Plastic deformation

and

creep
in

crystalline materials
Chap. 11
 Mechanical Properties of Materials

Stiffness Resistance to elastic Young’s

deformation modulus

Strength Resistance to plastic Yield

deformation stress

Toughness Resistance to fracture Energy to

fracture

ductility Ability to deform Strain to

plastically fracture
 Uniaxial Tensile Test

Gauge
length

specimen
Result of a uniaxial tensile test

Ultimate
σ (Engineering stress) necking
tensile σUTS
strength Yield stic
pla
point
Yield σy
strength
elastic
break
STRENGTH Area = Toughness

STIFFNESS
Slope = Young’s
modulus (Y)
DUCTILITY
εf (strain to fracture)

ε (engineering strain)
 If there is a smooth
transition from elastic
to plastic region (no
distinct yield point)
then 0.2 % offset proof
stress is used
During uniaxial tensile test the length of the specimen is
continually increasing and the cross-sectional area is
decreasing.

True stress Engineering stress (σ=F/A0)

True strain Engineering strain (ε=∆L/L0)

P
True stress σT = Ai = instantaneous area
Ai Eqn. 11.3
dL
True incremental strain dε T =
L
L
dL L
True strain εT = = ln Eqn. 11.4
L0
L L0
 σT = Kε n
T Eqn. 11.5

K Strength coefficient
n work hardening exponent
What happens
during plastic • Externally, permanent shape change
deformation? begins at σy
• Internally, what happens?
What happens to crystal structure after
plastic deformation?

Plastic

Deformation
?
 Some Possible answers

Remains the Changes to Becomes random

same another or
crystal amorphous
structure
 How Do We Decide?

X-ray diffraction

No change in crystal structure!

No change in internal crystal structure but

change in external shape!!
 How does the microstructure of polycrystal
changes during plastic deformation?

EXPERIMENT 5

Comparison of undeformed Cu and deformed Cu

 Slip Lines

Before Deformation After Deformation

 Callister

Slip lines in the

microstructure of
plastically deformed
Cu
Slip
 Slip Planes, Slip Directions, Slip
Systems

Slip Plane: Crystallographic planes

Slip Direction: Crystallographic direction
Slip System: A combination of a slip
plane and a slip direction
 Slip Systems in Metallic Crystals
Crystal Slip Slip Slip
Plane Direction Systems
FCC {111} <110> 4x3=12
(4 planes) (3 per plane)

BCC {110} <111> 6x2=12

(6 planes) (2 per plane)

HCP {001} <100> 3x1=3

(1 plane) (3 per plane)
Why slip planes are usually close packed
planes?

Why slip directions are close-packed

directions?
 Slip Systems in FCC Crystal
(111)
z

y
x
 Tensile vs Shear Stress

• Plastic deformation takes place by slip

• Slip requires shear stress

• Then, how does plastic deformation

take place during a tensile test?
 σ σ: Applied tensile stress

N: Slip plane normal

N D: Slip direction
φ1 φ D
2
Φ1: angle between σ and N

Φ2 =angle between σ and D

Is there any shear stress on the

slip plane in the slip direction
due to the applied tensile
σ stress?
 Resolved Shear stress
σ = F/ A
F Area=A
FD = F cos φ2

N
φ1 φ D As = A cos φ1
2

FD F cos φ2
τ RSS = =
AS A
Area = As
cos φ1
F
= cos φ1 cos φ2
A
F τ RSS = σ cos φ1 cos φ2
 F F

No resolved
shear stress
on planes
parallel or
perpendicular
to the stress
axis

F F
cos φ2 = 0 cos φ1 = 0
Plastic deformation recap

No change in crystal structure:

slip
twinning
Slip takes place on slip systems (plane + direction)
Slip planes usually close-packed planes
Slip directions usually close-packed direction
Slip requires shear stress
In uniaxial tension there is a shear component
of tensile stress on the slip plane in the slip
direction:
RESOLVED SHEAR STRESS
Extra Classes
Thursdays 10-11
MS 702
 CRITICAL RESOVED SHEAR STRESS
τ RSS τ RSS = σ cos φ1 cos φ2
σ
τ CRSS
N
φ1 φ D
2

cos φ1 cos φ2
σy σ

σ τ CRSS = σ y cos φ1 cos φ2

 τ CRSS = σ y cos φ1 cos φ2

If we change the direction of stress with respect to the

slip plane and the slip direction cos φ1 cos φ2 will change.

