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 1. CHEMICAL BONDING & CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

 Solids exist mainly in three forms : Single c

Crystalline, Polycrystalline and Amorphous. APF = 0.74, = 1.633
a
 A lattice is a regular periodic 3-dimensional
where c = long unit cell dimension. a = short
arrangement of points in space.
unit cell dimension
 A crystal is described by a lattice in which each
lattice point is occupied by one atom or a group  Density of metallic solids (  ) :
of atoms. The group of atoms occupying a lattice nA
point is called the basis of the structure. 
VCNA
 A unit cell is a fundamental block which when
repeated in three directions generates the entire where n = number of atoms associated with each
lattice. unit cell,
 Crystals are classified into fourteen Bravais lattices A = atomic weight
and seven crystal classes. Vc = Volume of unit cell
 Direction indices and Miller indices are used to NA = Avogadro’s number (6.023 × 1023 atoms/
specify crystal directions and crystal planes mol)
respectively. Crystal directions are denoted by  Linear density :
three indices enclosed in square brackets as [uvw]
and crystal planes are given by three indices Number of atoms centred on direction vector
enclosed in brackets as (hkl). Length of direction vector
 Packing factor is defined as the ratio of the volume For FCC material linear density of (110) direction

occupied by the atoms in a unit cell to the volume
of the unit cell.
2 atoms 1
= 
Crystal structure of various materials may be 4R 2R

identified with any one of the Bravais lattices with No. of atoms centred on plane
one or more atoms (a basis) associated with each  Plannar density =
Area of plane
lattice point.
 Plannar density of FCC : (110) plane
 Metallic crystal structure : Atomic bonding in this
group is metallic thus non-directional in nature. 2 atoms 1
= 
Consequently, there are minimal restriction as to 2
8R 2 4R 2
2
the number and position of nearest-neighbor
atoms. This leads to relatively large number of  Plannar density of simple cubic (100), (110) and
nearest neighbors and dense atomic packings for 1 0.707 0.58
(111) planes are , 2 and 2 respectively..
most metallic crystal structures. a
2
a a
Three relatively simple crystal structures are found  Plannar density of BCC on planes (100), (110) and
for most common metals. 1 1.414 1.732
(i) FCC : atomic packing factor = 0.74; (111) are 2 , 2 and 2 respectively..
a a a
coordination no. = 12 and its unit cell length
 Plannar density of FCC on (100), (110) and (111)
‘a’ and radius of atom ‘R’ related with a =
2 1.414 2.31
2R 2 planes are 2 , 2 and 2 respectively..
a a a
4R  Polymorphism & allotropy : Sometimes metals as
(ii) BCC : a  ,
3 well as non-metals have more than one crystal
structure, this is termed as polymorphism. When
Atomic packing factor (APF) = 0.68,
found in elemental solids, then this is allotropy.
Coordination no. = 8 Prevailling crystal structure depends on both
(iii) HCP : Coordination no. = 12, temperature and external pressure.

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 e.g. Graphite is stable polymorph at ambient  Diamond and graphite are termed as network
conditions where as diamond is formed at solids in that all of the carbon atoms form primary
extremely high pressure. bonds with adjacent atoms throughout the entirety
Pure iron has BCC crystal structure at room of the solids. In contrast carbon atoms in buckball
temperature. Which changes to FCC iron at 912°C. bond together. So, as to form the spherical
Most often modification of the density and other molecules. C60 in solid state pack together in face-
physical properties accompanies a polymorphic cubic array.
transformation.  Structure of ionic crystals depends on the ratio of
 Ceramic crystal structure : the ionic radii, i.e. ratio of the radius of the cation
to the radius of the anion.
Ceramic are compoed of atleast two elements,
their crystal structures are generally more complex  X-rays are used to determine the structure of
than those for the metals. The atomic bonding in crystals.
these materials range from purely ionic to totally  Polymer structure : It involves molecules instead
covalent. Degree of ionic character being of atoms or ions as with metals and ceramics. The
dependent on electronegativities of the atoms. atomic arrangement is more complex here.
 Radius ratio rule is used to determine crystal  Polymer crystallinity : packing of molecular chains
structure of ceramic and ionic compounds. to produce an ordered atomic array.
 For radius ratio greater than unity co-ordination  Polymer molecules are often only partially
no. = 12 crystalline (or semicrystalline) having crystalline
 Most common coordination number for ceramic regions dispersed within the remaining amorphous
materials are 4, 6 & 8. material.
 It should be noted that relationship between  It is to be noted that molecular structure having
co-ordination number and cation-anion radii ratio small molecules (e.g. water and methane) are
are based on geometrical consideration and normally either totally crystalline (as solids) or
assuming hard sphere ions. Therefore radii ratio totally amorphous (as liquids).
relationship is only approximate and has exception.  Degree of crystallinity of a polymer depends on
 Ionic radius for coordination number rate of cooling during solidification as well as chain
configuration.
12 > 8 > 4
 Density of crystalline polymer is greater than
 By addition of charge on ion influence its radius.
amorphous one of the same material and molecular
e.g. radii of Fe3+ < Fe2+ < Fe weight. Reason is chain are closely packed together
 By addition of electrons ionic radius  . for the crystalline structure.
 Anisotropy : It is a directional properties e.g. elastic  The degree of crystallinity may range from
modulus, the electrical conductivity and refraction completely amorphous to almost entirely (upto
index may have different values in direction [100] almost 95%) crystalline in contrast to metals.
and [111]. Anisotropy is associated with variance  The molecular chemistry as well as chain
of atomic and ionic spacing with crystallographic configuration also influence the polymer crystallinity.
direction. The extent of anisotropic effects is a For linear polymers, crystallization is easily formed

function of symmetry of the crystal structure. because there are few restriction to prevent chain
 Degree of anisotropy  with  structure alignment.
symmetry.  Any side branch prevent crystallization, so branch
 Isotropic : Substances for which physical properties polymers are least crystalline.
are independent of direction.  Cross-linked polymers are amorphous.
 C60 molecules is known as buckminster fullerence  Few cross-linked polymer are partially crystalline.
named in honor of inventor. C 60 is simply a
 Atactic polymers (stereoisomers) are difficult to
molecular replica of geodesic dome which is often
crystallize.
referred as buckyball in short. The term fullerence
is used to denote the class of materials that are  Isotactic and syndiotactic polymers are crystallize
composed of this type of molecule. more easily.

