Crystal Structures

Chapter 4
Structure of the Atom
 Atomic number equals to the amount of all the
electrons in the atom
 Atomic number equals to the amount of all the
protons in the atom
 Valence equals to the amount of free spaces
available for the electrons on the outer shell
 Atom that lost/gained its electron is called ion
Atomic Arrangements
 In gases there is no order
 In liquids there is short range order
 In solids there is long range order
 The order is determined by the type of atomic
bonds
Bonding of Metals
 Ionic bond
 Covalent bond
 Metallic bond
Ionic Crystals
 Lithium Fluoride Structure
Sodium Chloride
 Is there any macroscopic evidence that salt
forms a cubic crystal?
 Use a magnifying glass
and check it out yourself
Covalent Bonding – sharing valence
electrons
Scanning Tunneling Microscope Image of Iron
in the (110) plane
Metallic Bonding
Space Lattices
 A grid like pattern
 Composed of unit cells
 Unit cells are stacked together endlessly to form
the lattice (with no empty spaces between cells)
 UNIT CELLS:
There are six basic shapes of the unit cells
 Cubic (Simplest to understand)

 Body Centered (BCC)

 Face Centered (FCC)

 Hexagonal close-packed (HCP)
 Body-centered tetragonal (BCT)
 Rhombohedral
Allotropic Transformations
 Many materials have more than one crystal
structure
 Ex. Iron
 Please find and report on other metals that have
allotropy
Allotropic Transformation
 Iron
 BCC at high temperatures 1538-1401 deg. C
(ferrite)
 FCC at moderate temperatures 1401-908 deg. C
(austenite)
 BCC at low temperatures up to 908 deg.C
(ferrite)
 Change in specific volume
Why Liquids Solidify?
 The energy of the crystal structure is less than
that of the liquid
 The difference is the volume free energy
 As the solid grows in size, the magnitude of the
total volume free energy increases…
Formation of Nucleii
 Molecules are always bumping into each other –
sometimes they stick
 Ones that have lower kinetic energies stick more
Solidification
When the temperature of the liquid metal has dropped sufficiently
below its freezing point, stable aggregates or nuclei appear
spontaneously at various points in the liquid. These nuclei, which
have now solidified, act as centers for further crystallization. As
cooling continues, more atoms tend to freeze, and they may
attach themselves to already existing nuclei or form new nuclei of
their own. Each nucleus grows by the attraction of atoms from
the liquid into its space lattice. Crystal growth continues in three
dimensions, the atoms attaching themselves in certain preferred
directions, usually along the axes of a crystal. This gives rise to a
characteristic treelike structure which is called dendrite.
 Process of crystallization by
nucleation and dendritic growth
Dendrites
 Dendrites form as the metal solidifies out into the
melt, leaving molten metal behind, that has been
reheated from the heat evolved in the
solidification process.
Dendritic structure of metals
A consequence of constitutional supercooling and destabilisation of solid-liquid
interface is the formation of dendritic structure, as commonly found in alloy castings.
In such structure, gaps between dendrites and between dentitic fingers are regions
rich of low-melting temperature phases and impurities. Dendritic branches
themselves are often cored, too. This often require post-casting heat treatment to
homogenise the structure.
 Grains and Grain Boundaries
 Each nucleus is formed by chance, the crystal axes are pointed at
random and the dendrites will grow in different directions in each
crystal. Finally, as the amount of liquid decreases, the gaps between
the arms of the dendrite will be filled and the growth of the dendrite will
be mutually obstructed by that of its neighbors. This leads to a very
irregular external shape. The crystals found in all commercial metals
are commonly called grains because of this variation in external
shape. The area along which crystals meet, known as the grain
boundary, is a region of mismatch. The boundaries are formed by
materials that are not part of a lattice, such as impurities, which do not
show a specific grain pattern.
 This leads to a noncrystalline (amorphous) structure at the grain
boundary with the atoms irregularly spaced. Since the last liquid to
solidify is generally along the grain boundaries, there tends to be a
higher concentration of impurity atoms in that area.
Grain Boundary

When the crystals (grains) meet they form a grain boundary

Solidification in specified
direction
 When the liquid solidifies, energy must be removed.
 In planar growth the energy is conducted into the
solid and out through the walls of the container.
Casting
 Most metals are poured into molds
 Produce ingots, that are later processed
 The structure of ingots is not homogeneous.

Solidification Imperfections
 Most atoms are in ideal locations. Small number are out of place
 Point Defects
 Line Defects ( dislocations)
 Surface Defects
 Types of Point Defects

a) Vacancy
b) Interstitial
c) Frenkel defect
d) Impurity atom

Frenkel effect example, high-energy neutrons from atomic fission

can knock metal atoms from their regular sites into interstitial sites,
creating vacancy-interstitial pairs.
Plastic Deformation
 Deformation of materials occurs when a line
defect (dislocation) moves through the material
 When a shear force is applied to a material, the
dislocations move
 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
Dislocations
A dislocation is an extra half-plane of atoms in the crystal –
in the figure, the upper part of the crystal has one more
double-layer of atoms than the lower part. Dislocations distort
the lattice and make metals soft and ductile

Materials: engineering, science,

processing and design, 2nd edition
Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh
Shercliff, David Cebon
Dislocations
 Line imperfections in a 3D lattice
 Edge
 Screw
 Mixed
Elastic and Plastic Deformation
Elastic and Plastic Deformation
Slip
Dislocations move one step at a time
Slip along the closely packed planes
Plastic deformation by twinning
Hardening during plastic
deformation
 When a piece of metal is deformed, the
dislocations run into each other
 This traffic jam increases the material’s strength
 Deforming a piece of metal also actually
increases the number of dislocations
 This increases the strength too!!
Larger grains have more capacity to slip
What happens when a dislocation
runs into a flaw?
 Takes more energy to move “over the
imperfection”
 May stop moving all together
 Therefore, introducing imperfections into the
material, actually strengthens it!!
Hardening
 ASTM Grain Size Numbers
N is the number of
grains per square
inch at a
magnification of 100

n is the ASTM grain

size
Effect of Grain Size on Strength
 In a small grain, a dislocation gets to the
boundary and stops – slip process stops
 In a large grain, the dislocation can travel farther
distances
 Small grain size equates to more strength