Department of Mechanical Engineering, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
ME30311 Metals and alloys |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Honours |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: CW 20%, EX 80% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: To give a systematic understanding of some key aspects of the principles of alloy constitution and show their application to the thermal and mechanical treatment of engineering alloys.
Learning Outcomes: Through managing their own learning, the students should be able to identify common types of alloy phase, analyse their characteristics, interpret binary phase diagrams, explain the effects of heat treatment of steels, aluminium and titanium alloys, describe and comment upon the 'shape-memory' process. Skills: Facilitated - intellectual, practical, key. Content: The properties and structure of metals, dislocations and strengthening methods of metals including solid solution strengthening, precipitation hardening, grain size (Hall-Petch) and cold work using high strength alloy steels, aluminium alloys and titanium alloys as specific examples. Solid solutions, intermetallics and phase structure. Phase diagrams of binary alloys, invariant reactions. Equilibrium structures, use of tie lines and the lever rule. Departures from equilibrium, coring, quenching, hardenability, tempering. Shape memory alloys. |