Course detail
Surface Engineering
FSI-WPI Acad. year: 2025/2026 Summer semester
A number of application properties of materials depends on the morphology and state of their surfaces. It is not deciding if the surface is outer or inner. The materials behaviour is strongly affected by interface boundaries between separate blocks of microstructure forming the whole solid. The interface boundaries becomes more important (and their area fraction is higher) for materials with lower block dimensions. Followingly the most important is for interfaces in nanostructured materials. The course "Surface engineering" is focused on the most important aspects of surfaces and interface boundaries, physical, chemical and mechanical, namely from theoretical, diagnostic and technologic aspects.
Language of instruction
Czech
Number of ECTS credits
4
Supervisor
Entry knowledge
Basic knowledge on microstructure and properties of materials in extent of first part of textbook L. Ptacek et al – "Materials Science". Introductory university course in mathematics, chemistry and physics.
Rules for evaluation and completion of the course
Exam: Verification of the knowledge about substantial parts of presented chapters. Emphasis will be focused on ability to apply obtained knowledge. Exam is in written form, completing questions may be given orally.
Presence on the course is recommended.
Aims
The aim of the course is to raise student's interest for those fields of Materials sciences and engineering, which are associated with solids surfaces and internal interface boundaries forming the solid. It is to be shown that these problems are not so marginal as they appears, on the contrary for some systems and processes are even crucial.
Students of the course will obtain compact overview from the surface engineering, namely:
1. Knowledge about meaning of outer surface and inner interface boudnaries of the materials for their application properties. Knowledge about processes that may affect the outer surface and internal interface boundaries.
2. Knowledge of metrology and microgeometry (tortuosity, roughness) of the surfaces.
3. Knowledge of the important systems, phenomena and processes, where (outer, inner) surface plays key role.
The study programmes with the given course
Programme N-SLE-P: Foundry Technology, Master's, elective
Programme N-MTI-P: Materials Engineering, Master's, compulsory
Type of course unit
Lecture
26 hours, optionally
Syllabus
01. Surface stress and wetting
02. Surface tortuosity and anizotropy
03. Colloidal state of material
04. Surface microstructure of solids
05. Microstructure of interface boundaries in solids
06. Epitaxy
07. Surfaces reactivity and adsorption
08. Surface microgeometry
09. Surface treatment
10. Recrystallisation, fatigue and spontanneous strukturalisation
11. Nanodispersive systems
12. Surfactants
13. Catalysis
Laboratory exercise
13 hours, compulsory
Syllabus
01. Microgeometry of surfaces
02. Surface treatment procedures
03. Microstructure of interfaces
04. Microhardness
05. Scratch tests
06. Thermal barier coatings