Chapter 4

Imperfections in the
Atomic Arrangements
Crystal Structure and Direction
of Planes

Introduction
All materials contain imperfections in the
arrangement of the atoms in their lattice structure
We classify them by geometric type -0-D (point - vacancies, interstitials, etc.)
1-D (line - dislocations)
2-D (surface - surfaces, grain boundaries, etc.)
3-D (bulk - cracks, holes, etc.)

Crystalline Imperfections
Defects in metals and ceramics prevent
materials from achieving their ideal strength

Common defects:
a)vacancies
b)solute atoms on
interstitial and
substitutional sites
c)dislocations
d)grain boundaries

Ideal Strength
Stress-strain curve for a single
atomic bond

Ideally, the strength of a

material is the force
necessary to break
inter-atomic bonds
A bond is broken if it is
stretched beyond about
10% of its original
length therefore the
force needed
to break a bond is
roughly:

Further calculations that account

for the curvature of the
force-distance curve predict
a ratio of 1/15

Importance of Dislocations
If lattices were perfect, then deformation would
require an extremely large force for all atoms on
one plane to slide over the atoms on the plane
below it. Theoretical force required is ~ G/10.
The typical force required to cause deformation
is ~ G/1000. Dislocations are the cause for this
much lower deformation force.

Point Imperfections
Point defects are localized disruptions of the lattice involving one or
several atoms
Vacancies - an atom missing from a normal site,
nv = No exp ( -Q/RT)
Interstitial - formed when an extra atom is inserted into the lattice
structure at a normally unoccupied position
Substitutional - formed when one atom is replaced by a different type of
atom - the replacement atom can be smaller or larger
Frenkel - a vacancy-interstitial pair
Schottky - a pair of vacancies (anion-cation) in an ionic lattice

Importance of Point Defects

Point defects disturb the perfect arrangement
of the surrounding atoms, often for several
hundreds of atom spacings from the actual
point defect. A dislocation moving through the
general vicinity of a point defect encounters a
lattice in which the atoms are not at their
equilibrium positions. This disruption requires
that a higher stress be applied to force the
dislocation past the defect, therefore
increasing the strength of the material.

Point Imperfections (Examples)

(a) vacancy, (b) interstitial, (c) small substitutional, (d) large substitutional, (e) Frenkel defect, and (f) Schottky
defect.

Point Imperfections (Examples)

Dislocations (Line Imperfections)

Types of dislocations - Edge, Screw, Mixed
The Burgers (b) vector defines the direction
and distance that the dislocation moves in
each step

Edge Dislocation

Screw Dislocation

Edge Dislocation

An edge dislocation is formed from an extra half plane of atoms

inserted into a perfect lattice. The line along the bottom of the half
plane is the dislocation. Edge dislocations are called either positive
or negative depending on whether the extra half plane is above or
below the slip plane.
Burgers vector is perpendicular to dislocation and parallel to the slip
direction.

Edge Dislocations
An edge 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

Edge dislocation showing Burgers

vector

Movie

Screw Dislocation

A perfect crystal that is cut and sheared one atom spacing produces a
screw dislocation. The line along which the shearing occurs is the
screw dislocation. Screws dislocations are either right-hand or left-hand
depending on which direction you follow along the spiral to reach the old
plane.
Burgers vector is parallel to dislocation in order for screw dislocation to
propagate. Dislocation moves in direction perpendicular to the Burgers
vector.

Screw dislocation showing Burgers

vector

Movie

Dislocation Movement
Dislocations move in the closest packed direction
and plane (slip system) available in the lattice
Why?
The energy of the dislocation is proportional to
the square of the Burgers vector; therefore to
lower the energy of the dislocation, nature
chooses the smallest Burgers vector which is in
the closest packed direction.
The closest packed planes are the smoothest
atomic surfaces and the interplanar spacing
between them is the largest possible.

Slip Systems
Dislocations move on the closest packed
direction and plane available in the lattice

Slip Directions and Planes (Slip

Systems)
Dislocations move on the closest packed
direction and plane available in the lattice
Lattice

Direction

Plane

BCC

<1 1 1>

{1 1 0}, {1 1 2}, {1 2 3}

FCC

<1 1 0>

HCP
c/a > 1.633

c/a < 1.633

<1 0 0>
or
<2 1 1 0>
<1 1 0>
or
<1 0 2 0>

{1 1 1}
{0 0 0 1}

{1 1 2 0}, {1 0 1 0}, {1 0 1 1}

Influence of Crystal Structure

Factor

FCC

BCC

Critical resolved

50-100

5000-10000

3(4)=12

2(6)=12, 48

Cross-slip

yes

yes

Summary

ductile

strong

HCP (c/a < 1.633)

50-100

shear stress (psi)

Number of slip
systems dir.(planes)

3(1)=3

(4-5)

no (limited)
relatively brittle

Movement of a Dislocation

When a shear stress is applied to a dislocation the atoms are displaced causing
the dislocation to move one Burgers vector in the slip direction. Continued
movement of the dislocation eventually creates a step.

