Year I

Objectives

This course presents the fundamentals of materials, including metals, polymers, ceramics and semi-conductors and gives the student an appreciation of the relationship between material properties, such as strength, conductivity, ductility, etc. and the specific material structure. The course includes the following topics:

Syllabus

• Introduction. A review of the different classes of materials together with their basic properties.
  

• Atomic Structure and Interatomic Bonding. The basic structure of the atom.  The electronic configuration of the atom and the periodic table.  The different types of bonds that can exist between atoms, i.e. metallic, ionic, covalent and secondary bonds.
  

• The Structure of Crystalline Materials. Crystalline and non-crystalline materials.  Single crystals and polycrystalline materials.  Crystal structure, lattices and unit cells. Metallic crystal systems including BCC, FCC and HCP.  Density computation.  Crystallographic directions and planes.  Linear and planar densities.
  

• Imperfections in Solids. Point defects, Vacancies and Self-interstitials.  Impurities in solids, solid-solutions. Dislocations, interfacial defects, volume defects etc.
  

• Strengthening Mechanisms. Dislocations and plastic deformation.  Slip systems and twinning.  Dislocation climb, work hardening, solid-solution hardening, effect of grain size.

• Mechanical Properties of Materials. The tensile test and the stress-strain diagram. Hooke's Law, yield, tensile and fracture strength. Anelasticity, Resilience and stiffness. The difference between engineering and true stress and strain. hardness and Impact testing.

• Electrical Properties of Materials. Electronic and ionic conduction. Energy band structure in solids. Electronmobility.  Resistivity. Electrical characteristics of common materials. Semi-conductors.  Intrinsic and extrinsic semi-conduction.  Dielectric behaviour and materials.  Ferroelectricity and   Piezoelectricity.
  

• Thermal Properties of Materials. Heat Capacity, thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and thermal stresses.
  

• Optical Properties of Materials. Light interactions with solids. Atomic and electronic interactions. Refraction, reflection, absorption, transmission, colour, opacity and translucency.  Luminescence and photoconductivity.  Lasers.

• Magnetic Properties of Materials. Diamagnetism and paramagnetism.  Ferromagnetism. Domains and hysteresis. Soft and hard magnets.  Magnetic storage. Superconductivity.

Laboratory Work

Assessment
Coursework - 10% 
Exam - 90%

Reference Texts 

• Callister W.D., Material Science and Engineering, Wiley.
  
• Shackelford James F., Introduction to Materials Science for Engineers, Prentice Hall.