Course 7 | Core
Materials Science and Engineering
Understand structure, processing, properties, failure, and material selection.
Course snapshot
- Purpose
- Materials Science explains why material choice controls strength, stiffness, failure, processing, and long-term performance.
- Prerequisites
- Next in the guided sequence
How to study this course
- Identify performance needs
- Connect structure, processing, and properties
- Compare material families
- Check failure or degradation mode
- Select and justify the material
How this course is designed
Original course map
This course uses an original MechCompass module order using prerequisite logic, standard engineering practice, and evidence tasks. Suggested references are optional and listed separately.
Structure, property, processing
Every module answers the same question: how does what the material is made of, and how it was processed, set the property an engineer cares about? That tetrahedron is the through-line.
Models before formulas
The habit is to picture the structure first, atoms, grains, phases, then reach for the equation. Numbers such as packing factor, the lever rule, or fracture toughness come after the picture is clear.
The 10 modules
01 | Module
Introduction: The Materials Paradigm
The structure-property-processing-performance link and the four classes of engineering materials.
02 | Module
Atomic Structure and Bonding
Ionic, covalent, metallic, and secondary bonds, and the properties each one explains.
03 | Module
The Structure of Crystalline Solids
Unit cells, BCC, FCC, and HCP, atomic packing, and theoretical density.
04 | Module
Imperfections and Diffusion
Point, line, and grain-boundary defects, dislocations, and Fick's laws of diffusion.
05 | Module
Mechanical Properties
The stress-strain curve, elastic modulus, yield and tensile strength, ductility, and hardness.
06 | Module
Strengthening Mechanisms
Grain refinement and Hall-Petch, solid-solution, work hardening, and recrystallization.
07 | Module
Failure: Fracture, Fatigue, Creep
Fracture toughness and critical crack size, the S-N fatigue curve, and time-dependent creep.
08 | Module
Phase Diagrams
Binary diagrams, the lever rule, and the iron-carbon system behind steels.
09 | Module
Phase Transformations and Heat Treatment
TTT and CCT diagrams, pearlite to martensite, tempering, and precipitation hardening.
10 | Module
Material Classes and Selection
Ceramics, polymers, and composites, corrosion, and Ashby selection charts.