Department of Mechanical and

Production Engineering (MPE)

Islamic University of Technology (IUT)

MCE 4426: Metallic Materials Lab Date: 25.09.2020

Expt. 2: Study of different types of crystals Time: 10.30 am
Session: 20192020 (Sec B)
Summer Semester (2020)

1
 Atomic bonding
 Ionic bond  A transfer of electrons from one to another atoms,
resulting in a strong electrostatic attraction between the positive ions
and the negative ions and thus form a compound
 Covalent bond  Atoms of some elements may attain a stable
electron structure by sharing one or more electrons with adjacent
atoms.
 Van der Waals bond  This type of bond arises in neutral atoms
such as the inert gases. When the atoms are brought close together
there is a separation of the centers of positive and negative charges,
and a weak attractive force results. It is of importance only at low
temperatures when the weak attractive force can overcome the
thermal agitation of the atoms.
Metallic bond
 Metallic bond  The lack of oppositely
charged ions in the metallic structure
and the lack of sufficient valence
electrons to form a true covalent bond
necessitate the sharing of valence
electrons by more than two atoms.
Each of the atoms of the metal
contributes its valence electrons to
the formation of a negative electron
"cloud."
Electrons in cloud are not
associated with a particular ion but
are free to move among the positive
metallic ions in definite energy
levels.
The metallic ions are held together
by virtue of their mutual attraction
for the negative electron cloud.
Equilibrium position of atoms
 When atoms of a metal approach each other, two
opposing forces influence the internal energy,
 an attractive force between the electrons and
both positive nuclei, and
 a repulsive force between the positive nuclei
and also between the electrons.
 The first force tends to decrease the internal
energy and the second force tends to increase it.
 At some distance these two forces will just balance
each other and the total internal energy E0, will be
a minimum, corresponding to an equilibrium
condition
 The equilibrium distance r0 is different for each
element
 Crystal structure
 Atoms tend to assume relatively fixed
positions giving rise to the formation of
crystals in the solid state.
 The atoms oscillate about fixed locations
and are in dynamic equilibrium rather
than statically fixed.
 The three-dimensional network of
imaginary lines connecting the atoms is
called the space lattice.
 The smallest unit having the full
symmetry of the crystal is called the unit
cell.
 The specific unit cell for each metal is
defined by its parameters:
the edges of the unit cell a, b, c and
the angles  (between b and c), 
(between a and c), and 
(between a and b)
Ideal Crystal
• An ideal crystal is a periodic
array of structural units, such as
atoms or molecules.
• It can be constructed by the
infinite repetition of these identical
structural units in space.
• Structure can be described in
terms of a lattice, with a group of
atoms attached to each lattice
point. The group of atoms is the
basis.
 2-D lattice

Lines of lowest indices have

the greatest spacing and
the greatest density of
lattice points.

Projection of the lattice on a plane perpendicular

to the Z axis to illustrate interplanar spacing. Filled circles
are in the plane of the paper.
 BCC Lattice

Structures of some common bcc metals:

-Fe, Cr, Mo, V, etc.
Crystal system and Bravais Lattices
Fourteen Bravais Lattices in 3D
Fourteen Bravais Lattices in 3D
 FCC lattice

Structures of some common fcc metals: -Fe, Cu, Pb, Ni, etc.
Elements That Have FCC Structure
 HCP Crystal

Some common hcp metals: Zn, Mg, Be, -Ti,

etc.
 Packing factor (pf)
fcc:

pf of bcc structure?
 Miller indices of lattice plane
• The layers of atoms or the planes along which atoms are
arranged are known as atomic or crystallographic planes.
• The relation of a set of planes to the axes of the unit cell is
designated by Miller indices (English crystallographer Miller).
• The indices of a crystal plane (h,k,l) are defined to be a set of
integers with no common factors, inversely proportional to
the intercepts of the crystal plane along the crystal axes:
Determination of Miller indices
of planes

Miler indices of BDF plane (112)

Miller indices of planes (example)
 Determine Miller Indices of the
following planes
z

x
Indices of direction
• The direction of any line in a lattice
may be described by first drawing a
line through the origin parallel to the
given line and then giving the
coordinates of any point on the line
through the origin.
• Let the line pass through the origin of
the unit cell and any point having
coordinates u, v, w.
• Then [uvw], written in square
brackets, are the indices of the
direction of the line.
 Hexagonal unit cell
A slightly different system of plane indexing is used in the hexagonal
system. The unit cell of a hexagonal lattice is defined by two equal and
coplanar vectors a1 and a2 , at 1200 to one another, and a third axis c at
right angles.
Directions in a hexagonal lattice are best
expressed in terms of the three basic
vectors a1, a2 , and c.

Miller Bravais indices, refer to four axes

and are written (hkil). (hkil), h+k=-i
Brag’s law of crystal diffraction

Path difference (MH+HP)=2dSinn

Diffraction on crystal planes

(b) fcc
(a) bcc

Path difference (AB+AC)=2dSinn

Lattice spacing (d)
d= distance between adjacent
planes in the set (hkl)
Volume of unit cell
NaCl Basis

The Bravais
lattice of NaCl is therefore face-
centered cubic.
Packing factors
 HW
Q1. Draw the following planes and directions
in a fcc unit cell:
(001), (011), (113), [110], [201], [-101].
Q2. In a drawing of a hexagonal unit cell,
indicate the following planes and directions:
(1-210), (10-12), (-1011), [110], [11-1),
[021].