Università Roma Tre

The course program is divided into two parts: a brief initial theoretical introduction and an extensive section dedicated to experimental laboratory activities, which will take place at the Department’s Multifunctional Materials Laboratory.

The frontal lectures will introduce fundamental concepts related to materials of primary interest in the civil engineering field (such as concrete and metals, with references to polymers and composite materials), while also providing an overview of cutting-edge developments in the sector, such as structural health monitoring, the role of materials in Smart Cities and transportation infrastructure, smart materials, self-healing materials, and nanocomposites.

The course will then continue with group-based experimental activities, during which students will work on the fabrication of material samples and their characterization. The characterization techniques may include mechanical, dynamic, molecular, and electro-mechanical analyses, depending on the assigned topic.

The proposed project topics may range from the production and characterization of conventional civil engineering materials to the design of innovative materials aimed at addressing major contemporary technological challenges, such as structural monitoring, environmental sustainability, durability, reliability, and energy efficiency — including applications in transport and road infrastructure.

For non-attending students, the course will consist of theoretical lectures and exercises on the following topics: mechanical behavior of materials, crystal structures and their defects, diffusion, phase diagrams (Fe, Fe-C, and metallic alloys), fatigue, creep, concrete, polymers, wood, and composites.

The course materials differ for attending and non-attending students. They will be distributed during the course and uploaded to the Moodle platform in separate folders: "Course Materials for Attending Students" and "Course Materials for Non-Attending Students".
For further reading, the following textbook may be used as a reference:
W.D. Callister, Materials Science and Engineering, any edition.