To maintain the equality which of the following

changes takes place?

1. τ CRSS changes.

2. σy changes

Schmid’s Law:
τ CRSS is a material constant.
 Anisotropy of Yield Stress

τ crss
σy =
cos φ1cos φ2

Yield stress of a single crystal depends upon the

direction of application of load

cos φ1 cos φ2 is called the Schmid factor

Active slip system
τ RSS
cos φ1a cos φ 2a

τ CRSS
Slip system with
highest Schmid
factor is the
active slip system
cos φ1b cos φ 2b

σy σ

τ CRSS = σ y cos φ1 cos φ2

 Magnitude
of
Critical Resolved Shear Stress
Theory (Frenkel 1926)
Experiment
 Potential
energy

Shear stressτ
τ CRSS
b/2 b

d
 Critical Resolved Shear Stress

Theory Experiment Ratio

(GPa) (MPa) Theory/Exp
Fe (BCC) 12 15 800

Cu (FCC) 7 0.5 14,000

Zn (HCP) 5 0.3 17,000

?
 Solution

1934

E. Orowan
Michael Polanyi
Geoffrey Ingram Taylor
 Solution

• Not a rigid body slip

• Part slip/ part unslipped

 Slip Not-yet-slipped

Boundary between slipped and unslipped parts

on the slip plane
Dislocation Line (One-Dimensional Defect)
 Movement of an Edge Dislocation

From
W.D. Callister
Materials
Science
and Engineering
 Minor Answer Scripts

10-11 am and 4-5 pm from Lab

Extra Class
Thursday 2nd. Nov. 10-11 am MS 702

I never did a day'

s work in my life. It was all fun.
Thomas A. Edison
 Plastic Deformation Summary
• Plastic deformation slip

• Slip dislocations

• Plastic deformation requires movement of

dislocations on the slip plane
Recipe for strength?

Remove the dislocation

 Stress,
MPa
Fig. 11.6
700

50
strain
Cu Whiskers tested in tension
The critical resolved shear stress to
move the dislocation depends upon
1.The width of dislocation
2.The Burgers vector
WIDTH of a DISLOCATION

Narrow dislocation Wide Dislocation

Wide dislocations are easier to move than narrow

dislocations
Width of a dislocation in crystal of different types of bonding:
1. Covalent crystal:
Strong and directional bond:
narrow dislocation Eqn. 11.13

brittle
2. Metallic crystal: Not in course
Weak and non directional bonds
wide dislocation
ductile
3. Ionic Crystal
Weak and non-directional bond but large b
brittle
Effect of temperature on dislocation motion
Higher temperature makes the dislocation motion easier

F
Yield stress W
e Al2
O3 S
i

18-8 ss
Eqn. 11.14
Ni
Fig. 11.8 11.15
Cu
11.16
11.17
0 T/Tm 0.7 11.18
 Recipe for strength

Remove the dislocation:

Possible but Impractical

Alternative:
Make the dislocation motion
DIFFICULT
Strengthening Mechanisms
• Strain hardening

• Grain refinement

• Solid solution hardening

• Precipitation hardening
 Movement of an Edge Dislocation
A unit slip takes
place only when
the dislocation
comes out of the
crystal
 During plastic deformation dislocation
density
of a crystal should go down

Experimental Result
Dislocation Density of a crystal actually goes up

Well-annealed crystal: 1010 m-2

Lightly cold-worked: 1012 m-2

Heavily cold-worked: 1016 m-2
?
 Dislocation Sources

F.C. Frank and W.T. Read

Symposium
on
Plastic Deformation of Crystalline Solids
Pittsburgh, 1950
 τ
P

A
b
B

τ
Q
b

http://zig.onera.fr/~douin/index.html
b
b

Fig. 11.9

http://zig.onera.fr/~douin/index.html
Problem 11.11
Strain Hardening or Work
hardening

σy

σy

Strain, ε
During plastic deformation dislocation density increases.

