1. To explore and examine the theory of solidification, diffusion, phase transformation in solid.
2. To introduce the Fick's first and second law of diffusion. To show a few typical solutions of second Fick's law. To enable students to know the effects of temperature and structure on diffusion. Atomic mechanism of diffusion.
3. To enable students to know the fundamentals of solidification, including nucleation, growth of pure substance, alloys and eutectics.
4. To introduce the fundamentals of phase transformation in solids including interface in solid, thermodynamics of solid solution, nucleation and growth of preceipitates, kinetic of phase transformation, spinodal transformation and martensite phase transformation.

• Diffusion
  • Fick's first law of diffusion and Fick's second law of diffusion.
  • A few typical solution of second Fick's law including thin film solution.
  • Effect of temperature and defects on diffusion.
  • Atomic mechanism of diffusion including interstitial diffusion and substitutional diffusion.

• Fundamentals of Solidification
  • Brief introduction to the structure of liquid, cluster size of solid in liquid.
  • Homogeneous nucleation, heterogeneous nucleation, rate of nucleation and nucleation time as a function of temperature, TTT curve
  • Application of nucleation theory, refinement of microstructure, formation of metallic glass.
  • Briefly introduction to melting
  • Growth of pure substance: interface structure at atomic and microscopic scales, facet and non-facet interfaces, interface stability of pure substance and growth of interface.
  • Growth of alloy: equilibrium solidification, solidification under conditions of no-diffusion in the solid and diffusional mixing in liquid, and no diffusion in solid and perfect mixing in liquid; constitutional undercooling and zone remelting.
  • Eutectic solidification: classification of eutectic, eutectic interface spacing; competitive growth of dendritic and eutectic phases and coupled zone.
• Phase transformation in Solid.
  • Interface in solid: fully coherent, semicoherent and incoherent interfaces; interfacial energy and strain energy and coherency loss.
  • Binary solution: free energy of ideal solution and regular solution; equilibrium in heterogeneous systems and free energy and binary phase diagrams; influence of interface on equilibrium.
  • Homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation; precipitation growth: precipitate thickening, precipitate coarsening and time dependence of particle mean size.
  • Kinetics of phase transformation and TTT diagram.
  • Spinodal transformation, thermodynamic explanation and uphill diffusion.
  • Martensite transformation: thermodynamic of martensite transformation; crystallography of martensite transformation (Bain model), characteristics of martensite transformation. strengthening of martensitic steel.

1. Phase Transformation in Metals and Alloys, D.A. Porter and K.E. Easter, 2nd Chapman & Hall, London, 1992.

1. Fundamentals of Physical Metallurgy, J.D. Verhoeven, Wiley, New York 1975.
2. Modern Physical Metallurgy, R.E. Smallman, 4th, ed, Butterworth, London, 1985.
3. Physical Metallurgy Principles, R.E. Reed-Hill, 2nd, ed, Van Nostrand, 1973.
4. Physical Metallurgy, P. Haasen, 2nd Cambridge University Press, New York, 1986.
5. Physical Metallurgy, edited by R.W. Cahn and P Haasen, 3rd (1983) and 4th (1996), North-Holland, New York.
6. Fundamentals of Solidification, W. Kurz and D.J. Fisher, 3rd Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, 1989.
7. Solidification Processing, M.C. Flemmings, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1974.
8. Eutectic Solidification Processing, R. Elliott, Butterworth, London, 1983.
9. The Theory of Transformation in Metals and Alloys, J.W. Christian, Pergamon, London, 1965.

After finishing this module you should be able to
1. Understand Fick's first and second law of diffusion. The solution of second law and it application under various conditions and diffusion mechanism.
2. Understand theory of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, and nucleation rate; and TTT curve and its application to glass forming
3. Understand the interface structure at atomic and microscopic scales and its effect on the growth morphology of the phases.
4. Understand the alloy solidification under various conditions. In addition to this, students should understand constitution undercooling and zone melting.
5. Understand classification of eutectics and competitive growth of dendritic and eutectic phases.
6. Understand the fully coherent, semicoherent and incoherent interfaces in solids and their energies.
7. Understand the free energy of ideal and regular solution, equilibrium in heterogeneous systems and the influence of interface on equilibrium.
8. Understand homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, and growth of precipitation. Discuss the kinetics of phase transformation and TTT curve.
9. Understand spinodal transformation and uphill diffusion.
10. Understand Martensite transformation, thermodynamic of martensite transformation, Bain model of crystallography of martensite transformation and characteristics of this transformation.

Introduction | What's New | Staff | Staff Recruitment | Undergraduate
Graduate | Research | Opportunities | Alumni | Relevant sites | Site Map | Main Page