Point Defects Figure 10-4 illustrates four types of point defects. A vacancy, or vacant lattice site, exists when an atom is missing from a normal (Bravais) lattice position. Figure 10-4. Atomic Point defects.

Interstitial point defect occurs when an atom occupies an interstitial position. This interstitial position can be occupied by an atom of the material itself - self interstitial or by a foreign atom - interstitial impurity. Substitutional point defect occurs when a regular atomic position is occupied by a foreign atom.

In pure metals, small numbers of vacancies are created by thermal excitation, and these are thermodynamically stable at temperatures greater than absolute zero. At equilibrium, the fraction of lattices that are vacant (or vacancy concentration) at a given temperature is given approximately by the equation: where n is the number of vacant sites in N sites and is the energy required to move an atom from the interior of a crystal to its surface. T is the absolute temperature. The vacancy concentration in pure elements is very low at low temperatures. (10.11)

Example If, at 400 oC, the concentration of vacancies in aluminum is 2.3 x 10-5, what is the excess concentration of vacancies if the aluminum is quenched from 600 oC to room temperature? What is the number of vacancies in one cubic m of quenched aluminum? Given, Es = 0.62 eV k = 86.2 x 10-6 eV/K, rAl = 0.143 nm

Line Defects - Dislocations The most important one-dimensional, or line, defect is the dislocation. Dislocation is the defect responsible for the phenomenon of slip, by which most metals deform plastically. Therefore, one way of thinking about a dislocation is to consider that it is the region of localized lattice disturbance separating the slipped and unslipped regions of a crystal.

l Figure 10-5. A dislocation in a slip plane.

Figure 10-6. Atomic arrangement in a plane normal to an edge dislocation.

As the dislocation moves, slip occurs in the area over which it moves. In the absence of obstacles, a dislocation can move easily on the application of only a small force; this helps explain why real crystals deform much more readily than would be expected for a crystal with a perfect lattice. The two basic types of dislocation are the edge dislocation and the screw dislocation.

(a) Figure 10-7. (a) Hardball for an edge dislocation. (b) Arrangement of atoms in an edge dislocation and the Burgers vector b that produces closure of circuit ABCDE. (b)

l Figure 10-8. Edge dislocation produced by slip in a simple cubic lattice. Dislocation lies along AD, perpendicular to slip direction. Slip has occurred over area ABCD.

Although the exact arrangement of atoms along AD is not known, it is generally agreed that Fig. 10-8 closely represents the atomic arrangement in a plane normal to the edge dislocation AD. The atomic arrangement results in a compressive stress above the slip plane and a tensile stress below the slip plane. An edge dislocation with the extra plane of atoms above the slip plane, as in Fig 10-8, by convention is called a positive edge dislocation and is frequently indicated by the symbol .

If the extra plane of atoms lies below the slip plane, the dislocation is a negative edge dislocation, and the symbol is presented as A pure edge dislocation can glide or slip in a direction perpendicular to its length. It may also move vertically by a process known as climb, if diffusion of atoms or vacancies can take place at an appreciable rate - elevated temperature.

The second basic type of dislocation is the screw, or Burgers, dislocation. Figure 10-9 shows a simple example of a screw dislocation. l Figure 10-9. Slip that produces a screw dislocation in a simple cubic lattice. Dislocation lies along AD, parallel to slip direction. Slip has occurred over the area ABCD.

Figure 10-10. Arrangement of atoms in screw dislocation with “parking garage” setup.

Figure 10-11. Atomic arrangement around the screw dislocation shown in Fig.10-9. The plane of the figure is parallel to the slip plane. ABCD is the slipped area, and AD is the screw dislocation. Open circles represent atoms in the atomic plane just above the slip plane, and the solid circles are atoms in the plane just below the slip plane.

Table 10-1 Geometric properties of dislocations Type of dislocation Dislocation property Edge Screw Relationship b/w dislocation perpendicular parallel line l and b Slip direction parallel to b parallel to b Direction of dislocation line l parallel perpendicular movement relative to b (slip direction) Process by which dislocation climb cross-slip may leave slip plane