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 Co-polymers, as a general rule, the more irregular direction independent. The ionic, metallic and Van
and random the repeat unit arrangements, the der Waals bonds are non-directional while the
greater is the tendency for the development of covalent and hydrogen bonds are directional.
non-crystallinity. Alternating and Block copolymers  Mixed bonds : Mixed bonds are more common
are more crystalline. Random and graft polymers in materials. Such bonds are formed due to a
are normally amorphous. combination of two or more pure bonds (primary
 Physical properties of polymer are influenced by or secondary).
degree of crystallinity.  Vander Waals bond occurs between two closed
 Crystalline polymer are usually stronger and configuration atoms or between molecules in
resistant to dissolution and softening by heat. organic solids, and it is relatively a weak bond.
 Non crystalline solid : The bond is due to dipole-dipole interaction. The
The nearest neighbours of an atom may be the dipoles may be permanent dipoles as in organic
same as in crystal, but lacks the long range periodic molecules or induced dipoles as in inert gas atoms.
arrangement characteristic of crystal.  Covalent bond is a very strong bond formed by
 Further, in another words the crystallinity of long sharing of electrons between the two bonding
chain polymers is influenced by a number of factors atoms.
such as chain length, branching, presence of random  Covalent bond in solids can be understood by the
side group and plasticizers. Hitler-London theory of hydrogen atom and the
 Polycrystalline materials are stronger than molecular orbital theory.
single crystal materials.  In molecular orbital theory, orbitals are formed by
 Atomic vibration is kind of crystal imperfections the linear combination of the atomic orbitals.
or defects in which solid material vibrating very Combination of two suitable atomic orbitals of the
rapidely about lattice position. bonding atoms gives rise to two orbitals: one
 bonding orbital and the other anti-bonding orbital.
 The electrons in the molecule occupy the molecular
Atomic bonds orbitals obeying Pauli’s exclusion principle just as
in atoms.
 Molecules in which the outermost valence electrons
Primary bonds Secondary bonds occupy bonding molecular orbital are stable.
 Ionic bond is formed between two atoms by
Ionic Covalent Metallic Hydrogen Van der Waals transfer of electrons from one atom to the other
bonds bonds bonds bonds bonds making one positively charged and the other
negatively charged. The coulomb force of attraction
between the two oppositely charged ions is
s-bond p-bonds Hybrid responsible for the bond.
bonds
 Metallic bond found in metals in due to the
Figure: Different kind of bonds interaction between free conduction electrons and
Secondary bonds are intermolecular. Gases and the ionic cores in the lattice. The electrons are not
liquids generally form such bonds. They are freeble localized in metallic bond. Metals are characterized
and less stable. Van der Waals bonds are the by high electrical and thermal conductivity because
weakest amongst all known bonds. Secondary of the free electrons.
bonds may also be classified as follows.  Hydrogen bond is the bond between two atoms
(i) Dipole bond formed by a hydrogen atom between the two.
The bond is very strong and largely ionic in
(ii) Dispersion bond
character. The electron of the hydrogen atom will
The bond strength is unequal in different directions lie closer to the atom which has stronger affinity
in case of directional bonds. It is thus, direction for the electron. A typical example of hydrogen
dependent. The non-directional bonds possess bonding is that between two fluorine atoms in HF
equal strength in all directions. Hence they are and the bonding between water molecules in ice.

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 The type of chemical bonding and crystal structure  Quasi crystals are crystals which exhibit five-fold
are the factors that determine the properties of symmetry.
materials. Impurities and defects in crystals also  Primary bond energies are in the range 100 – 1000
critically affect certain properties. kJ mol–1. Secondary bond energies are in the range
 Liquid crystals are materials that exist in a phase 1–50 kJ mol–1.
which is intermediate between a crystal and liquid.
They have applications in display systems and
thermometers.

2. CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC IMPERFECTION
 Crystals are never perfect. Defects or dislocation (ii) screw dislocation.
imperfections in crystals may be classified as (i)  Dislocation occurs in a crystal due to slipping of
point defects (ii) line defects and (iii) plane defects. one portion of the crystal with respect to the other
 The presence of defects affects the properties of by a distance of one atomic spacing. The direction
the crystals quite sensitively. Some defects are and magnitude of the slip is denoted by the Burgers
desirable and they are sometimes introduced vector.
deliberately to control the properties of crystals.  Dislocation line is the line on the slip plane that
 Points defect in solid may be classified as : separates the slipped and unclipped portions of
(i) Stoichiometric defects : e.g. Schottky and the crystal.
Frenkel defect.  In edge dislocation, the Burgers vector is
Stoichiometry may be defined as a state for perpendicular to the dislocation line and in screw
ionic compounds wherein there is exact ratio dislocation the Burgers vector is parallel to the
of cations to anions as predicted by chemical dislocation line.
formula e.g. NaCl is stoichiometric if the ratio  Edge dislocations can easily move in a crystal. Due
of Na+ ions and Cl– ions is exactly one. to this the shear strength of crystals is very low. To
 The ratio of cations to anions is not altered increase the strength of crystals the movement of
by the formation of either Frenkel or Schottky dislocations must be impeded.
defect.
 There are several methods of impeding the
 Electroneutrality is the state that exists when movement of dislocations. One of the methods is
there are equal number of +ve and –ve to increase the density of dislocations. This is called
changes from the ions. work hardening.
(ii) Non stoichiometric defects : These defects
 Crystal imperfection causes change in yield point,
may occur for some ceramic materials in
semiconductivity and ductility.
which two valence (or ionic) state exist for
one of the ion type e.g. self interstial defects,  Three types of plane defects are (i) grain boundaries
interstitial defect, metal excess defects, metal (ii) stacking fault and (iii) twin boundary
deficiency defects.  Pure metal consisting of only one type of atoms.
 The four types of point defects are lattice vacancy, But in reality impurity or foreign atoms will always
Schottky defect, Frenkel defect and impurity atoms. be present and some will exist as crystalline point
Schottky defects are lattice vacancies. Frenkel defects.
defects are atoms in interstitial positions in the  Most of the familiar metals are not highly pure
lattice. These types of defects are normally found rather they are alloys in which impurity atoms have
in ionic and metallic crystals. been added intentionally to impart specific
 An anion vacancy in a crystal may trap a free characteristics to the materials. Alloying is done to
electron; this unit is called an F centre. The electron  mechanical strength, corrosion strength e.g.
is loosely bound to the anion vacancy. This causes alloying of silver with copper  mechanical strength
absorption of electromagnetic wave in visible range.
without depreciating the corrosion resistance
So ionic crystals with F centres appear coloured.
appreciably. Pure silver is highly corrosion resistant.
 The two types of line defects are (i) edge

