Studying material problems using the principles and methods of thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics is called material thermodynamics. It forms the foundation of material science with dynamics, crystallography, and solid physics and solid chemistry. Material engineering includes the design, manufacturing, molding, and testing of materials. It is a comprehensive discipline that applies the principles of material science to material design and processing. Materials science and engineering have become a whole. The application of thermodynamics in this field has increasingly shown its positive role in developing the variety and improving the quality of materials. Applying the principles of material thermodynamics can clarify and predict phase diagrams, phase transitions, and other physical phenomena of materials.
The course "Thermodynamics; of materials & phase transformations" is the core basic course for undergraduate students majoring in materials at Northwestern Polytechnic University. The main task of this course is to cultivate students' ability to apply basic thermodynamic principles to solve specific problems in material research and explain thermodynamics and phase transition phenomena in material science. The main content of the course includes: the three laws of thermodynamics, solution thermodynamics, phase diagram thermodynamics, and so on.
Through this course, you need to master the concept, applicable conditions, and significance of thermodynamic laws. It is necessary to understand how to apply thermodynamic laws (i.e., thermodynamic functions) in the field of materials to reveal the laws of material science, master the concepts, functions, and applications of thermodynamic laws, and be able to use them to solve specific problems in material research and explain thermodynamic phenomena in material science research. Understand the enthalpy, entropy, free energy, partial molar volume, and activity of thermodynamic parameters in specific materials. It is necessary to understand important functions in thermodynamics, especially the Maxwell relationship, as well as the concepts and differences between ideal solutions, dilute solutions, and regular solutions. Students need to be familiar with the concept of Gibbs free energy, the Clausius Clapeyron equation, and be able to accurately analyze the phase diagrams of pure substances. You need to understand the principles and concepts of thermodynamics, laws, binary phase diagrams and their applications, phase diagram thermodynamics, phase change thermodynamics, and solution thermodynamics, and can solve some problems in material research.
