Offered Every Fall


Credit Hours: 3-0-3
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in engineering or related discipline.
Catalog Description: Introduction to the multiscale structure effects on material properties. For MSE students, this course will prepare students for future in-depth courses. For non-MSE students, the course will provide a background in materials and may serve as part of the program of study for a minor in materials. Crosslisted with PTFE and MSE 6796.
Textbooks: None
Goals: Teach structure-property relationships through a series of case studies. Each topic will be introduced by description of a selected case where the structure strongly affects the topic property. After describing the case, underlying principles will be identified, analyzed and generalized. Other related applications will be referenced. These applications and perhaps some of the cases within a topic can be assigned as independent study. Approximately 14 cases will be presented in class.
Topics:
  1. Mechanical Properties
    1. Elastic deformation
      1. Case 1:  Young's modulus in simple metals and intermetallics; crystal structure and bonding
      2. Case 2:  Polymer fibers (Kevlar); molecular orientation; crystallization
      3. Case 3:  Elastomers
    2. Plastic Deformation/Creep
      1. Case 1:  Yield in metals
      2. Case 2:  Viscoelasticity in polymers and glasses
    3. Fracture/Fatigue
      1. Case 1:  Strength and toughness of sintered silicon nitride
      2. Case 2:  Fatigue crack growth in aluminum alloys
  2. Thermal Properties
    1. Case 1:  Carbon and graphite fibers; microstructure vs. thermal expansion and conductivity
    2. Case 2:  Thermoelectric materials; trade-offs in thermal and electrical conductivity
  3. Electrical Properties
    1. Case 1:  Conduction in doped polyacetylene polymers; molecular structure and electron mobility
    2. Case 2:  Zirconium oxide; defect structure and ionic conduction
  4. Optical Properties
    1. Case 1:  Infrared transparency in chalcogenide glasses
    2. Case 2:  Optical fiber-composition and refractive index
  5. Magnetic Properties
    1. Case 1:  Structure-property correlations in ferrites