MM1201: Material Science (3-0-0)

for
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Dr. Anushree Dutta, Assistant Professor

Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Email Id: [email protected]

UNIT-I

NIT Jamshedpur
 Syllabus
UNIT-I
Introduction: Types of materials from structure to property, Crystal structure: Bravias lattices, Lattice direction and planes.
Crystal Imperfections: point, line and planar defect.
Classification of Engineering Materials: Crystalline and non-crystalline, polymer, ceramics, composites, metal and alloys,
glass, Classification on the basis of structure.
Crystal vs lattice, BCC, FCC, HCP, 3D packing, ABC, AB packing density, calculation of theoretical density, planes, closed
packed plane and direction concept, related numerical problems
7 system, 14 Bravais lattices, Miller indices / Miller Bravais
Planar density, Packing fraction, Voids in (SC, FCC, BCC, HCP)
Crystal Imperfections: point, line and planar defect.
Point defect: (Vacancy, Interstitial, Substitutional, Defect in ionic solid, Frenkel, Schottky)
Line Defect: (Dislocation. Edge, screw, Burger circuit, Burger Vector, glide, climb, cross-slip, energy of dislocation)
Planar Defect: Grain boundary, Twin, Stacking faults.
UNIT-II:
Deformation of material, Mechanical properties of materials: Hardness (types of hardness measurements), Tensile
(stress-strain diagram, all properties derived from stress-strain curve: true stress-strain, elastic-plastic, conversion
from engineering to true stress-strain curve, yield point phenomenon, proof stress, measure of ductility, effect of
temperature on mechanical properties)
Impact (Charpy and Izod test, energy absorbed vs. temperature curve, effect of variables on this transition curve)
Fatigue (Concept of fatigue, Failure process of fatigue, crack initiation, crack propagation and growth, different cycle
of loading, S-N curve, fatigue life concept)
Creep of metals (Creep curve, different stages of creep, dependence on stress and temperature, creep rate, variety of
creep tests at constant load and constant stress, concept of creep mechanisms (dislocation, grain boundary sliding,
coble, NH creep)
UNIT-III:
Electron theory of Metals: Bond theory, Uncertainty principle, Free electron theory, Zone theory, The dependence of
the energies on the wave number, The density of state curves, Conductors and insulators, Semiconductors, Dielectric
behavior, Ferroelectricity, Piezoelectricity, Magnetism.
UNIT-IV:
Principles of solidification: Nucleation and growth, Homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, Phase Diagrams: Phase
rule, Isomorphous, eutectic, peritectic, eutectoid and peritectoid transformation, Fe-cementite diagram. Heat Treatment of
Steel: TTT diagram, different heat treatment process: Annealing (Recovery recrystallization and grain growth), Normalizing
and Hardening, Hardenability.
UNIT-V:
Selection of Engineering Materials: Common engineering materials including metals and alloys (Copper and Aluminium
alloys), Ceramic materials, Composite Materials, Polymer materials. Building materials, Transformer materials
Text Books:
1. Material Science and Engineering by William D.
Callister
2. Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan
3. Physical Metallurgy Principles by Abbaschian.R,
Abbaschian.L, Reed Hill R.E.
Reference Book:
1. Modern Physical Metallurgy by R. E Smallman and R.
J. Bishop
Materials
• Materials are substances whose properties make them useful in
structures, machines, devices or products to serve the purpose.
• Importance of Materials – properties and applications
• Material Science involves study of relationships between synthesis,
processing, structure, properties and performance of materials that
enables engineering function.
• It also involves discovery and design of new materials.
Importance
• We all are surrounded by different types of materials
• Materials drive our society and without materials, there is no engineering
• To select a material for a given application considering its properties, cost
and performance.
• To understand the limits of materials and change their properties
depending on application.
• Able to create a new material that will have some desirable and superior
properties.
• Materials science involves investigating the relationship between
structures & properties of materials.
 Materials scientists make the materials that make everything better!

➢ Everything is made of something. Materials scientists investigate how materials perform

and why they sometimes fail.
➢ By understanding the structure of matter (from atomic scale to millimeter scale), they invent
new ways to combine chemical elements into materials with unprecedented functional
properties.
➢ Other branches of engineering rely heavily on materials scientists and engineers for the
advanced materials used to design and manufacture products such as safer cars with
better gas mileage, faster computers with larger hard drive capacities, smaller electronics,
threat-detecting sensors, renewable energy harvesting devices and better medical devices.
➢ Materials scientists work with diverse types of materials (e.g., metals, polymers, ceramics,
liquid crystals, composites) for a broad range of applications (e.g., energy, construction,
electronics, biotechnology, nanotechnology) employing modern processing and discovery
principles (e.g., casting, additive manufacturing, coating, evaporation, plasma and radiation
processing, artificial intelligence, and computer simulations).
Metallurgy may be classified mainly into three following branches:
1.Extractive Metallurgy
2.Physical Metallurgy
3.Mechanical Metallurgy

1. Extractive Metallurgy deals with processing of the natural occurring raw materials for converting
those into useful metals and alloys. It also deals with reaction of metal with slag’s and gases. Thus
reflects on the compositional changes in the molten metal before solidification of the weld pool.

2. Physical Metallurgy deals with identifying, controlling and varying the properties of the metals and
alloys as per requirements of the mankind. It takes into consideration the phase changes with
temperature and/or composition. It reflects on the causes of the change in mechanical and physical
properties. Study the relation between structures and all properties of metal.

3. Mechanical Metallurgy deals with all these aspects of the object; in particular with mechanical
working (i.e. Rolling, forging, Extrusion, spinning, deep drawing, stamping, machining, welding, casting
etc.), the testing of mechanical properties (i.e. tensile, hardness, fatigue, creep properties etc.), the
relations between these properties and engineering design and selection of materials, and the
performance of metals in service.
Mechanical metallurgy is the area of Metallurgy which is concerned primarily with the response of
metals to forces or loads
Classification of materials
Engineering materials can broadly be classified based on their nature :
1.Metals (Approx. 3/4 of the elements in periodic table is metal)
2.Ceramics
3.Polymers
(Their chemistries are different, and their mechanical and physical
properties are different)
4.Composites
(nonhomogeneous mixture of the other three types, rather than a unique category)
E.g. Metal-matrix composite, ceramic-matrix composites, polymer matrix
composites
 Classification of Materials : Metals
▪ Metals have these typical physical properties:
▪ Lustrous (shiny)
▪ Capable of changing their shape permanently
▪ Hard
▪ High density (are heavy for their size)
▪ High tensile strength (resist being stretched)
▪ High melting and boiling points
▪ Good conductors of heat and electricity

E.g. Steels, aluminium, copper, silver, gold, Brasses, bronzes,

manganin, invar, Superalloys, Boron rare earth, magnetic
alloys
Classification of Materials: Ceramics

▪ Nonmetallic inorganic substances which are

brittle and have good thermal and electrical
insulating properties
▪ High melting points (so they're heat resistant).
▪ Great hardness and strength.
▪ Considerable durability (they're long-lasting
and hard-wearing).
▪ Low electrical and thermal conductivity
(they're good insulators).
▪ Chemical inertness (they're unreactive with
other chemicals).

