Strength & Durability of Materials | Course
Corrosion and Assisted Cracking, and Their Mitigation: Fundamentals and Advances
Prof. Raman Singh's course on 'Corrosion and Assisted Cracking' will be back for the third time in February 2026. Details to follow later. (No course in 2025)
Corrosion and Assisted Cracking, and Their Mitigation: Fundamentals and Advances
doctoral course by Prof. Raman Singh from Monash University
Next edition: February 2026
VVZ Course Catalogue Entry for 327-2228-00L
The course is open to doctoral students affiliated with the MaP Doctoral School. Please register via mystudies.ethz.ch (from mid January 2026, start of spring semester enrolment).
Postdocs and MSc students are also welcome. Postdocs, please register by .
Course Description & Motivation
Corrosion of engineering alloys and its mitigation measures cost a developed economy ~4% of their GDP (~$300b to the USA). This short course will impart fundamental knowledge of corrosion and their different types, and their traditional mitigation measures. It will also include an overview of the catastrophic failures under the simultaneous roles of effects of corrosion and mechanical loading (viz., stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement). Finally, building on the fundamentals, a few examples of recent advances on the topics will be presented, such as the application of graphene coatings for corrosion resistance and the advantageous use of corrosion in the use of magnesium alloys for temporary/biodegradable human implants.
Structure of the Course
This one-week block course (3*45 min from Mon-Thu + 2*45 min on Fri) is framed as a set of lectures on the basics of corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement, followed by specialised topics on:
- The role of nano-/microstructure in corrosion/oxidation,
- Graphene and graphene-coatings for corrosion resistance,
- Corrosion and corrosion-assisted cracking issues of magnesium alloys in bioimplant applications, and
- Reinforcements for seawater sea sand concrete materials for civil engineering structures.
Course participants will receive 1 ECTS credit point.
Schedule
to be confirmed
Course Lecturer
Prof. Raman Singh (Monash University)
external page Prof. Raman Singh (Monash University) will visit the ETH Zurich Department of Materials (D-MATL) again as a guest professor in January/February 2026. He will be hosted by MaP Member Prof. Jörg Löffer (Metal Physics & Technology).
Professor Raman Singh’s primary research interests are in the relationship of Nano-/microstructure and Environment-assisted degradation and fracture of metallic and composite materials, and Nanotechnology for Advanced Mitigation of such Degradations. He has also worked extensively on use of advanced materials (e.g., graphene) for corrosion mitigation, and stress corrosion cracking, and corrosion and corrosion-mitigation of magnesium alloys (including for the use of magnesium alloys for aerospace, defence and bioimplant applications).
Past courses
February 2024
February 2023: 2023 Corrosion course recap