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 Addition of impurity atoms to metal will result in planes, repel each other.
the formation of solid solution or new kind of 2. Dislocation of opposite sign on the same or
second phase, depending on the kinds of impurity, nearby planes, attract each other.
their concentration and temperature of alloy. 3. If they (opposite sign dislocations) are on same
 Solvent : Represents the element or compound plane, they annihilate and leave perfect lattice.
that is present in greatest amount in solid solution. 4. If they are on adjacent planes, they annihilate
It is host atoms. and leave vacancy or interstitials.
 Solute : It is present in minor concentration. Interfacial Defects
 Impurity point defects are found in solid solution (i) External surfaces : It is the boundary at which
of which there are two types : Substitutional and the crystal structure terminates. Atoms at the
Interstitial. surface are not bonded to maximum. Number of
 Substitutional : Solute or impurity atoms replace nearest neighbours and therefore are in a higher
or substitute for the host atoms. energy state. To reduces this energy they tend to
 Factors affects the solute and solvent dissolved in minimize the surface area e.g., liquid droplet
solid solution : become spherical.
(i) Atomic size factor : Atomic radii between (ii) Grain Boundaries : Grains boundaries are
the two atoms type (solute and solvent) less boundaries seperating two crystals, have different
than 15%. crystallographic orientation within a polycrystalline
(ii) Crystal structure : Both solute and solvent material. When the mismatch in orientation
should have same crystal structure i.e. FCC between adjacent boundaries is small then they
dissolve FCC in great amount. are called small angle grain boundary or tilt
boundary.
(iii) Electronegativity : The more electropositive  When the angle of misorientation parallel to the
one element and more electronegative the boundary (grain) it is called a ‘Twist Boundary’.
other, the greater is the likelihood that they
The atoms are bonded less regularly along a grain
will form an intermetallic compound instead
boundary and thus boundaries are in a high energy
of substitutional.
state. The magnitude of this energy is a function of
(iv) Valences : A metal will have more of tendency degrees of misorientation (being larger for high
to dissolve another metal of higher valency angle boundaries).
than one of lower valency.  Grain boundaries. are chemically more reactive
 For interstitial solid solutions impurity atoms fill than the grain themselves. Further more, the
the voids or interstices among the host atoms. For impurity atoms preferentially segregate along these
metallic materials that have relatively high atomic boundaries because of their high energy state.
packing factors, these interstitital positions are  The total interfacial energy is lower for coarse grain
relatively small. Consequently, the atomic diameter material as compared to fine grained ones because
of an interstitital impurity must be substantially of less total boundary area.
smaller than that of the lost atoms.
(iii) Twin Boundaries :
 Carbon forms an interstitital solid solution when  It is a special type of grain boundary such that
added to iron. The maximum concentration of atoms on one side of the boundary are mirror
carbon is 2%. The atomic radius of the carbon images of atoms on the other side of the boundary.
atoms is much less than that of iron. The region of material between these boundaries
 The atoms below dislocation, are in tension and is called ‘twin’.
above the dislocation are in compression. One can  Annealing twins are typically found in FCC crystal
easily observe that the space for atoms is less above structure, while mechanical twins are found in BCC
the dislocation and more space is available for the and HCP metals.
atoms below the dislocation. Thus these atoms (iv) Stacking faults : These are found in FCC metals
are in stress and strain fields. Hence the dislocation when there is interuption in the ABC ABC ABC—
is always surrounded by stress and strain fields. stacking sequences of closed packed atoms. HCP
Similarly a screw dislocation is also surrounded by has also stacking fault.
strain and stress fields.
(v) Phase Boundaries : Boundaries seperating two
1. Dislocation of same sign on same or nearby

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 different phases having different mechanical Recovery
properties and chemical characteristics.  During recovery, some of the stored internal strain
(vi) Ferromagnetic Domain walls : Boundary that energy is relieved by virtue of dislocation motion
seperates region having different directions of in the absence of an externally applied stress, as a
magnetization is termed as domain wall. result of enhanced atomic diffusion at an elevated
Bulk or Volume Defects temperature.
Pores, cracks foreign inclusion, they are normally Polygonization
introduced during processing and fabrication steps.  When a crystal is bent, number of excess
Strengthening Mechanisms in Metals dislocations of same sign are introduced due to
(a) Grain Size Reduction or Grain Refinement bending. These dislocations are distributed along
Grain boundries hinder dislocation motion due to: the bent glide planes.
(i) Since the two grains A and B have diff.  When the crystal is heated or annealed, the
oreintations, a dislocation passing from grain dislocations group themselves, into low angle grain
A to grain B will have to change its direction boundary (having lower energy) by dislocation climb
of motion. figure. The process of forming this type of sub-
(ii) There will be discontinuity of slip planes from grain structure is called polygonization.
one grain into the other. Recrystallization
 Grain size may be reduced by rate of solidifiction  Even after recovery the grains are still in a high
from liquid phase, and also by plastic deformation strain energy state. Recrystallization is the formation
followed by appropriate heat treatment. of new set of strain free grains that are required.
(b) Solid-Solution Strengthening Dislocation densities are reduced and properties
 This is done by allowing metals to alloy with are restored to pre cold work conditions. “The
impurities as either substitutinal or interstitial solid driving force is the difference in the internal energy
solution. Impurity atoms that go into solid solution of strained and unstrained material.
impose lattice strains on surrounding host atoms.  The new grains forms initially as a small nuclei and
 These strains are tensile when impurity atom is grow at the expense of parent material.
smaller in size as compared to solute atoms and  It also refines the grain structure.
compressive when it is larger in size to solute  Extent of recrystallization depends upon both time
atoms. and temperature. The degree of recrystallization
Thus, solute atoms other tend to segregate towards increases with time.

the impurity atom (tensile strain) or try to disperse  Recrystallization temperature is the temperature
away from impurity atom (compressive strain), in at which recrystallization just reaches completion
order to reduce overall strain energy, thus hindering in 1 hour. It typically ranges between 0.3Tm–
dislocation movement in the lattice structure. 0.5Tm for most materials and alloy, where Tm =
(c) Strain Hardening melting point temperature.
 As the amount of cold work increases, the degree
 It is a phenomenon whereby a ductile metal
of recrystallization is enhanced and thus the
becomes
recrystallization temperature is lowered and
stronger and harder as it is plastically deformed.
approaches a constant value at high deformation.
Sometime it is called work hardening.
 Zinc, tin, and lead have recrystallization
 Strain hardening is happened due to dislocation
temperatures below room temperature. This
mechanism.
means that these metals cannot be cold-worked
Bauschinger Effect at room temperature since they recrystalize
 When the specimen unload the strength of material spontaneously, reforming a strain-free lattice
got increase due to work hardening and if reloading structure.
it in opposite direction then back stress now  For equal amounts of cold-working, more strain
support the movement of dislocation. As a result hardening is introduced into initially fine-grained
of that yield points in opposite direction appears metal than into initially coarse-grained metal.
prematurely. This phenomenon called Bauschinger Therefore, the finer the initial grain size the lower
effect. the recrystallization temperature.
Large grains have lower free energy than small
grains.

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 3. PHASE DIAGRAM AND HEAT TREATMENT

