Department of Mechanical, Materials & Manufacturing Engineering

Material Models and Modes of Failure MM4MMM

Convenor: Dr W Sun (Coates Building B68, w.sun@nottingham.ac.uk)

STRUCTURE OF METALS
Most metallic materials which are used in practice consist of polycrystalline
aggregates. As there are no voids between the individual crystals, they must assume
irregular polygonal shapes and they are thus prevented from adopting a superficially
geometric, crystal-like shape; in such a solid they are therefore termed grains. These
grains can be seen by examining a suitably prepared, polished section using a light
microscope. The grain diameters can vary from some few microns to several
millimetres. The borders between adjacent grains are known as grain boundaries.
Inside each grain the atoms are arranged in a geometric fashion, whose structure can
be represented by means of lattice models or by a unit cell which shows the atom
positions and interconnecting lines. In the figure, the lattice spacing is shown in an
exaggeratedly large fashion relative to the grain size. In fact, the lattice spacing
amounts to approximately 1/100,000 of the grain diameter.

from Engel & Klingele 1981.

The grains always contain lattice defects, the most important of which are known as
dislocations. Two types of dislocation are differentiated: edge dislocations and screw
dislocations. Metals can dissolve foreign atoms (including those of other metals) as a
solid solution. This means that the foreign atoms are incorporated into the metal
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lattice. If a foreign atom occupies the place of an atom of the host lattice, this is
referred to as a substitutional solid solution. If the foreign atom is located between the
atoms of the host lattice, this is referred to as an interstitial solution. In both cases,
the lattice is locally distorted. An unoccupied lattice site is known as a vacancy.
The term phase signifies regions of solid having the same crystal structure and similar
chemical composition. Pure metals are always single phase. Alloys can be single phase
but most often consist of more than one phase. The various phases form either during
cooling from the molten state or during subsequent thermal treatment as a
consequence of the temperature dependence of the solubilities of the component
elements. If a metal lattice contains more foreign atoms than it can dissolve at any
given temperature, then the super-saturation results in the formation of finely
dispersed particles of a second phase known as precipitates. Coherent precipitates
show a close relationship with the parent lattice. Incoherent precipitates are those
with their own phase boundaries.
A favoured region for precipitation is the grain boundary. Grain boundary precipitates
may completely surround the grains as a continuous layer. High melting point
inclusions which have been present as a suspension in the metallic melt can be found
irregularly distributed through the subsequently formed grain structure.
Dislocation: A lattice defect, or irregularity, within a crystal structure.
Grains: Solid-state crystallites, which have the same structure as a single crystal.
Precipitates: Solids or solid-phases, separated from a solution.