• Modelling approaches to microstructure and properties - regression, Monte Carlo, neutral net, cellular automata, FE and analytical.
• Overall transformation rate behaviour (JMAK) description.
• Driving forces for grain size control during cold working and annealing processes.
• Description of recovery and recrystallisation processes during annealing of cold deformed metallic alloys, including nucleation, grain boundary mobility, texture and their dependence on composition / processing parameter combinations.
• Description of crystallographic texture, its measurement and its effects on properties (mechanical and physical).
• Examples of control of microstructure in metallic and ceramic systems for isothermal processing steps - drawable sheet steels, aluminium canstock, transformer steels, isothermal sintering of ceramic compacts (monolithic and composite) - and their effects on properties.
• CCT behaviour, its relation to TTT diagrams and its dependence on composition, temperature and prior state
• Examples of control of microstructure during isothermal and continuous cooling situations e.g. HSLA and multi-phase steels.
• Driving forces for solid-state sintering of crystalline and amorphous powders at the macro, micro and atomic scale.
• Description of the stages of sintering and a quantitative treatment of the initial stage of sintering using the 2 sphere model approach to ascertain the key sintering variables.
• Dependence of the sintering densification rate on temperature, particle size and time in the context of the different solid-state mass transport mechanisms.
• Normal and abnormal grain growth in ceramics at elevated temperatures and models of the sintering behaviour of ‘real’ particle systems, e.g. Ashby sintering diagram.
• Cement composition and microstructure development during manufacture and subsequent use (including hydration chemistry) and their effects on cement properties, using OPC as the primary example cement.
• Requirements of a ceramic refractory in terms of its properties, microstructure and behaviour at elevated temperature.
• Basis for and the use of the different thermal shock resistance R parameters, including the effects of material microstructure and behaviour in terms of crack initiation versus propagation when determining the applicability of the different R parameters.

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

• Define a desired microstructure from a mix of specified properties.
• Predict microstructure from composition and thermomechanical history in metallic systems and vice versa including the use of commercial modelling software.
• Quantitatively describe the development of microstructure in a range of crystalline materials.
• Describe the relationship between microstructure and a range of mechanical and physical properties and define microstructures that will achieve a specified mix of properties.
• Specify viable combinations of materials and processing routes to achieve a specified microstructure and mix of properties, including grain size, phase balance, texture, strength, toughness, formability and physical properties.
• Explain methods of representing transformation behaviour - TTT, CCT and Avrami plots.
• Describe crystallographic texture, its determination and its effects on microstructure and properties.
• Describe the atomic, microstructural and macroscale manifestations of the thermodynamic driving force for sintering, and explain the links between them.
• Explain and quantify the relative significance and effects of the key sintering parameters on the solid-state densification behaviour of both monolithic and composite ceramics and on the densification rate of powder particles (amorphous and crystalline) for different sintering / densification mechanisms, as well as on normal and abnormal grain growth behaviour.
• State the chemical composition of Ordinary Portland cement and describe the phase and microstructural development during manufacture and during hydration, as an example of the chemical control of microstructure and hence properties.
• Explain the requirements of a ceramic refractory in terms of its properties, microstructure and behaviour at elevated temperature.
• Explain the basis for and the use of the different thermal shock resistance R parameters, taking into account the effects of material microstructure and behaviour in terms of crack initiation versus propagation when determining the applicability of the different R parameters.

(UK-Spec Learning Outcomes:- E1)