DEFECTS IN MATERIALS – PART 2

TYPES OF IMPERFECTIONS/DEFECTS

Point defects
0D (Vacancy, Interstitial,
Substitutional atoms)

1D Defects 3D

Line defects Bulk defects

(dislocation) (Pores, Cracks)
2D
Area defects 2

(Grain boundaries)
 Edge dislocations
LINE DEFECTS
Edge Dislocations Screw dislocations

The edge defect can be easily visualized as an extra

half-plane of atoms in a lattice.

The dislocation is called a line defect because the

locus of defective points produced in the lattice by
the dislocation lie along a line.

This line runs along the top of the extra half-plane.

The inter-atomic bonds are significantly distorted

only in the immediate vicinity of the dislocation
line.
 Line Defects

Compressive
Strain

Edge Dislocation

Tensile
b Strain

Measure of lattice distortion: b: Slip/Burger’s vector

The displacement vector that “closes the loop” while travelling equal number
of lattice steps around the defect.
4

b is perpendicular to dislocation line.

 Edge Dislocations
LINE DEFECTS Screw dislocations
Screw Dislocations

The screw dislocation is slightly more difficult to visualize.

B

To visualize a screw dislocation, imagine a block of metal.

Shear stress is applied across one end so that the metal begins to
C
rip.
A

The image to right shows the plane of atoms just above the rip.

The atoms represented by the blue circles have not yet moved
D
from their original position.

The atoms represented by the red circles have moved to their

new position in the lattice and have reestablished metallic bonds.

The atoms represented by the green circles are in the process of

moving.
 Edge Dislocations
LINE DEFECTS Screw dislocations
Screw Dislocations

Dislocation line

Measure of lattice distortion: b: Slip/Burger’s vector b is parallel to dislocation line

 DISLOCATION MOTION
EDGE DISLOCATION MOVEMENT
• Dislocation moves a small amount at a time.
• The dislocation in the top half of the crystal is slipping one plane at a time as it moves from left to right.
• Eventually causes the top half of the crystal to move with respect to the bottom half.
• However, only a small fraction of the bonds are broken at any given time.
• Movement in this manner requires a much smaller force than breaking all the bonds across the middle plane
simultaneously.
• Edge dislocation moves parallel to the direction of stress
MOVEMENT OF EDGE DISLOCATION
The screw dislocation will move upward in the
image, which is perpendicular to direction of the
stress.
 PLANAR DEFECTS IN SOLIDS

External Surfaces: One of the most obvious boundaries is the external surface, along
which the crystal structure terminates.

Surface atoms are not bonded to the maximum number of nearest neighbors and are
therefore in a higher energy state than the atoms at interior positions.

The bonds of these surface atoms that are not satisfied give rise to a surface energy,
expressed in units of energy per unit area (J/m2).

10
 PLANAR DEFECTS IN SOLIDS
Grain Boundaries: Another interfacial defect, the grain
boundary, was introduced as the boundary separating two
small grains or crystals having different crystallographic
orientations in polycrystalline materials.

Within the boundary region, which is probably just several

atom distances wide, there is some atomic mismatch in a
transition from the crystalline orientation of one grain to that
of an adjacent one.

Various degrees of crystallographic misalignment between

adjacent grains are possible.

When this orientation mismatch is slight, on the order of a

few degrees, then the term small- (or low-) angle grain 11

boundary is used.
 PLANAR DEFECTS IN SOLIDS
Twin Boundaries
A twin boundary is a special type of grain boundary across which there is a specific
mirror lattice symmetry; that is, atoms on one side of the boundary are located in
mirror-image positions of the atoms on the other side.

The region of. material between these boundaries is appropriately termed a twin. 12
Stacking faults
For FCC metals an error in ABCABC packing sequence Ex: ABCABABC
BULK OR VOLUME DEFECTS

Other defects exist in all solid

materials that are much larger
than those discussed.

These include pores, cracks,

foreign inclusions, and other
phases.

They are normally introduced

during processing and fabrication
steps.
13
 GRAIN SIZE DETERMINATION
• The average grain size has a great effect on mechanical properties of polycrystalline
materials, and it can be estimated from a micrograph of the microstructure.
• Simplest technique to estimate an average grain size is the Linear Intercept Method
• Random straight lines are drawn though the micrograph.

• The number of grain boundaries intersecting the lines are counted.

• The average grain size is found by dividing the number of intersections by the actual line
length (measured length divided by magnification)

Average grain size in µm = 1/(number of intersections/actual length of the line in µm).

 EXAMPLE
Figure below shows a micrograph taken at 200X magnification. Estimate the average grain size using
the linear intercept method assuming each line is 50mm.

1 2 3 4 5

Line No. No. of Grain Intersected

1 9

5
 EXAMPLE

Total length of lines=5x50mm=250mm (NOT ACTUAL BUT ON THE FIGURE)

Actual total length =250/200=1.25mm (200X is the magnification)
Number of intersections= 9+11+9+8+9=46
Average grain size=1.25/46=0.027 mm = 27µm
 ANSWERS

Calculate the number of vacancies per cubic meter in iron at 855 oC. The energy for vacancy
formation is 1.08 eV/atom. Furthermore, the density and atomic weight for Fe are 7.65 g/cm3 and
55.85 g/mol, respectively

What is the composition, in atom percent, of an alloy that contains 45.2 kg copper, 46.3 kg zinc,
and 0.95 kg lead?
USING THE INTERCEPT METHOD, DETERMINE THE AVERAGE
GRAIN SIZE, IN MILLIMETERS, OF THE SPECIMEN WHOSE
MICROSTRUCTURE IS SHOWN IN FIGURE, USE AT LEAST SEVEN
STRAIGHT-LINE SEGMENTS.
FOR A BCC SINGLE CRYSTAL, WOULD YOU
EXPECT THE SURFACE ENERGY FOR A
(100) PLANE TO BE GREATER OR LESS
THAN THAT FOR A (110) PLANE? WHY?