ME F213

Materials Science and

Engineering

Amal S. Siju

CRYSTAL IMPERFECTIONS
Dislocation

[email protected]@ac.in
# 237 L 102

Dislocation
Line imperfections are called dislocations.
Introduced typically during solidification of material or when
the material is deformed plastically or Vacancy condensation
and atomic mismatch
Most important kinds of linear defects:
Edge dislocation
screw dislocation
Mixed dislocation
These defects are the most striking imperfections and are
responsible for the useful property in metals, ceramics and
crystalline polymers.

Edge and Screw Dislocations

(a)Perfect crystal.
(b) Edge dislocation.
(c) Screw dislocation.

Edge Dislocation
Dislocation is formed by adding an extra partial plane of
atoms to the crystal.
Illustrated by slicing part away through a perfect crystal,
spreading the crystal apart and partially filling the cut
with extra plane of atoms.
Bottom edge of inserted plane represent dislocation line.
Edge dislocation in its cross-section is essentially the
edge of an extra half-plane in the crystal lattice.
The lattice around dislocation is elastically distorted.

Edge Dislocation
When an extra half plane is inserted from the top, the
displacement of atoms happens and the defects so
produced is represented by (inverted tee) and if the
extra half plane is inserted from the bottom, the defects
so produced is represented by T (Tee).
The crystal above and below the line XY appears perfect.

Before

After

When metals are plastically deformed, some fraction (roughly 5%) of

energy is retained internally; the remainder is dissipated as heat. Mainly,
this energy is stored as strain energy associated with dislocations. Lattice
distortions exist around the dislocation line.

Burgers vector
Near the dislocation, the distortion is due to the presence of
zones of compression and tension in the crystal lattice.
The lattice above the line of dislocation is in a state of
compression, whereas below this line, it is in tension.
The dislocation line is a region of higher energy than the rest
of the crystal.
The criterion of distortion is what is called the Burgers vector.
Burgers vector, b:
a measure of lattice
distortion and
measured as a
distance along the
close packed
directions in lattice

Burgers vector
It can be determined if a closed contour is drawn
around a zone in an ideal crystal by passing from one
site to another and then the procedure is repeated a
zone in a real crystal containing a dislocation.
The contour described in real crystal turns out to be
unclosed.
The vector required for the closing the contour is the
Burgers vector.
The Burgers vector of an edge dislocation is equal to
the interatomic space and perpendicular to the
dislocation line.

Motion of Edge Dislocation

Line Defects

(a) Rug with a fold.

Caterpillar with a hump.

Screw Dislocation
Here the atoms are displaced in two separate planes
perpendicular to each other.
Illustrated by cutting part away through a perfect crystal
and skewing the crystal by one atom spacing.
The arrangement of atoms in screw dislocations appear
like that of a screw or a helical surface.
The axis or line around which the path is traced is called
screw dislocation line.

Before

After

Formation of a step on
the surface of a crystal
by the motion of
(a) edge dislocation and
(b) (b) screw dislocation

Screw Dislocation

Dislocation
line

(b)

Burgers vector b
(a)
Adapted from Fig. 4.4, Callister 7e.

Screw dislocation. The spiral stacking of crystal planes leads to the

Burgers vector being parallel to the dislocation line.

Screw Dislocation
Effects of screw dislocation
(i) The force required to form and move a screw
dislocation is somewhat greater than that
required to initiate an edge dislocation.
(ii) Screw dislocation causes distortion of the crystal
lattice for a considerable distance from the centre
of the line and takes the form of spiral distortion
of the planes.

Linear Defects (Dislocations)

Are one-dimensional defects around which
atoms are misaligned
Edge dislocation:
extra half-plane of atoms inserted in a crystal
structure
b (the bergers vector) is (perpendicular) to
dislocation line
Screw dislocation:
spiral planar ramp resulting from shear
deformation
b is (parallel) to dislocation line

Mixed Dislocation
Dislocations of both types, i.e., combinations of edge and screw, are
closely associated with the crystallization as well as deformation.
This dislocation has both edge and screw character with a single
Burgers vector consistent with the pure edge and pure screw
regions.

Edge, Screw, and Mixed Dislocations

Mixed

Edge
Screw
Adapted from Fig. 4.5, Callister 7e.

Imperfections in Solids
Dislocations are visible in transmission electron micrographs (TEM)

Adapted from Fig. 4.6, Callister 7e.

Slip Systems
Dislocations move more easily on specific planes and in
specific directions.
Ordinarily, there is a preferred plane (slip plane), and specific
directions (slip direction) along which dislocations move.
The combination of slip plane and slip direction is called the
slip system.
The slip system depends on the crystal structure of the metal.
The slip plane is the plane that has the most dense atomic
packing (the greatest planar density).
The slip direction is most closely packed with atoms (highest
linear density).

Dislocation Motion
Dislocation motion leads to plastic deformation.
An edge dislocation moves in response to a shear stress applied in a
direction perpendicular to its line.
Extra half-plane at A is forced to the right; this pushes the top halves
of planes B, C, D in the same direction.
By discrete steps, the extra 1/2-plane moves from L to R by
successive breaking of bonds and shifting of upper 1/2-planes.
A step forms on the surface of the crystal as the extra 1/2-plane
exits.

