Lecture 6

Atomic packing in
Polymers and Glasses

Jayant Jain

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

Mark the positions of octahedral and

tetrahedral voids in BCC unit cell.
BCC voids

Position

Voids /
cell

Voids /
atom

Distorted
Tetrahedral

Four on each face: [(4/2) 6 = 12] (0, , )

12

Non-regular
Octahedral

Face centre: (6/2 = 3) (, , 0)

Edge centre: (12/4 = 3) (, 0, 0)

TV

OV

VOIDS

BCC

a3/2

a
a

a3/2

{0, 0, })

Polymer structure: Atomic

packing in polymers

Polymer structure
Polymers have a carbon-carbon backbone with
varying side-groups

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

Common Polymers

Varying side groups

Polymer chains bond to each other through weak hydrogen

bonds
Red lines indicate strong cross-linked carbon-carbon bonds
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon

Polymer Structure
(a): No regular repeating pattern of
polymer chains results in a
glassy or amorphous structure
(b): Regions in which polymer chains
line up and register forms
crystalline patches
(c): Occasional cross-linking allowing
the polymer to stretch typical
of elastomers
(d): Heavily cross-linked polymers
typical of epoxy

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

Thermoplastics:
Secondary bonds can be easily broken with temperature and
this allows the polymer to be moulded and shaped readily.
They retain its shape on cooling
Thermosets:
They have many cross-links, making them stiffer and stronger
than thermoplastics.The cross-links cannot be broken by heat.
So they cannot be thermally moulded.

Glass transition temperature

The temperature at which the polymer experiences the
transition from rubbery to rigid states is termed the
glass transition temperature, Tg
Tm
Rubberry
T

Tg
Rigid solid

Elastic deformation of
Polymers
In metals, ceramics Young's modulus generally decreases
with increase in temperature
The change is modulus is not that significant in these
materials as compared to polymers

For polymers, however, a temperature change of 30 C may

change the elastic modulus by a factor of 1,000.

Effect of temperature on
Polymer stiffness
An example of
polysterene

The drastic change is associated with the temperature being high enough to weaken
the secondary bonds of the polymer allowing more chain movement and therefore
decreasing the polymer stiffness.

Glass structure

Structure of silica (Glass)

Amorphous silica is the bases of most glasses
Oxygen atoms at the corner of tetrahedron and Si at the centre
of the tetrahedron

Structure of crystalline and

non crystalline silica
If these tetrahedra are arrayed in a regular and ordered
manner, a crystalline structure is formed: quartz: clocks
If these tetrahedra are arrayed in a random manner then
amorphous structure is formed: Glass

Soda glass

Addition of soda lowers the softening temperature of glass by breaking

some strong bonds