MKT 1122 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Lecture-1
(Atomic Structure)

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umut KARAGÜZEL

Yıldız Technical University

Mechatronics Engineering Department
 Materials Science & Engineering
• Materials Science involves investigating the
relationships that exist between the structures
and properties of materials.

• Materials Engineering is, on the basis of these

structure–property correlations, designing or
changing the structure of a material to
produce a predetermined or desired set of
properties.
The role of:
• a materials scientist is to develop or synthesize
new materials,
• a materials engineer is to create new products
or systems using available materials, and/or to
develop new techniques for processing
materials.

Engineering materials are used in realizing

engineering designs and producing goods.
 Importance of engineering materials???
• Almost all engineers will be exposed to design
problems involving materials. (Design is the basic task
of an engineer!!! )

• Typical examples of design might include:

a transmission gear, the superstructure for a building,
an oil refinery component, or an integrated circuit chip,
etc.

• Many times, materials problem is about selecting the

correct material from the thousands of candidates
available in the market.
 Materials Selection Criteria:
1. In-service conditions must be characterized, for these
will dictate the properties required of the material.
Only in very few cases a material possess the ideal
combination of the desired properties.

Thus, it may be necessary to trade one characteristic

for another. The classic example involves strength and
ductility; normally, a material having a high strength
will have limited ductility. In such cases a reasonable
compromise (or an optimization) between two or
more properties may be necessary.
2. A second consideration is any deterioration (or
degradation) of material properties that may occur
during service operation. For example, significant
reductions in mechanical strength may result from
exposure to elevated temperatures or corrosive
environments for long periods of time.

3. Final consideration is that of economics: What will be

the cost of finished product? A material may be found
that has the ideal set of properties, but is highly
expensive. Here again, some compromise is
unavoidable.
(The cost of a finished piece also includes the production
(processing) cost of the item)
Conclusion:
The more familiar an engineer is with the various
characteristics and structure–property
relationships, as well as processing techniques of
materials,
The more effective and confident in making
reasonable materials selection based on these
criteria.

That is why the topics of engineering materials are

thought in the curriculum of Mechatronics.
 Classification of Engineering Materials:
A. Basic Types of Materials:
1. Metals
2. Ceramics
3. Polymers
B. Combination of Basic Types of Materials
4. Composite Materials
C. Advanced Materials
5. Semi-Conductors Classification is based
6. Bio-Materials primarily on their chemical
7. Smart Materials characteristics, atomic
structures and properties.
8. Nano-Materials
 1. METALS
Composed of one or more metallic elements (e.g., iron, aluminum,
copper, titanium, gold, and nickel), and sometimes also
nonmetallic elements like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in small
amounts.
Distinctive characteristics:
• Atoms are arranged orderly in the space,
• Relatively denser than ceramics and polymers,
• Stiff, strong and ductile,
Strong: High load carrying capacity,
Ductile: Capability of large deformations before fracture)
• Good conduction of electricity and heat,
• Non-transparency
• Some of them (i.e., Fe, Co, and Ni) have desirable magnetic
properties.
 2. CERAMICS
Compounds of metallic and nonmetallic elements. They are most
frequently in the forms of oxides, nitrides, and carbides (e.g.
aluminum oxide Al2O3 (alumina), silicon dioxide SiO2 (silica),
silicon carbide SiC, silicon nitride (Si3N4) and other traditional
ceramics like clay minerals, cement and glass.

