Materials for Acoustics and Applications ENG5318

  • Academic Session: 2023-24
  • School: School of Engineering
  • Credits: 10
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes

Short Description

This course introduces students to a very wide range of materials and their properties important in the design and analysis of engineering systems and for other purposes. The course will cover materials including gases, liquids and soft solids such as biological tissues and tissue mimics commonly used for pre-clinical testing of medical imaging, as well as polymers, ceramics, metals and composites used in industrial applications. These materials may be characterised or modified using ultrasound and other techniques. The course covers piezoelectric materials and how their properties affect electromechanical transduction, as well as the polymers, ceramics, crystals, composites and metals commonly found in ultrasonic transducers and devices.

Timetable

2 × 1 hour lectures per week

1 x 3 hour supervised lab session

Requirements of Entry

Mandatory Entry Requirements

None

Recommended Entry Requirements

None

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

70% written exam, 30% continuous assessment (15% written assignment, 15% report)

Main Assessment In: April/May

Course Aims

The aims of this course are to:

Familiarise students with common engineering materials with a focus on those important to ultrasonic applications including gases, liquids and soft solids such as biological tissues and tissue mimics commonly used for pre-clinical testing of medical imaging, as well as polymers, ceramics, metals and composites used in industrial applications.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ select piezoelectric materials by identifying the required electromechanical transduction properties

■ explain the material properties of metals, ceramics and biological tissues, the factors influencing the variations of materials properties, and how these affect ultrasound fields and interactions with ultrasonic devices;

■ predict the material properties required for tissue phantoms and evaluate candidate phantom materials;

■ apply understanding in the selection of materials for ultrasonic transducer applications;

■ explain ultrasonically assisted materials processing technologies.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.