Lecture 4

Packing of atoms in
solids

Jayant Jain

Assistant Professor,
Department of Applied Mechanics,
IIT Delhi, Hauz Khas, 110016

Recap
Density
Elastic modulus, stiffness of individual bonds
Melting temperature, bond energy
Coefficient of thermal expansion: deeper the
energy well is stronger the bond and therefore
lower the

Atomic packing in Engineering solids

Metals
Ceramics

Glasses
Polymers
Packing in solids: broadly be divided into two
categories

Crystals: long range periodicity, Anisotropic

Amorphous: Homogeneous, isotropic
Examples of crystalline and amorphous solids
Courtesy: H Bhadhesia

Crystalline solids
Crystalline material: periodic array
Crystalline solids exhibit long range order in their atomic
arrangement
Single crystal: periodic array over the entire extent of the
material
Polycrystalline material: many small crystals or grains
5

7
3

Grain boundary

Atomic Packing in Crystals

Many engineering solids are made of small crystals in which atoms
are arranged in a regular repeating three dimensional pattern
Look at the atomic arrangement in
an individual crystal
Atoms often behave as if they are
hard and spherical
Layer A represents the close-packed
layer there is no way to pack the atoms
more closely than this
This close packed plane contains three
close packed direction
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David
Cebon

Atomic Packing in Crystals

Now think about adding a second layer of atom to this close
packed layer
See depressions where atoms meet are ideal seats for next
layer of atoms

Likewise third, fourth and many layers can be added to

make a sizeable piece of crystal
This sounds simple--apparently there are two alternative
and different sequences in which we can stack the close
packed planes on top of one another

Close-packed structures

ABABAB stacking sequence: Close packed hexagonal

ABCABC stacking sequence: Face-centered cubic
These two different stacking sequences give two different
three dimensional packing structures
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff,
David Cebon

Crystal Structures
Face-centered cubic (FCC)
Unit cell with one atom at each
corner and one at each face
Atoms touch along the diagonals
of the cube faces
Close-packed planes stacked in an
ABCABC sequence

17 metallic elements have this

structure

Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon

Engineering Materials with an FCC

Structure

Very ductile when pure, work hardening rapidly, but softening

again when annealed, allowing for various deformation processes
Generally tough high KIC
Retain their ductility and toughness to absolute zero
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David
Cebon

Crystal Structures
Close-packed hexagonal (HCP)

Hexagonal unit cell with one atom at

each corner, one at the center
of the hexagonal faces, and three
in the middle
Close-packed planes stacked in an
ABABAB sequence

30 metallic elements have this

structure
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David
Cebon

Engineering Materials with an

HCP structure

Ductile enough for some deformation processes, but not as many

as FCC materials
Plastic properties of HCP crystals is vastly different from FCC
crystals
More anisotropic than FCC and BCC materials
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David
Cebon

Non Close-Packed Structures

Body-centered cubic (W, Cr, Fe and many important

steels):
ABABAB packing sequence
Packing fraction = 0.68
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon

Crystal Structures
Body-centered cubic (BCC)
Unit cell with one atom at each corner and
one in the middle
Atoms touch along the internal
diagonal of the cube
21 metallic elements have this structure

Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon

Engineering Materials with a BCC

Structure

Ductile, particularly when hot, allowing for various deformation processes

Generally tough - high KIC - at and above room temperature
Exhibits a transition from ductile to brittle behavior at low temperatures
Strength is temperature dependent
Can be hardened with interstitial solutes

Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David
Cebon

Non Close-Packed Structures

Amorphous structure:
Packing fraction 0.64