Degradation of Materials and Service Life Prediction (FSI-WDM)

The course is designed to familiarize students with the fundamental mechanisms of production and operation degradation of the properties of engineering materials, in particular steels and other metals. The knowledge obtained will provide on one hand for a more accurate determination of the limit state and a more effective exploitation of the materials used and, on the other hand, for a qualified estimate of failure causes. Production degradation (metallurgy, purity, chemical and structural heterogeneity, and effects of welding as an example of the effect of the technological process itself). Operation degradation (corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement, wear, radiation embrittlement, and structural stability). The nature of the degradation process is always made clear, together with methods of evaluating it and its effect on the properties of materials. Methods of analysing the causes of defects in machine parts, including practical examples. Students are made familiar with selected methods for predicting the service life of machine parts.

Conditions of awarding the course-unit credit: Attendance at exercises, demonstrating the basic knowledge of the topics dealt with in the course of exercises when solving model problems.
Exam: The knowledge of the concepts and essence of the topics discussed is tested. The emphasis is on testing the ability to apply the knowledge obtained. The exam is oral; in the case of second resit there is also a written part.
Education is controlled via the attendance at exercises; the attendance is recorded by the tutor. If serious lack of knowledge or absence from exercises is found, the tutor assigns a topic for individual written report.

1. Optimising the content of deoxidization aluminium in steels.
2-3. Examples of chemical and related structural heterogeneity in relation to analyses of machine part failures.
4. Examples of the degradation of properties of weld joints.
5. Corrosion cracking, calculations.
6. Hydrogen embrittlement, calculations.
7. Adhesion, abrasion, cavitation - calculations.
8. Fretting fatigue - examples, caculations of endurance of bearings
9. Assessment of radiation embrittlement,
10-11. Demonstration of methods for estimating remanent service life.
12. Demonstration of commercially available programs used to calculate remanent service life.
13. Awarding the course-unit credit.