The exercises start with breif repetition of fundamentals from materials science and engineering I/II that are necessary to follow the lecture. Subsequent exercises are used to discuss frequent exam task with respect to the major subjects of the lecture:

Properties of pure iron
Thermodynamic foundations of single-component and of binary systems
Nucleation and growth
Diffusion processes in crystalline iron
The Fe-Fe3C phase diagram
Effects of alloying on Fe-C-alloys
Non-equilibrium microstructures
Multicomponent iron-based alloys
Heat treatment technology

The exercises are concluded by consultation before the exams.

learning objectives:
The students are familiar with the thermodynamic foundations of phase transformations, the kinetics of phase transformations in the solid states (nucleation and growth phenomena), the mechanisms of microstructure formation and microstructure-property relationships and can apply them to metallic materials. They can assess the effects of heat treatmens and of alloying on the microstructure and the properties of iron-based materials (steels in particular). The can select steels for structural applications in mechanical engineering and subject them to appropriate heat treatmens.