E.g. MgO, CdS, Silica, soda-lime-glass, concrete, cement,

Ferrites and garnets
Classification of Materials: Polymers
▪ Corrosion resistance and resistivity to chemicals,
▪ Low electrical & Thermal conductivity,
▪ Low density,
▪ High strength to weight ratio, particularly when reinforced,
▪ Noise reduction,
▪ Wide choices of colors and transparencies,
▪ Ease of manufacturing and complexity of design possibilities
▪ Relatively low cost.
E.g. Plastics: PVC, PTFE,
polyethylene, Fibres:
terylene, nylon, cotton
Natural and synthetic
Rubbers, Leather
 COMPOSITES
– Light, strong, flexible
– High costs

Eg. Metal-matrix composite, ceramic-matrix composites,

polymer matrix composites
 ADVANCED MATERIALS

Materials that are utilized in high-tech applications

•Semiconductors
Have electrical conductivities intermediate between conductors
and insulators
•Biomaterials
Must be compatible with body tissues
•Smart materials
Could sense and respond to changes in their environments in
predetermined manners
•Nanomaterials
Have structural features on the order of a nanometer, some of
which may be designed on the atomic/molecular level
STRUCTURE, PROCESSING, & PROPERTIES
• One aspect of Materials Science is the investigation
of relationships that exist between the processing,
structures, properties, and performance of
materials.
• The performance of a material depends on its
properties
• Properties depend on structure ex: hardness vs
structure of steel
• Processing can change structure
Ex: structure vs cooling rate of steel

Fig 1.1 The four components of the discipline of materials science and engineering and their
interrelationship
 STRUCTURE OF MATERIALS
• By structure it means how some internal components of the material is
(are) arranged.
• In terms of dimensionality, structural elements include subatomic, atomic,
microscopic, and macroscopic
• Internal structure or simply called structure, can be studied at various
levels of observation.
• The magnification and the resolution of the physical aid used are a
measure of the level of observation.
• Depending on the level, we can classify the structure of materials as
• Macrostructure, microstructure, substructure, crystal structure, electronic
structure, nuclear structure
 Crystal geometry

• Crystal
• Lattice
• Motif/Basis
• 7 crystal system
• 14 Bravais lattice
• Miller indices of
directions and planes
Crystal
A 3D periodic arrangement of atoms in space in termed as crystal.

Lattice
A 3D periodic arrangement of points in space in termed as lattice.

Crystal lattice

A 3D periodic arrangement of A 3D periodic arrangement of

atoms in space points in space

Physical object Geometrical concept

It has some physical properties It has only geometrical properties
such as weight, density, electrical
and thermal conductivity
Relationship between crystal and lattice

Crystal = lattice + Motif or basis

Motif or basis: An atom or a group of atoms associated with each lattice
point is called a motif or basis of the crystal
Crystal =
lattice (Underlying periodicity of crystal (How to repeat))
+ Motif or basis (atom or group of atoms which is periodically repeated (what to
repeat))
Crystal = lattice + Motif or basis (in 2D)
Crystal = lattice + Motif or basis
Crystal Structure: Unit Cell
Materials can be broadly classified as crystalline and noncrystalline solids. In a crystal, the
arrangement of atoms is in a periodically repeating pattern, whereas no such regularity of
arrangement is found in a noncrystalline material.
A region of space which can generate
entire lattice by repetition through
lattice translation.

Crystal structure tells us the details of the

atomic arrangement within a crystal. It is
usually sufficient to describe the
arrangement of a few atoms within what is
called a unit cell. The crystal consists of a
very large number of unit cells forming
The unit cell is the smallest unit,
regularly repeating patterns in space. The
which, when repeated in space
main technique employed for determining
indefinitely, will generate the
the crystal structure is the X-ray
space lattice.
diffraction.
A crystalline solid can be either a single crystal, where the entire solid consists of only
one crystal, or an aggregate of many crystals separated by well-defined boundaries.
In the latter form, the solid is said to be polycrystalline.
 Crystal Systems

▪ Only 7 crystal systems

have been identified.
▪ These 7 basic crystal
systems are called
Primitive lattices.
▪ Unit cell of a primitive
lattice contains atoms only
the corners.
Crystal
Structure: Unit
Cell
Parameters of a Unit Cell
❑ Unit cell is smallest repeatable entity that can be used to completely
represent a crystal structure.

❑ It can be considered that a unit cell is the building block of the

crystal structure and defines the crystal structure by virtue of its
geometry and the atom positions within.
 Parameters of
a Unit Cell
❑ The type of atoms and their
radii R,
❑ Cell dimensions (Lattice
spacing a, b and c)
❑ Angle between the axis α, β,
γ.
Important Parameters of a Unit Cell
Number of atoms per unit cell (n). For an atom that is shared with m adjacent unit cells, we
only count a fraction of the atom, 1/m.

n = (1/8 x 8) + 1 = 2
Important Parameters of a Unit Cell
CN, the coordination number, which is the number of nearest
neighbours to given atom.

CN = 6
Important Parameters of a Unit Cell
• APF, the atomic packing factor, which is the fraction of the volume
of the cell actually occupied by the hard spheres.
• APF = Sum of atomic volumes/Volume of cell.
 Bravais Lattice
Bravais showed that there are
14 possible arrangement of
points (atoms) in the space
known as Bravais lattices.
 Crystal Structure of Metals

❑Most of the metals crystallize into

three forms of crystal systems:
❑ 1) Face-Centered Cubic
Structure (FCC)
❑ 2) Body-Centered Cubic
Structure (BCC)
❑ 3) Hexagonal Close Paced
Structure (HCP)
Metallic Crystalline Structures
Simple Cubic Cell

Number of atoms (n) =

Effective length of unit cell (a) =
Co-ordination Number (CN) =
Volume of unit cell (Vc) =

Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs)

Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the

cell () =
Void = 100 -  =
Simple Cubic Cell
Number of atoms (n) = 1/8 x 8 = 1
R
Effective length of unit cell (a) = 2R
Co-ordination Number (CN) = 6
Volume of unit cell (Vc) =
a a3 = (2R)3 = 8R3
Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs)
= n x 4/3 πR3 = 4/3 πR3
Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the
cell ()= Vs/Vc = 52.4%
Void = 100 -  = 47.6 %
Body Centered Cubic Cell
Number of atoms (n) =
Effective length of unit cell (a) =
Co-ordination Number (CN) =
Volume of unit cell (Vc) =

Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs)

Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the

cell () =
Void = 100 -  =
Body Centered Cubic Cell
R Number of atoms (n) = (1/8 x 8) + 1 = 2

4R Effective length of unit cell (a) = 4/3½ R

Co-ordination Number (CN) = 8
Volume of unit cell (Vc) = a3 = (4/3½ R)3

a a
Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs)
= n x 4/3 πR3 = 8/3 πR3
Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the
cell () = Vs/Vc = 68 %
Void = 100 -  = 32 %
 Face Centered
Cubic Cell
❑ Number of atoms (n) =
❑ Effective length of unit cell (a)
=
❑ Co-ordination Number (CN) =
❑ Volume of unit cell (Vc) =
❑
❑ Volume of all atoms in the unit
cell ( Vs)
❑ Atomic Packing Factor
(Efficiency) of the cell () =
❑ Void = 100 -  =
Face Centered Cubic
Cell
❑ Number of atoms (n) =
❑ Effective length of unit cell (a) =
❑ Co-ordination Number (CN) =
❑ Volume of unit cell (Vc) =
❑ Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs)
=
❑ Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the
cell () =
❑ Void = 100 -  =
Face Centered Cubic Cell

Number of atoms (n) =

 (1/8 x 8) + (1/2 x 6 ) = 4
Effective length of unit cell (a) = 2 2½
R
Co-ordination Number (CN) = 12
Volume of unit cell (Vc) = a3 = (2 2½
R)3 Volume of all atoms in the unit cell (
Vs) = n x 4/3 πR3 = 16/3 πR3
Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency)
of the cell () = Vs/Vc = 74 %
 Void = 100 -  = 26 %
Hexagonal Closed Packed cell
Number of atoms (n) =
Effective length of unit cell (a) =
Co-ordination Number (CN) =
Volume of unit cell (Vc) =
Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs) =

R R Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the

cell () =
Void = 100 -  =
Hexagonal Closed
Packed Cell
Volume of unit cell (Vc) =
 Base consists of 6 triangles.
 Area of Base = 6 x ½ x a x L
 = 3a2 sin 60o
Volume of HCP cell = Area of base x height
 = 3a2 sin 60o x c
 ⇒ c/a = 1.633.
Volume of HCP cell (Vc) =
 = 3a2 sin 60o x c
 = 4.2426 a3 = 4.2426 (2R) 3
a
L

a
Hexagonal Closed Packed Cell

❑ Number of atoms (n) =

❑ (1/6 x 12) + (1/2 x 2) + 3 = 6
❑ Effective length of unit cell (a) = 2R
❑ Co-ordination Number (CN) = 12
❑ Volume of unit cell (Vc) = 4.2426 (2R) 3
❑ Volume of all atoms in the unit cell ( Vs) = n x 4/3 πR3
= 6 x 4/3 πR3
❑ Atomic Packing Factor (Efficiency) of the cell () =
Vs/Vc = 74 %
❑ Void = 100 -  = 26 %
Crystal Structure of Metals
 Symmetry

Four types of symmetry in crystal

• Translational symmetry
• Rotational symmetry
• Reflection symmetry
• Inversion symmetry
 Translational symmetry
In crystal, arrangement of atoms are not in a random way but in well defined manner. They repeat after
every distance is called periodicity
2D

3D
 Rotational symmetry
• Rotational symmetry- If crystal rotates w.r.t its center of axis, crystal repeats itself in
complete rotation of 360 °

• The number of times, a crystal repeats itself in 360 degrees rotation is called Fold of
rotation
 Possible

Possible

Not Possible

Not Possible
No vacant space to be left after
arranging unit cell side by side
 Reflection symmetry
3D space
Reflection symmetry is denoted by m

2D space
Inversion symmetry
• Similar to reflection symmetry, but, in case of
reflection symmetry for crystal reflection through a
plane.
• Whereas, in inversion symmetry, reflection in
through a point is called inversion center
• An operation that transforms a coordinate (x, y, z)
into (-x, -y, -z) (that is, the signs of the coordinates
of each point are changed) is called the inversion
operation
• An inversion (i) produces an inverted object through
an inversion center
Miller Indices of direction

Put in square brackets [1 0 0]

Miller Indices of direction
Miller Indices of direction
Miller Indices of direction
Miller Indices of planes
Miller Indices of planes
 Miller Indices of planes

X
Miller Indices of planes
Miller Indices of planes
Voids in closed packed structure
Tetrahedral voids
Octahedral voids
Size of the voids

Radius of the largest sphere that can fit inside the void without displacing the
spheres at the corners defining the void.

i. The largest sphere that can fit inside the tetrahedral void is 0.225 R
ii. The largest sphere that can fit inside the octahedral voids is 0.414 R
 Miller Indices for direction and planes

• A technique to denote various directions and planes in crystal

(discussed in class)
• Steps to be followed to determine direction and planes (discussed)
• Miller Indices of family of symmetry related directions and planes for
cubic crystal and tetragonal crystal (discussed)
• Weiss Zone law (discussed)
 Miller-Bravais Indices of HCP crystals

• In HCP crystal, Miller-Bravais indices are of a 4-axis coordinate system for 3-dimensional
crystals.
• This coordinate system is based on the 3-axis Miller index, but with an extra axis which is
used for hexagonal crystals. The system can indicate directions or planes, and are often
written as (hkil)
• Convert [u’v’w’] to [uvtw] and (hkl) index to (hkil) (next slides)
• For Miller-Bravais indices, we need to label 4 axes in the hexagonal crystal.
• In the basal plane, we have 3 axes of equal length each separated by 120º, which we call
a1, a2, and a3 (they are each the same as the lattice parameter “a”). Then there is the c
axis, perpendicular to those three.
 Three-index to four-index system for direction in hexagonal crystal

• Three axes are all contained within a single plane (called the basal plane) and are at
120 degree angles to one another.

• The z axis is perpendicular to this basal plane.

