MCEN30017 Mechanics and Materials

Part 3: Materials

Lecture 3

The structure of metals (i) – bonding, crystals and grains

Atom packing in amorphous (glassy) silica.
Simple Cubic Structure (SC)
• Rare due to low packing density (only Po has this structure)

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Body Centered Cubic Structure (BCC)
• Atoms touch each other along cube diagonals.
--Note: All atoms are identical; the center atom is shaded
differently only for ease of viewing.

examples: Cr, W, Fe (), Ta, Mo

2 atoms/unit cell: 1 center + 8 corners x 1/8

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Face Centered Cubic Structure (FCC)
• Atoms touch each other along face diagonals.
--Note: All atoms are identical; the face-centered atoms are shaded
differently only for ease of viewing.

ex: Al, Cu, Fe (γ) Au, Pb, Ni, Pt, Ag

4 atoms/unit cell: 6 face x 1/2 + 8 corners x 1/8

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 FCC Stacking Sequence
• ABCABC... Stacking Sequence
• 2D Projection
B B
C
A
A sites B B B
C C
B sites B B
C sites

A
• FCC Unit Cell B
C

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Fig_3-16
Fig_3-18
Hexagonal Close-Packed Structure (HCP)
• ABAB... Stacking Sequence

• 3D Projection • 2D Projection

A sites Top layer

c
B sites Middle layer

A sites Bottom layer

a Adapted from Fig. 3.4(a),
Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

6 atoms/unit cell ex: Mg, Ti, Zn

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Fig_3-17
Miller indices for identifying crystal planes, showing how the (1 3 1) plane and the (1 1 0) planes
are defined. The lower part of the figure shows the family of {1 0 0} and of {1 1 0} planes.
Crystallographic Planes

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Direction indices for identifying crystal directions, showing how the [1 6 6] direction
is defined. The lower part of the figure shows the family of 〈111〉 directions.
Theoretical Density, r
Mass of Atoms in Unit Cell
Density = r =
Total Volume of Unit Cell

nA
r =
VC NA

where n = number of atoms/unit cell

A = atomic weight
VC = Volume of unit cell = a3 for cubic
NA = Avogadro’s number
= 6.022 x 1023 atoms/mol

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