Materials are the basic components of a manufacturing system. The selected material should meet the engineering requirements of the designers, the manufacturing requirements of the manufacturers and the cost requirements of the customers.
Materials are broadly classified into two groups: metals and non-metals. The former group includes ferrous and non-ferrous metals and the latter group is divided into organic and inorganic materials. Important metals include iron, aluminium, copper, zinc, magnesium and lead. Hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen are important non-metals.
Iron is the basic element of ferrous materials.
Non-ferrous materials do not contain iron. Aluminium, copper, zinc, magnesium, nickel ...
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