AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching aims to enable students to: 1) Interpret and apply multi-component state diagrams in order to understand the behavior of materials subjected to specific conditions. 2) To classify the main ceramic materials (both classical and advanced, both crystalline and amorphous) and describe their structural, thermal, mechanical properties, etc., as well as their respective applications and main synthesis methods. 3) Understand the phase transformation processes, with particular reference to solidification, and interpret the consequent micrographic aspects. 4) Understand some surface phenomena such as wettability and brazing.

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lessons

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

General characteristics of 2-component phase diagrams. Three-component phase diagrams. Gibbs triangle. Isothermal and isoplethal sections. Liquidus projections, primary solidification areas, solidification process. Isomorphous ternary systems. Two- and three-phase fields. Invariant ternary equilibria. Reaction scheme (Scheil diagrams). Examples of real ternary intermetallic and ceramic systems. Higher order systems.

Ceramic materials. Classification. Crystal structures: CsCl, NaCl, wurtzite, sfalerite, spinel, rutile, alumina, fluorite, perowskite, ecc. Silicates and their structures: ortosilicates, sorosilicates, ciclosilicates, fillosilicates, … SiO2 strucrures. Feldspar e zeolites. Kaolinite, Halloysite, Kyanite, Montmorillonite, … . Phase diagrams of ceramic systems: SiO2, SiO2-Al2O3, Fe2O3-SiO2, MgO-SiO2, CaO-MgO, CaO-SiO2, MgO-SiO2-Al2O3, K2O-SiO2-Al2O3, … Classical ceramics: earthenware, stoneware, porcellain, ... Advanced eramics: carbides, nitrides, borides, oxides, ....

Phase transitions: nucleation and growth, spinodal decomposition. Nucleation rate, growth rate, Avrami equation. Homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. Growth mechanisms: diffused and planar interface, nucleation controlled and diffusion controlled growth.  T-T-T diagrams. Structure of glasses. Network formers e network modifiers. Phase diagrams for vitreous systems. Glass transition temperature. amorfous metals.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Introduction to Ceramics, 2nd Edition, by W. David Kingery,‎ H. K. Bowen,‎ Donald R. Uhlmann

Didactic material distributed by the teacher

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

From March 4, 2024

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Final oral exam.
The oral exam is always conducted by two tenured teachers, lasts at least 30 minutes and focuses on all the topics covered in class.
At the student's choice, it can consist of:
a) several questions posed by teachers on the topics covered in class
or
b) seminar held by the student on a topic agreed with the teacher and a few questions posed by teachers on the topics covered in class

ASSESSMENT METHODS

With the methods described above, given that at least one of the two teachers has many years of exams experience in the discipline, the commission is able to verify with high accuracy the achievement of the educational objectives of the teaching. When these are not reached, the student is invited to deepen the study and to make use of further explanations by the lecturer. The CCS guarantees the correspondence between the topics of the exam and those actually carried out during the course. To this end, the teacher in charge makes the detailed program public at the beginning of the lessons (on a site called the web room reserved for teachers and students of the University). 

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Sergio Di Domizio (sergio.didomizio@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.