Material Science and Metallurgy

UNIT-1
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

S G Channabasavanna
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering
JSS Science & Technology University
 Content

Unit-1 - Crystal Structure: Classification of Materials, Crystalline and

Amorphous materials, aggregates. Coordination number and atomic
packing factors for various types of crystal structures, crystal
imperfections – point, line, surface and volume imperfections. Electron
defect, Atomic diffusion: Phenomenon, Fick’s laws of diffusion, factors
affecting diffusion.
 Classification of Materials
1. Metals and Alloys
2. Ceramics and Glasses
3. Polymers
4. Composite Materials
5. Semi-conductors
6. Biomaterials
 Classification of Materials
1. Metals and Alloys:
• Characterized by high thermal and electrical conductivity; strong yet
deformable under applied mechanical loads; opaque to light (shiny if
polished).
• Pure metals are not good enough for many applications, especially
structural applications. Thus metals are used in alloy form i.e. a metal
mixed with another metal to improve the desired qualities.
Examples.: Aluminium, steel, brass, gold.
 Classification of Materials
2. Ceramics and glasses:
• Inorganic compounds, and usually made either of oxides, carbides,
nitrides, or silicates of metals.
• Typically partly crystalline and partly amorphous.
• Atoms (ions often) in ceramic materials behave mostly like either
positive or negative ions, and are bound by very strong Coulomb
forces between them.
• Characterized by very high strength under compression, low ductility;
usually insulators to heat and electricity.
Examples: glass, porcelain, many minerals
 Classification of Materials
3. Polymers:
• Thermo-plastics (nylon, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, rubber,
etc.)
• Thermo-sets (e.g., epoxy, phenolics, etc.)
• Polymers are amorphous, except for a minority of thermoplastics.
• Due to the kind of bonding, polymers are typically electrical and
thermal insulators. However, conducting polymers can be
obtained by doping, and conducting polymer-matrix composites
can be obtained by the use of conducting fillers.
• They decompose at moderate temperatures (100 – 400 C), and are
lightweight. Other properties vary.
 Classification of Materials
4. Composite materials
• Multiphase materials obtained by artificial combination of different
materials to attain properties that the individual components cannot attain.

• However, there are some natural composites available in nature, for

example – wood.
• In general, composites are classified according to their matrix materials. The
main classes of composites are metal-matrix, polymer-matrix, and ceramic-
matrix.
 Classification of Materials
5. Semiconductors
• Electrical conductivity falls between insulators and that of most metals
• Their electrical properties depend extremely-strongly on minute
proportions of contaminants.
• They are usually doped in order to enhance electrical conductivity.
• They are used in the form of single crystals without dislocations
because grain boundaries and dislocations would degrade electrical
behavior.
• Examples: silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and gallium arsenide (GaAs, a
compound semiconductor).
 Classification of Materials
6. Biomaterials:
• Used for replacement of damaged or diseased human body parts.
• Primary requirement - biocompatible with body tissues, and must not
produce toxic substances.
• Other important material factors are: ability to support forces; low
friction, wear, density, and cost; reproducibility.
• Applications involve heart valves, hip joints, dental implants, lenses.
• Examples: Stainless steel, Co-28Cr-6Mo, Ti-6Al-4V, ultra high molecular
weight poly-ethelene, high purity dense Al-oxide, etc
Solid materials maybe broadly classified into two groups based on
the regularity with which atoms or molecules are-arranged with
respect to one another. They are:
• (a) Crystalline solids, and
• (b) Non-crystalline or Amorphous solids.
 Crystalline Solids and Amorphous Solids
(a) Crystalline Solids
• Crystalline solids contain atoms or molecules bonded together in a regular pattern.
• Crystalline solids may exist in either mono-crystalline form (entire solid consists of
only one crystal) or polycrystalline form (the solid consists of a number of crystals of
similar or widely varying sizes.)
• Most of the materials in engineering applications are polycrystalline.
• Examples: metals, alloys, Sand, clay, limestone, carbon (diamond and graphite),
salts etc.,
 Crystalline Solids and Amorphous Solids
(b) Non-crystalline or Amorphous Solids:
• Non-crystalline or amorphous solids are made up of atoms or
molecules with irregular arrangement.
• Their positions have no fixed relationship with the neighboring atoms.
• Examples include glass, polymer, rubber, plastics etc.
 Crystal Structure
• Crystal structure simply describes the arrangement of atoms, ions,
or molecules in a crystalline solid material.
• According to Bravais, although there are 14 independent ways of
arranging atoms in three-dimensions, most metals and many solid
materials crystallize upon solidification are having unit cell
structures of
Body Centered Cubic (BCC)
Face Centered Cubic (FCC) and
Hexagonal Closed Packed (HCP) category.
 Crystal Structure Terminology
(i) Unit cell:
Unit cell is defined as the smallest structural unit that describes
the crystal structure.
• The unit cell can be simply assumed like a single brick in a building
construction. Repetition of a unit cell generates the entire crystal, and
in turn, the number of crystals combine to form a crystalline solid.
 Crystal Structure Terminology
(b) Lattice:
The term lattice is a mathematical abstraction used to describe the
arrangement of atoms or molecules in a two-dimensional (2D) space.

