| Abstract Scope |
Interfaces play an outsized role in determining the processing, properties, and performance of many ceramics and ceramic composites. Our models for important processes such as grain growth, sintering, creep, stress relaxation, and phase transformations rely on knowledge of interfacial thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport mechanisms. New characterization methods have continued to refine our understanding of interfacial structure and dynamics along with parallel development of physical models for continuum response. Recent in situ and advanced characterization work suggests that non-equilibrium interfacial defects can play an important role in kinetics that have not been widely appreciated. This talk will discuss the current state of understanding and emphasize the important unanswered questions requiring broad efforts and international collaborations to address. |