DoITPoMS

TLP Library

Teaching and learning packages (TLPs) are self-contained, interactive resources, each focusing on one area of Materials Science.

Analysis of Deformation Processes Analysis of Deformation Processes
This TLP builds upon the introduction to yield criteria covered in the Stress analysis and Mohr's circle TLP and introduces a range of methods commonly used to study metal forming processes.
Batteries Batteries
This TLP investigates the basic principles, design and applications of batteries. It covers both primary and rechargeable batteries, how they work and how they may be used.
Brillouin Zones Brillouin Zones
This teaching and learning package provides an introduction to Brillouin zones in two and three dimensions and is aimed at developing familiarity with Brillouin Zones. It will not cover any specific applications. Brillouin Zones are particularly useful in understanding the electronic and thermal properties of crystalline solids.
Brittle Fracture Brittle Fracture
What determines when a material will break, and whether failure will be catastrophic or more gradual. Cracking is controlled by the energy changes that occur - it is not the stress at the crack tip that is important..
Crystallinity in Polymers Crystallinity in Polymers
An understanding of polymer crystallinity is important because the mechanical properties of crystalline polymers are different from those of amorphous polymers. Polymer crystals are much stiffer and stronger than amorphous regions of polymer.
Crystallographic Texture Crystallographic Texture
This teaching and learning package (TLP) introduces the concept of texture in crystalline materials such as common metals and metallic alloys.
Crystallography Crystallography
Crystalline materials are characterised by a regular atomic structure that repeats itself in all three dimensions. In other words the structure displays translational symmetry.
Introduction To Deformation Processes Introduction To Deformation Processes
This teaching and learning package covers the fundamentals of metal forming processes.
Introduction To Dislocations Introduction To Dislocations
Dislocations are crucially important in determining the mechanical behaviour of materials. This teaching and learning package provides an introduction to dislocations and their motion through a crystal. A 'bubble raft' model is used to demonstrate some of the features of dislocations and other lattice defects. Some methods for observing real dislocations in materials are examined.
Elasticity in Biological Materials Elasticity in Biological Materials
This teaching and learning package (TLP) discusses the elasticity of biological materials. Whilst some show Hookean elasticity, the vast majority do not. Non-linear elasticity is considered, in particular J-shaped and S-shaped curves. Viscoelasticity is also discussed, using hair and spiders' silk as examples.
Ellingham Diagrams Ellingham Diagrams
The Ellingham diagram is a tool most often used in extraction metallurgy to find the conditions necessary for the reduction of the ores of important metals. This Teaching and Learning Package incorporates an interactive Ellingham diagram. This diagram can be used to quickly and simply find a range of thermodynamic data relating to many metallurgical reactions.
Examination of a Manufactured Article Examination of a Manufactured Article
This TLP provides an introduction to the deconstruction and investigation of the materials and processes used in an everyday item or article.
Ferroelectric Materials Ferroelectric Materials
Ferroelectrics are an important device in today's world. They are useful both as capacitors, for example in camera flashes, or as non-volatile memory storage. The memory use of which you are most likely to be aware is in the Playstation 2.
Ferromagnetic Materials Ferromagnetic Materials
How many ferromagnets do you think you own? Maybe many more than you realise. Ferromagnetic materials lie at the heart not just of the humble compass, but also of many loudspeakers and of computer memory. This teaching and learning package outlines the microscopic basis of magnetism and some of the conquences of ferromagnetic order in real materials.
Fuel Cells Fuel Cells
This teaching and learning package provides a short summary of four of the most promising fuel cell technologies. It gives a general overview of the field with focus on materials used (electrolytes and electrodes) and the mechanism of function (electrochemistry and thermodynamics).
The Glass Transition in Polymers The Glass Transition in Polymers
This teaching and learning package is based on a lecture demonstrations used within the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. The package is aimed at first year undergraduate Materials Science students and focuses on the glass transition in polymers.
Kinetics of Aqueous Corrosion Kinetics of Aqueous Corrosion
This teaching and learning package (TLP) introduces the mechanism of aqueous corrosion and the associated kinetics.
Lattice Planes and Miller Indices Lattice Planes and Miller Indices
This teaching and learning package provides an introduction to the method used to describe planes of atoms in a crystalline material. The practical uses of describing planes of atoms are also addressed.
Liquid Crystals Liquid Crystals
This Teaching and Learning Package provides an introduction to liquid crystals, their physical properties and their modern-day applications.
Materials for Nuclear Power Generation Materials for Nuclear Power Generation
This TLP introduces readers to key challenges in the selection, usage and development of materials for nuclear reactors.
Tags: energy
Introduction To Mechanical Testing Introduction To Mechanical Testing
This teaching and learning package is based on laboratory experiments used in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. The package looks at how the microstructure of a material can affect its properties. It is split into two experiments: the first part introduces tensile testing and stress-strain curves, while the second part uses three-point bending, as introduced in the Beam Stiffness TLP.
The Nernst Equation and Pourbaix Diagrams The Nernst Equation and Pourbaix Diagrams
This teaching and learning package (TLP) investigates the Nernst equation and Pourbaix diagrams, which are both important parts of electrochemistry and corrosion science.
Introduction To Photoelasticity Introduction To Photoelasticity
This tutorial is based on lab work within the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. The tutorial provides an introduction to the topic of photoelasticity and preparation for lab work. Photographs illustrate many features of birefringence in polymers under polarised light.
Polymer Basics Polymer Basics
This teaching and learning package is an introduction to the basic concepts of polymer science. It includes molecular structure, synthesis and tests for identification.
Slip in Single Crystals Slip in Single Crystals
This teaching and learning package explains how plastic deformation of materials occurs through the mechanism of slip. Slip involves dislocation glide on particular slip planes. The geometry of slip is explained, and electron microscopy techniques are used to show slip occurring in single crystals of cadmium.
The Stereographic Projection The Stereographic Projection
This TLP covers the use of the Stereographic projection and Wulff nets.
The Stiffness of Rubber The Stiffness of Rubber
This teaching and learning package is based on two experiments which demonstrate the behaviour of rubber under tension. The first displays the unusual behaviour of a rubber strip when heated under tension; the second considers the behaviour of a rubber membrane under tension. In both cases the behaviour is considered theoretically in terms of the molecular structure of rubber and the thermodynamic entropy changes involved.
Stress Analysis and Mohr's Circle Stress Analysis and Mohr's Circle
This teaching and learning package provides an introduction to the theory of metal forming. It discusses how stress and strain can be presented as tensors, and ways of identifying the principal stresses. Suitable yield criteria to treat metals and non-metals are also presented.
Superconductivity Superconductivity
Electrons in pairs? Levitating trains? Superconductivity - the combination of lossless electrical conduction and the ability of a material to expel a magnetic field - is a property that excites interest in fundamental science whilst offering tantalising prospects for a range of applications. In this teaching and learning package (TLP), we trace the history of superconductivity, outline some fundamental properties of superconductors, and describe current and potential applications of materials with this unusual property.
X-ray Diffraction Techniques X-ray Diffraction Techniques
This teaching & learning package provides an introduction to X-ray diffraction. It describes the main crystallographic information that can be obtained and experimental methods most commonly used.