 
 Crystal Structure Terminology
(c) Space Lattice:
The arrangement of atoms or molecules in a three-dimensional (3D)
space as shown in figure below is called as space lattice. In a 3D space,
the unit cell is specified in terms of three edge lengths a, b, & c, and
three angles α, β and γ between the edges.
Types of Crystal Structure

Simple cubic (SC)

Body centered cubic (BCC)
Face centered cubic (FCC)
Hexagonal close packed (HCP)
Types of Crystal Structure
Types of Crystal Structure
Types of Crystal Structure
Types of Crystal Structure
Refer your class notes for the following topics:
1. Atomic packing factors for various types of crystal
structures (SCC, BCC, FCC & HCP)
2. Crystal imperfections – Types - point, line.
Continued….
 3. SURFACE DEFECTS

Defects/regions of distortions that lie about a surface

having a thickness (depth) of few atomic diameters.

Types of Surface defects

1. Grain boundary defect
2. Tilt boundary defect
3. Twin boundary defect
4. Stacking faults
 3. SURFACE DEFECTS
1. Grain boundary defect
Grain boundary
 3. SURFACE DEFECTS
2. Tilt boundary defect
 3. SURFACE DEFECTS
(c) Twin boundary
 3. SURFACE DEFECTS
(d) Stacking faults
• Stacking fault refers to the change in the stacking
sequence of the plane of atoms in the crystal structure.
• For example, if the stacking sequence of HCP structure is
going along ‘ABAB……’ and suddenly switches to ‘ABABC’
there is a stacking fault present in the structure.
• Stacking faults interfere with the slip process (motion of
large number of dislocations).
 4. VOLUME DEFECTS
• Volume defects are three-dimensional imperfections that
are found inside the solid material.

Ex: Voids, cracks, foreign inclusions and other phases

• These are normally introduced during processing and
fabrication steps.
• Volume defects occur on a much bigger scale than the rest
of the crystal imperfections discussed so far.
• For example voids are regions, wherein a large number of
atoms are missing from the lattice structure.
 ATOMIC DIFFUSION

Diffusion can be defined as the mass flow process by which

atoms or molecules move from their original sites to neighboring
sites in a given phase under the influence of thermal energy and a
Concentration gradient.

In simple terms it refers to the movement of atoms in solids.

