Instrumentation for an Integrated Laboratory Course on PhaseAnalysis in Materials Engineering

材料科学与工程系正在推出一门新的综合实验课程序列：材料中的物相分析。为了实施这门课程，项目负责人将获得能量色散X射线光谱分析系统，以及用于现有台式学生扫描电子显微镜的相关NIST台式频谱分析仪软件，以及用于本科生飞利浦X射线粉末衍射仪的自动化和分析包。这些仪器可与自动化机械测试(INSTRON)和热分析(DTA/DSC/TGA)系统一起用于多个实验，以提供同样适用于金属、陶瓷、聚合物和复合材料的综合程序。该仪器使系能够以创新和成本效益的方式利用现有资源进行更新和更广泛的实验，对实验数据进行更精细的分析，增强系使用最先进方法为学生提供动手相分析体验的能力，并使这些学生更好地为现代工业环境做好准备。它还可以加强正在进行的针对地区高中教师、学生和代表性不足的少数民族的外联计划。材料问题的综合解决方法对材料工程教育来说是一种新颖而又至关重要的方法。通过这种方法，学生可以很容易地理解在材料现象和微观结构差异方面的易加工性和性能之间的权衡，这对材料课程的设计部分有很大贡献。拟议的关于相分析的实验室序列为课程增加了一个重要的新方面，并在很大程度上影响了学生/研究生工程师在合作/工作环境中的表现，这应该会导致工业产出的全面提高。该课程可作为国家其他材料工程专业的范本。

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is introducing a new integrated laboratory course sequence on Phase Analysis in Materials. To implement this course, project leaders are obtaining an energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy system, with the associated NIST desktop spectrum analyzer software for an existing desktop student scanning electron microscope, and an automation and analysis package for the undergraduate Philips x-ray powder diffractometer. These instruments can be used in conjunction with automated mechanical testing (Instron) and thermal analysis (DTA/DSC/TGA) systems in a number of experiments to provide an integrated program that applies equally to metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. The instrumentation enables the department to make innovative and cost-effective use of existing resources to perform newer and more extensive experiments, conduct more refined analysis of experimental data, enhance the department's capacity to provide students hands-on phase analysis experience using state-of-the-art methods, and better prepare those students for the modern industrial environment. It can also augment the ongoing outreach program with area high school teachers, students, and underrepresented minorities. The integrated approach to materials problem solving is both novel and crucial to materials engineering education. With this approach, students can readily understand the trade-offs between ease of processing and performance in terms of materials phenomena and differences in microstructure, which contributes substantially to the design component of a materials program. The proposed laboratory sequence on phase analysis adds a significant new dimension to the curriculum and substantially affects student/graduate engineer performance in the co-op/work environment, which should lead to overall enhancement in industrial output. The course may serve as a model for other materials engineering programs in the Nation.