Topic outline

  • Home page

    Welcome to the home page of the MSE course. The entire course will be performed onsite while the exercise will be performed online. 

    Learning Outcomes

    After the course, the student shall be able:

    • to distinguish and explain terms in materials science
    • to relate material structure to properties
    • to understand the influence of processes on structures
    • to analyze deformation, strengthening, and failure mechanisms.
    • to relate diffusion, precipitation, and phase transformation mechanisms to microstructural changes in materials
    • to understand and use the computational-materials concepts and tools
    • to read materials science literature and journals. 

    Content

    • Material microstructures, properties, processes, and terminology
    • The behavior of materials under the influence of mechanical loading and environment
    • Deformation and failure mechanisms
    • Determination of material properties, their correlation with microstructure, and the correlation of microstructure with processes
    • Sustainability development of materials science and engineering.

    Details on the course content

    This course introduces the fundamentals of materials science and engineering (MSE) to students. The lectures cover the core knowledge and concepts of MSE, which will serve as a starting point for students with various follow-up advanced studies in different study paths. Specific attention, especially in exercise sessions, is paid to the training of using computational software and algorithms in the field of MSE with focuses tailored to the concepts introduced every week. These topics are carefully chosen for the best interest of the students in this major towards the potential impact on either their further curriculum or career developments in the field of MSE or any related majors. Both conceptional and computational weekly assignments are designed for students to master the knowledge and the skills demonstrated during the lecture and exercise sessions. Additional seminars are also arranged during the course, focusing on extending the knowledge out of books and understanding the research and development in MSE-related industries.

    Workload

    • Lectures: 12 x 2h = 24h
    • Exercises: 6 x 2h = 12h
    • Examination: 3 h
    • Independent work: 96 h (roughly evenly distributed to six weeks)
    • Total: 135 h

    Resources 

    William D. Callister, Jr. and David G. Rethwisch, Materials science and engineering: an introduction (8th edition recommended)

    Further reading:

    • R. E. Smallman and A. H. W. Ngan, Physical Metallurgy and Advanced Materials (7th Edition), 2007.
    • R. E. Smallman and A. H. W. Ngan, Modern Physical Metallurgy (8th edition), 2013.

    Software toolkit:

    Schedule 

    • Week 1 (Oct 24 – 30)              Introduction and material structures
    • Week 2 (Oct 31 – Nov 6)        Mechanical properties of metals
    • Week 3 (Nov 7– 13)                Failure of metals and Computational modeling
    • Week 4 (Nov 14– 20)              Diffusion, phase diagram, and phase transformation 
    • Week 5 (Nov 21– 27)              Material processing and ceramics  
    • Week 6 (Nov 28 – Dec 4)        Physical properties of materials and summary 
    • Week 7 (Dec 5)                       Exam