Emerging Engineering Materials

Book excerpt: From the Author's Preface The rapid advances in Materials Science and Engineering . . . have convinced many that the design, production and use of advanced materials will shape future manufacturing industries. Competitive advantage within entire industries is shaped by the quality of the materials available to the manufacturers; the early availability of a new material can be leveraged manyfold. In addition, advanced materials or advanced materials processing can signal the birth or death of entire industries, and access to higher quality and lower cost material has permitted some countries to obtain market dominance in several key industries. Much of the new strategy entails harnessing the potential of innovative technology, that is, going back to the nano and molecular states of materials and new, effective ways to create, process, and eventually use them. Rather than being concerned with a relatively small number of generic materials, each possessing a broad range of uses, the materials sector is increasingly concerned with tailoring a growing list of ever more specialized materials for narrow niche applications. New products with better growth prospects such as high-performance alloys, composites, laminates, and a variety of coatings have been emphasized. Materials firms also have sought ways to overcome the weaknesses of ceramics and fully exploit their formidable strengths. "Functional materials" that do more than support structures have been developed for use in sophisticated electronic, optical, magnetic, and biotech applications. This book will . . . show what materials will be available in the next decade or two, in addition to those currently available and their effect on material design, start-up, and production processes.