Chapter 4: Imperfections in

Solids
Solids come with imperfections in their
crystalline structures and these imperfections
affect and contribute to the properties of
materials. The imperfection is not always
unfavorable. Under controlled conditions
imperfections can be induced, to produce
desired properties.
Types of Defects
Defects may be classified into four categories depending on
their dimension:

 0D, Point defects: atoms missing or in irregular

places in the lattice (lattice vacancies, substitutional and
interstitial impurities, self-interstitials)

 1D, Linear defects: groups of atoms in irregular

positions (e.g. screw and edge dislocations)

 2D, Planar defects: the interfaces between

homogeneous regions of the material (e.g. grain boundaries,
stacking faults, external surfaces)

 3D, Volume defects:

extended defects (pores, cracks)
POLYMORPHISM AND ALLOTROPY
Some materials may exist in more than one crystal
structure, this is called polymorphism. If the material is
an elemental solid, it is called allotropy.
An example of allotropy is carbon, which can exist as
diamond, graphite, and amorphous carbon.
Pure, solid carbon occurs in three crystalline forms
– diamond, graphite; and large, hollow fullerenes.
Two kinds of fullerenes are shown here:
buckminsterfullerene (buckyball) and carbon
nanotube.
Anisotropy
Different directions in a crystal have different packing. For instance,
atoms along the edge of FCC unit cell are more separated than along
the face diagonal. This causes anisotropy in the properties of
crystals, for instance, the deformation depends on the direction in
which a stress is applied.
In some polycrystalline materials, grain orientations are
random, so bulk material properties are isotropic. Some
polycrystalline materials have grains with preferred orientations
(texture), so properties are dominated by those relevant to the
texture orientation and the material exhibits anisotropic properties
The magnetic properties of some iron alloys used in transformer cores
are anisotropic—that is, grains (or single crystals) magnetize in a (100)-
type direction easier than any other crystallographic direction. Energy
losses in transformer cores are minimized by utilizing polycrystalline
sheets of these alloys into which have been introduced a “magnetic
texture”: most of the grains in each sheet have a (100)-type
crystallographic direction that is aligned (or almost aligned) in the same
direction, which is oriented parallel to the direction of the applied
magnetic field.
4.7 What is the composition, in atom percent, of an alloy that consists
of 30 wt% Zn and 70 wt% Cu?
4.8 What is the composition, in weight percent, of an alloy that consists
of 6 at% Pb and 94 at% Sn?
4.9 Calculate the composition, in weight percent, of an alloy that
contains 218.0 kg titanium, 14.6 kg aluminum, and 9.7 kg vanadium.