• To convert [u’v’w’] to [uvtw]

2𝑢′ −𝑣 ′
• u=
3
2𝑣 ′ −𝑢′
• v=
3
• t = -(u+v)
• w = 𝑤′
ത
• Therefore, [111] becomes [1123]
Ref: Callister & Rethwisch
 Crystallographic planes for HCP

• For crystals having hexagonal symmetry, it is desirable that equivalent planes have the
same indices; as with directions, this is accomplished by the Miller–Bravais system
• This convention leads to the four-index (hkil) scheme. i is determined by the sum of h
and k through

i = -(h+k)
• We can convert the (hkl) plane to the (hkil) four index system plane
 Hexagonal Miller-Bravais Coordinate System for Planes

➢ Planes in the 4-axis system are very similar to the 3-axis system as “h,” “k,” and “l” are the same
in both systems.
➢ “i” is simply defined by the formula h + k = -i.
➢ Therefore, (112ത 0) becomes (110), (101ത 0) becomes (100), and (23ത 11) becomes (23ത 1)

Ref: Callister & Rethwisch

Linear and planar density
• Linear and planar densities are important considerations relative to the process of slip-
that is, the mechanism by which metals plastically deform
• Slip occurs on the most densely packed crystallographic planes and, in those planes,
along directions having the greatest atomic packing.
• Directional equivalency is related to linear density (LD)
• Equivalent direction have identical linear density
• Linear density is defined as the number of atoms per unit length whose centers lie on the
direction vector for a specific crystallographic direction i.e.
number of atoms centered on direction vector
• LD =
length of direction vector
• units of linear density are reciprocal length (e.g., nm-1, m-1).
 Linear density
Determine the linear density of the [110] direction for the FCC crystal structure

➢ An FCC unit cell (reduced sphere) and the [110] direction therein are shown in Figure a. Represented in Figure
b are the five atoms that lie on the bottom face of this unit cell;
➢ The [110] direction vector passes from the center of atom X, through atom Y, and finally to the center of atom Z.
➢ With regard to the numbers of atoms, it is necessary to take into account the sharing of atoms with adjacent
unit cells.
➢ Each of the X and Z corner atoms is also shared with one other adjacent unit cell along this [110] direction (i.e.,
one-half of each of these atoms belongs to the unit cell being considered), while atom Y lies entirely within the
unit cell.
➢ Thus, there is an equivalence of two atoms along the [110] direction vector in the unit cell. Now, the direction
vector length is equal to 4R (Figure b); thus, the [110] linear density (LD) for FCC:

(a) Reduced-sphere FCC unit

cell with the [110] direction
indicated. (b) The
bottom face-plane of the FCC
unit cell in (a) on which is
shown the atomic spacing in the
[110] direction, through atoms
Ref: Callister & Rethwisch labeled X, Y, and Z.
 Planar density
➢ Planar density (PD) is taken as the number of atoms per unit area that are centered on a particular
crystallographic plane, or
number of atoms centered on plane
PD =
area of plane
➢ The units for planar density are reciprocal area (e.g., nm-2, m-2).
➢ For example, consider the section of a (110) plane within an FCC unit cell as represented in Figures a and b.
➢ Although six atoms have centers that lie on this plane (Figure b), only one-quarter of each of atoms A, C, D,
and F, and one-half of atoms B and E, for a total equivalence of just 2 atoms, are on that plane.
➢ The area of this rectangular section is equal to the product of its length and width.
From Figure b, the length (horizontal dimension) is equal to 4R, whereas the width (vertical dimension) is equal to
2R 2 (corresponds to the FCC unit cell edge length). Thus, the area of this planar region is (4R)(2R 2 ) , and
the planar density is determined as follows
Figure (a) Reduced phere
FCC unit cell with
the (110) plane. (b)
Atomic packing of an
FCC (110) plane.
Corresponding atom
positions from (a) are
Ref: Callister & Rethwisch indicated.
Closed-packed crystal structures

a) A portion of a close-packed plane of

atoms; A, B, and C positions are (b) The AB stacking sequence for close-
indicated. packed atomic planes.

Ref: Callister & Rethwisch

HCP

❑ The real distinction between FCC and HCP lies in

where the third close-packed layer is positioned.
❑ For HCP, the centers of this layer are aligned
directly above the original A positions. This
stacking sequence, ABABAB… is repeated over
and over.
❑ Of course, the ACACAC . . . arrangement would
be equivalent.
❑ These close-packed planes for HCP are (0001)
type planes

Close-packed plane stacking

sequence for hexagonal close-packed.
Ref: Callister & Rethwisch
FCC
❑ In face-centered crystal
structure, the centers of the third
plane are situated over the C
sites of the first plane .
❑ This yields an ABCABCABC . . .
stacking sequence; that is, the
atomic alignment repeats every
third plane.
❑ More difficult to correlate the
stacking of close-packed planes
to the FCC unit cell. These
planes are of the (111) type; an
FCC unit cell is outlined on the
upper left-hand front face of
Figure b,
(a) Close-packed stacking sequence for face-centered cubic. (b) A
corner has been removed to show the relation between the stacking
of close-packed planes of atoms and the FCC crystal structure; the
heavy triangle outlines a (111) plane. Ref: Callister & Rethwisch
 Crystalline and Noncrystalline Materials

Single crystals
• In a crystalline solid, if the periodic and repeated arrangement of
atoms is perfect or extends throughout the entirety of the
specimen without interruption, the result is a single crystal. All
unit cells interlock in the same way and have the same
orientation.
• Single crystals exist in nature. They may also be produced
artificially. They are ordinarily difficult to grow, because the
environment must be carefully controlled.
• If the extremities of a single crystal are permitted to grow without
any external constraint, the crystal will assume a regular
geometric shape having flat faces, as with some of the gemstones; A photograph of a garnet single crystal
the shape is indicative of the crystal structure (See Figure).
• Within the past few years, single crystals have become extremely
important in many of our modern technologies, in particular
electronic microcircuits, which employ single crystals of silicon
and other semiconductors. Ref: Callister & Rethwisch
Polycrystalline Materials

❑ Most crystalline solids are composed of a collection of

many small crystals or grains; such materials are
termed polycrystalline.

❑ Various stages in the solidification of a polycrystalline

specimen are represented schematically in Figure.
❑ First small crystals or nuclei form at various positions.
These have random crystallographic orientations, as
indicated by the square grids.
❑ The small grains grow by the successive addition from
the surrounding liquid of atoms to the structure of
each. The extremities of adjacent grains impinge on
one another as the solidification process approaches
completion.
❑ the crystallographic orientation varies from grain to
grain. Also, there exists some atomic mismatch within
the region where two grains meet; are called a grain
boundary
Ref: Callister & Rethwisch
 Noncrystalline materials
• Noncrystalline solids lack a systematic and regular arrangement of atoms over relatively large
atomic distances. Sometimes such materials are also called amorphous (meaning literally “without
form”), or supercooled liquids, as their atomic structure resembles that of a liquid.
• An amorphous condition may be illustrated by comparison of the crystalline and noncrystalline
structures of the ceramic compound silicon dioxide (SiO2), which may exist in both states.
• Figures a and b present two-dimensional schematic diagrams for both structures of SiO2. Even
though each silicon ion bonds to three oxygen ions for both states, but the structure is much more
disordered and irregular for the noncrystalline structure.

Two-dimensional schemes of the

structure of (a) crystalline silicon dioxide
and (b) noncrystalline silicon dioxide.

Ref: Callister & Rethwisch

Noncrystalline materials

• Whether a crystalline or amorphous solid forms depends on the ease with which a
random atomic structure in the liquid can transform to an ordered state during
solidification. Amorphous materials, therefore, are characterized by atomic or
molecular structures that are relatively complex and become ordered only with
some difficulty.
• Rapidly cooling through the freezing temperature favors the formation of a
noncrystalline solid, because little time is allowed for the ordering process. Metals
normally form crystalline solids, some ceramic materials are crystalline, the
inorganic glasses are amorphous. Polymers may be completely noncrystalline and
semicrystalline consisting of varying degrees of crystallinity.

