BME303- MATERIALS ENGINEERING

CO-1: Students will be able to identify the crystal structure and measure the mechanical
properties of materials. (K3)
CO-5: Students will be able to test the various failures of materials. (K3)
CO-2: Students will be able to identify the mechanical properties based on composition
of micro-constituents depicted in the phase-diagram. (K3)
CO-4: Students will understand the concept of improving the mechanical properties
through heat treatment. (K2)
CO-3: Students will learn the structure and properties of alloys and composites. (K2)

UNIT-I (08 Lecture)

Crystal Structure: Unit cells, Metallic crystal structures, Ceramics. Imperfection in solids: Point,
line, interfacial and volume defects; dislocation strengthening mechanisms and slip systems,
critically resolved shear stress. Mechanical Properties and its measurement: Tensile,
compression and torsion tests; Young’s modulus, relations between true and engineering
stress-strain curves, generalized Hooke’s law, yielding and yield strength, ductility, resilience,
toughness and elastic recovery; Hardness: Rockwell, Brinell and Vickers and their relation to
strength.
UNIT-II (08 Lecture)
Alloys, substitutional and interstitial solid solutions- Hume-Rothery Rule, Phase diagrams:
Interpretation of binary phase diagrams and microstructure development; Lever Rule, eutectic,
eutectoid, peritectic, peritectoid and monotectic reactions. Iron and Iron-carbide phase diagram,
microstructural aspects of ledeburite, austenite, ferrite and cementite, cast iron, High Speed
Steel
UNIT-III (08 Lecture)
Alloying of steel, properties of stainless steel and tool steels, maraging steels- cast irons; grey,
white, malleable and spheroidal cast ironscopper and copper alloys; brass, bronze and cupro-
nickel; Aluminium and Al-Cu – Mg alloys- Nickel based superalloys and Titanium alloys, Carbon
Fibre and alloys, Structure and properties of Graphene Material, Composite Materials,
Reinforcement
UNIT-IV (08 Lecture)
Heat treatment of Steel: Annealing, tempering, normalizing and spheroidising, isothermal
transformation diagrams for Fe-C alloys and microstructure development. Continuous cooling
curves and interpretation of final microstructures and properties austempering, martempering,
case hardening, carburizing, nitriding, cyaniding, carbo-nitriding, flame and induction hardening,
vacuum and plasma hardening.
UNIT-V (08 Lecture)
Creep and failures, Introduction to non-destructive testing (NDT): Visual Inspection, Liquid
Penetrate Testing, Magnetic Particle Inspection, Ultra-sonic Testing, Acoustic Testing,
Radiography, X-ray Differaction, Eddy Current Testing etc., Material behaviour / properties at a
very low (Cryogenics) and high temperature.
Why study materials science and engineering?

1. Materials Science and Engineering is crucial for advancing technology and innovation,
as it focuses on understanding and developing materials with unique properties and
applications.
2. It plays a vital role in various industries, including aerospace, electronics, healthcare,
and renewable energy, where the design and optimization of materials are essential.
3. Studying this field provides opportunities to create more sustainable and environmentally
friendly materials, contributing to global efforts to address climate change and resource
conservation.
4. Materials scientists and engineers are in high demand, offering excellent career
prospects and opportunities for research and development in cutting-edge technologies.
5. Ultimately, studying Materials Science and Engineering empowers individuals to shape
the future by pushing the boundaries of what is possible through material innovation and
design.