Dislocations are the cause of weakness of real crystals

Thus as a result of plastic deformation the crystal should

weaken.

However, plastic deformation increases the yield strength

of the crystal: strain hardening or work hardening

?
 Strain Hardening

Dislocation against Dislocation

A dislocation in the path of other

dislocation can act as an
obstacle to the motion
of the latter
 Sessile dislocation in an FCC crystal

1
[10 1 ]
2 a2 a2 a2 Energetically
< +
1
[1 1 0] 2 2 2 favourable reaction
2
1
[0 1 1]
2
(001) not a favourable slip plane
Eqn. 11.20
⊥
(CRSS is high).
1
2
[1 1 0] The dislocation
1
2
[0 1 1] immobile or sessile.
1
[10 1 ] (1 1 1)
( 1 11) 2
⊥

(001) [110]

Fig. 11.10
 Sessile dislocation a barrier to other
dislocations creating a dislocation pile-up

Sessile dislocation (barrier)

(1 1 1)

( 1 11)
Fig. 11.10
Piled up dislocations
 Empirical relation for strain hardening or
work hardening

τ =τ0 + A ρ Eq. 11.21

τ Is the shear stress to move a dislocation in a

crystal with dislocation density ρ

τo and A : empirical constants

Fig. 11.11
 Dislocation Motion Plastic Deformation

Easy Dislocation Motion Easy Plastic Deformation

Weak Crystal

Difficult Difficult
Dislocation Motion Plastic Deformation

Strong Crystal
 Grain Boundary

Grain 2

Grain1

Grain boundary
2-D Defect: Grain Boundaries

Single Crystal Polycrystal

Grains of different orientations
No Grain Boundaries
separated by grain boundaries
 Discontinuity of a slip plane
across a grain boundary

Slip plane

Disloca-
tion

Grain Boundary
 Grain Boundary Strengthening

• Slip plane discontinuity at grain

boundary
• A dislocation cannot glide across a grain
boundary
• Higher stresses required for deformation
• Finer the grains, greater the strength
Coarse Grains Fine Grains
 Grain Size
Strengthening
Hall-Petch Relation

k
σ y = σ0 +
D
σy: yield strength
D: average grain diameter
σ0, k: constants
Hardness increases as as a function of time

hardness

As-quenched
hardness

time

No change in microstructure - Wilm!

Numerous fine precipitates form with time

Not visible in optical micrograph

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)

Guinier-Preston Zones, 1938

 “It seems justifiable at the moment to
conclude that the process of age
hardening in this alloys is associated
with the segregation of copper atoms on
the (100) planes of the crystal as
suggested by C.H. Desch in The
Chemistry of Solids, 1934”
Preston, 1938, “The Diffraction of X-rays
by Age-Hardening Aluminium Copper Alloys
 Precipitation Hardening

Precipitates are obstacles to the motion of dislocation

Solute atoms Pebbles
Precipitates boulders

Cake with nuts

Age-hardening = Precipitation hardening

Dislocation-precipitate interaction

Dislocation can

1. Either cut through the precipitate

particles (small precipitate)
2. Or they can bypass the
precipitates
 Precipitate cutting

⊥ ⊥

before after

Fig 11.14 a, c
Dislocation bypassing the
precipitate

µb
τ=
L Fig. 11.14 b and d
 Movement of one-
dimensional defects called
dislocations causes plastic
deformation

Obstacles to the movement

of dislocations cause
strengthening
 Strengthening Mechanisms

Name Obstacle Type

Solid solution hardening Solute atoms (0-D)
Strain hardening Dislocations (1-D)
Grain refinement Grain boundaries (2-D)
Precipitation hardening Precipitates (3-D)
 Solid Solutions
• Mixture of two or more metals
• Solute atoms: a zero dimensional defect or
a point defect
• Two types:
– 1. Interstitial solid solution
– 2. Substitutional solid solution
 Interstitial Solid Solution

Distortion caused by a
Perfect Crystal
large interstitial atom
 Substitutional Solid Solution

Small solute atom Large solute atom

Solute atom: a zero-dimensional point defect
 Solid Solution
Strengthening
Solute Strains in the
atoms surrounding crystal

Strong Obstacle to dislocation

crystal motion

Alloys stronger than pure metals

200 Sn (1.51)
Be (1.12)
Matrix = Cu (r = 1.28 Å)
150
8 ) )
( 1.1 (1. 43
Si Al )
(Values in parenthesis are
100 1 . 2 5 atomic radius values in Å)
Ni (

Zn (1.31)
50

0 10 20 30 40
Solute Concentration (Atom %)

Figure: Anandh
Subramaniam
Fig 11.13
What was one major natural causes of deaths
during Kargil war?