 Multi component systems are systems consisting  Congruent transformation : These are phase
of more than one component. Example of multi transformation for which there are no alteration in
component systems (of two components) are syrup composition of phases.
(water + sugar), soldering lead (lead + tin), steel e.g. Allotropic transformations and melting of pure
(iron + carbon), etc. metals.
 In two component (binary) systems one of the  Incongruent transformations, at least one of the
components may be treated as the solute and the phase will experience change in composition.
other as the solvent.
e.g. Eutectic and Peritectic reactions.
 Copper-nickel alloy is a binary system in which
 These are carried out isothermally.
there is no solubility limit.
 Fludity is maximum for pure material at eutectied.
 Depending on temperature and composition a multi
It is directely proportional to the area of mushy
component system may exist in a single phase or
zone. Larger the area of mushy zone. Lower will
two phase state.
be the fluidity.
 Phase diagram is a graph of composition versus
 Corrosion resistance : Poor for eutectic
temperature; it indicates the various equilibrium
composition. It increase both side of eutectic point.
states in which the multi component system exists
at various compositions and temperatures.  Generally density is higher for low melting point
materials.
 Eutectic point is the point in the phase diagram at
which the liquids and the solidus lines meet; or it  Hardness of pure material is very poor and
is defined as the point at which three phases, a maximum strength will be at the point of maximum
liquid phase and two solid phase coexist. The solid solubility.
number of degrees of freedom (i.e. the number of Iron-Iron Carbide Phase Diagram
independent variables) at the Eutectic point is zero.  The Fe-Fe3C is defined by five individual phases
 Iron carbon alloy exists in the ferromagnetic state and four invariant reactions. Five phases are:  -
at room temperature only for a very low ferrite (BCC) Fe-C solid solution, -austenite
concentration of carbon, less than 0.022 wt%. (FCC) Fe-C solid solution,  -ferrite (BCC) Fe-C C
 Iron alloy exists in several states depending on the solid solution, Fe3C (iron carbide) or cementite -
temperature and the composition: Ferromagnetic an inter-metallic compound and liquid Fe-C
BCC phase (  -phase), Austenite (FCC) phase,  - solution. Four invariant reactions are eutectoid,
phase,  + Fe3C phase. eutectic, monotectic and peritectic.
 When iron carbon alloy is suddenly cooled from a  Pure iron upon heating exhibits two allotropic
high temperature to a low temperature, it changes. One involves  -ferrite of BCC crystal
undergoes a diffusion less phase transition from structure transforming to FCC austenite,  -iron,
BCC to FCC structure. This is called the martensitic at 910°C. At 1400°C, austenite changes to BCC
phase transformation and the new phase is called phase known as  -ferrite, which finally melts at
the martensitic phase. 1536°C.
 A phase change will taken place in a super  Carbon present in solid iron as interstitial impurity,
saturated/supercooled phase. and forms solid solution with ferrites/austenite as
 Nucleation may occur spontaneously depicted by three single fields represented by
(homogeneous nucleation) or it may be induced ,  and  . Carbon dissolves least in -ferrite in
artificially (heterogeneous nucleation).
which maximum amount of carbon soluble is
 Cloud seeding and kinetics of crystal growth are 0.02% at 723°C.
two examples of nucleation phenomena.
 This limited solubility give the shape and size of
 Phase transformations commonly occur by the interstitial position in BCC -ferrite . However,,
processes of nucleation and growth.
carbon present greatly influences the mechanical

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 properties of -ferrite. -ferrite can be used as  Though pearlite is not a phase, and also not a
magnetic material below 768°C. Solubility of carbon constitutent.
in -iron reaches its maximum, 2.11%, at a  The decomposition of austenite to form pearlite
temperature of 1147°C. occurs by nucleation and growth. Nucleation,
usually, occurs heterogeneously and rarely
 Higher solubility of carbon in austenite is property
homogeneously at grain boundaries.
of FCC structure and correspoding interstitial sites.
Phase transformations involving austenite plays very  Additions of alloying elements to Fe-C system bring
significant role in heat treatment of different steels. changes (alternations to positions of phase
Austenite itself is non-magnetic. Carbon solubility boundaries and shapes of fields) depends on that
in -ferrite is maximum (0.1%) at 1495°C. particular element and its concentration.
 Generally all alloying elements causes the eutectoid
 As this ferrite exists only at elevated temperature,
concentration to decrease, and most of the alloying
it is of no commercial importance.
elements (e.g. : Ti, Mo, Si, W, Cr) causes the
 Cementite is hardest and brittle that is used in eutectoid temperature to increase while some
different forms to increase the strength of steels. other (e.g.: Ni, Mn) reduces the eutectoid
-ferrite, on the other hand is softest and act as temperature. Thus, alloying additions alters the
matrix of a composite material. relative amount of pearlite and pro-eutectoid phase
 Based on %C dissolved in it, a Fe-C solution is that form.
classified as: commercial pure irons with less than  Fe-C alloys with more than 2.11%C are called
0.008%C; steels having %C between 0.008-2.11; cast irons. Phase transformations in cast irons
while cast irons have carbon in the range of 2.11%- involve formation of pro-eutectic phase on crossing
6.67%. the liquidus. During the further cooling, liquid of
 Thus commercial pure iron is composed of eutectic composition decomposes in to mixture of
exclusively -ferrite, at room temperature. austenite and cementite, known as ledeburite. On
further cooling through eutectoid temperature,
 The presence of Si promotes the formation of austenite converted to pearlite.
graphite instead of cementite.
 The room temperature microstructure of cast irons
 Fe-C system constitutes four invariant reactions: thus consists of pearlite and cementite. Because of
 peritectic reaction at 1495°C and 0.16%C, presence of cementite (which is hard, brittle and
-ferrite  L  -iron (austenite) white in color) product is called white cast iron.
However, depending on cooling rate and other
 monotectic reaction 1495°C and 0.51%C,
alloying elements, carbon in cast iron may be
L  L  -iron (austenite) present as graphite or cementite. Gray cast iron
 eutectic reaction at 1147°C and 4.3%C, contains graphite in form of flakes.
L  -iron +Fe 3C (cementite)  These flakes are sharp and act as stress risers.
Brittleness arising because of flake shape can be
[ledeburite]
avoided by producing graphite in spherical modules,
 eutectoid reaction at 723°C and 0.8%C, as in malleable cast iron and SG (spheroidal
 -iron  -ferrite +Fe 3C (cementite) graphite) cast iron. Malleable cast iron is produced
by heat treating white cast iron (Si < 1%) for
[pearlite]
prolonged periods at about 900°C and then cooling
 Pearlite is in reality not a single phase, but a micro- it very slowly.
constituent having alternate thin layers of -ferrite
 Molybdenum : It promotes grain refinement,
(~88%) and Fe3C cementite (~12%). Steels with increases hardnability and improves high
less than 0.8%C (mild steels upto 0.3%C, medium temperature properties of steels, eliminates temper
carbon steels with C between 0.3%-0.8% i.e. embrittlement effect of some steels and enhances
hypo-eutectoid Fe-C alloys) i.e. consists pro- corrosion resistance of stainless steels (in particular,
eutectoid -ferrite in addition to pearlite, while the pitting corrosion resistance)
steels with carbon higher than 0.8% (high-carbon Annealing is done to reduce residual stress,

steels i.e. hyper-eutectoid Fe-C alloys) consists of hardness, increase ductility and toughness, to refine
pearlite and pro-eutectoid cementite.

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 grain size. Normalizing is done to increase the Tempered
strength of medium carbon steel, improve At low temperature
martensite

machinability of low carbon steel. It is less ductile Martensite

than annealed steel, by normalizing mechanical and

Heat treatment
Fast cooling At high temperature

electrical properties improved. Austenite Moderate cooling Bainite Spheroidite

 Hardening is done to produce external hardness, Slow cooling

Pearlite
result of its are as follows: maximum tensile
strength, minimum ductility and materials are too
Figure: Possible transformation involving
brittle.
austenite decompositon
 Spheroidizing used for high carbon steel. This type
 Inducing crystallization or preventing it in a glass
of heat treatment produces cementite in the form
forming material would depend on the
of globulus particles (Spheriods) from pearlite.
requirements of processing or final properties of
Purpose : Good machinability, high ductility,
the materials.
maximum softness.
 A cold worked material undergoes recovery,
 Martempering (Stepped quenching) Austenite is
recrystallization and grain growth at successively
converted to martensite.
higher temperatures of annealing. The retardation
 Austempering: Austenite is converted to Bainite. of the grain boundary motion is the key factor in
 Tempering is done to reduce internal stresses to raising the recrystallization temperature and
improve ductility, toughness, strength and wear preventing grain growth.
resistance.

4. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND TESTING

 The important mechanical properties of interest  A ductile material undergoes necking near the
are elasticity, ductility and plasticity. stress corresponding to the tensile strength and
 The measurable parameters that are associated the cross sectional area subsequently decreases.
with the mechanical behavior of materials are  In a crystal, the mechanical behavior depends on
elastic modulus or stiffness constant, tensile the orientation of the crystal with respect to the
strength, yield strength, hardness, toughness. stress direction.
 Stress versus strain curve is an important  When a tensile force is applied to a crystal in a
characteristic curve that is useful in the study of certain direction the crystal tends to slip along
mechanical properties of materials. certain preferred atomic planes. The slip takes
 For a perfectly elastic material stress is proportional place when the stress resolved in the slip direction
to strain (Hooke’s law), i.e. stress versus strain exceeds a certain critical shear stress.
curve is a straight line. The slope of the curve  The experimental value of the critical resolved
gives the stiffness constant. For such materials, the shear is much smaller than the theoretically
deformation is recoverable when the stress is predicted value. This is because of the presence
removed. of dislocations in the crystal.
 Most materials undergo plastic deformation beyond  Toughness is defined as the ability of a material to
a certain stress called the yield strength. Beyond absorb energy up to fracture. It is the area under
the yield strength the stress versus strain curve is the stress strain curve and is expressed in energy
non-linear. per unit volume.
 Materials which fracture after considerable plastic  In an elastic materials, after the stress is applied,
deformation are called ductile materials and the material continues to deform for some time at
materials which remain perfectly elastic up to constant load. When the load is removed, the
fracture are called brittle materials. original form is gradually recovered.
 Tensile strength is the stress corresponding to the  Hardness is a measure of the resistance of the
maximum in the stress strain curve. material to localized deformation like a dent or a

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 search. Hardness values are relative. Several scales  Brittle fracture is usually caused by a propagation
are used to specify hardness of materials. of pre-existing cracks in a material. Griffith’s
 Anelasticity : Time dependent elastic behaviour is criterion gives the critical stress required to
called anelasticity. When a fixed stress is applied in propagate a crack spontaneously.
the material, the elastic deformation will slowly  In truly brittle materials, cracks are atomically sharp,
continue for sometimes before it reaches a steady so that there is sufficient stress concentration at
strain value. If the stress is removed, it again takes their tips to break open the bonds during crack
sometimes to recover back into original shape. Such propagation.
material is anelastic. A material which deform
 In ductile materials, plastic deformation at the crack
anelastically but does not completely recover to
tip blunts the cracks as well as increases the energy
original form after any length of time is said
of propagation of the crack.
viscoelastic e.g. thermoplastic.
Creep is the deformation of the material as a  Many materials exhibit a transition to brittle

function of time under constant load. Creep behavior at low temperatures. Surface perfection,
deformation is non-recoverable. Creep normally grain size, the stress required to move a dislocation
occurs in materials at high temperatures. Creep and molecular mobility in polymers are some of
curves are drawn between strain and time. the factors determining the brittle transition.
 The four types of fracture are ductile, brittle, creep  Surface treatments such as introduction of
(rupture) and Fatigue. compressive stresses at the surface improve the
resistance to crack propagation in brittle materials.
 Fatigue is the behavior of materials under cyclic
loading. The fatigue behavior of materials are  The majority of failures of structural and machine
represented by S-N curves. S is the stress amplitude components are due to fatigue. The resistance to
and N is the number of cycles after which failure fatigue crack propagation is increased by surface
occurs. treatments and also by a fine grain size.
 Titanium and its alloys, refractory metals and super  Ductility testing method are close bend test, angle
alloys are special materials with superior mechanical bend test, 180° bend test.
properties. They are also highly corrosion resistant.  Impact testing methods are izod test (cantiliever
They find applications in spacecraft, aircraft, nuclear type), Charpy test (simply supported beam). Izod
reactors, petrochemical industries, etc. test is suitable for room and high temperature.
 Crystals that are inherently hard show a strong Charpy test is better for low temperature test.
dependence of yield stress on temperature. Thicker materials have lower fracture toughness

 There are sources for the generation of dislocations than the thin materials, because there is more
within crystals. These sources account for the probability of crack to be found in thicker material.
increase in dislocation density with increasing
 Increasing the temperature usually increases the
amount of plastic deformation.
fracture toughness of BCC and HCP metals.
 Grain boundaries provide effective obstacles to However, fracture toughness of FCC metals is
dislocation motion. The yield stress of a relatively unaffected by variation in temperature.
polycrystalline material increases as the reciprocal
of the square root of the grain diameter.  Creep test is usually performed at a constant
temperature and under constant load conditions
 Very closely spaced precipitate particles obstruct as these conditions match with service conditions.
dislocation motion. The yield stress varies as the In actual service conditions, it is not possible to
reciprocal of the particle spacing. maintain constant stress condition.
 Creep is the thermally activated deformation that  Ductile fracture occurs after considerable plastic
occurs as a function of time at temperatures above
deformation prior to failure. The failure of most
0.4Tm. Dispersion hardening is an effective method
polycrystalline ductile materials occurs with a cup-
of improving creep resistance.
and-cone fracture associated with the formation of
 Ductile fracture is commonly caused by the a neck in a tensile specimen. The fracture begins
formation and coalescence of pores or voids in the by the formation of cavities in the center of the
necked region. necked region.

