Courses - Materials Science & Engineering

Course Descriptions

MMAT 307 Solidification of Metals and Alloys
Thermodynamic and kinetic principles of solidification. Control of structure and properties of pure and multicomponent materials through casting and solidification processes. Application of solidification principles to shaped casting, continuous casting, crystal growth and particulate processes.

MMAT 309 Transport Phenomena in Materials Science and Engineering
Quantitative treatment of mass, energy, and momentum transfer will be discussed in the context of materials science and engineering applications. Increasingly complex and open-ended applications will be used to illustrate principles of fluid flow; heat conduction, radiation, and diffusion.

MMAT 310 Mechanical Behavior of Ceramics and Composites
Physical and chemical properties of brittle fracture; strength; toughness; contact damage; microstructural toughening mechanisms; micromechanics; wear and fatigue; initiation of defects and flaws; elevated temperature creep; reliability and lifetime prediction; designing with ceramics and composites.

MMAT 311 Mechanical Properties of Materials
Mechanics of deformation and fracture; dislocation theory; strength of ductile and brittle materials; toughness; strengthening mechanisms; toughening mechanisms; creep mechanisms; fatigue crack initiation and propagation; reliability and lifetime prediction.

MMAT 313 Theory of the Solid State
Modern theory of metals. Review of quantum theory, elementary wave mechanics, the free electron theory of metals, and the elementary band theory of solids. Crystallography, specific heat, dielectrics, magnetism, electrical conductivity.

MMAT 316 Fracture and Fatigue of Materials
High and low cycle fatigue mechanisms and life estimation methods, fracture mechanics applied to ductile and brittle fracture, fatigue crack growth and coatings including considerations of interface fracture mechanics.

MMAT 317 Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Materials
Crystal structures and interatomic forces, lattice vibrations, thermal, acoustic, and optical properties. Semiconductors, dielectric properties, magnetism, and magnetic properties, superconductivity. Device applications.

MMAT 318 Thin Films and Protective Coatings
Anodic and thermal formation of oxide layers; vapor deposition of metals and non-metals; electro-deposition; metalliding. Properties of films and coatings; dependence on impurity levels and environment. Alloy and coating design.

MMAT 320 Investigation of Special Topics
Special courses or individual readings. With a change in topic this course may be repeated for credit.

MMAT 321 Crystallography and Diffraction
Introduction - diffraction of light. Crystal structure, symmetry and space groups. The reciprocal lattice. Diffraction of x-rays, electrons and neutrons. Kinematical diffraction -structure analysis and the effects of imperfections. Dynamical scattering effects. Experimental methods and applications in Materials Science.

MMAT 322 Microstructural Characterization of Materials
Microstructural concepts and crystallography. Diffraction analysis of crystal structure using X-ray and electron beams. Imaging using microscopes: optical, TEM, SEM and ESEM. Chemical microanalysis in electron microscopy: X-ray and electron energy-loss spectrometry. Surface analysis: XPS, AES and SIMS. Introduction to stereology.

MMAT 323 Transmission Electron Microscopy
Electron beam-specimen interactions. Basics of electron microscopes. Diffraction: theory, types of patterns and interpretation. Imaging: diffraction contrast, phase contrast and other techniques. Spectrometry: x-ray microanalysis and electron energy-loss spectrometry.

MMAT 325 Equilibrium Relationships in Multi-Phase Systems
Thermodynamics of phase equilibria and phase diagram prediction for binary, ternary and n-component systems. Interpretation of phase diagram sections and projections. Application of multicomponent phase diagrams to alloy and process design.

MMAT 334 Structure and Defects in Materials
Structure of amorphous and vitreous materials. Crystallography: translation symmetry and lattices, point and space groups, use of the International Tables for Crystallography, examples of simple crystal structures. Defects in materials: point defects, line defects, planar defects, homophase and heterophase interfaces. Distributions of structure and defects: an introduction to microstructure.

MMAT 335 High Temperature Materials
Strength-determining factors in advanced alloys, ceramics and composites. Role of material chemistry and microstructure. High temperature creep and crack growth. Oxidation. Thermomechanical behavior.

MMAT 337 Materials Processing
Principles of powder preparation. Colloidal processing. Powder characterization. Consolidation and sintering of metals and ceramics. Microstructural evolution. Composites and coatings processing. Structure-property relations.

MMAT 343 Corrosion
Mechanisms, characteristics and types of corrosion. Test methods and evaluation of corrosion resistance. Suitability of metals, ceramics, and organic materials in corrosive environments. Oxidation and other high temperature gas-metal reactions.

MMAT 344 Electrode Kinetics Measurements Laboratory
The art and science of electrochemical measure-ments including potentiostatic, galvanostatic and linear polarization; determination of Tafel constants and limiting diffusion currents; electrode preparation and cell design. Applications of these techniques to metal corrosion, etching, electropolishing, electroplating and metallurgical analyses by both experiments and independent student projects.

MMAT 345 Theory of Electrochemical Processes
Theory and measurement of irreversible electrochemical processes at metal electrolyte interfaces. Mixed potential theory. Mass transport phenomena. Apparatus, techniques, and interpretation of experimental measurements. Applications to metallographic etching, phase extraction and electroanalytical techniques. Scientific development of corrosion-resistant alloys.

MMAT 349 Biomaterials
For students with background in physical science and little or no background in biology. Molecular biology. Mineralized tissues. Cardiovascular system. Selected special topics in biological materials.

MMAT 362 Atomistic Computer Simulation of Materials
Application of atomistic computer simulation to the study of structural materials. Classical models of atomic interactions: pair potentials, chemical bonding forces, embedded atom method and angular potentials. Molecular dynamics and Metropolis algorithms. Constraints on dynamics to control temperature, pressure and boundary conditions. Techniques for analyzing simulation results.

MMAT 364 Advanced Composites
Mechanical properties, analysis and modeling of composite materials. The properties treated include stiffness, strength, fracture toughness, fatigue strength and creep resistance as they relate to fiber, whisker, particulate, and laminated composites.

MMAT 366 Alloy Casting Processes
Principles and practices of alloy solidification and casting processes are discussed and applied in the context of sand, investment, permanent mold and die casting; continuous and direct chill casting; electroslag and vacuum arc remelting; crystal growth; rapid solidification; and laser coating.

MMAT 401 Graduate Seminars in Materials Science & Engineering
Presentations by invited guest speakers on topics of current interest in various areas of Materials Science & Engineering.