Fundamental concepts
Solid materials may be classified according ions) are thought of as being solid spheres
to the regularity with which atoms or ions having well-defined diameters.
are arranged with respect to one another. A
crystalline material is one in which the
atoms are situated in a repeating or periodic
array over large atomic distances; that is,
long-range order exists, such that upon
solidification, the atoms will position
themselves in a repetitive three-dimensional
pattern, in which each atom is bonded to its
nearest-neighbor atoms. All metals, many
ceramic materials, and certain polymers
form crystalline structures under normal
solidification conditions. For those that do
not crystallize, this long-range atomic order
is absent; these non-crystalline or
amorphous materials. Some of the
properties of crystalline solids depend on
the crystal structure of the material, the This is termed the atomic hard sphere
manner in which atoms, ions, or molecules model in which spheres representing
are spatially arranged. There is an nearest-neighbor atoms touch one another.
extremely large number of different crystal An example of the hard sphere model for
structures all having long range atomic the atomic arrangement found in some of
order; these vary from relatively simple the common elemental metals is displayed
structures for metals, to exceedingly in above figure. In this particular case all the
complex ones, as displayed by some of the atoms are identical. Sometimes the term
ceramic and polymeric materials. When lattice is used in the context of crystal
describing crystalline structures, atoms (or structures; in this sense ‘‘lattice’’ means a
three-dimensional array of points coinciding
with atom positions (or sphere centers).
Crystal Structure: A crystal structure is defined as the particular repeating arrangement of
atoms throughout a crystal. Structure refers to the internal arrangement of particles and not
the external appearance of the crystal.
A crystalline form of solid has periodically repeated arrangement of atoms. But he solids
in non-crystalline form do not have long range periodic repetition. However, in both of the above
forms, the coordination number is almost the same. Formation of non-crystalline structure is
characterized by several factors enumerated as below:
1. Non-formation of three-dimensional
primary bond.
2. Formation of one-dimensional chain
molecule.
3. Formation of two-dimensional sheet
molecule.
4. Absence of primary bonds in all the
directions.
5. Week secondary bond.
6. Non-parallel, entangled chain
configuration.

S.No Crystalline solids Non-crystalline solid

1 Possesses long range periodicity Possesses entangled chain without periodicity.
2 Has higher density due to closed packing of Has lower density as the packing of atoms is
atoms zigzag.
3 Presents sharp diffraction pattern Does not show sharpness of diffraction pattern
4 Exhibits pin-pointed melting point Melt over a range of temperature
5 Has well defined crystal structure and Has varying structure and geometries.
geometries

Lattice: a three-dimensional periodic arrangement of POINTS in space is called lattice. It is a

geometrical concept and it does not have physical properties. It has only geometrical properties.

Unit cells
The atomic order in crystalline solids indicates that small groups of atoms form a repetitive
pattern. Thus, in describing crystal structures, it is often convenient to subdivide the structure
into small repeat entities called unit cells.
OR (smallest repetitive volume which contains the complete lattice pattern of a crystal).

Motif or Basis: “An atom or a group of atoms associated with each lattice point is called a
motif or basis of the crystal”. We can obtain a crystal structure by combining the lattice with the
motif (i.e., crystal structure = lattice + motif).
Bravais crystal system: Bravais has
classified fourteen space lattices in to seven
crystal system. These systems are built
by changing the lattice parameters: a, b,
and c are the edge lengths and , , and 
are interaxial angles.

Fig. 3.4,

Crystal structures are divided into groups according to unit cell geometry
Callister 7e. (symmetry).
Primitive unit cell: primitive cells are those unit cells which contain atoms at corner lattice point
only. So, these unit cells have least number of total atoms and the least volume of atoms per
unit cell. All those unit cells which do not fall under this category are non-primitive unit cells.

Coordination number: each atom in a crystal is surrounded by a number of atoms. The

surrounding atoms are located at different distances. The coordination number is defined as the
number of nearest and equidistant atoms with respect to any other atom in a unit cell.

Atomic packing factor (APF): It can be defined as the ratio between the volume of the
basic atoms of the unit cell (which represent the volume of all atoms in one unit cell) to
the volume of the unit cell it-self.

Metallic Crystal Structures: The atomic bonding in this group of materials is metallic, and thus
nondirectional in nature. Consequently, there are no restrictions as to the number and position
of nearest-neighbor atoms; this leads to relatively large numbers of nearest neighbors and
dense atomic packings for most metallic crystal structures. Also, for metals, using the hard
sphere model for the crystal structure, each sphere represents an ion core.