Movement of an edge dislocation

through a lattice

Movie

Simulated movement of an edge

dislocation through a lattice

Movie

Simulated movement of a screw

dislocation through a lattice

Movie

Movement of a mixed edge/screw

dislocation through a lattice

Movie

Dislocation loop growth during shear

Movie

Schmids Law

Resolved Shear Stress = r = cos cos

Slip in a Single
Crystal

From C. F. Elam, The Distortion of Metal Crystals,

Oxford University Press, London, 1935.)

Slip and Cross-Slip

Dislocations slip in the closest packed
direction on the closest packed plane
available with the highest resolved shear
stress. As the lattice rotates due to
deformation, the dislocation will cross-slip
onto other closest packed planes that
have a higher resolved shear stress due to
the change in the angle due to the
deformation.

Dislocation Movement
For a dislocation to move, only bonds along
the line it moves must be broken this is
significantly easier than breaking all of the
bonds in the plane
In crystals there are preferred planes and
directions for which dislocation movement
is easier these are called the slip planes
and slip directions
Slip displacements are tiny however, if a
large number of dislocations traverse a
crystal, moving on many planes, the material
deforms at a macroscopic level

Simulation
of the
necking
behavior
(slip and
cross-slip)
under a
tensile load

Movie

Manipulating Strength
The way to strengthen crystalline materials is to
make it harder for dislocations to move

Dislocation Strength and Yield

Strength

Approximation of shear yield strength based on

strengthening mechanisms
This describes the yield strength of a singled crystal
loaded in shear we need the yield strength of
a polycrystalline material loaded in tension

Many engineering materials can be strengthened

through various hardening mechanisms however,
an increase in strength almost always results in a
decrease in ductility

Surface Defects
Surface defects are the boundaries, or
planes, that separate a material into
regions, each region having the same
crystal structure but different orientations.
Examples include the true surface of a
material, grain boundaries, stacking faults,
and twin boundaries. These imperfections
are very importance in controlling the slip
process of dislocation movement.

Grain Boundaries

A grain is a portion of the material within which

the arrangement of the atoms is identical. A
grain boundary is the surface that separates the
individual grains and is a narrow zone in which
the atoms are not properly spaced.

Small Angle Grain Boundaries

A small angle grain boundary is
an array of dislocations that
produces a small misorientation
between the adjoining lattices.
Small angle implies < 10
degrees. Small angle
boundaries formed by edge
dislocations are called tilt
boundaries and those caused by
screw dislocations are called
twist boundaries.

Grain Boundary Effects

The ASTM grain size number is given by N = 2 n-1,
where N is the number of grain per square inch and n
is the ASTM grain size.
At temperatures less than
~ one-half the melting
temperature, the HallPetch equation ( y = o +
Kd-1/2 ) relates the grain
size to the yield strength
of the material.

Stacking Faults
Stacking faults, which can occur in FCC and HCP
materials, represent an error in the stacking
sequence of close-packed planes. These stacking
faults interfere with the slip process. For example,
the normal plane stacking in FCC is ABCABCABC.
But suppose that some some reason (an extended
dislocation is formed), the following sequence is
formed: ABCABABCABC
In the highlighted portion of the stacking, a type A
plane is shown where a C plane should occur. This
small region, which has a HCP stacking sequence
instead of the FCC sequence, represents a stacking
fault.

Stacking Fault Examples

(A) Intrinsic Stacking Fault

An extended dislocation producing a

stacking fault
(B) Extrinsic Stacking Fault

Twins

A twin boundary is a plane across which there is a

special mirror image misorientation of the lattice.
Twin boundaries can interfere with the slip process
and increase the strength of certain metals.
Deformation twinning occurs in HCP and BCC
materials, especially at low temperature. Annealing
twinning occurs in FCC materials.

Simulation of Twinning

Movie

Volume Imperfections
Defects within a material that have a
3-dimensional nature are called
volume defects. These include
cracks within a material and large
holes including gas bubbles trapping
inside during cooling.

Defect structures in nature

Movie