Cu Ni

Diffusion Couple
ATOMIC DIFFUSION IN INTIMATE METALS

Cu Ni

Diffusion Couple after exposing to

elevated temperature (less than
melting temp)
 ATOMIC DIFFUSION
What are the benefits of Diffusion?
• Diffusion helps scientists and engineers to control the
properties of materials.
• They play a crucial role in many solid-state phenomena
and in the kinetics of microstructural changes during
metallurgical processing and applications.
Ex: Phase transformations in metals/alloys, carburization or
case hardening of steel, oxidation of metals, improving
corrosion resistance, doping of semi-conductors, processing of
materials by diffusion bonding such as metal cladding and
brazing, etc.
 ATOMIC DIFFUSION: PHENOMENON
Different Mechanisms by which atomic diffusion
occurs?
1. Atomic diffusion by Vacancy migration
2. Atomic diffusion by Interstitial migration
3. Atomic diffusion by Interchange of atoms
 MECHANISM OF ATOMIC DIFFUSION
1. Atomic diffusion by Vacancy migration
 MECHANISM OF ATOMIC DIFFUSION
2. Atomic diffusion by Interstitial migration
 MECHANISM OF ATOMIC DIFFUSION
3. Atomic diffusion by Interchange of atoms
 FICK's LAWS OF DIFFUSION

Fick has given two laws of diffusion. They are:

1. Fick’s first law
2. Fick’s second law
 FICK's LAWS OF DIFFUSION
1. Fick’s First Law of Diffusion
Statement: The flux of atoms ‘J’ moving across a plane of
unit area in unit time is proportional to the concentration
gradient under the steady state flow.
 FICK's LAWS OF DIFFUSION
where Jflux, used to quantify how fast diffusion occurs
= concentration gradient
D = Diffusivity or diffusion co-efficient

The negative sign in equation implies that diffusion occurs in the

reverse direction to concentration gradient, i.e., from the region
with higher concentration to that of lower concentration.
 FICK's LAWS OF DIFFUSION
1. Fick’s Second Law of Diffusion
Statement: The rate of compositional change or
accumulation of the diffusing material at a point is equal
to the diffusivity times the rate of the concentration
gradient.
 FICK's LAWS OF DIFFUSION
where
= rate of compositional change or accumulation
= concentration gradient(atoms/m3sec).
D = diffusivity or diffusion co-efficient (m2/sec)
 FACTORS AFFECTING DIFFUSION

a) Temperature
b) Crystal structure
c) Atomic packing factor
d) Atomic size
e) Concentration gradient
f) Grain boundary
g) Grain Size
 FACTORS AFFECTING DIFFUSION
a) Temperature
• Diffusion primarily depends on temperature.
• The diffusion co-efficient or diffusivity (D) is related to the
temperature by the Arrhenius equation as:
 FACTORS AFFECTING DIFFUSION
b) Crystal structure
• Crystal structure with more imperfections allow diffusion to
take place at a faster rate than those with lesser
imperfections.

c) Atomic packing factor

• Highly-packed crystals have low diffusivity. For example,
FCC structure has atomic packing factor of 0.74, is greater
than that of BCC structure having factor 0.68. FCC crystals
have lower diffusivity compared to BCC crystals.
• Therefore as APF increases Diffusion decreases
 FACTORS AFFECTING DIFFUSION
d) Atomic radius
• Atoms with smaller radius exhibit higher diffusivity than those
having larger radius.
• For example, carbon atoms having smaller atomic radius (0.071
mm) can diffuse easily into iron when compared to silicon atoms
having a comparatively larger atomic radius (0.117 mm).
• Hence as atomic radius increases the diffusion decreases.

e) Concentration
• When the concentration within a single solid solution phase varies,
the diffusion co-efficient (D) also varies.
• At higher concentration the diffusion increases.
 FACTORS AFFECTING DIFFUSION
f) Grain boundaries
• Diffusion proceeds more rapidly along the grain
boundaries because this is a zone of crystal
imperfections.

e) Grain Size
• The grain size decreases as the grain boundaries
increases.
• Hence, diffusion increases as the grain size gets refined.
End of Unit-1
Thank you