Simple Cubic Structure (SC): in the simple cubic structure there is only one lattice point at
each corner of the cube-shaped unit cell. They mark the position of either a single atom, or
the same group of atoms, known as the motif, which is repeated across the lattice.
Rare due to low packing density (only Po – Polonium -- has this structure), Close-packed
directions are cube edges.
Coordination No. = 6 (# nearest neighbors) for each atom as seen in figure.

Body-centered cubic (BCC): Body-centered cubic (BCC) is one of the common crystal
structures found in metals and some other materials. In a BCC crystal lattice:

1. Atomic Arrangement: Atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern that forms a cube.
Unlike the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, BCC does not have atoms at the center
of each cube face. Instead, it has one atom located at the center of the cube itself (the
body-centered atom).
2. Coordination Number: Each atom in a BCC lattice is in direct contact with eight
neighboring atoms, leading to a coordination number of 8. This means that each atom
has 8 closest neighbors.
3. Efficiency: BCC structures have slightly lower packing efficiency compared to FCC
structures. Approximately 68% of the available space within the crystal lattice is
occupied by atoms.
4. Common Materials: Some metals, such as iron, chromium, and tungsten, crystallize in
the BCC structure at certain temperatures and conditions. It is also found in certain
ceramics and some elemental non-metals.
5. Mechanical Properties: BCC materials often exhibit different mechanical properties
compared to FCC materials. BCC metals tend to be stronger but less ductile than FCC
metals due to differences in atomic arrangement.

2 atoms/unit cell: (1 center) + (8 corners x

1/8)
Face-centered cubic (FCC): Face-centered cubic (FCC) is one of the most common crystal
structures found in metals and some other types of materials. In an FCC crystal lattice:

1. Atomic Arrangement: Atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern that forms a cube.
However, unlike a simple cubic structure, the FCC lattice has additional atoms located at
the center of each of the cube's six faces.
2. Coordination Number: Each atom in an FCC lattice is in direct contact with 12
neighboring atoms, leading to a coordination number of 12. This means that each atom
has 12 closest neighbors.
3. Efficiency: The FCC structure is known for its high packing efficiency. Approximately
74% of the available space within the crystal lattice is occupied by atoms, making it a
relatively dense packing arrangement.
4. Common Materials: Many metals, including aluminum, copper, and lead, crystallize in
the FCC structure at certain temperatures and conditions. It is also found in some ionic
compounds.
5. Mechanical Properties: FCC materials tend to exhibit relatively good ductility and
malleability due to the ease with which atomic planes can slide past each other. This
property makes FCC metals suitable for various manufacturing processes.

4 atoms/unit cell: (6 face x ½) +

(8 corners x 1/8)

Hexagonal Close-Packed Structure (HCP): The Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) structure is

one of the common crystal structures found in materials, particularly metals and some non-
metals. Here are key characteristics of the HCP structure:

1. Atomic Arrangement: In the HCP structure, atoms are arranged in a close-packed

hexagonal pattern. This pattern consists of two layers of atoms arranged in a hexagonal
lattice, followed by a third layer that is offset such that its atoms occupy the spaces
between the atoms in the first two layers.
2. Coordination Number: Each atom in an HCP lattice is in direct contact with 12
neighboring atoms. This results in a coordination number of 12, which means each atom
has 12 nearest neighbors.
3. Efficiency: The HCP structure has a packing efficiency of approximately 74%, making it
relatively dense compared to some other crystal structures.
4. Common Materials: Some metals, such as magnesium and titanium, crystallize in the
HCP structure under certain temperature and pressure conditions. Close-packed
structures like HCP are also found in certain non-metals and compounds.
5. Mechanical Properties: HCP materials often exhibit unique mechanical properties.
They can have high strength but may be less ductile than materials with other crystal
structures, like FCC or BCC. This can make them suitable for specific applications, such
as lightweight structural materials.
 Ceramics
Ceramics are inorganic and nonmetallic. Bounded by ionic or covalent bonds. Good electrical and heat
insulation property. Brittle, and lesser ductility and toughness than metals. High chemical stability and
high melting temperature.
Traditional Ceramics: Basic components (Clay and Silica).
Engineering Ceramics: Pure compounds (Al2O3, SiC).

