TLP Library
Teaching and learning packages (TLPs) are self-contained, interactive resources, each focusing on one area of Materials Science.
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- Currently showing
- 32 TLPs having the following tags:
Introduction To Anisotropy
It is common in basic analysis to treat bulk materials as isotropic - their properties are independent of the direction in which they are measured. However the atomic scale structure can result in properties that vary with direction. This teaching and learning package (TLP) looks into typical examples of such anisotropy and gives a brief mathematical look into modelling the behaviour.
Atomic Force Microscopy
Provides a brief introduction to atomic force microscopy (AFM), some of the ways it is commonly used and some of the problems faced.
Avoidance of Crystallization in Biological Systems
This teaching and learning package discusses the two main environmental threats leading to crystallization in plants and animals, and the ways in which organisms have adapted to avoid this crystallization. As part of this discussion, there is coverage of some of the theory of nucleation and crystallization.
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
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.
Casting
This TLP introduces a number of important processes through which metallic items can be fabricated from molten metal. As well as detailing the practical aspects of these manufacturing processes, attention is given to the important parameters which determine the microstructure of the finished items.
Creep Deformation of Metals
Creep is a major concern in engineering, since it can cause materials to fail well below their yield stress. This package outlines the mechanisms of creep and the associated equations. It is largely based around a first year Materials Science practical at the University of Cambridge, which is concerned with the creep of solder at different temperatures. It also includes a case study of a creep-resistant material to illustrate how materials can be designed to prevent creep.
Crystallographic Texture
This teaching and learning package (TLP) introduces the concept of texture in crystalline materials such as common metals and metallic alloys.
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.
Diffusion
An introduction to the mechanisms and driving forces of diffusion, and some of the processes in which it is observed.
Tags:
diffusion
fundamentals
Electromigration
Electromigration is an ever-increasing problem as integrated circuits are pushed towards further miniaturization. The theory of the phenomenon is explained, including electromigration-induced failure and how it has been and can be minimized.
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.
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).
Indexing Electron Diffraction Patterns
An introduction to the indexing of diffraction patterns.
Tags:
diffraction
microscopy
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.
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
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.
Microstructural Examination
This teaching and learning package (TLP) looks at how what we see in micrographs relates to equilibrium phase diagrams and cooling routes for alloy systems.
Optical Microscopy
An introduction to the use of optical microscopes. It introduces the different types of microscope used to examine specimens and how to set them up correctly. There is also an introduction to specimen preparation.
Tags:
microscopy
Phase Diagrams and Solidification
Phase diagrams are a useful tool in metallurgy and other branches of materials science. They show the mixture of phases present in thermodynamic equilibrium. This teaching and learning package looks at the theory behind phase diagrams, and ways of constructing them, before running through an experimental procedure, and presenting the results which can be obtained.
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.
Raman Spectroscopy
An introduction to the analysis of materials and chemicals by the Raman scattering of light.
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.
Solid Solutions
This teaching and learning package is based on a practical 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 different types of solid solution and the thermodynamic principles involved in understanding them.
Solidification of Alloys
This teaching and learning package (TLP) is an introduction to how solute affects the solidification of metallic alloys.
The Stereographic Projection
This TLP covers the use of the Stereographic projection and Wulff nets.
Superelasticity and Shape Memory Alloys
This teaching and learning package (TLP) introduces the phenomena of superelasticity and the shape memory effect.
Thermal Expansion and the Bi-material Strip
This teaching and learning package (TLP) is based on lab work in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. The TLP provides an introduction to the topic of thermal expansion, and its application, together with the different stiffness of materials, in the bi-material strip. The TLP leads you through experiments to measure Young's Modulus from the deflection of a cantilever beam, and to estimate the boiling temperature of nitrogen and the expansivity of a polycarbonate material from the curvature of a bi-material strip immersed in liquid nitrogen.
Transmission Electron Microscopy
Transmission electron microscopy is a very important tool in materials science for investigating the fine-scale structure of materials. This TLP serves as an introduction to the basic concepts and structure of the transmission electron microscope.
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.
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