Catalog

Cellular Solids: Structure, Properties and Applications

Materials Science and Engineering MIT CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 20 lectures

This course reviews the processing and structure of cellular materials as they are created from polymers, metals, ceramics, glasses, and composites, develops models for the mechanical behavior of cellular solids, and shows how the unique properties of honeycombs and foams are exploited in applications such as lightweight structural panels, energy absorption devices and thermal insulation. The applications of cellular solids in medicine include increased fracture risk due to trabecular bone loss in patients with osteoporosis, the development of metal foam coatings for orthopaedic implants, and designing porous scaffolds for tissue engineering that mimic the extracellular matrix. Modelling of cellular materials applied to natural materials and biomimicking is explored. Students taking the graduate version of the class are required to complete additional assignments.

Syllabus

  1. 1 Lecture 1: Introduction and Overview
  2. 2 Lecture 2: Processing of Cellular Solids
  3. 3 Lecture 3: Structure of Cellular Solids
  4. 4 Lecture 4: Honeycombs: In-plane Behavior
  5. 5 Lecture 5: Honeycombs: Out-of-plane Behavior
  6. 6 Lecture 6: Natural Honeycombs: Wood
  7. 7 Lecture 7: Natural Honeycombs: Cork; Foams: Linear Elasticity
  8. 8 Lecture 8: Foams: Non-linear Elasticity
  9. 9 Lecture 9: Foams: Thermal Properties
  10. 10 Lecture 10: Exam Review
  11. 11 Lecture 11: Trabecular Bone and Osteoporosis
  12. 12 Lecture 12: Osteoporosis and Evolution
  13. 13 Lecture 13: Tissue Engineering Scaffolds: Processing and Properties
  14. 14 Lecture 14: Tissue Engineering: Osteochondral Scaffold; How To Write a Paper
  15. 15 Lecture 15: Cell-scaffold Interactions; Energy Absorption
  16. 16 Lecture 16: Applications: Energy Absorption in Foams
  17. 17 Lecture 17: Sandwich Panels
  18. 18 Lecture 18: Natural Sandwich Structures; Density Gradients
  19. 19 Lecture 19: Biomimicking
  20. 20 Lecture 20: How I Became a Professor

Course materials