Week 7-Defect and Strengthen Metals
Imperfections of Solids
(Point Defects)
1
Ideal Strength
In fact, most materials do not come close to reaching their
theoretical strength
2
Ideal Strength
σideal=20 GPa
- Why are metals so weak?
-Why are they so bendable?
Crystal Defects
Crystalline materials contain a variety of defects
We characterized them
by their geometry:
• Point Defects
Vacancies, impurities
• Line Defects
Dislocations
• Planar Defects
Grain Boundaries
Point Defects
• Point defects are localized disruptions in perfect atomic or ionic
arrangements in a crystal structure, which involve several atoms or ions.
• Introduced by movement of the atoms or ions when they gain energy by
heating, during processing of the material, or by the intentional or
unintentional introduction of impurities.
• A point defect typically involves one atom or ion, or a pair of atoms or ions.
Vacancy Small substitutional atom
Interstitial atom
Frenkel defect Schottky defect
Large substitutional atom
5
Defects that disrupt the perfect arrangement of the surrounding atoms
Vacancies
• A vacancy is produced when an atom or an ion is missing from its normal
site in the crystal structure.
• Vacancies are introduced into metals and alloys during solidification, at
high temperatures, or as a consequence of radiation damage.
• The concentration of vacancies at room temperature is generally low, yet
increases exponentially according to the following Arrhenius-type equation:
𝑄𝑣 This equation provides the equilibrium
𝑛𝑣 = 𝑛 × 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − concentration of vacancies at a given
𝑅𝑇
temperature.
𝑛𝑣 : number of vacancies per m3
𝑛: number of atoms per m3
𝑄𝑣 : is the energy required to produce one mole of
vacancies, in cal/mol or joules/mol;
𝐽 𝑐𝑎𝑙
𝑅: is the universal gas constant 8.3144 or 1.987
𝑚𝑜𝑙.𝐾 𝑚𝑜𝑙.𝐾
𝑇: is the Temperature in Kelvin. Vacancy 6
• At the melting temperature, there may be as many as one vacancy per
1000 atoms.
• It is also possible to retain the concentration of vacancies produced at a
high temperature by quenching the material rapidly. In many situations,
the concentration of vacancies observed at room temperature is not the
equilibrium concentration predicted by the equation.
Example:
(a) Calculate the concentration of vacancies in copper at room
temperature.
(b) What temperature will be needed to heat treat copper such that the
concentration of vacancies produced will be 1000 times more than the
equilibrium concentration of vacancies at room temperature? (Assume
that 83,680 J are required to produce a mole of vacancies in FCC
copper and lattice parameter (a) of copper is 0.36151nm)
There are four atom per unit cell of FCC crystal; this means:
4 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 /𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠
𝑄𝑣
𝑛= = 8.466 × 1028 𝑛𝑣 = 𝑛 × 𝑒𝑥𝑝 −
0.36151 × 10−9 𝑚 3 𝑚3 𝑅𝑇
7
Example:
(a) Calculate the concentration of vacancies in copper at room temperature.
(b) What temperature will be needed to heat treat copper such that the
concentration of vacancies produced will be 1000 times more than the
equilibrium concentration of vacancies at room temperature?
Assume that 83,680 J are required to produce a mole of vacancies in FCC
copper and lattice parameter of copper is 0.36151nm
𝐽
𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 83680
𝑛 = 8.466 × 1028 𝑛𝑣 = 8.466 × 1028 × 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − 𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑚3 𝐽
8.3144 298 𝐾
𝑚𝑜𝑙. 𝐾
Room temperature: 273+ 25= 298 K
𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
𝑄𝑣 𝑛𝑣 = 1.8202 × 1014 10 trillion
𝑛𝑣 = 𝑛 × 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − 𝑚3
𝑅𝑇
8
Example:
(a) Calculate the concentration of vacancies in copper at room temperature.
(b) What temperature will be needed to heat treat copper such that the
concentration of vacancies produced will be 1000 times more than the
equilibrium concentration of vacancies at room temperature?
Assume that 83,680 J are required to produce a mole of vacancies in FCC
copper and lattice parameter of copper is 0.36151nm
𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑄𝑣
From (a) 𝑛𝑣 = 1.8202 × 1014 𝑚3
𝑛𝑣 = 𝑛 × 𝑒𝑥𝑝 −
𝑅𝑇
𝑛𝑣,𝑇
b) = 1000
𝑛𝑣,298
𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 83680
𝑛𝑣,𝑇 = 1.8202 × 1017 = 8.466 × 1028 × 𝑒𝑥𝑝 −
𝑚3 8.3144𝑇
83680
− = 𝑙𝑛 2.14 × 10−12
8.3144𝑇
𝑇 = 375 𝐾 𝑜𝑟 102 °𝐶
9
Interstitial Defect
• An interstitial defect is formed when an extra atom or ion is inserted into
the crystal structure at a normally unoccupied position.
• Interstitial atoms or ions, although much smaller than the atoms or ions
located at the lattice points, are still larger than the interstitial sites that
they occupy;
• This means the surrounding crystal region is compressed and distorted.
• Interstitial atoms such as hydrogen are often present as impurities
(Carbon and Iron- Steel).
• For small concentrations, carbon atoms occupy interstitial sites in the iron
crystal structure, introducing a stress in the localized region of the crystal
in their vicinity.
• Unlike vacancies, once introduced, the number of interstitial atoms or ions
in the structure remains nearly constant, even when the temperature is
changed.
Interstitial10atom
Substitutional Defects
• A substitutional defect is introduced when one atom or ion is
replaced by a different type of atom or ion.
• The substitutional atoms or ions occupy normal lattice sites.
• Substitutional atoms or ions may either be larger than the normal
atoms or ions in the crystal structure, in which case the surrounding
interatomic spacings are reduced, or smaller, causing the surrounding
atoms to have larger interatomic spacings.
• The substitutional defect can be introduced either as an impurity or as
a deliberate alloying addition, and, once introduced, the number of
defects is relatively independent of temperature.
Small substitutional atom Large substitutional atom
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Substitutional Defects
• Examples: If we add copper to nickel, copper atoms will occupy
crystallographic sites where nickel atoms would normally be present.
• The substitutional atoms will often increase the strength of the metallic
material.
Impurities vs dopants:
• Impurities normally are elements or compounds that are present from
raw materials or processing.
• Dopants, on the other hand, are elements or compounds that are
deliberately added, in known concentrations, at specific locations in the
microstructure, with an intended beneficial effect on properties or
processing.
Small substitutional atom Large substitutional atom 12