Ref: Callister & Rethwisch

Coordination number
• For metals, each atom has the same number of nearest-neighbor or touching atoms,
which is the coordination number (CN).
• For Simple Cubic, CN = 6, For body centered cubic, CN = 8, and For face-centered cubic
and Hexagonal closed packed lattice the CN=12.
Tetrahedral
and
Octahedral
voids
Position of the voids in FCC crystal

• Position of octahedral
voids in FCC crystal, cube
edges (0,0, ½), (0, ½,0),
(½,0,0) and body centre
(½, ½, ½)
• Position of tetrahedral
voids are located in body
diagonals at (¼, ¼, ¼), (¾,
¾, ¾)

In HCP crystal same types of octahedral and tetrahedral voids are present
Position of the voids in BCC crystal
• Coordinates of octahedral
voids in BCC crystal,
cube edges (0,0, ½), (0,
½,0), (½,0,0)
• Position of tetrahedral
voids are located in body
diagonals at (½, ¼, 0)
 Structure of alloys

When the molten metal are melted together and crystalized, a single crystal structure
may form. In the unit cell of this crystal both the metal atoms are present in proportion
to their concentration. This structure is called as solid solution
It may be of three types
1. Random substitutional solid solution
2. Ordered substitutional solid solution
3. Interstitial solid solution
Structure of alloys

1. Solid solution
• Variation in composition
• Usually the crystal structure of the solution is that of one of the
components

2. Intermetallic compound
• Fixed composition
• Crystal structure different from either of the components
Structure of alloys
Examples:
Interstitial solid solution:
Austenite: Solid solution of C in -Fe (FCC)
Ferrite: solid solution of C in -Fe (BCC)

Substitutional solid solution:

-brass: Solid solution of Cu (FCC) and Zn (HCP) (Limited solubility)
Solid solution -brass has FCC structure
Cu and Ni exhibit the complete solubility
Interstitial solid solution:

• Geometrical limit of solid solubility in

interstitial solid solution: all voids occupied
• Interstitial solid solution cannot exhibit
unlimited solid solubility
Substitutional solid solution:
 Hume Rothery’s rule

Hume Rothery studied a number of alloys system and formulated the conditions
that favoured extensive substitutionl solid solubility. These are known as Hume
Rothery rules and are listed below:

• The size difference between the parent atom and the solute atom must be
less than 15%
• The electronegativity difference between the metals must be small
• The crystal structure of metals and the valency of the atoms must be the
same.
 Polymorphism and allotropy

• Some metals, as well as nonmetals, may have more than one crystal
structure, a phenomenon known as polymorphism
• When found in elemental solids, the condition is often termed allotropy
• Example
pure iron has a BCC crystal structure at room temperature, which
changes to FCC iron at 912 °C. Most often a modification of the density and
other physical properties accompanies a polymorphic transformation
Imperfections/defects in crystal
• Based on the dimensionality of defects (on the order of an atomic diameter),
classification of defects in crystal are as follows:
• Zero dimensional defect/Point defect – Ex. Vacancy, Interstitial defect,
substitutional defect
• One dimensional defect/line defect – Ex. Dislocation
• Two dimensional defect/planar defect – Ex. Free surface, grain boundary, twin
boundary, stacking fault
• Three dimensional defect – Ex. Voids, Inclusion, crack
Point defects (Vacancy, Substitutional impurity and interstitial impurity)

❑ A vacancy refers to an atomic site from where the

atom is missing (Fig. (a))
❑ A substitutional impurity (or solute) is a point
imperfection. It refers to a foreign atom that
substitutes for or replaces a parent atom in the
crystal (Fig. (b))
❑ An interstitial impurity is also a point imperfection.
It is a small sized atom occupying the void space in
the parent crystal, without dislodging any of the
parent atoms from their sites (Fig. (c))
❑ An atom can enter the interstitial void space only
when it is substantially smaller than the parent
atom.

Point imperfections in an elemental crystal: (a) vacancy; (b) substitutional

impurity; (c) interstitial impurity; and (d) field ion micrograph of platinum
showing a vacancy. [(d) Courtesy: E.W. Mueller.]
 Point defects

a. Vacancy
b. Interstitialcy
c. Interstitial impurity
d. Substitutional impurity
 Point defects (cont’d)
• The presence of a point imperfection introduces distortions in the crystal.
• If the imperfection is a vacancy, the bonds that the missing atom would have formed with its
neighbours are not there.
• In the case of an impurity atom, as a result of the size difference, elastic strains are created in the
region of the crystal immediately surrounding the impurity atom.
• The elastic strains are present irrespective of whether the impurity atom is larger or smaller than the
parent atom. A larger atom introduces compressive stresses and corresponding strains around it,
while a smaller atom creates a tensile stress-strain field.
• Similarly, an interstitial atom produces strains around the void it is occupying. All these factors tend
to increase the enthalpy (or the potential energy) of the crystal. The work required to be done for
creating a point imperfection is called the enthalpy of formation (Hf) of the point imperfection. It is
expressed in kJ mol–l or eV/point imperfection. The enthalpy of formation of vacancies in a few
crystals is shown in following Table
 Point defects (cont’d)
• In close packed structures, the largest atom that can fit the octahedral and the tetrahedral
voids have radii 0.414r and 0.225r, respectively, where r is the radius of the parent atom.
• Carbon is an interstitial solute in iron. It occupies the octahedral voids in the high temperature
FCC form of iron. The iron atom in the FCC crystal has a radius of 1.29 Å, whereas the
carbon atom has a radius of 0.71 Å (covalent radius in graphite). The carbon radius is clearly
larger than 0.414 X 1.29 = 0.53 Å, which is the size of the octahedral void. Therefore, there
are strains around the carbon atom in the FCC iron, and the solubility is limited to 2 wt.%.
• In the room temperature BCC form of iron, the voids are still smaller and hence the solubility
of carbon is very limited, that is, only 0.008 wt.%.
Point defects: vacancies
Point defects: vacancies
The fractions of vacancies n/N in a crystal at temperature T is given by:

Where, n is the number of vacant sites

N is the number of atomic sites
ΔHf is the enthalpy of formation of vacancy
k is the Boltzmann constant
 Equilibrium concentration of vacancy
Two questions need to be considered:
1) Why should there be an equilibrium number of vacancies at a
given temperature?
2) Why does the equilibrium number change with temperature?

Gv, nvw, and TSm as functions of the number of vacancies nv.

