Elements of Material Engineering

Catalog description

Structure and imperfections in engineered materials; their influence on properties, behavior, and processing. Applications of metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. E SC 414M Elements of Material Engineering (3) This course is a junior-level, writing-intensive engineering science course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of materials science and engineering. In the early part of this honors course, structure property relationships in materials are explored. The student will examine how atomic structure and bonding influence engineering properties such as strength and electrical properties Next, solidification, strengthening mechanisms, and phase diagrams for some common engineering materials are discussed to further examine structure property relationships and to provide the basis for the study of more complex materials The second half of the course introduces properties and attributes of each of the major classes of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites) to acquaint the student with the wide array of material properties and choices available for design. Next, electrical, optical, and thermal properties of the various classes of materials are introduced Finally, the course closes with an introduction to the topics of materials selection and design Throughout the course, integrated writing assignments allow the student to explore the properties of a specific material or materials process in detail and gain insight the design process.