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 In single crystals, brittle fracture occurs by cleavage defined by a temperature, called ductile-brittle
along a particular crystallographic plane [for transition temperature tdb.
example, the (100) plane in iron]. In polycrystalline  A ductile material shows brittle nature below this
materials, the brittle-fracture surface shows a temperature whereas a brittle material posses
granular appearance because of the changes in ductile nature above this temperature.
orientation of the cleavage planes from grain to
 Ductile to brittle transition temperature for metals
grain.
is around 0.1–0.2 Tm while for ceramics is 0.5–0.7
 Cup and Cone fracture: The cup and cone fracture Tm.
is common in plain carbon steels. Percentage of
Tm = Melting temperature
carbon in steel has an impact on the profile of cup
and cone,  A majority of plastics do not fail by crack
propagation alone. This is because most plastics
 Mild steel developes deeper cup and cone
exhibit viscoelastic behavior, i.e. they exhibit both
 With increasing percentage of carbon it becomes elastic and a viscous response against externally
shallower. applied forces. Such materials show a hysteresis
 It disappear finally in high carbon steel loop during loading and unloading cycle.
 Wrought iron shows fibrous fracture ends.  In composite materials, fatigue damage begins at
 Brittle cast iron fails with a plane surface having an early life stage in the form of interface
granular appearance. debonding, which may lead to the initiation and
 Surface cracks in nature are twice as effecive as subsequent growth of microcracks.
the internal cracks. Hence surfaces of machine  All ductile materials are malleable, but not all
components should be finely finished. malleable materials are ductile since they may lack
 A window glass panel is scratched by a mechanical the strength to withstand tensile loading.
nail to introduce stress concentration. Then the  The load at which sudden drop occurs in the
glass breaks very easily in two pieces along the conventional tensile curve is called the upper yield
scratch. point (UYP) and the lower constant load at which
 Fracture resistance of a material increases by appreciable yielding occurs is called the lower yield
making blunt cracks, fillets or notches of some point (LYP). The elongation that occurs at constant
radius. load is called yield point elongation (YPE). Yield
point elongation is about 15-20 times the elastic
Cleavage Fracture
elongation that has produced prior to it. the
 Cleavage is a crystallographic mode of fracture phenomenon involving a definite yield point in
catalysed by shear stresses. In a single crystal ductile materials is known as yield point
showing brittle behaviour, fracture occurs along phenomenon. This is found in low carbon steels.
definite crystallographic planes called cleavage
 Some materials deform by several hundred percent
planes. These planes generally have low Miller
strain without necking. They exhibit superplastic
indices and large interplaner spacings. The critical
behavior and are called superplastic materials.
stress required to produce cleavage is a function
of crystal orientation relative to the stress direction. e.g. Ultrafine grained alloys of aluminium and
 Cleavage is easily found in BCC and HCP metals stainless steels
at low temperatures. Long glass rods are made due to this properties
 Such metals possess an enhanced ductile behaviour  Brinell Hardness test : Brinell hardness is a function
at elevated temperatures. of carbon content in steels. Therefore, this method
 Zinc crystals cleave at room temperature provides a rapid estimation of approximate carbon
content in steels. Hardened steels and surface
Types of Cleavage Fracture hardened steel components cannot be tested.
 Integranular cleavage fracture, and Sinking in effect is found in manganese steel and
 Transgranular cleavage fracture austenitic steel. Piling-up effect is found in lead,
 Ductile-brittle transition is a limiting state between Sn, Mg. When the indenter is pressed on surface
ductile and brittle behaviour of a material. This then materials moves towards the indenter. In this
transition between ductile and brittle behaviour is case actual diameter of indentation (d) is smaller
than the measured diameter of indentation (dm)

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 .Thus there is an error measurement of hardness.  Cast irons are frequently used in compression as
 Vickers hardness Test : For homogeneous materials they have much higher compressive strength values
the value of hardness obtained remains constant than their respective tensile strength values.
irrespective of the load applied except at very light  Hardness, unlike many other mechanical properties
loads. It is the most accurate method of hardness is not a bulk property. In simpler words, it reflects
test among the indentation hardness tests. the surface characteristic rather than the total mass
Therefore this method is widely used for research of the material.
work.  Wear resistance, machinability, formability, cutting
 Rockwell Hardness Test : The Rockwell test is used ability, etc., are come properties that are related
in industry because it is quick, simple and gives to the hardness of the material.
direct reading.  Boron carbides and boron nitrides are very hard
 Shore Hardness Test : This test is suitable for non-metallic materials having hardness next to
determining hardness of very thin and very soft diamond. Diamond is believed to have the highest
metals, and nonmetals. Plywood, paper, bark of hardness among all kind of materials. Boron nitride
tree, leather and rubber are generally shore tested. is best known as synthetic diamond material, called
 Barcol hardness Test : This test determines the borozon. Tungsten carbide also has very high
degree of curing of polymers and polymeric hardness.
composites. Hardness of the gel coat may also be  Brinell hardness test is not suitable for very hard
determined by estimating Barcol hardness value. materials because deformation of the indenter
This value is temperature dependent, hence the (steel ball or tungsten carbide ball) may occur.
result is specified at a certain prefixed temperature.  For electroplated surfaces or surface hardened
 Jominy’s End-Quenched test : Ability of a materials surfaces the hardness test used must produce an
to get hardened by any process is called indentation with a depth at least one-tenth of the
hardenability. High carbon steel shows greater thickness of the plated surface or depth of the
degree of hardenability than mild steel. In steel, it hardened surface. Generally, microharddness tetst
can be measured by Jominy end-quench test. or super facial Rockwell harness test may be used
Rebound hardness test : This test is also known as for this purpose.

Shore Scleroscope’s method. In this test, a small  Rockwell hardness is directly proportional to depth
steel or diamond tipped weight is dropped from a of indentation. In general, indentations recover less
known height. Its rebalance is measured which in their cross-sectional area and more in their
directly tells the hardness value. Less than 1 mm depth.
thick jobs and case hardened surfaces may be  For finished surfaces, Shore hardness test is
tested by this method. Hardness of concrete is preferred to measure the hardness if the material
measured by this method. is not specifically surface hardened.
 Brittle materials undergo very little plastic  Rockwell hardness test and Rockwell superficial
deformation prior to fracture. Therefore, tensile hardness test can be considered as non-destructive
strength is used as design criterion for brittle test for some materials due to small indentation
materials by taking into consideration a suitable area produced as a result of test.
factor of safety.  Very hard materials such as cemented carbides,
 In strict metallurgical sense, failure starts as soon ceramics, cermets, hardened steels, and case
as plastic deformation of material starts, i.e. hardened materials are tested for hardness by using
externally applied stress exceeds the yield strength. Brale indenter.
Therefore, true stress strain curve is of little  The main limitation of Rockwell hardness test is
significance in failure analysis. that it is not so accurate as the other two
 Metallic materials having body centred cubic and indentation hardness methods. Additionally, it
hexagonal close packed crystal structures forming cannot be used for determining hardness of hard
interstitial solid solutions exhibit yield point materials having small difference in their hardness
phenomenon. For example, annealed low carbon values.
steel, Cd and Zn crystals containing nitrogen exhibit (i) As this method of hardness testing is more
yield point phenomenon.