In this figure, the temperature is assumed close to the melting
point. Whereas the work to form vacancies (nvw) increases
linearly with the number of vacancies, at low concentrations
the entropy component (TS) increases very rapidly with nv, but
less and less rapidly as nv grows larger. At the value marked
n1 in the figure, the two quantities nvw and TS become equal,
and, at this point, the free energy Gv, the sum of (nvw TS),
equals zero. For all values of nv greater than n1, the free
energy is positive

With decreasing temperature, the equilibrium number of vacancies becomes smaller because the entropy component (TS)
decreases.
Vacancies
Vacancies
Contributions of vacancies to the thermal expansion
Contributions of vacancies to the thermal expansion
 Motion of vacancy
• Diffusion in crystals is explained, in terms of vacancies, by assuming that the vacancies move
through the lattice, thereby producing random shifts of the atoms from one lattice position to another.
• The basic principle of vacancy diffusion is illustrated in the below Figure, where three successive
steps in the movement of a vacancy from position I to II are shown.
• In each case, it can be seen that the vacancy moves as a result of an atom jumping into a hole from
a lattice position bordering the hole.
• In order to make the jump, the atom must overcome the net attractive force of its neighbors on the
side opposite the hole. Work is therefore required to make the jump into the hole, or, as it may also
be stated, an energy barrier must be overcome. Energy sufficient to overcome the barrier is
furnished by the thermal or heat vibrations of the crystal lattice.
• The higher the temperature, the more intense the thermal vibrations, and the more frequently are the
energy barriers overcome. Vacancy motion at high temperatures is very rapid and, as a
consequence, the rate of diffusion increases rapidly with increasing temperature.

Three steps in the motion of a

vacancy through a crystal
 Defects in Ionic Crystal
(Frenkel defect and Schottky defect)
• In ionic crystals, the formation of point imperfections is subject to the requirement that the overall
electrical neutrality is maintained. An ion displaced from a regular site to an interstitial site is called a
Frenkel imperfection.
• As cations are generally the smaller ions, it is possible for them to get displaced into the void space.
Anions do not get displaced like this, as the void space is just too small for their size. A Frenkel
imperfection does not change the overall electrical neutrality of the crystal. The point imperfections in
silver halides and CaF2 are of the Frenkel type.
A pair of one cation and one anion can be missing
from an ionic crystal as shown in Fig. The valency of
the missing pair of ions should be equal to maintain
electrical neutrality. Such a pair of vacant ion sites is
called a Schottky imperfection. This type is dominant
in alkali halides

Ref: Callister & Rethwisch

Point defects in ionic solids
 Defects in Ionic Crystal

• The ratio of cations to anions is not altered by the formation of either a Frenkel or a Schottky
defect. If no other defects are present, the material is said to be stoichiometric.
• Stoichiometry may be defined as a state for ionic compounds wherein there is the exact ratio of
cations to anions as predicted by the chemical formula. For example, NaCl is stoichiometric if the
ratio of Na ions to Cl ions is exactly 1:1.
• Trivalent cations such as Fe3+ and Cr3+ can substitute for trivalent parent Al3+ cations in the Al2O3
crystal.
• Whereas, if the valency of the substitutional impurity is not equal to the parent cation, additional
point defects may be created due to such substitution. For example, a divalent cation such as Cd2+
substituting for a univalent parent ion such as Na+ will, at the same time, create a vacant cation site
in the crystal so that electrical neutrality is maintained.
 Defects in Ionic Crystal
• A ceramic compound is nonstoichiometric if there is any deviation from this exact ratio.
• Nonstoichiometry may occur for some ceramic materials in which two valence (or ionic) states exist for
one of the ion types. Iron oxide (wüstite, FeO) is one such material, because the iron can be present in
both Fe2+ and Fe3+ states; the number of each of these ion types depends on temperature and the
ambient oxygen pressure.
• The formation of an Fe3+ ion disrupts the electroneutrality of the crystal by introducing an excess +1
charge. This must be offset by some type of defect.
• This may be accomplished by the formation of one
Fe2+ vacancy (or the removal of two positive charges)
for every two Fe3+ ions that are formed (Figure).
• Thus, the crystal is no longer stoichiometric because
there is one more O ion than Fe ion; however, the
crystal remains electrically neutral. This phenomenon
is fairly common in iron oxide, and, in fact, its chemical
formula is often written as Fe1–xO (where x is some
small and variable fraction substantially less than unity)
Schematic representation of an Fe2+ to indicate a condition of nonstoichiometry with a
vacancy in FeO that results from the formation deficiency of Fe. (termed as Metal deficiency defect)
of two Fe3+ ions.
Ref: Callister & Rethwisch
 Defects in Ionic Crystal
• Defect structures are produced when the composition of an ionic crystal does not correspond to the
exact stoichiometric formula. Such defect structures have an appreciable concentration of point
imperfections.
• Consider deviations from the stoichiometric formula in compounds of ZnO and FeO. In ZnyO, where
y > 1, the excess cations occupy interstitial voids. Such a compound can be produced by heating a
stoichiometric compound in zinc vapour. The two electrons released from each zinc atom that enters
the crystal stays around an interstitial cation, as shown in Fig. 6.3a. (termed as Metal excess
defect)
 One dimensional/Line defect (Dislocation)
• A dislocation is a linear or one-dimensional defect around which some of the atoms are
misaligned. Different types of dislocation
- Edge dislocation
- Screw dislocation
- Mixed dislocation
• One type of dislocation an extra portion of a plane of atoms, or half-plane, the edge of which
terminates within the crystal. This is termed an edge dislocation;

Edge dislocation is at the edge of a extra half

plane

Only the bottom edge of the half plane is

defect, not the entire half plane
Edge Dislocation

• This is reflected in the slight curvature for the vertical planes

of atoms as they bend around this extra half-plane.
• The magnitude of this distortion decreases with distance
away from the dislocation line; at positions far removed, the
crystal lattice is virtually perfect.
• Sometimes the edge dislocation in above Figure is
represented by the symbol ⊥ which also indicates the
position of the dislocation line. An edge dislocation may also
be formed by an extra half-plane of atoms that is included in
the bottom portion of the crystal; its designation is T .
• Within the region around the dislocation line there is some
localized lattice distortion. The atoms above the dislocation
line in Figure are squeezed together (compressive stress),
and those below are pulled apart (tensile stress)
Edge Dislocation • Edge dislocation is a type of
line defect in crystal lattices in
which the defect occurs either
due to the presence of an
extra plane of atoms or due to
the loss of a half of a plane of
atoms in the middle of the
lattice.
• This defect causes the nearby
planes of atoms to bend
towards the dislocation.
Therefore, the adjacent planes
of atoms are not straight. The
region in which the defect
occurs is the dislocation core
or area.

