Course syllabus
Metals Engineering IMS120/Module B Materials Engineering - fall 2025
Contents and Objectives
Overall Objective
This course comprises both the module B named Metalllic Materials of 5 credit units within the master programme course Materials Engineering as well as the self-standing course Metallic Materials of 7.5 credit units. The theory and contents are the same, but the latter includes an extended project assignment of 2.5 credit units.
The aim of the course is to make sure that the participants have acquired relevant in-depth knowledge regarding engineering metals for advanced reasoning and assessment of the most common alloys used in society.
The focus is placed on the correlation between microstructure, processing/manufacture and the resulting properties of engineering metals when used in different automotive and mechanical engineering applications. Issues covered are microstructure control and strengthening of metals (ferrous and non-ferrous) including basics behind strengthening of metals and strengthening mechanisms; processing and heat treatment including use of phase diagrams and TTT/CCT diagrams, etc.; hardening, residual stresses, etc.; certain fundamentals of brittleness, toughness and ductility; deformation behavior; certain fundamentals of environmental impact on materials with respect to oxidation/corrosion. Materials covered are low-alloy and high strength steels, tool steels, stainless steels, superalloys, titanium alloys, cast iron, copper alloys, aluminum alloys etc.
Learning Goals
After completing this course, you should be able to:
- Describe and understand the basic principles for microstructure design of engineering metals on an advanced level
- Apply this knowledge in various situations of potential importance in practical engineering
- Apply principles for different processes in order to create specific microstructure and properties
- Apply basic corrosion and oxidation mechanisms for assessing the behaviour of engineering metals in various applications
- Describe typical properties for different classes of engineering metals with particular emphasis on the role of microstructure and how this can be achieved
Important Issues
An important part in the course is to acquire understanding how material properties are affected by different manufacturing processes, heat treatment protocols and conditions for use in applications. This includes, for example, the impact of high and low temperatures, stress levels and strain rates. The course connects in particular to subject areas adjacent to materials technology such as solid mechanics, machine design and manufacturing technology.
In the course we also cover the application of optical microscopy and introduction to materials and process modelling including software tools for thermodynamic and kinetics-based tools as Thermo-Calc and JMatPro. With JMatPro, for example, advanced prediction and modelling of phase constitution and properties of steel, cast iron, aluminium alloys and nickel-base alloys can be done.
Note that the labs are NOT designed to give you training in the laboratory. They should be viewed more as means of introducing specific and important tools in modern materials technology. This is why we have selected i) a specific lab on optical microscopy to show how assessment involving image processing may work out, ii) to have a tutored class on heat treatment of steel to develop your skills in assessing microstructure-property- processing relationships from micrographs and facts, iii) a specific demonstration on prediction of properties and phases of materials using software including JMatPro and Thermo- Calc.
Organisation
The course includes a lecture series (see below), compulsory practical classes and an assignment. The tutors involved in the course are as follows.
Examiner:
Prof. Emmy Yu Cao, phone: 7721252, e-mail: yu.cao@chalmers.se
Others involved:
Fardan Jabir Hussain e-mail: fardan@chalmers.se
Nils Nordström nils.nordstrom@chalmers.se
Dawei Zhou daweiz@chalmers.se
The lecture schedule may be changed. Changes will then normally be announced latest the week before.
Student administration
For questions regarding reporting of results for the course, etc, please contact: Hanije Safakar, hanije@chalmers.se.
Student representatives
To be announced
The practical classes
The practical classes are compulsory and they will include:
- Phase constitution, heat treatment and properties of alloys for engineering applications: Small group (max 5 participants) tutored practical class where a number of specific problems are addressed by using the software JMatPro and Thermo-Calc (2 hours per group). There can be a maximum of 5 students per group. This event is booked via the course webpage.
- Optical microscopy of cast Al-alloy - the aim of the lab is to demonstrate how modern analytical optical microscopy can be applied to study and assess the microstructure of a metallic material with relevance to industrial application. Small group of (max 5 participants) will be tutored. Participant shall write her/his own short report according to instructions (see lab instruction document) that will be reviewed and finally This event is booked via the course webpage.
Group assignment
Participating in group assignment is compulsory only for students following the self-standing course of 7.5 credit units. You will form a group of maximum 5 participants. Each group will have its own scientific/technical topic related to the contents of the course. The topic will be among some pre-defined topics of industrial/technical relevance (separate list). The result of the group assignment should be communicated by a written report of maximum 4 pages and oral presentation as well as power point presentation. There will be no grading, only pass/fail.
Examination
For Module B Metallic Materials:
Final written exam on 29 Oct. at 8.30. No aids allowed, only approved calculator.
For the self-standing course Metallic Materials:
Final written exam on 30 Oct at 14.00. No aids allowed, only approved calculator.
Course literature
The lecture hand-outs (pdf-format) will be provided only for course participants.
Via Canvas you will find downloadable documents for the practical classes mentioned and different sets of problems for the problem-solving events as well as other text documents. Only students being registered for the course will have access to these documents.
The e-sources behind the course are:
MAIN SOURCE
- Handbook of Mechanical Alloy Design, M. Totten, L. Xie, K. Funatani, CRC Press (Print ISBN: 978-0-8247-4308-6), source: CRC Press
OTHER SOURCES
- Handbook of Metallurgical Process Design, Xie, K. Funatani, G.E. Totten (Print ISBN: 978-0-8247-4106-8), Source: CRC Press.
- Steel Heat Treatment – Metallurgy and Technologies, E. Totten (Print ISBN: 978- 0-8493-8455-4), Source: CRC Press.
- Mechanical Properties of Engineering Materials, Soboyejo, (Print ISBN: 978- 8247-8900-8), Source: CRC Press.
- Physical Metallurgy and Advanced Materials, E. Smallman, A.H.W. Ngan, Elsevier Ltd. (Print ISBN: 978-0-7506-6906-1), source: Science Direct
- Engineering Materials Science, Ohring, Elsevier Ltd (Print ISBN: 978-0-12-524995-9), source: Science Direct
Schedule
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The enclosed schedule (next page) is preliminary and may be revised depending on circumstances. Updated information will be communicated via the course webpage. Acronyms: L = Lecture, E = Problem solving, P = practice |
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