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 time consuming, it is not applicable in act as notches. Presence of notch/ notches thus
industries for routine work. does not have any significant effect on fatigue
(ii) This method of hardness testing is not suitable properties of the grey cast iron components. This
for materials with heterogeneous is why fatigue properties of notched and unnotched
microstructure. grey cast iron specimens are same.
 Knoop indenter is used in microhardness test.  Electro-slag refined or vacuum melted steel is
almost free from non-metallic inclusions and so
 For coarse grained materials as well as for materials exhibits better fatigue strength than the steel of
having non-uniform microstructures, Brinell same composition produced by conventional steel
hardness test is more suitable. It is because of the making processes. Steels produced by conventional
fact that the relatively larger indentations give better steel making processes are likely to contain non-
average hardness values over a greater area.
metallic inclusions in the surface which in turn act
 Interatomic forces determine the hardness of a as stress raiser points during service. At such points
material to a large extent. a crack can nucleate at lower cyclic stress value.
 Fatigue failure generally takes place due to initiation Thus, fatigue strength of the material get reduced.
of the crack at the surface followed by its  Any steel making process that lowers the inclusion
propagation. A crack propagates fast in the counts and impurities content improves the fatigue
presence of tensile stresses. When the stress is strength of the steels. Similarly, for a given process,
compressive for the entire cycle-repeated if steel making practice results in lowering of voids,
compressive stress-the type of failure differs for segregation, etc., fatigue strength of the steel gets
different materials. For brittle materials, failure is enhanced.
exactly like that in static compression; it occurs on  Fatigue strength of a steel is reduced significantly
shearing planes at approximately 45° to the axis of due to decarburization. This is because of the facts
loading. To cause failure in ductile materials, stresses that fatigue strength is highly sensitive to surface
higher than the compressive yield stress are usually smoothness and surface hardness. In fact, fatigue
required. Fractures are therefore preceded by fracture usually originates at the surface.
considerable distortion. Fatigue failures from Decarburization leads to weaker surface where a
compressive loading are thus rare; when they occur crack can nucleate at low stress value.
they can be traced to tension induced by non-
 Wrought steel will have somewhat higher fatigue
uniform deformation, usually as a result of barreling
strength than the cast steel. This is because cast
or buckling.
steel possesses inherent casting defects.
 The simplest and least expensive way of increasing Additionally, cast steel' surface is relatively rough.
the fatigue strength of carbon steels is by increasing In addition, ductility of cast produce is lower than
the carbon content. wrought product produced after mechanical
 There is no direct effect of alloying element on working process. God ductility is desirable for low
fatigue strength of steel. As a general rule, higher rate of propagation of a fatigue crack.
the tensile strength more is the fatigue strength of  At low temperatures, the fatigue strength of metals
a material. Hence, any element that enhances the does not deteriorate. In some cases, even slight
tensile strength of steel also raises the fatigue improvement had been observed.
strength of the steel.
 On raising the temperature above the room
 Electroplating introduces tensile residual stress in temperature, fatigue strength of metals decreases.
the surface. These tensile residual stresses enhance At elevated temperatures, creep an additional
the magnitude of overall tensile stresses acting on process comes into picture and the strength of
the component during service, and hence, decrease metals deteriorates. Some metals, that are prone
the fatigue strength of steels. to oxidation, will face the service conditions similar
 Shot peening and temper rolling introduce to that corrosion fatigue.
compressive residual stresses in the surface of the  All materials creep under load at all temperatures.
material. Therefore, these processes enhance However, this phenomenon is more common in
fatigue life of the material. metallic materials and certain non-metallic
 Grey cast iron consists of a large number of materials such as thermoplastics and elastomers.
graphite flakes. The ends of these graphite flakes

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 Creep is a time dependent but temperature  Strain hardening by prior cold working will enhance
independent phenomenon in technical sense. creep strength of the material up to those service
 Failure occurs when the dimensions of the part temperatures that are lying below the
undergoing creep exceed the permissible tolerance recrystallization temperature.
limits such that it stops functioning. Thus failure  Creep test is usually performed at a constant
due to creep occurs long before rupture occurs. temperature and under constant load conditions
 Alloying element forming additional hard phase will as these conditions match with service conditions.
raise the creep resistance of the material to greater In actual service conditions, it is not possible to
extent than the alloying element forming solid maintain constant stress condition.
solution. Finer the dispersion of hard second phase  Creep rate increases with increase in the
better will be the resistance against creep. temperature. At higher temperatures, thermally
 Coarser second phase particles provide better activated processes such as recovery, dislocation
creep strength at higher temperatures, whereas climb, cross slip, grain boundary sliding, etc., take
finer particles impart enhanced creep strength at place more easily. All these factors account for
lower temperatures. enhanced creep rates at higher temperatures.
 Creep strength is better for coarse grained  Material will creep at a faster rate on enhancing
materials at elevated temperatures (more precisely the stress. Increased stress will offset the effect of
above the equicohesive temperature) while creep work hardening, and so, formation of internal voids
strength is better for fine grained materials below will take place much earlier.
the equicohesive temperature.  Creep rate of secondary stage will increase and
 Equicohesive temperature is the temperature at duration of secondary stage will decrease by
which strength of grain boundary is equal to the increasing the temperature or the stress.
strength of grain interior. Below this temperature,  The shape of the creep curve for a material
grain boundaries are stronger than the grains depends mainly on two factors, namely, the
interior. Reverse is true above this temperature. temperature and the stress at any time. It is because
As creep occurs due to grain boundary sliding above that these factors control the work hardening and
equicohesive temperature so this temperature is recovery process governing the creep rates at
of much importance with reference to creep. A various stages of creep curve.
coarse grain structure seems to be desirable above
this temperature but a fine grains structure is
preferred below this temperature.

5. THERMAL PROPERTIES & BAND THEORY

• Thermal properties which are mainly of interest • Heat conduction in metals takes place through
in most applications are specific heat, thermal lattice vibrations and free electrons. The free
conductivity and thermal expansion. electron contribution is much greater than the
• Specific heat is defined as the thermal energy lattice contribution. In non-metals the contribution
required to raise the temperature of 1kg of the to specific heat is only due to the phonons.
material through one unit. The unit of specific heat Consequently metals have much higher thermal
is J kg-1K-1. conductivity than non-metals.
• The variation of specific heat with temperature • The process that are responsible for thermal
can be explained by the quantum theory of specific resistance in non-metals are (i) Umklapp process
heat given by Einstein and later the theory was – phonon-phonon interaction in which the total
improved by Debye. momentum of the system changes (ii) boundary
scattering (iii) impurity scattering. Thermal
• According to Debye’s theory, the specific heat
resistance is a consequence of anharmonicity in
varies as T3 at low temperatures (for T<<Debye
lattice vibrations.
temperature) and attains a constant value at high
temperatures. • Thermal expansion in solids is due to the
anharmonicity in the lattice vibrations. A higher

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 temperatures, the atoms vibrate with larger assumed to move in a periodic potential. The
amplitudes and the mean interatomic spacing in periodicity of the potential is the same as that of
the lattice increases slightly. This results in the the lattice. The solution to the Schrodinger
expansion of the solid. equation is called the Bloch function.
• Solids are broadly classified as metals and non- • According to band theory of solids, there are
metals, the valence electrons are free to move in allowed energy bands separated by forbidden
the whole lattice whereas in nonmetals the valence energy gaps. The top most energy band which is
electrons are strongly bound to the nuclei and are filled by electrons, either partially or fully, is called
localized. the valence band and the next higher vacant band
• Most of the properties of metals can be explained is called the conduction band. The energy gap
based on the free electron theory which assumes between the valence band and the conduction band
that the electrons move in a zero potential field. In is called the forbidden energy band or the energy
the classical free electron theory, called the Drude gap.
Lorentz theory the free electrons are treated as • The widths of the energy bands and the energy
classical particles. This theory is quite successful in gap depend on the type of atomic bond and the
explaining qualitatively, the high electrical and interatomic separation, i.e. the crystal structure.
thermal conductivity of metals. • For a given solid (i.e. fixed interatomic separation)
• In the Quantum free electron theory (known as the widths of the higher energy bands are greater
Somerfield’s theory), the electrons are treated as than the lower energy bands.
quantum particles. The motion of the electrons is • Based on band theory, the distinct characteristics
described by Schrodinger equation. According to of metals, semiconductors and insulators can be
this theory the energy of the electrons is quantized. explained.
The electrons occupy discrete energy levels,
• Metals have either partially filled valence band, or
obeying Fermi-Dirac statistics.
completely filled valence bands with overlapping
• The highest occupied energy level at 0K is called valence and conduction bands. Semiconductors
the Fermi energy. The Fermi energy is a have completely filled valence band with a small
characteristic parameter of the metal. It depends energy gap (of the order of 1 eV) between the
on the number of free electrons per unit volume valence band and the conduction band. Insulators
in the metal. have completely filled valence band with a wide
• At 0 K all the states below the Fermi energy are energy gap (of the order of several eV) between
occupied and all the states above the Fermi level the valence band and the conduction band.
are unoccupied. At any temperature T>0K, some • The concepts of effective mass and holes are used
of the electrons near the Fermi level get thermally to describe the motion of electrons in a solid. The
excited to states above the Fermi energy; thus effective mass is positive in lower part of the band
some levels above the Fermi energy are occupied and negative in the upper part of the band.
and consequently some below are unoccupied.
• If in a completely filled valence band some of the
• Band theory of solids is a more general theory electrons get thermally excited to the conduction
which can be applied to both metals and non- band, the vacant sites left in the valence band act
metals. In this theory, the valence electrons are like positive charges with negative mass! These
are called holes.

