Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Materials

The course introduces the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations. Thermodynamical subjects include Gibbs free energy, chemical potential, ideal and real solutions, binary phase diagrams, Gibbs phase rule, Gibbs-Thomson effect, ternary systems, and ternary phase diagrams. Kinetics refer to atomic mechanism of diffusion, substitutional and interstitial diffusion, high-diffusivity path, and diffusion in ternary alloys. The different type of interfaces that can be found in a microstructure are also treated in the course (free surfaces, grain boundaries and phase interfaces). The course also introduce mechanisms associated to phase transformations in the solid state, such as nucleation and growth, as well as basic concepts on phase transformations in steels.