THE NATURE OF MATERIALS

Manufacturing Processes
(© Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing; Materials, Processes and Systems,
by M. P. Groover)

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 The nature of Materials
1. Atomic Structure and the Elements
2. Bonding between Atoms and Molecules
3. Crystalline Structures
4. Noncrystalline (Amorphous) Structures

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 Importance of Materials in
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is a transformation
process

– It is the material that is transformed

– And it is the behavior of the material when subjected to the

forces, temperatures, and other parameters of the process that
determines the success of the operation

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Atomic Structure and the Elements
• The basic structural unit of matter is the atom
• Each atom is composed of a positively charged nucleus, surrounded by a
sufficient number of negatively charged electrons so the charges are
balanced
• More than 100 elements, and they are the chemical building blocks of all
matter

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 Element Groupings
The elements can be grouped Metals Metalloids or NonMetals
Semimetals
into families and relationships
Beryllium – Be Boron – B Helium – He
established between and
within the families by means Lithium – Li Silicon – Si Neon – Ne

of the Periodic Table Magnesium – Mg Arsenic – As Argon – Ar

Cadmium – Cd Antimony – Sb Krypton – Kr

•Metals occupy the left and Copper- Cu Polonium - Po Xenon – Xe

center portions of the table
Iron – Fe Tellurium - Te Radon – Rn
•Nonmetals are on right
Zinc – Zn Germanium - Ge Fluorine – F
•Between them is a transition
zone containing metalloids or Titanium – Ti Chlorine – Cl

semi-metals
Gold – Au Oxygen – O
 Periodic Table

Figure 2.1 Periodic Table of Elements. Atomic number and symbol are listed for the 103
elements.

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 Question?
What are the noble metals?
Copper
Silver
Gold

Platinum (Pt), Palladium (Pd)

Noble metals (precious metals) are metals that are resistant to corrosion or oxidation,
unlike most base metals.

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 Bonding between Atoms and
Molecules
Atoms are held together in molecules by various types of bonds
1. Primary bonds - generally associated with formation of molecules
2. Secondary bonds - generally associated with attraction between
molecules
• Primary bonds are much stronger than secondary bonds

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Bonding between Atoms and
Molecules
Primary Secondary
Bonding Bonding

Ionic Dipole forces

Covalent London forces
Metallic Hydrogen bonding

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 Primary Bonds
Characterized by strong atom-to-atom attractions
that involve exchange of valence electrons
• Following forms:
The ones on the outer shell
– Ionic
– Covalent
– Metallic

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 Ionic Bonding
Atoms of one element give up their outer electron(s), which
are in turn attracted to atoms of some other element to
increase electron count in the outermost shell.

Example: Sodium Chloride (NaCl)

Properties:
Figure 2.4 First form of primary
•Poor Ductility bonding: (a) Ionic
•Low Electrical Conductivity

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 Covalent Bonding
Outer electrons are shared between two local atoms of
different elements.

Examples: Diamond, Graphite

Properties: Figure 2.4 Second form
of primary bonding: (b)
•High Hardness covalent

•Low Electrical Conductivity

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 Metallic Bonding
Outer shell electrons are shared by all atoms to form an electron
cloud.

Example: Metals
Properties:
- Good Conductor (Heat and
Electricity) Figure 2.4 Third form of
- Good Ductility primary bonding: (c) metallic

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 Secondary Bonds
Secondary bonds involve attraction forces
between molecules (whereas primary bonds involve
atom-to-atom attractive forces),

• No transfer or sharing of electrons in secondary bonding

• Bonds are weaker than primary bonds
• Three forms:
1. Dipole forces
2. London forces
3. Hydrogen bonding

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Macroscopic Structures of Matter
• Atoms and molecules are the building
blocks of more macroscopic structure of
matter
• When materials solidify from the molten
state, they tend to close ranks and pack
tightly, arranging themselves into one of
two structures:
– Crystalline
– Noncrystalline

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 Crystalline Structure
Structure in which atoms are located at
regular and recurring positions in three
dimensions
• Unit cell - basic geometric grouping of
atoms that is repeated
• The pattern may be replicated millions of times within a given crystal

• Characteristic structure of virtually all

metals, as well as many ceramics and some
polymers
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 Crystallinity
When the monomers are arranged in a neat orderly manner, the polymer is
crystalline. Polymers are just like socks. Sometimes they are arranged in a
neat orderly manner.

An amorphous solid is a solid in which the molecules have no order or arrangement.

Some people will just throw their socks in the drawer in one big tangled mess. Their
sock drawers look like this:

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 Question?

• Antique windowpanes are thicker at the bottom, because

glass has flowed to the bottom over time!
• Glass has no crystalline structure, hence it is NOT a solid.
• Glass is a supercooled liquid.
• Glass is a liquid that flows very slowly.
• Glass is a highly viscous liquid!!

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Three Crystal Structures in Metals
1. Body-centered cubic (BCC)
2. Face centered cubic (FCC)
3. Hexagonal close-packed (HCP)

# of atoms in unit cell: 9 # of atoms: 14 # of atoms: 17

Figure 2.8 Three types of crystal structure in metals.

