To develop an appreciation and understanding of the main techniques and technology associated with the mechanical- and thermal-processing of metallic materials.

(LO1) to become familiar with the main manufacturing processes and materials used in industry with an emphasis primarily on the processing of metals and alloys, and to be able to select the appropriate process and material suitable for an application

(LO2) to appreciate how and why mechanical and thermal processing affects microstructure and materials mechanical properties

(LO3) be able to solve simple quantitative problems related to forming, thermal processing and melting/solidification of metals, by calculation and estimation.

(S1) analytic and problem-solving skills

(S2) Laboratory and practical skills

Indicative syllabus topics:

1 Review of materials classifications, microstructure and deformation.

2-3 Casting: Production of ingots and shaped casting. Grain structure. Continuous casting Sand-casting, investment casting and die-casting technologies. Casting defects and effects on properties.Casting alloys, including cast irons.

4-6 Heat-treatment and heat transfer in materials processing: Conductive and convective heat flow. Non-steady-state heat flow. Analytical solution for heating from one surface (the error function). Graphical dimensionless solution for heating and cooling of finite size component with simple geometries. Applications in casting: solidification time for sand casting (Chvorinov's rule) and gravity die-casting. Applications in heat-treatment: annealing and quenching.

7-12 Bulk Deformation and Metal Forming: Hot and cold working of metals and alloys, and effect on microstructure and mechanical properties. Recovery, recrystallisat ion and grain-growth. Forming texture. Forging: working load and effect of friction. Rolling: roll design, friction in rollers, and rolling defects. Extrusion: heat of deformation, aluminium extrusion, extrusion of tubes. Drawing: wire drawing, max reduction per pass, tube drawing. Deep drawing: can-making, strain ageing.

13-14 Powder and Particulate Processing: PM components. Production of powders by atomisation and milling. Compaction, sintering, removal of porosity and control of shrinkage. Hot isostatic pressing. Properties.

15-16 Surface Engineering: Thermal treatments (case hardened steel). Thermochemical treatments (carburising, nitriding, borodising). Shot peening. Surface coatings (galvanising, plating, roll-bonding). Vapour deposition.

17 Cutting Tools: Machining and wear. Cutting tool materials (diamond, cBN, quench-and-temper steel, high-speed-steel, cemented carbides). Coatings for wear resistance.

18-20 Joining of Materials Adhesive bonding. F asteners. Soldering and brazing. Forge- and friction-welding. Fusion welding of materials (gas-, arc- and other techniques). The heat affected zone. Effects on microstructure and properties.

Lab: Reverse engineering of a piezo-electric gas-lighter.

Teaching Method 1 – Synchronous teaching sessions weekly using Teams or Zoom to replace lectures, supplemented by provision of asynchronous self-study materials in Canvas or VITAL

Teaching Method 2 - Laboratory Work
Description: Reverse Engineering lab: the optical microscopy part of this RE lab may not be available due to social distancing constraints, in which case pre-prepared images of microstructure will be provided
Attendance Recorded: Yes

The synchronous teaching sessions, and asynchronous provision of self-study materials, are to replace conventional lectures, used to provide a contextual overview of the technologies and practices used in manufacturing with materials in industry, and to practice quantitative analysis techniques used to model casting, heat-treatment and forming processes. The lab allows students to practice practical techniques used in materials characterisation in the context of understanding effects of processing on materials' ; microstructure.
These learning and teaching methods will be used for hybrid delivery, with social distancing on campus, as planned for semester 1. The following changes may be required in response to circumstances:
(b) fully online delivery and assessment, (i.e. if full lockdown is necessary): The on-campus lab work will be stopped and whenever possible replaced by a video or similar and provision of pre-prepared datasets and experimental results for analysis and report-writing.
(c) standard on-campus delivery with minimal social distancing: The synchronous Teams/Zoom remote teaching sessions may return to being on-campus lectures, and the optical microscopy parts of the RE lab will be available.