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515.401 - Structure and Properties of Materials Course Homepage

Instructor Information

Timothy Foecke

Email: tfoecke@nist.gov
Work Phone: (301) 975-6592
Home Phone: (301) 414-0075

Dr. Foecke is a Staff Metallurgist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he is Director of the NIST Sheet Metal Forming Center.  His principal interests are mechanical properties of materials, failure analysis, forensics and historical metallurgy.  He has worked extensively on high-profile failures, including the collapse analysis of the World Trade Center, analysis of the sinking of the RMS Titanic (including several television programs, expeditions and a book - "What Really Sank the Titanic (Feb 2008)), preservation modeling of the wreck of the USS Arizona, and has consulted on the wrecks of the CSS Hunley and USS Monitor.  He received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1991.

Course Information

Course Description

Topics include types of materials, bonding in solids, basic crystallography, crystal structures, tensor properties of materials, diffraction methods, crystal defects, amorphous materials.

Course Goal

Development of a fundamental understanding of the interplay of bonding, structure and properties in all classes of materials.  I use tons of real-world examples to develop in students a fundamental understanding.  I am not interested in having students crunch numbers excessively, but to understand why you crunch certain numbers to discover certain things.

Course Objectives

  • How bonding in materials dictate crystalline and non-crystalline microstructures.  Crystallography and diffraction analysis.  Defect structures.
  • An in-depth look at properties and microstructures of metals, ceramics, metalloids, intermetallics, nanomaterials, amorphous metals,  and polymers and how defect mechanisms produce mechanical and other behaviors..
  • Analysis of various processing methods and their resulting microstructures.
  • A thorough analysis of various structural and chemical analysis techniques for bulk and surface materials, including diffraction, electron and probe microscopies, and various thermal and electromagnetic spectroscopies.

When This Course is Typically Offered

This course is typically offered evenings, midweek, in the fall at the Dorsey Cente

Syllabus

Topics Covered

  • Atomic structure
  • Bonding in Solids
  • Crystal Structures and Crystallography
  • Diffraction
  • Defect Structures
  • Metals and Metallic Microstructures
  • Metallic Behaviour
  • Ceramics
  • Intermetallics and Metalloids
  • Polymers
  • Composites
  • Nanomaterials and Amorphous Metals
  • Structural and Chemical Characterization Techniques
  • Special Topics and "Tales of the Wierd"

Student Assessment Criteria

Homework and Class participation 15%
First Exam 25%
Second Exam 25%
Final 35%

Exams are in class, open notes and book.  I test comprehension of concepts, not whether you can remember formulas, values and can crunch numbers.

Computer and Technical Requirements

Introductory physics, chemistry background required

Participation Expectations

I hate teaching stenographers - I expect questions, comments and input.

Textbooks

Textbook information for this course is available online through the MBS Direct Virtual Bookstore.

Course Notes

There are notes for this course.

Final Words from the Instructor

Come find out what Liquidmetal is, and why it's so incredibly useful.

(Last Modified: 07-22-2008 at 11:07:57 AM)