Common properties:
• Stiff and strong,
• Very hard but with loss of ductility (i.e. brittle), highly
susceptible to fracture,
• They are more resistant to high temperatures, some of them are
used for cookware and even automobile engine parts.
• Poor heat and electricity conduction (i.e. good insulators),
• Some of them are transparent,
• Some of the oxide ceramics (e.g., Fe3O4) exhibit magnetic
behavior.
• Corrosion resistant…
 3. POLYMERS
Include the plastics and rubbers. Organic compounds of carbon,
hydrogen, and other nonmetallic elements (i.e., O, N, and Cl,…).
They have very large molecular chain structures having carbon as
back-bone element. Polyethylene (PE), nylon, polyvinyl chloride
(PVC), polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), and rubber.
Common properties:
• Low density,
• Neither stiff nor strong compared with other material types,
• Many of them are very ductile (i.e., plastics), which means they
are easily formed into complex shapes.
• Chemically inert (corrosion resistant) in aggressive
environments,
• They are soften, sometimes burned at high temperatures,
• Low electrical conductivity and nonmagnetic.
 4. COMPOSITES
Composed two (or more) types of basic materials. The aim is to
achieve a combination of good properties that is not displayed
by any single type of material.
Best example is glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP). Fine glass
fibers are embedded in a polymer matrix (epoxy or polyester).
Common properties:
• Stiff, strong and flexible.
• Low density,
• More expensive,
• Strength per unit mass (specific strength) is very high with
respect to metals and ceramics,
• Some of them are used in some aircraft and aerospace
applications, high-tech sporting equipment (e.g., bicycles, golf
clubs, tennis rackets, and recently in automobile bumpers.
 ADVANCED MATERIALS
5. Semiconductors :
Electrical properties are between conductors and insulators.
Semiconductors are used for manufacturing integrated circuits.
6. Biomaterials:
In human implants to replace damaged body parts (e.g. bones).
These materials must not produce toxic substances and must be
compatible with body tissues. All basic types of materials may
be used as biomaterials.
7. Smart Materials:
• Shape-memory alloys : Deformed metals, after heating they
remember their original shapes.
• Piezoelectric ceramics expand and contract in response to an
applied electric field.
8. Nano-Materials: dimensions of these structural entities are on
the order of a nanometer (10–9 m), less than 100 nanometers.
 ATOM STRUCTURE
BOHR ATOM MODEL
Atom is thought to have spherical
shape. Each atom consists of a very
small nucleus composed of protons
and neutrons, which is encircled by
moving electrons.

Both electrons and protons are electrically charged, the charge

magnitude being 1.602 x 10-19 Coulomb,.
Negative sign for electrons and positive for protons; neutrons are
electrically neutral.
Electrons 9.11 x 10-31 kg, protons and neutrons have approximately
the same mass, 1.67 x 10-27 kg (approximately thousand times of
an electron).
Atomic number (Z) = Number of protons in the nucleus of the
atom of each chemical element. (It also equals to the number
of electrons)
Atomic mass (A) = Sum of the masses of protons and neutrons
within the nucleus.
Isotopes = Atoms of some elements have two or more different
atomic masses (Although the number of protons is the same for
all atoms of a given element, the number of neutrons (N) may
be variable).
A≈Z+N
(Sum of neutrons and protons gives atomic mass A)
Atomic mass unit (amu) = (1/12)th of the atomic mass of the most
common isotope of carbon (A = 12 amu).
The atomic weight of an element or the molecular weight of a
compound may be specified on the basis of amu per atom
(molecule) or mass per mole of material.

Avogadro’s number = 6.022 x 10-23 atoms/mol

1 amu/atom (or molecule) = 1 g/mol

(Ex: atomic weight of iron is 55.85 amu/atom, or 55.85 g/mol)

Electrons are assumed to revolve around the atomic nucleus in

discrete orbitals
Quantum number characterizes the position of an electron in an
atom.

Each principal quantum number or shell (1, 2, 3, 4, ...) also be

represented by letters (K, L, M, N, ...).
Each shell has one or more subshells (s, p, d, f, ...).
Each subshell can accommodate specific number of electrons
(s=2, p=6, d=10, f=14, ...). Each principal shell also
accommodates certain numbers of electrons (K=2, L=8,
M=18, N=32, ...)
K = one subshell (s), L = two subshells (s and p) and M = three
subshells (s, p and d).
The shell with smallest quantum number is the closest to the
nucleus and has the lowest energy level (i.e. most stable).
 For most atoms, the
electrons
preferentially fill up
the lowest possible
energy states in the
electron shells and
subshells, two
electrons (having
opposite spins) in
each state.

K, L, M, ….
The number of electrons in each subshell is indicated by a
superscript after the shell–subshell designation.
Valence electrons are those that occupy the outermost shell of
the atom.

Stable electron configurations are the states with the outermost

or valence electron shell are completely filled.

To remove an electron is very difficult if valance shell is

completely full. That is why they are called as inert elements
(or gases) and they are chemically unreactive.

Periodic table is the table in which all the elements have been
classified according to their electron configurations.
Electropositive elements: Electronegative elements: Readily
Readily give up electrons to acquire electrons to become (-)
become (+) ions ions
 ATOMIC BONDING IN MATERIALS
Atoms are bound together by interatomic forces (bonds).
At large distances, interactions are negligible but at small
separation distances, each atom exerts forces on the other.
These forces are of two types, attractive (FA) and repulsive (FR),
and the magnitude of each depends on the separation or
interatomic distance (r).
Attractive force FA depends on the particular type of bonding
that exists between the two atoms.
Repulsive force FR arises from interactions between the
negatively charged electron clouds for the two atoms and are
important only at small values of r as the outer electron shells
of the two atoms begin to overlap.
The net force FN between the two atoms is just the sum of
both attractive and repulsive components.