The Burgers vector b is the vector which

defines the magnitude and direction of slip.
Therefore, it is the most characteristic
feature of a dislocation
Edge dislocation

A dislocation line is a boundary between slip and no slip region on a slip plane
One-dimensional or line defects: dislocation
 Edge dislocation
Extra half plane

2a

a
Missing half plane
Edge dislocation
 Edge dislocation

1. Defect is concentrated in the marked

region
Edge dislocation line 2. Abruptly ending plane created the
dislocation.
3. Only the bottom edge of the half plane is
defect not the entire half plane
 Edge dislocation: slip approach

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
 Edge dislocation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Magnitude and Slip No Slip

direction of slip

No Slip
Slip A dislocation line is a boundary between
slip and no slip region on a slip plane

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Characteristics vector of dislocation

Slip No Slip
𝑡Ƹ
𝑏

• Tangent vector (𝒕ො) (line vector) parallel or tangent to the dislocation line
• Burgers vector (𝒃): magnitude and direction of slip
 Edge, Screw and mixed dislocations
• Classification based on the angular relation between burger vector (𝑏)and tangent vector (𝑡).
Ƹ

Slip No Slip Slip No Slip

𝑡Ƹ 𝑡Ƹ
𝑏

If 𝑏 is perpendicular to 𝑡Ƹ then it is called edge dislocation 𝑏 is parallel to 𝑡Ƹ then it is called screw dislocation

Slip No Slip
𝑡Ƹ

𝑏
If 𝑏 is neither parallel or nor perpendicular to the 𝑡Ƹ then it is called as mixed dislocation
 Screw dislocations
screw dislocation line

Parallel planes perpendicular to the dislocation line join to form a continuous helical surface.
 Screw dislocation
• Another type of dislocation, called a screw dislocation, may be thought of as being formed by a
shear stress that is applied to produce the distortion shown in below Figure a:
• the upper front region of the crystal is shifted one atomic distance to the right relative to the bottom
portion. The atomic distortion associated with a screw dislocation is also linear and along a
dislocation line, line AB in Figure b.
• The screw dislocation derives its name from the spiral or helical path or ramp that is traced around
the dislocation line by the atomic planes of atoms. Sometimes the symbol is used to designate a
screw dislocation.
The Burgers circuit of the screw dislocation form a spiral or helical path or ramp (like screw), thus
the name screw dislocation
Edge dislocation

Screw dislocation
 Screw dislocation

Burgers vector parallel to dislocation line

 Burgers Circuit

S. F 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6

1 1 𝑏 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

6 5 4 3 2 1
6 5 4 3 2 1
Burgers vector b of a dislocation in a crystal is the
Closed burgers circuit in Burgers circuit construction using finish-start/right-hand
perfect crystal (FS/RH) convention (closure failure is the burgers vector)
Screw dislocation (atom planes)
Mixed dislocation

Most dislocations are not pure screw or edge, but a combination of both (have both
edge and screw component)
Transition region exhibits varying degrees of screw and edge character
Mixed dislocation
❑ Dislocation play dominant role in plastic deformation – slip of a large number of dislocations

❑ Plastic deformation is irreversible changes in shape due to applied stress

❑ Elastic deformation is reversible, stretching of atomic bonds

❑ Strength of materials is lower than theoretical values due to the presence of dislocations,
only a small number of bonds is broken at any given time during slip

❑ Dislocations provide ductility in metals

❑ Dislocation control mechanical properties of metals and alloys by interfering with dislocation
movement (obstacles stronger material)

❑ Dislocation density = the total length of dislocations per unit volume; units: m/m3 = m-2
 Dislocation motion
❑ Dislocation are important in crystal because they can move under applied stress

❑ Different types of dislocation motion are there

❑ Dislocation glide ( for edge, screw and mixed dislocation)

❑ Dislocation Climb (for edge dislocation only) – Only at higher temperature

❑ Cross-slip (for screw dislocation only)

❑ Glide is motion of dislocation in its own slip plane

❑ All types of dislocations ( for edge, screw and mixed dislocation) can glide
Dislocation glide for edge dislocation

τCRSS = critical
resolved shear
stress on the
slip plane in the
direction of b
 Motion of Edge Dislocation

• Slip approach of edge dislocation

• Dislocation line is a boundary between slip and no-slip
regions on a slip plane
• Slip plane – The plane in which dislocation moves
through a crystal
Dislocation
Climb
 Dislocation Climb
❑ The motion of an edge dislocation on a plane perpendicular to the glide plane is called climb
motion.
❑ As the edge dislocation moves above or below the slip plane in a perpendicular direction
❑ The incomplete plane either shrinks or increases in extent. This kind of shifting of the edge of
the incomplete plane is possible only by subtracting or adding rows of atoms to the extra plane.
❑ Climb motion is said to be nonconservative. This is in contrast to the glide motion which is
conservative and does not require either addition or subtraction of atoms from the incomplete
plane.
❑ During climbing up of an edge dislocation, the incomplete plane shrinks. Atoms move away
from the incomplete plane to other parts of the crystal. During climbing down, the incomplete
plane increases in extent. Atoms move into the plane from other parts of the crystal.
❑ This results in an interesting interaction between the climb process and the vacancies in the
crystal.
Cross-slip of screw dislocation

➢ A screw dislocation cross-slips from

one slip plane onto another
nonparallel slip plane
➢ As there is no unique glide plane
defined for a screw dislocation, it can
change its slip plane during its motion.
Elastic energy of dislocation line

• Elastic strain energy associated with

Compression dislocation line due to strain field around the

Slip plane dislocation line.
• The elastic strain energy
Tension E = ½ Gb2
Where G is the share modulus
b is the magnitude of burgers vector

1 plane missing
 Energy of dislocations
❑ Dislocations have distortion energy associated with them
❑ Elastic strain energy E per unit length of a dislocation of Burgers vector b
1 2
E  Gb
2
G → () shear modulus
b → |b|

❑Edge → Compressive and tensile stress fields

❑Screw → Shear strains

Elastic E
Energy of dislocation
Non-elastic (Core) ~E/10
 1 2
E  Gb
2  Dislocations will have as small a b as possible

Full b → Full lattice translation

Dislocations
(in terms of lattice translation)
Partial b → Fraction of lattice
translation
 Two-dimensional defect

➢ Surface imperfections are two dimensional in the mathematical sense. They refer to regions of
distortions that lie about a surface having a thickness of a few atomic diameters.
➢ The external surface/Free surface of a crystal is an imperfection in itself as the atomic bonds do not
extend beyond the surface. External surfaces have surface energies that are related to the number of
bonds broken at the surface.
➢ For example, consider a close packed plane as the surface of a close packed crystal. An atom on the
surface of this crystal has six nearest bonding neighbours on the surface plane, three below it, and
none above. Therefore, three out of twelve neighbours of an atom are missing at the surface. The
surface energy of a crystal bears a relationship to this number.