How do electric bulbs fuse?

What does the Rolls-Royce company make?

What is common to the above three?

Creep

Creep is time dependent plastic deformation at

constant load or stress

It is a “high temperature” deformation

T > 0.4 Tm
Tm is the m.p. in K.
CREEP
Fig. 11.15
Creep Mechanisms of crystalline materials

Cross-slip

Dislocation climb
Creep
Vacancy diffusion

Grain boundary sliding

Cross-slip
In the low temperature of creep screw dislocations can cross-slip
(by thermal activation) and can give rise to plastic strain [as f(t)]
Dislocation climb
Edge dislocations piled up against an obstacle can climb to another slip
plane and cause plastic deformation [as f(t), in response to stress]
Rate controlling step is the diffusion of vacancies
Diffusional creep Nabarro-Herring creep high T lattice diffusion
Coble creep low T Due to GB diffusion

In response to the applied stress vacancies preferentially move from

surfaces/interfaces (GB) of specimen transverse to the stress axis to
surfaces/interfaces parallel to the stress axis causing elongation
This process like dislocation creep is controlled by the diffusion of
vacancies but diffusional does not require dislocations to operate

σ σ

Flow of vacancies
Grain boundary sliding

At low temperatures the grain boundaries are ‘stronger’ than the crystal
interior and impede the motion of dislocations
Being a higher energy region, the grain boundaries melt before the crystal
interior
Above the equicohesive temperature grain boundaries are weaker than
grain and slide past one another to cause plastic deformation
Creep Resistant Materials

Higher operating temperatures gives better efficiency for a heat engine

High melting point E.g. Ceramics

Dispersion hardening ThO2 dispersed Ni (~0.9 Tm)

Creep
resistance Solid solution strengthening

Single crystal / aligned (oriented) grains

Cost, fabrication ease, density etc. are other factors which determine
the final choice of a material
Commonly used materials Fe, Ni, Co base alloys
Precipitation hardening (instead of dispersion hardening) is not a good
method as particles coarsen (smaller particles dissolve and larger
particles grow interparticle separation )
Ni-base superalloys have Ni3(Ti,Al) precipitates which form a low
energy interface with the matrix low driving force for coarsening
Cold work cannot be used for increasing creep resistance as
recrystallization can occur which will produced strain free crystals
Fine grain size is not desirable for creep resistance
grain boundary sliding can cause creep elongation / cavitation
Single crystals (single crystal Ti turbine blades in gas turbine
engine have been used)
Aligned / oriented polycrystals
 No Dislocations

Ultra Strong Crystals

Whiskers

Composite Materials
 Various Crystal Defects

Substitu-
tional
solute
Stacking
fault

G-P zone
Disloca-
tions

Interstitial Vacancy Grain Boundary

solute (Diffusion)
 Moral of the Story

Strength depends upon defects

 Microstructure

• Structural features observed under a

microscope
– Phases and their distribution
– Grains and grain boundaries
– Twin boundaries
– Stacking faults
– Dislocations
 Hierarchy of Structures

nuclear structure

Physics and atomic structure

chemistry 1A0
crystal structure
1nm
Metallurgy and microstructure
1µm
Materials Science
macrostructure 1mm
Engineering: Civil,
Mechanical, etc. engineering structure 1m
Real Moral of the Story

Structure Sensitive
vs
Structure Insensitive Properties
For true understanding comprehension
of detail is imperative. Since such
detail is well nigh infinite
our knowledge is always
superficial and
imperfect.
Duc Franccois de la Rochefoucald
(1613-1680)