Course detail
Nonmetallic Materials
FSI-WNE Acad. year: 2026/2027 Winter semester
Course-unit credit requirements: attendance at seminars and fulfilment of assignments. Examination verifies the knowledge of the theory and its applications to solving practical problems. The exam consists of written and oral parts; students take the oral exam even though they do not succeed in the written part.
Attendance at all practical lessons and fulfilment of assignments is required. In case students do not meet these conditions they can be given additional assignments.
Language of instruction
Czech
Number of ECTS credits
7
Supervisor
Entry knowledge
Students should have basic knowledge of physics, chemistry, and materials engineering acquired during their first two years of study at FME.
Rules for evaluation and completion of the course
Course-unit credit requirements: attendance at seminars, fulfilment of assignments. Examination verifies the knowledge of the theory and its applications to solving practical problems.
Aims
The objective of the course is to make students familiar with the fundamentals of ceramic material science from the viewpoint of structure-properties relations.
Students will be able to use the acquired knowledge in the related master studies of material engineering and apply it to the solution of appropriate problems of industrial practice particularly the problems connected with the selection of special ceramic materials.
The study programmes with the given course
Programme B-ZSI-P: Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor's
specialization MTI: Materials Engineering, compulsory
Type of course unit
Lecture
39 hours, optionally
Syllabus
1. Bonding in non-metallic inorganic materials (NAM)
Structure of atoms. Solids with ionic bonding and covalent bonding. Intermediate forces. Structure of NAM – Crystal Structures. Binary ionic compounds. Composite crystalline structures.
2. Structural defects and structure of glass NAMs
Structural defects – Spot defects: stoichiometric, non-stoichiometric, internal. Notation of point defects. Linear defects. Planar defects. Creating glasses. Models of glass structure. Structure of oxide glasses.
3. Phase diagrams of selected NAMs
Binary and ternary diagrams of significant NAMs. Mixability of the phase-intermediate compounds-solid NAM solutions. Chemical Reactions in NAM – Kinetics of heterogeneous reactions. Sintering of NAM
4. NAM microstructure
Microstructural characteristics, Methods, Microstructure vs properties, Typical microstructures: advanced ceramics, glass, Fractography
5. Physical and thermal properties, mechanical properties
Density. Porosity. Melting temperature. Thermal capacity and conductivity. Thermal expansion. Temperature shock. Flexibility. Strength. Hardness. Fracture toughness. Ductile vs brittle behavior.
6. Strengthening and toughening of NAM
Influence of external conditions on the properties of NAM. Self-reinforcing ceramics. Transformation hardening. Mechanisms of hardening. Creep. Static fatigue. Chemical effects. Mechanically induced defects. Thermal shock.
7. Electron and ion conductivity, dielectric properties
NAM band theory. Conductors, non-conductors, semiconductors. Concentration of charge conductors and their mobility. Defects – migration of ions. Ionic conductivity. Solid electrolytes and their applications. Dielectric properties. Polarization mechanisms. Dielectric losses. Capacitors and insulators.
8. Magnetic properties and optical properties of NAM
Para-, ferro-, antiferro- and ferrimagnetism. Magnetic domains and hysteresis curve. Types of magnetic NAM. Optical properties – absorption, refractive index, dispersion, transparency, color.
9. Oxide, carbide and nitride NAM
Typical representatives of NAM. Fabrication. Properties. Use.
10. Polymers
Basic terms, history, nomenclature, chemical composition of polymers, structure of polymers, molecular weight and its determination, basic properties of polymers, polyreaction.
11. Basics of thermodynamics.
Classification of thermodynamic systems, variables and relationships. Equilibrium criteria. First and second thermodynamic theorem, types of energy in systems, entropy. Third thermodynamic theorem.
12. Thermodynamic relations and variables
Thermodynamic potentials of closed systems. Criterion and conditions for derivation of thermodynamic equilibrium. Thermochemistry. Heat capacities. Dependence of heat capacities, reaction heat, entropy and Gibbs energy on temperature. Changes in Gibbs energy in chemical reactions. Application of thermodybamic calculation on ceramic systems.
13. Phase equilibria
Single- and multi-component homogeneous systems (solutions). Chemical potential. Gibbs phase rule. Single-phase phase diagrams in (p, T) space. Clapeyron and Clausius-Clapeyron equations. Multi-component systems: expression of composition, partial molar variables, chemical potential. Ideal solutions – gases, liquids. Van't Hoff isotherm equilibrium constant and application of thermodynamic calculations to ceramic systems.
Laboratory exercise
26 hours, compulsory
Syllabus
- Preparation of basic technological processes and aids for production of bodies from advanced ceramics by slip-casting method.
- Practical preparation of stable ceramic suspension and its use for advanced ceramic production by slip-casting method.
- Geometric adjustment, measurement and evaluation of density of ceramic bodies in green body state.
- Presentation of students on a given topic, measurement and evaluation of density of ceramic bodies after heat treatment (sintering) and their treatment by embedding in polystyrene for the grinding and polishing process.
- Ceramography of prepared ceramic bodies consisting of manual and automatic grinding and polishing.
- Observation of microstructures using scanning electron microscopy, hardness measurement
- Evaluation of grain size of prepared ceramics by line intercept method, structural comparison of examined materials, protocol completion.
- Measurement of Vickers hardness and fracture toughness.
Nomenclature and structure of polymers, molecular weight calculations, examples of polymerizations, polycondensation, polyaddition.
Calculations according to chemical equations. Thermochemistry – thermal capacities, reaction heat and their dependence on temperature.
Dependence of Gibbs energy on temperature.
Clapeyron equation, Clausius-Clapeyron equation.
- Credit.