Solid State Phase Transformations in Metallic Materials

Catalog description

Metallic material systems or alloys are used across a wide range of applications. In order to obtain the desired properties, these materials are subjected to a range of thermo-mechanical processing steps and post-processing heat treatments which drive phase transformations while the material is in the solid state. The mechanisms of these solid-state phase transformations involve a wide range of fundamental materials science concepts, including crystallography, nucleation, grain growth, and diffusion. Practitioners must have knowledge across a range of materials disciplines, including thermodynamics, kinetics, and crystallography, in order to synthesize and capture the complex processes occurring over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Knowledge of these fundamental concepts along with their interactions over a range of length scales is applicable across a range of conventional and emerging materials processing fields, from primary steelmaking through heat treatment of nickel and aluminum-base alloys through the additive manufacturing of a wide range of advanced materials. In this course, a comprehensive study of solid state phase transformations in metallic materials will be undertaken. Beginning with the underlying crystal structures prominent in common alloy systems, the role of diffusion and nucleation and grain growth will be undertaken to describe the early stages of phase transformations. The resulting interfaces between different phases will be investigated along with the orientation relationships and the development of equilibrium precipitate morphologies. Building on solid state nucleation theory, microstructural development and precipitation and growth of secondary phases in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions will be studied, to include common invariant transformations as well as spinodal decomposition, order-disorder transformations, and the formation of bainite and martensite. These fundamental materials processes will then be investigated for conditions prevalent in advanced manufacturing processes and correlated with advanced and emerging characterization tools.