Edge dislocation

t
Dislocation line

Slip Systems
Number.of . Atoms.centered .on.a.Plane
PD
Area.of .a.Plane
Determines the dislocation plane ( closely packed)

Number.of .atoms.centered .on.direction.vector

LD
Length.of .Direction.Vector
Determines the dislocation direction

Slip System FCC example

Slip Plane {111}:

most dense atomic packing,

Slip Direction 110 :

highest linear density,

Stress and Dislocation Motion

Edge and screw dislocations move in response
to shear stresses applied along a slip plane in a
slip direction.
Even though an applied stress may be tensile,
shear components exist at all but the parallel
or perpendicular alignments to the stress
direction.
These are resolved shear stresses (tR).
Crystals slip due to resolved shear stress.

Resolved Shear Stress, tR

tR cos cos

Schmids
Law

Schmids Law

Critical Resolved Shear Stress

In response to an applied tensile or compressive
stress, slip (dislocation movement) in a single crystal begins
when the resolved shear stress reaches some
critical value, tcrss.
It represents the minimum shear stress required
to initiate slip and is a property of the material
that determines when yielding occurs.
y

tcrss
(cos cos ) max

Deformation in a single crystal

Zinc Crystal

For a single crystal in tension,

slip will occur along a number
of equivalent and most
favorably oriented planes and
directions at various positions
along the specimen.
Each step results from the
movement of a large number
of dislocations along the
same slip plane.

Dislocation Motion in Polycrystals

On the surface of a polished single crystal,
these steps appear as lines (slip lines).
Slip planes & directions (, ) change from
one crystal to another.

tR will vary from one crystal to another.

The crystal with the largest tR yields first.

Other (less favorably oriented) crystals yield

later.

300 mm

Polycrystalline Copper

Dislocations in Metals

(a) Titanium. (Courtesy of B. K. Kad.)

(b) Silicon.

Dislocations in Al2O3 and TiC

Dislocations in (a) Al2O3 and (b) TiC. (Courtesy of J. C. LaSalvia.)

Surface Defects
Interfacial defects: 2D that have different crystal structure and
crystallographic orientations.

Types:
External Surface
Grain boundaries
Twin boundaries

External surface

Crystal structure terminates

They are at higher energy state than the interior positions.
Energy is Surface energy, (J/m2)
To reduce this energy the material tend to minimize the
total surface area.

Grain boundaries
Boundary separating two small grains in polycrystalline
materials.
Mismatches where grains meet.
Grains have different orientations.
One grain possibly stop/restrict other grain motion
Degree of crystallographic misalignment
Small (or low) angle grain boundary (less than 10)
High angle grain boundary

Dislocation array
Tilt boundary
Twist boundary

Grain boundaries

Tilt and Twist grain boundaries

Tilt boundary Low angle grain boundary: an array of
aligned edge dislocations (like joining two wedges)

Twist boundary - Boundary

region consisting of arrays of
screw dislocations (like joining
two halves of a cube and twist an
angle around the cross section
normal)

Angle of disorientation is parallel

to the boundary.

Figure 16.3. Low-angle tile boundary.

Figure -3(b). Diagram of low-angle grain boundary. (a) Two

grains having a common [001] axis and angular difference in
orientation of (b) two grains joined together to form a
low-angle grain boundary made up of an array of edge
dislocations.

 The misorientation at the boundary is related to spacing

between dislocations, D, by the following relation:

b
b

2 sin

2

(for very small)

(16-1)

where b is the Burgers vector.

As the misorientation increases, the spacing

between dislocations is reduced, until, at large

angles, the description of the boundary in terms of
simple dislocation arrangements does not make
sense.

Tilt boundaries

TEM image of a small angle tilt boundary in Si.

The red lines mark the edge dislocations, the
blue lines indicate the tilt angle

Figure 16.4. Low-angle twist boundary.

Twist boundaries

Grain boundaries
Grain boundary energy or Interfacial energy: Extra energy
associated with interfaces .
Magnitude of this energy is proportional to degree of
misorientation.
Impurities segregate along these boundaries because of
high energy.
This energy is lower for large grained materials due to
smaller boundary area.
Grain grows at elevated temperature to reduce total
boundary energy.

Twin boundaries
Special type of grain boundary across which there is a specific
mirror lattice symmetry.
The region of material between these boundaries is termed as
Twin.
Twin results from plastic deformation and during annealing
process.
Mechanical twinning occurs at low temperature and high rate
of loading (shock loading).

Slip vs Twin boundaries

Two factors:
1. Crystallographic
orientation
2. Atomic displacement
3. Bulk plastic deformation

Planar Defects
Stacking faults
For FCC metals an error in ABCABC packing sequence
Ex: ABCABABC

Ex: ABCABACABC

Stacking faults

Bulk or Volume defect

Pores: Affect optical, thermal, mechanical
properties
Cracks: Affect mechanical properties
Foreign inclusions: Affect electrical, mechanical,
optical properties

Cluster of microcracks in a melanin

granule irradiated by a short laser
pulse. Computer simulation by L. V.
Zhigilei and B. J. Garrison.