FN = FA + FR
The mathematical relationship between Energy and Force:

In a similar way, the net energy of atoms can be written as:

EN = EA + ER
EN, EA, and ER are net, attractive, and repulsive energies for
two isolated/adjacent atoms.
 ATOMIC BONDING

• PRIMARY (or STRONG) ATOMIC BONDS

Ionic Bond
Covalent Bond
Metallic Bond

• SECONDARY (or WEAK) ATOMIC BOND

Van der Waals Bond
 IONIC BONDING
Octet Rule states that elements gain or loose electrons to reach
an electron configuration of the nearest noble gas (or the
most stable state!).
compounds are composed of both metallic and nonmetallic
elements, which take place at the horizontal extremities of
the periodic table.
Atoms of a metallic element easily give up their valence
electrons to the nonmetallic atoms to reach the nearest noble
gas electron configuration.
Similarly atoms of alkali elements try to gain electrons to
complete the valance shell to reach again nearest noble gas
electron configuration as a consequence of Octet Rule.
Ionic bonding occurs between (-) and (+) ions.
Anion (+ Ion) Cation (- Ion)

It is generally seen in ceramic materials

 COVALENT BONDING
Stable electron
configurations are
maintained by the sharing
of electrons between
adjacent atoms.

Two atoms that are

covalently bonded will
each contribute at least
one electron to the bond,
and the shared electrons
may be considered to
It is seen in gases and in belong to both atoms.
the molecules of polymers.
 METALLIC BONDING

Metallic materials have one,

two, or at most, three valence
electrons.
These valence electrons are
not bound to any particular
atom in the solid.
They may be thought of as
belonging to the metal as a
whole by forming a “sea of
electrons” or an “electron
cloud” surrounding cores.

These free electrons cloud act as a “glue” to hold the ion

cores together.
 Van der WAALS BONDING
Secondary (weak) bonding forces arise from atomic or
molecular dipoles.
An electric dipole exists whenever there is a
differentiation of positive and negative portions of an
atom or molecule.
The bonding is a result of the coulombic attraction
between positive and negative regions of the adjacent
atoms or molecules.

Long Polymer
Molecules
Positive side

Negative side
Bonding type Bond Energy (kcal/mol) Material Type
Ionic 150-370 Ceramics
Covalent 125-300 Polymers
Metallic 25-200 Metals
Van der WAALS < 10 Polymers
 ATOMIC BONDING AND PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
1. MELTING POINT
The temperature for solids at which the material will be
transformed into liquid state.
Elements with high bonding energy, Eo (i.e. strong atomic bonding)
melt at higher temperatures.
For example melting points of ceramics are higher than of metals
and polymers due to their strong ionic bonding characteristics.
2 . STRENGTH / DUCTILITY / MODULUS OF ELASTICITY

• Strength is the stress carrying ability of a material.

• Ductility is the deformation ability of a material and
strain is a measure of it. As a general rule, materials with
higher strength exhibit lower ductility and materials with
higher ductility exhibit lower strength.
• Modulus of elasticity is a material property and
indicates the stiffness of materials. For higher modulus
materials the amount of elastic deformation will be smaller.
High modulus is a result of strong bonding nature.

High strength (strong) materials have strong bonding

characteristics. For example ceramics with ion bonding
characteristics exhibit high values of theoretical strength.
Stress Stiffness

Ductility
3. CONDUCTION of HEAT / ELECTRICITY
The heat and electricity conduction is a result of moving
electrons in the material. The capability of having moving
electrons is present in metallic bonding due to free valance
electrons in the form of electron cloud.
That is why metals are good conductors of heat and electricity.

4. COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION

All materials will expand when they are heated. Coefficient of
thermal expansion is the material property controlling this
phenomenon.
Equilibrium spacing between atoms is larger for weak bonding
materials during heating. Thermal expansion coefficient α of
metals (having relatively weaker metallic bond) higher than
ceramics (having stronger ionic bond).
5. CHEMICAL REACTIVITY

Chemical reactions occur as a result of electron transfer. In order

to maintain the transfer of electrons the presence of moving
free electrons are needed. This is maintained by metallic
bonding.
The valance electrons in metals can be transferred and chemical
reactions will be occurred easily. For example corrosion is a
result of chemical reactions and metals suffer too much from
corrosion due to their metallic bonding character.