Courses:

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Reed-Hill, R. E., and R. Abbaschian. Physical Metallurgy Principles. 3rd ed. Boston: PWS-Kent, 1991. ISBN: 9780534921736.

Additional reading material will be provided.

Course Description

The central point of this course is to provide a physical basis that links the structure of metals with their properties. With this understanding in hand, the concepts of alloy design and microstructural engineering are also discussed, linking processing and thermodynamics to the structure and properties of metals.

Class Meetings

Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00 - 2:30. Most class periods will be lecture, but time will be set aside at the end of every meeting for open discussion.

Web Site

The Web site will be used primarily as a repository for files, including supplementary lecture material, assignments, articles, etc.

Components of Your Grade

Exams

There will be two exams, each of which will take place in class and last for 1.5 hours. The exams will be conceptual and difficult.

Quizzes

There will be two short quizzes in between the major exams. These will take place in class and last for 30 minutes.

Homework

Eight problem sets are planned, to be handed out on Wednesdays and due the following Wednesday in class. The problem sets will likely be more mathematical than conceptual.

Review Assignments

A current research article in physical metallurgy will be distributed, and everybody will write a ~3 page summary and critique of the work. There will be three such assignments over the course of the term.

The relative weighting of these components is to be decided in class on an individual basis.

Note that for all assignments and exams, every problem will be equally weighted (5 points).

Course Policies, Questions and Answers

Q: Will there be a recitation section?
A: None is planned, but if you really want one, speak up. We can negotiate. I am hoping that the weekly class meetings will proceed in a discussion-style format, so please do ask questions.

Q: Will you provide lecture notes?
A: No- lecture notes seem to give people the idea that they don’t need to pay attention in class. I will provide only pictures that I am unable to draw on the blackboard.

Q: What is the policy for attendance?
A: There is none. If you can learn this material without coming to class, bully for you. Please avoid a pattern of coming in late.

Q: What is the policy for late homework?
A: You lose 33% of the full assignment value per day late. Since Psets are due on Wednesday, you can get 66% credit if you turn it in on Thursday, 33% on Friday, nothing thereafter.

Q: What if I try to slip late homework under your door in the middle of the night or send it by email with a back-dated time stamp or some other really clever way to try to circumvent the system?
A: Don't.

Q: What is the distribution of grades you expect to give? Is the class C-centered?
A: There is no set policy here. You are upperclassmen and this is an elective, so presumably you all want to be learning this material. That being the case, I expect to give out a lot of high grades because you are all working so earnestly. I am not afraid, in principle, of giving everybody an A, should everybody earn an A.

Q: I'm really most interested in nanothis and/or biothat; does a course in physical metallurgy have any meaning for me?
A: Don't let the title fool you -- this course is about nothing less than the very fundamentals of processing-structure-property relationships in materials. Although structural metals will often be chosen as a focal point for the discussion, we will also talk about how these principles apply to electronics, biological materials, and nanotechnology. No matter what your interests for the future, the material in this course is guaranteed to be useful to you.