MSE 445/545

 Phase Transformations

Term Offered: Spring
Text(s):

Main text
Phase Transformation in Metals and Alloys, Porter and Easterling
Plus handouts on specific topics.
Supplementary Texts:
Diffusion in Solids, Shewmon
Phase Transformations, Shewmon.
Instructor(s): Professor David Pope, Room 206 LRSM, pope@seas.upenn.edu, 898-9837
Prerequisite(s): MSE 220 and MEAM 210
Grading:  
Course Home Page URL:  
Course Description:

The state of matter is dependent upon temperature, thermal history, and other variables. In this course the science of structural transitions is treated, with the purpose in mind of utilizing them for producing materials with superior properties. The subjects covered include the methods of structural analysis, solidification, solid state transformation, and order-disorder transition.
Course Outline: Introduction to Course
Review of Thermodynamics (Chap 1)
1-component systems: Cp, Gs & Gl; solidification
2-component: Ideal Solution; Regular Solution; Phase Diagrmas
Diffusion (Chap. 2; Shewmon; handouts)
Macro vs. Micro; Fick's 1st Law; 2nd Law, Random Walk; Arrhenius Eq.; Mechanisms in metal, semiconductor, polymer and ionic materials; interdiffusion; Kirkendall Effect; Boltzmann-Matano, depth profiling techniques.
Solidification (Chap. 3 & 4; handouts)
Homogeneous nucleation; surfaces and interfaces; heterogeneous nucleation; polymer crystallization; nucleation rate; planar vs. dendritic interface growth; Gibbs-Thomson effect; dendrite velocity; alloy solidification; zone-refining; constitutional supercooling; solid-solid phase transformation; Jackson-Hunt videos on solidification, spinodal decomposition.
Transformation in the Solid State
Diffusion-controlled transformations.
Interfacial energy-controlled transformations, e.g., transformations far from equilibrium conditions. Nano-scale particles.
Diffusionless transformations.
 


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