Ref: Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan

2D defects: Surfaces and interfaces

• Homophase interface (same phase)

a) Grain boundary
b) Twin boundary
c) Stacking faults

• Heterophase interface (different phase)

a) Free surfaces (solid/gas interface)
b) Solid/liquid interface
c) Crystal 1/crystal 2 (interphase interface)
 Free surface
Free surface or external surface

Bonds broken at the free surface

Energy associated with the number of broken bonds will be stored in the surface
Surface energy per unit area (energy stored in the surface)
Surface energy in terms of bond breaking model
ε = bond energy

Number of
A bonds broken
A
Number of per atom (nB)
atoms
present in
the unit area
on the
surface (nA)

γ = (A nA nB ε)/2A = (nA nB ε)/2 (surface energy)

 Grain boundary
➢ In addition to the external surface, crystals may have surface imperfections inside.
➢ A piece of iron or copper is usually not a single crystal. It consists of a number of crystals and is said to
be polycrystalline.
➢ During solidification or during a process in the solid state called recrystallization, new crystals form in
different parts of the material. They are randomly oriented with respect to one another. They grow by
the addition of atoms from the adjacent regions and eventually impinge on each other.
➢ When two crystals impinge in this manner, the atoms caught in between the two are being pulled by
each of the two crystals to join its own configuration.
➢ They can join neither crystal due to the opposing
forces and, therefore, take up a compromise position.
These positions at the boundary region between two
crystals are so distorted and unrelated to one another
that we can compare the boundary region to a
noncrystalline material.
➢ The thickness of this region is only a few atomic
diameters, because the opposing forces from
neighbouring crystals are felt by the intervening atoms
only at such short distances. The boundary region is
called a crystal boundary or a grain boundary
Ref: Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan
 Crystal Defects
➢ Surface Defects: Grain Boundaries

➢ Grain boundary is a narrow region between two grains of about two to

few atomic diameters in width, and is the region of mismatch between
adjacent grains.
❑ Grain boundary is a narrow region between two grains and is the region of mismatch between
adjacent grains
❑ Atoms are arranged less regularly at the grain boundary. This produce less efficient packing of
the atoms at the boundary.
❑ Thus, the atoms along the grain boundary have higher energy than those within the grains.
➢ The crystal orientation changes sharply at the grain boundary. The orientation difference is usually
greater than 10–15°.
➢ For this reason, the grain boundaries are also known as high angle boundaries.
➢ The average number of nearest neighbours for an atom in the boundary of a close packed crystal is
11, as compared to 12 in the interior of the crystal.
➢ On an average, one bond out of the 12 bonds of an atom is broken at the boundary. The grain
boundary between two crystals, which have different crystalline arrangements or differ in
composition, is given a special name, viz. an interphase boundary or an interface. In an Fe–C alloy,
the energies of grain boundaries and interfaces are compared in the following manner:

Grain boundary between BCC crystals 0.89 J m-2

Grain boundary between FCC crystals 0.85 J m-2
Interface between BCC and FCC crystals 0.63 J m-2

Ref: Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan

➢ If the mismatch i.e., orientation difference between two grains is more than 10-15o, the
grain boundary is known as high angle grain boundary.

158
➢ When the orientation difference between two crystals is less than 10°, the distortion in the boundary
is not so drastic as compared with a noncrystalline material.
➢ Such boundaries have a structure that can be described by means of arrays of dislocations. They
are called low angle boundaries.

➢ Figure shows a low angle tilt boundary, where

neighbouring crystalline regions are tilted with
respect to each other by only a small angle. The
tilt boundary can be described as a set of
parallel, equally-spaced edge dislocations of the
same sign located one above the other.
➢ Similar low angle boundaries formed by screw
dislocations are called twist boundaries

Ref: Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan

 Stacking faults

Stacking faults are also planar surface imperfections created by a fault (or error) in the stacking
sequence of atomic planes in crystals. Consider the stacking arrangement in an FCC crystal

…ABCABCABCABC…..
If an A plane indicated by an arrow above is missing, the stacking sequence becomes

….ABCABCBCABC….
The stacking in the missing region is BCBC which is HCP stacking. This thin region is a surface
imperfection and is called a stacking fault. The number of nearest neighbours in the faulted region
remains 12 as in the perfect regions of the crystal, but the second nearest neighbour bonds in the
faulted region are not of the correct type for the FCC crystal. Hence, a small surface energy is
associated with the stacking fault, in the range 0.01–0.05 J m-2. Similarly, we can define a stacking
fault in an HCP crystal as a thin region of FCC stacking

Ref: Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan

 Twin boundary
❑ Another planar surface imperfection is a twin boundary.
❑ The atomic arrangement on one side of a twin boundary is a mirror reflection of the arrangement
on the other side, as illustrated in Fig.
❑ Twin boundaries occur in pairs such that the orientation change introduced by one boundary is
restored by the other, as shown in below Fig.
❑ The region between the pair of boundaries is called the twinned region. Twin boundaries are
easily identified under an optical microscope.

Ref: Material Science and Engineering by V. Raghavan

 Stacking faults

• Fault in a stacking sequence of a crystal

Stacking sequence in a cubic closed packed structure

C C
B B HCP like sequence near fault
plane
A A
c-plane missing
C B
fault
B A
A C
C
 Twin boundary

cubic closed packed structure

cubic closed packed structure
with twin boundary

C C

B B

A A

C C Mirror plane (twin plane)

B A

A B

C C

Twin boundary: boundary in a crystal such that crystal on either

side are mirror image of each other
 Volume imperfections
❑ Volume imperfections can be foreign-particle inclusions, large voids or pores, or noncrystalline
regions which have the dimensions of at least a few tens of Å.

❑ The accumulation of vacancies produce voids. The foreign atoms produce dissymmetry within
crystals. These defects affect properties of metal.
Atomic Vibrations

➢ At any temperature above absolute zero every atom in a solid material is

vibrating very rapidly about its lattice position. This behavior is
considered as defect/ imperfection.
➢ At any given instant of time, not all the atoms vibrate
with same frequency and amplitude nor with the
same energy.
➢ With the rise in temperature, there will be rise in
average energy.
➢ Temperature of solid is really just a measure of the
average vibrational activity of atoms and molecules.

165
Atomic Vibrations:

➢ At room temperature Vibration has a frequency of ~1013/sec, amplitude

of few thousands nanometers.
➢ Most of the properties and processes in solids are manifestations of this
vibrational atomic motion.

➢ Eg: Melting occurs when the vibrations are vigorous and large enough to
rupture large number of atomic bonds.

166
 Summary of defects in crystal

❑ Point, Line, Area, and volume defects exist in real solids

❑ The number and type of defects can be varied and controlled (e.g. T increases vacancy conc.)
❑ Defects affects materials properties
❑ Defects may be are desirable or undesirable (e.g. dislocations may have good and bad role
depending on whether plastic deformation is desirable or not)