AX-Type Crystal Structures

Some of the common ceramic materials are those in which there are equal numbers of cations
and anions. These are often referred to as AX compounds, where A denotes the cation and X the anion.
There are several different crystal structures for AX compounds; each is normally named after a
common material that assumes the particular structure.

Table 2

Rock Salt Structure

Perhaps the most common AX crystal structure is the sodium chloride (NaCl), or rock salt, type.
The coordination number for both cations and anions is 6, and therefore the cation–anion radius ratio is
between approximately 0.414 and 0.732. A unit cell for this crystal structure (Figure 2) is generated from
an FCC arrangement of anions with one cation situated at the cube center and one at the center of each
of the 12 cube edges. An equivalent crystal structure results from a face-centered arrangement of
cations. Thus, the rock salt crystal structure may be thought of as two interpenetrating FCC lattices, one
composed of the cations, the other of anions. Some of the common ceramic materials that form with
this crystal structure are NaCl, MgO, MnS, LiF, and FeO.
 Figure 2 A unit cell for the rock salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), crystal structure.

Cesium Chloride Structure

Figure 3 shows a unit cell for the cesium chloride (CsCl) crystal structure; the coordination number is 8
for both ion types. The anions are located at each of the corners of a cube, whereas the cube center is a
single cation. Interchange of anions with cations, and vice versa, produces the same crystal structure.
This is not a BCC crystal structure because ions of two different kinds are involved.

Figure 3 A unit cell for the cesium chloride (CsCl) crystal structure.

Zinc Blende Structure

A third AX structure is one in which the coordination number is 4; that is, all ions are tetrahedrally
coordinated. This is called the zinc blende, or sphalerite, structure, after the mineralogical term for zinc
sulfide (ZnS). A unit cell is presented in figure 4; all corner and face positions of the cubic cell are
occupied by S atoms, while the Zn atoms fill interior tetrahedral positions. An equivalent structure
results if Zn and S atom positions are reversed. Thus, each Zn atom is bonded to four S atoms, and vice
versa. Most often the atomic bonding is highly covalent in compounds exhibiting this crystal structure
(Table 1), which include ZnS, ZnTe, and SiC.
 Figure 4 A unit cell for the zinc blende (ZnS) crystal structure.

AmXp-Type Crystal Structures

If the charges on the cations and anions are not the same, a compound can exist with the
chemical formula where m and/or p≠1. An example would be AX 2, for which a common crystal structure
is found in fluorite (CaF2). The ionic radii ratio rc/ra for CaF2 is about 0.8 which, according to Table 2, gives
a coordination number of 8. Calcium ions are positioned at the centers of cubes, with fluorine ions at the
corners. The chemical formula shows that there are only half as many Ca 2+ ions as F- ions, and therefore
the crystal structure would be similar to CsCl (Figure 3), except that only half the center cube positions
are occupied by Ca2+ ions. One unit cell consists of eight cubes, as indicated in Figure 5. Other
compounds that have this crystal structure include ZrO2 (cubic), UO2, PuO2 and ThO2

Figure 5 A unit cell for the fluorite crystal structure.

AmBnXp-Type Crystal Structures

 It is also possible for ceramic compounds to have more than one type of cation; for two types of
cations (represented by A and B), their chemical formula may be designated as AmBnXp. Barium titanate
(BaTiO3) having both Ba2+ and Ti4+ cations, falls into this classification. This material has a perovskite
crystal structure and rather interesting electromechanical properties to be discussed later. At
temperatures above 120°C the crystal structure is cubic. A unit cell of this structure is shown in figure 6;
Ba2+ ions are situated at all eight corners of the cube and a single Ti 4+ is at the cube center, with O 2- ions
located at the center of each of the six faces.

Figure 6 A unit cell for the perovskite crystal structure.

Table 4 summarizes the rock salt, cesium chloride, zinc blende, fluorite, and perovskite crystal structures
in terms of cation–anion ratios and coordination numbers, and gives examples for each. Of course, many
other ceramic crystal structures are possible.

Table 4 Summary of Some Common Ceramic Crystal Structures