported on earlier can not be introduced in this section. Any judgments made should pertain directly to the work. For example, a judgment: “The experiment corresponded well to the theory since the data differed at most by 3% from the prediction” is a valid statement to make in this section since it is directly supported by the work. However, “The experiment corresponded well to the theory because the tools used were new” is not valid. In many cases, the writer may feel that additional work needs to be performed on the subject matter of the report. This may be included in a few short statements at the end of this section. References Any resource used as reference for the work should be documented here using standard referencing techniques. Appendices This section should be separated from the main report by a single page with the word “APPENDICES” centered on the page. Each separate appendix should be titled, and labeled by a letter starting with A (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.). Appendices usually consist of materials which are lengthy in nature and would make the report difficult to read if included in the main body of the report. Typical appendices are raw data, sample calculations and long, intricate procedures.