ME201 Material Science &

Engineering
Imperfections in solids

Alfaisal University
 Linear Defects—Dislocations
Dislocations
– Are one-dimensional defects around which atoms are misaligned
• Edge dislocation:
– extra half-plane of atoms inserted in a crystal structure
– b perpendicular ( ) to dislocation line
• Screw dislocation:
– spiral planar ramp resulting from shear deformation
– b parallel ( ) to dislocation line

Burger’s vector, b: measure of lattice distortion

2
 Linear Defects—Dislocations
 Based on the bond strength most materials should be much
stronger than they are (e.g. Iron should have an ideal strength of
about 15 GPa based on bonding but the actual strength is only
about 0.2 GPa)
 These imply that materials must not usually fail by breaking bonds

 Prior to failure, materials normally change shapes as a result of

planes of atoms slipping past each other (this ability to change
shape is called ductility)
If we can make it hard for
slip to happen, we make
the material stronger

3
Types of dislocations
DISLOCATIONS

EDGE MIXED SCREW

Ordinary dislocation is a
mixed character of edge
and screw type

4
 Linear Defects—Dislocations
Dislocations:
• move when stresses are applied,
• permanent (plastic) deformation results from dislocation motion.

Schematic of a single crystal metal

• unstressed • after tensile elongation
(undeformed) (after plastic deformation)

Steps correspond to
plastic deformation:
each step is produced
by dislocations that
have moved to the
crystal surface.

5
Dislocations and the Burgers Vector

Burgers
Start = End Vector Start

End

Perfect crystal Crystal containing an

extra half plane of atoms

• Burger’s vector, b, represents the magnitude and direction of distortion

(slip occurs in the direction of the Burger’s vector)
Dislocations and the Burgers Vector

Burgers
Vector Start

End n
a tio
is loc e
D lin
la ne
lipp
S
Slip
Slip is the deformation of the material by the movement of dislocations

When the shear Bonds across Continued movement of The crystal

stress applied is the slipping the dislocation is deformed
above the critical planes are eventually creates a step
value, the atoms broken and
are displaced, remade in
causing the succession.
dislocation to
move right Shear
stress
 Screw Dislocation
(a) Schematic of screw (b) Top view of screw
dislocation in (a)
dislocation in a crystal
Screw Dislocation

b
Dislocation
line
Burgers vector b (b)
(a)
Adapted from Fig. 4.5, Callister & Rethwisch 10e .
[Figure (b) from W. T. Read, Jr.,Dislocations in Crystals,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY, 1953.]
9
Edge vs Screw

10
Edge vs Screw

11
 Microscopic view
• Slip PREDICTED as defects in crystals since theoretical strength
calculations (due to multi bond breaking) were far too low as
compared to experiments
• The Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) PROVED their
Existence

deformed
steel Ti alloy
(40,000X) (51,500X)

12
Bonding and dislocation
Important factors determine the most likely slip
systems that will be active:
1. The stress required to cause the dislocation to move
increases exponentially with the length of the Burgers
vector. Thus, the slip direction should have a small repeat
distance or high linear density. The close-packed
directions in metals and alloys satisfy this criterion and
are the usual slip directions.
2. The stress required to cause the dislocation to move
decreases exponentially with the interplanar spacing of
the slip planes. Slip occurs most easily between planes of
atoms that are smooth (so there are smaller “hills and
valleys” on the surface) and between planes that are far
apart (or have a relatively large interplanar spacing).
Planes with a high planar density fulfill this requirement.
Therefore, the slip planes are typically close-packed
 Example 4.7
Dislocations in Ceramic Materials

A sketch of a dislocation in magnesium oxide (MgO), which has the

sodium chloride crystal structure and a lattice parameter of 0.396
nm, is shown in Figure 4.9. Determine the length of the Burgers
vector.

Figure 4.9 An edge dislocation in

MgO showing the slip direction
and Burgers vector (for Example
4.7). (Adapted from W.D. Kingery,
H.K. Bowen, and D.R. Uhlmann,
Introduction to Ceramics, John
Wiley, 1976.) for Example 4.7)

14
Example 4.7 SOLUTION
In Figure 4.9, we begin a clockwise loop around the
dislocation at point x, then move equal atom spacings to finish at
point y. The vector b is the Burgers vector. Because b is a [110]
direction, it must be perpendicular to (110) plane. The length of b
is the distance between two adjacent (110) planes. From Equation
3-7,

Note that this formula for calculating the magnitude of the

Burgers vector will not work for non-cubic systems. It is better to
consider the magnitude of the Burgers vector as equal to the repeat
distance in the slip direction.

15
 Example 4.8
Burgers Vector Calculation
Calculate the length of the Burgers vector in copper.
Copper has an FCC crystal structure. The lattice parameter of
copper (Cu) is 0.36151 nm
Learning
(c) 2003 Brooks/Cole Publishing / Thomson

Figure 4.10 (a)

Burgers vector
for FCC copper.

16
Example 4.8 SOLUTION
- The close-packed directions, or the directions of the Burgers
vector, are of 110  the form.
- The repeat distance along the 110  directions is one-half the
face diagonal, since lattice points are located at corners and
centers of faces

The length of the Burgers vector, or the repeat distance, is:

b = 1/2(0.51125 nm) = 0.25563 nm

17
 Example 4.9
Identification of Preferred Slip Planes
The planar density of the (112) plane in BCC iron is 9.94  1014
atoms/cm2. Calculate (1) the planar density of the (110) plane and (2) the
interplanar spacings for both the (112) and (110) planes. On which plane
would slip normally occur?

Figure 4.10. (b)

The atom
locations on a
(110) plane in a
BCC unit cell

18
Example 4.9 SOLUTION
1. The planar density is:

2. The interplanar spacings are:

The planar density and interplanar spacing of the (110) plane are
larger than those for the (112) plane; therefore, the (110) plane would
be the preferred slip plane.
19
Where do dislocations come from ?
• The number of dislocations in a material is expressed
as the dislocation density - the total dislocation length per
unit volume or the number of dislocations intersecting a
unit area. Dislocation densities can vary from 105 cm-2 in
carefully solidified metal crystals to 1012 cm-2 in heavily
deformed metals.
• Most crystalline materials, especially metals, have
dislocations in their as-formed state, mainly as a result of
stresses (mechanical, thermal...) associated with the
forming process.
• The number of dislocations increases dramatically during
plastic deformation. Dislocations spawn from existing
dislocations, grain boundaries & surfaces.
Flaws and strengthening
Real materials have lots of dislocations, therefore the strength of the
material depends on the force required to make the dislocation
move, not the bonding energy

What happens when a movement of dislocation runs into a flaw?

 It takes more energy to move “over the flaw” and so
movement may stop all together (e.g. When dislocations run
into Dislocation Tangles
each other you Traffic
get the traffic jam effect) Jam
– strain
hardening
 Therefore introducing flaws into the material can actually
strengthen it
 Flaws include point defects which can be created by adding
“impurities” to metallic crystals (e.g. vacancies, interstitial &
substitutional alloy distort the crystal lattice making it harder
for the dislocation to move)
 Review Quiz
Name the point defects illustrated schematically below that are
commonly encountered in crystalline structures?

22
 Review quiz
Using sketches to illustrate your answer clearly show
a) the difference between the atomic structures of the two basic
types of solid solution
b) An intermetallic compound and a substitutional solid solution

23