Phase transformations
5 points * 26 lectures, 26 laboratory hours and tutorials * First semester * Clayton * Corequisites: MTE2511
Introductory thermodynamics; laws of thermodynamics with reference to condensed systems, entropy and equilibrium, Gibbs free energy; solutions, partial molar quantities, activity; ideal solutions, entropy of mixing, non-ideal solutions, interaction energies. Thermally activated processes: Boltzmann's distribution; activation energy; diffusion in solids; Fick's laws; solution of diffusion problems; the mechanism of diffusion; diffusion in solutions, surface diffusion, diffusion in polymers. Phase equilibria: the phase rule, phase diagrams for single component systems; free energy diagrams, binary phase diagrams, positive deviations from ideality and miscibility gap, phase separation; negative deviations from ideality and ordering; three-phase equilibria, eutectic and eutectoid reactions, peritectic and peritectoid reactions; intermediate phases; complex phase diagrams. Introduction to phase transformations: homogeneous nucleation; nucleation of crystals from the melt; heterogeneous nucleation; concept of surface energy, thermodynamics of surfaces; surface effects; temperature dependence of nucleation rate; nucleation in the solid state. Kinetics of phase transformations: transformation rates; time-temperature-transformation curves, continuous cooling curves; Avrami equation; kinetics of crystallisation, glass formation; non-equilibrium microstructures in the solid state (eg bainite and martensite in steels).
Prescribed text
Porter D A and Easterling K E Phase transformations in metals and alloys VNR, 1981