Materials and Manufacturing

Defects in Metals

Dr. Ryan McFadden

 Defects in Materials
• We have been looking at perfect crystal structures to date, but in reality
there is no such thing as a perfect crystal or perfect material

• All materials contain defects which affect their properties

• The effects on the material can be positive or negative

Materials Engineering Disasters - Metals

 Why did the Titanic Sink?

(Other than the big iceberg!)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfPxLu46nLA
Liberty Ships – Fast Fracture
 1. Crystalline Point Defects – zero dimensional defects
• Defects exist in the structure of all real materials

• Imperfections that exist at single points in the crystal structure are

known as point defects

There are three common types of point defect

• 1) Vacancies - A vacancy is simply an unoccupied site in a crystal
structure, where you would otherwise expect a atom to be

• 2) Self-Interstitials - A self-interstitial defect occurs when an extra

atom of the material occupies an interstitial site in the structure
that is not normally occupied by an atom

• 3) Impurity - Solids are generally not “pure”, they will always have
other elements present, even in trace form.

• This can be undesirable, or it may be done intentionally in the case

of alloys, which form a “solid-solution”
Solid Solutions
We use the term “solvent” and “solute” when we discuss solid solutions

The solvent is the element that is present in the greatest quantity

The solute is an element present in a minor concentration

Solute atoms are added to a solvent, and form defects in the structure.

There are two main types of solid-solution

i) Substitutional ii) Interstitial

Alternatively solute elements they
Solute elements can replace host
atoms in the lattice, which may fit in the small
creates a substitutional solid spaces between the atoms of the
solution. The substitute or impurity atom is often larger than host material (known as
the atoms of the host material. This means there are strains interstitial sites) creating an interstitial solid solution.
imposed on the lattice. Interstitial atoms are much smaller than the host material-
however they are usually bigger than the interstitial site so
the lattice must deform to accommodate them.
Solid Solution Strengthening (alloying)

• High purity metals tend to be soft, and generally are not used in engineering applications

• If we create a solid solution of a metal with another metal, the solute atoms will be incorporated
into the crystal structure by substitution or interstitially.

• The presence of these atoms places strains on the lattice (tensile or compressive depending on
the size of the impurity atom and these strains hinder movement of dislocations (see later slides)

• Alloying tends to increase strength but decrease ductility

Ways of incorporating solute atoms Process of precipitation hardening

Precipitation Hardening Dispersion Hardening

• The metal is heated to a high temperature, and solute • Fine particles of a hard material are uniformly
atoms of another metal is added
dispersed throughout a metal or metal alloy
• The solute metal atoms dissolve in the solvent metal at a
much higher concentration than would be possible at • The dispersed phase may be metallic or non-metallic
room temperature
• The hard dispersed particles are resistant to
• The metal is then “aged” either by holding it at elevated
deformation and prevent movement of dislocations
temperature (lower than the initial temperature) for a
certain period of time, or storing it at room temperature
for several weeks • The effect of dispersion hardening is less pronounced
than for precipitation hardened metals, but the
• At these lower temperatures, the solute atoms are no dispersion hardened metals are better at retaining
longer able to form a solution at the same concentration properties at elevated temperatures
as they could at the initial high temperature
• Excess solute atoms begin to precipitate out of the
solution.
 2. Dislocations – linear (one dimensional) defects

For a crystalline solid, when 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.

A dislocation is a linear or one-dimensional defect around which some of the atoms are misaligned.

(a) Edge dislocation

One type of dislocation known as an edge dislocation is shown in the figure below. In this, there is an extra portion of a
plane of atoms, or half-plane, the edge of which terminates within the crystal.
In a perfect crystal each atom has many bonds with its
surrounding atoms. For plastic deformation of a perfect crystal
to take place all these bonds would need to be broken.

However at the site of an edge dislocation there is a line of free

atoms (the dislocation line). The dislocation line can move
through the crystal in the direction of the applied stress by
breaking only one line of bonds at a time. This requires far less
energy than breaking lots of bonds simultaneously, so the
material can deform under a much lower applied stress.
Movement of an edge dislocation
This deformation would occur by sliding one plane of atoms over an adjacent plane
Figure
illustrates
the role a
dislocation
can play in
the shear
of a crystal
along a slip
plane.
(b)Screw Dislocation

Another type of dislocation, called a screw dislocation exists, which may be thought of as being formed by a
shear stress that is applied to produce the distortion

A screw dislocation is more difficult to visualise. It acts

like a shearing of material across the plane

The following video is useful in allowing you to visualise

what happens

https://youtu.be/z3MzDiyLtWc?list=PLOiEVXgPSzc0zAEm
BvuTTUTvOpgQthg4z
(c) Mixed Dislocation

Real dislocations are often neither a pure edge

or screw dislocation, but combine the
characteristics of both. Dislocations like this are
known as mixed dislocations. When a material is
subjected to stress, dislocations move, a
phenomenon known as slip.
 3. Planar defects– 2- dimensional

A planar defect is an imperfection in form of a plane between uniform parts of the material.

Each individual crystal in a polycrystalline material is known as a grain. The region where grains
meet is known as a grain boundary.

The most important planar defect is a grain boundary.

Lattice defects and impurities tend to accumulate at grain boundaries, and therefore the number
of grain boundaries has an important effect upon the properties of materials.
3. Planar defects– 2- dimensional

Reference:
http://slideplayer.com/slide/70
70232/24/images/27/2+Dim:+
Surface-+Planar+Defects.jpg
 4. 3- dimensional Defects

3-dimensional defects include:

Pores/holes in the material, Inclusions, Cracks

How defects affect the properties of metals

• A number of the defects we have discussed have a strong effect on the

properties of metals.

• The biggest effect on the properties comes from the dislocations within
the metal and how they can move, or are prevented from moving

• During plastic deformation, movement of large numbers of dislocations

occurs throughout the metal structure.
 Video: Metals: How they work

• We are going to watch a video on the history of metal technology.

• During the video take notes on the following:

• How do unhindered dislocations affect the properties of metals?

• What do they allow metals to do that other crystalline structures
cannot do?
• List as many methods as you can that are used to modify the
properties of metals
• How are these related to defects in the structure?