MATERIALS AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
The course aims to provide students with the fundamentals of Materials
Science and the skills on metals, glass, ceramics and polymers and
related production methods necessary to operate in the field of design.
D1 - Knowledge and understanding
The student, at the end of the course, will have to know the physical and
chemical principles determining the properties of the studied materials,
the properties (especially mechanical) of the various materials and how
these are related to their
microstructure and / or chemical composition
D2 - Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The student must be able to apply the acquired
knowledge by rationally evaluating the mechanical properties of the
various materials (or families of materials) and demonstrating that they
have understood the chemical and microstructual basis of these
behaviors (e.g. by explaining why a
martensitic steel is hard and brittle, how this depends on its
microstructure, and how to obtain that type of structure by appropriate
heat treatments).
D3 - Autonomy of judgment
The student must be able to evaluate, choosing among the various
possibilities, the choice of the most suitable material for the production of
a product
D4 - Communication skills
The student must be able, usig the appropriate technical language, to
describe the mechanical and / or structural characteristics of the various
considered materials, and to effectively communicate the physical and
chemical foundations underlying said mechanical / structural properties.
D5 - Learning skills
The student must be able to interpret and use technical manuals to make
selections of specific components or applications, and of
acquire information on related innovative materials.
Elements of general chemistry and structure of solids; mechanical
stresses of solids.
Metal alloys and their production and forming.
Glass and ceramics.
Polymers.
Wood.
Composite materials.
1. Review of general chemistry, structure of atoms and molecules.
Chemical and physical bonds. Ionic, covalent and metallic solids.
Crystalline structures.
2. Solidification. Crystal defects: point defects, dislocations, stacking
defects, crystalline grain boundaries, volume defects.
3. Fick's laws of diffusion. Diffusion. Hardening and recrystallization.
4. Mechanical stress on materials: traction, fatigue, resilience, hardness.
Viscosity and viscoelasticity.
5. Thermodynamics of solid solutions. Partial and complete miscibility.
Immiscibility. Characteristic points in state diagrams. Fe-C state diagram.
6. The solidification process. Nucleation and growth, under-cooling and
glassy state.
7. Metal strengthening mechanisms: by alloying, by hardening, by heat
treatments, by precipitation of dispersed phases.
8. Production technologies: Castings, Lamination, Extrusion, Drawing,
Stamping, Extrusion, Deep drawing, Turning and milling. Notes on
welding.
9. Ferrous metal alloys: Bain curves, isotherms and anisotherms
hardening and tempering, annealing, normalization. Common, carbon
and alloy steels. Austenitic, ferritic, martensitic, duplex stainless steels.
Cryogenic and high temperature steels.
10. Aluminum and its alloys: hardening and work hardening aluminum
alloys. Extrusion and tempering alloys. Anodizing.
11. Copper alloys. Brass, bronze, cupronickel, cupraluminum,
cuproberillium.
12. Titanium alloys. Cobalt alloys.
13. Ceramics: crystalline structures, silicate structure, brittle fracture,
stress-strain behavior, manufacturing techniques. Traditional and
advanced ceramics, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties.
14. Glass properties, lattice shaping and modifying systems, glass heat
treatments. Glass-ceramics: obtaining, properties and applications.
15. Polymers: Chemical and physical properties. Thermoplastic,
thermosetting polymers. Main industrial polymers and their uses.
Production technologies for plastic products.
16. Smart windows and enabling materials.
17. Composite materials; glass fibers, carbon fibers, kevlar.
- Materiali per il design. Introduzione ai materiali e alle loro proprietà
B. Del Curto, CEA, 2008
- Course notes
If possible, live classes; if not (due to COVID) online classes via Teams
Whenever possible, live written èartial exams; with marks >= "sufficiente" in all partial exams the exam obligations are considered fulfilled. With marks < "sufficiente" the corresponding parts of the course will be verified during the final exam.
Should the COVID situation impede live exams: written partial exams using the online tool "respondus", final oral exam using the online tool "Teams"
Students reception is scheduled on wednesday, from 9.00 to 11.00, via previous email communications. It is also possible to hold students reception on other days/times, again via previous email exchanges and agreements.