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Crystal Structures for Common Metals
Room temperature crystal structures for some of the common metals:

• Body-centered cubic (BCC)

– Chromium, Iron, Molybdenum, Tungsten
• Face-centered cubic (FCC)
– Aluminum, Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver, Nickel, (Iron at
1670oF)
• Hexagonal close-packed (HCP)
– Magnesium, Titanium, Zinc

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Imperfections (Defects) in Crystals
• Imperfections often arise due to inability of solidifying material
to continue replication of unit cell, e.g., grain boundaries in metals
• It is in fact: Deviation in the regular pattern of the crystalline
lattice structure.

Studying about imperfections is important:

Imperfection is bad: a perfect diamond (with no flaws) is
more valuable than one containing imperfections.
Imperfection is good: the addition of an alloying ingredient
in a metal to increase its strength (this is an
imperfection which is introduced purposely).

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 Types of defects or imperfections
• Point defects (involves either a single atom or
a few number of atoms),

• Line defects (defect along a line),

• Surface defects (defect in a surface). Grain

boundaries are an example of surface defects.

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 Point Defects
Imperfections in crystal structure involving either a
single atom or a few number of atoms
Dislocation of an atom

Extra atom present

Figure 2.9 Point defects: (a) vacancy, (b) ion-pair vacancy (Schottky), (c)
interstitialcy, (d) displaced ion (Frenkel Defect).

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 Elastic Strain

By applying a small load, the spring will be elongated or

compressed. If the load is removed, the spring gains its original
length.

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 Elastic Strain
When a crystal experiences a gradually
increasing stress, it first deforms elastically
• If force is removed lattice structure returns to its original
shape

Figure 2.11 Deformation of a crystal structure: (a) original lattice: (b) elastic
deformation, with no permanent change in positions of atoms.

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Plastic Strain

By applying a large load, some of the spring’s deformation will be

permanent. If the load is removed, the spring’s length is increased.

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 Plastic Strain
If stress is higher than forces holding atoms in their lattice
positions, a permanent shape change occurs

Figure 2.11 Deformation of a crystal structure: (c) plastic deformation (slip),

in which atoms in the lattice are forced to move to new "homes“.

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 Slip on a Macroscopic Scale
• When a lattice structure with a line defect
such as edge dislocation is subjected to a
shear stress, the material deforms much
more readily than in a perfect structure.

• Dislocations are a good-news-bad-news situation

– Good news in manufacturing – the metal is easier to form
– Bad news in design – the metal is not as strong as the designer
would like

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Polycrystalline Nature of Metals
• A block of metal may contain
millions of individual crystals,
called grains
• Such a structure is called
polycrystalline
• Each grain has its own unique
lattice orientation; but
collectively, the grains are
randomly oriented in the block

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 Crystalline Structure
• How do polycrystalline structures form?
• As a block of metal cools from the
molten state and begins to solidify,
individual crystals nucleate at random
positions and orientations throughout
the liquid
• These crystals grow and finally interfere
with each other, forming at their
interface a surface defect - a grain
boundary
• Grain boundaries are transition zones,
perhaps only a few atoms thick

Grain

Grain
boundary
Growth of crystals in metals

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 Noncrystalline
(Amorphous) Structures

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Noncrystalline (Amorphous) Structures
• Many materials are noncrystalline
– Water and air have noncrystalline structures
– A metal loses its crystalline structure when melted

• Some important engineering materials have

noncrystalline forms in their solid state:
– Glass
– Many plastics
– Rubber

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Features of Noncrystalline Structures

• Two features differentiate

noncrystalline (amorphous) from
crystalline materials:

What are
the 1. Absence of long-range order in
differences
between molecular structure
them?
2. Differences in melting and thermal
expansion characteristics

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Crystalline versus Noncrystalline

The crystal structure is The noncrystalline structure is

regular, repeating, and random and less tightly packed.
denser
Figure 2.14 Difference in structure between: (a) crystalline and (b) noncrystalline
materials.

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 Volumetric Effects

Tg=glass temperature
Tm=melting temperature

Figure 2.15 Characteristic change in volume for a pure metal (a crystalline

structure), compared to the same volumetric changes in glass (a
noncrystalline structure).

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 Summary: Characteristics of Metals
• Crystalline structures in the solid state, almost without
exception
• BCC, FCC, or HCP unit cells
• Atoms held together by metallic bonding
• Properties: high strength and hardness, high electrical and
thermal conductivity
• FCC metals are generally ductile

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 Summary: Characteristics of Ceramics

• Most ceramics have crystalline structures, while glass (SiO2) is

amorphous
• Molecules characterized by ionic or covalent bonding, or both
• Properties: high hardness and stiffness, electrically insulating,
refractory, and chemically inert

Refractory materials retain their strength at high temperatures. They are used
to make crucibles and linings for furnaces, kilns and incinerators.

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 Summary: Characteristics of Polymers

• Many repeating mers in molecule held together by covalent

bonding
• Polymers usually carbon plus one or more other elements: H,
N, O, and Cl
• Amorphous (glassy) structure or mixture of amorphous and
crystalline
• Properties: low density, high electrical resistivity, and low
thermal conductivity, strength and stiffness vary widely

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