6. SEMICONDUCTORS
• The two elements in the periodic table that are used compound semiconductors, crystallizes in zinc
semiconductors are Si and Ge. Compound blende structure.
semiconductors are formed by combination of • Pure semiconductors are called intrinsic
group III group V elements and Group II Group VI semiconductors. Semiconductors doped with
elements. impurity atoms are called extrinsic semiconductors.
• Silicon and germanium crystallize in diamond cubic • In intrinsic semiconductors the number of electrons
structure. Ga As which is one of the most widely in the conduction band is equal to the number of

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 holes in the valence band. • For p-type semiconductors Fermi level is positioned
• The Fermi energy in an intrinsic semiconductor within the band gap near to accepter level.
lies exactly in the middle of the forbidden energy • Extrinsic semiconductor (both n- and p-type) are
gap. produced from materials that are initially of
• Semiconductor doped with Group V elements are extremely high purity, commonly having total
called n-type semiconductors and the dopants are impurity contents on the order of 10–7 at %.
called donors. In n-type semiconductors electrons • Alloying process which  the conductivity of
are the majority carriers. The donor energy levels semiconductors is termed as doping.
lie about 0.1 eV below the bottom of the
• For n-type semiconductors, the Fermi level is
conduction band.
shifted upward in the band gap within vicinity of
• Semiconductors doped with Group III elements donor state. Its exact position is a function of both
are called p-type semiconductors and the dopants donor concentration and temperature.
are called acceptors. In n-type semiconductors
• Intrinsic conductivity : Since there are two types
holes are the majority charge carriers. The acceptor
of charge carrier (free electrons and holes) in an
energy levels lie about 0.01 eV above the top of
intrinsic semiconductor, the expression of electrical
the valence band.
conduction is
• The concentration of the dopants will usually be of
 = n|e|µe + P|e|µh
the order of 0.01-0.001 atomic per cent.
1
• To understand the behavior of electrons and holes  = Electrical conductivity in    m 
in a semiconductor the concept of effective mass P = No. of holes, n = No. of electrons
is introduced. The effective mass m* of the charge µh = hole mobility in m2/V-s
carrier in semiconductor may be positive or
negative (positive for electrons and negative for µe = mobility of electrons in m2/V-s
holes). • The µh < µe for semiconductor
• For device applications, single crystals of • For intrinsic semiconductor, n = p = ni
semiconductors are required. The standard method ni = intrinsic carrier concentration
used for growing single crystals of semiconductors  = n|e|(µe + µh) = p|e|(µe + µh)
is the Czochralski technique.
= ni|e|(µh + µe)
• Zone refining technique is used for purifying
• For n-type semiconductor
semiconductors. Zone leveling is used for getting
uniform distribution of dopant concentration. Zone  = n|e|µe
melting technique is used for growing single crystals • For p-type semiconductor
of semiconductors.  = p|e|µe
• Hall effect is the generation of voltage when a
current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic e =1.6×10 -19 C
field such that the direction of the current is Note : At temperature below 100K, electron
perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field.
concentration drops dramatically with 
This effect is more pronounced in a semiconductor
than in a conductor. temperature and approaches to zero at zero k.
• The main application of hall effect is in the • Hall voltage VH :
measurement of magnetic field strengths. R HIx B z
• Semiconductor devices are based on the special VH 
d
characteristics of the junction formed between a
where, Ix = current in x-direction (may be y)
n-type and p-type semiconductor called the p-n
junction. Bz = magnetic field in z-direction
• p-n junction is a non-linear device. The resistance RH = Hall coefficient which is constant for given
of the p-n junction is very low (<100 ohms) under material
forward bias and very high (several 100’s of K • Metal conduction is by electrons so
ohms) under reverse bias. RH = –ve value

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 1 • Both solid-solution alloying and cold working
So, RH = improve strength at the expense of conductivity.
ne
• Copper-Beryllium alloys are precipitation hardened
e  R H  but even so the conductivity is reduced by about
a factor of 5 over high purity copper.
So by Hall effect : • Nichrome, a nickel-chronium alloy is commonly
• Conductivity can be measured. employed in heating elements due to its high
resistivity, but also a resistance to oxidation at
• It determine carrier concentration
elevated temperature.
• It used to find out strength of magnetic field. • Conduction in Ionic materials :
• It is used to find out sign of majority carrier in
 total   electronic   ionic
extrinsic semiconductor.
• Oxidations of metal alloy is also possible in • Either contribution may predominant depending
gaseous atmosphere normally air, wherein an on materials, its purity and temperature.
oxide layer or scale forms on the surface of • Mobility of ionic species is as follows :
metals. This phenomenon is frequently n eD
I  I I
termed as scaling, tarnishing or dry corrosion. kT
• Crystalline defects serve as scattering centre for where, K = Boltzman constant
conduction electrons in metal, increasing their T = temperature
number rises the resistivity (or lowers the n I = Valence co-efficient
conductivity).
D I = Diffusion co-efficient
• The concentration of these imperfection depends
on temperature, composition and degree of cold • Polymeric materials have been synthesized that
work of metal specimen. have electrical conductivities on par with metallic
conductors, termed as conducting polymers.
• The total resistivity of a metal is the sum of 1
contributions from thermal vibrations, impurities Conductivity as high as 1.5 × 107    m  . On
and plastic deformation. That is scattering volume basis (1/4)th conductivity of copper or twice
mechanism act independently of one another. its conductivity on weight basis.
• Band structure of conducting polymer is
 total   t  i   d characteristic of that for an electric insulator at
•  t , i and d represents the individual thermal, 0K, a filled valence band separated from empty
impurity and deformation resistivity contribution conduction band by a forbidden energy gap. These
and this equation is termed as Matthiessen’s rule. polymers become conductive when doped with
appropriate impurities such as AsF5, SbF5 or Iodine.
•   with temperature due to  in thermal These can be made either n-type or p-type
vibration. • These conductors have low densities, are highly
• Oxygen free high conductivity (OFHC) copper flexible and easy to produce.
having extremely low oxygen and other impurity • Uses : Rechargeable battery, fuel cells, wiring in
contents is used for many electrical applications. aircraft and aerospace components, antistatic
• Aluminium has conductivity 1/2 of copper. coating for clothing, electromagnetic screening
materials, diode, transistors.

7. SUPERCONDUCTORS
• Superconductors are materials which exhibit zero becomes coordinated such that scattering by
resistivity below a certain temperature known as thermal vibrations and impurity atoms is highly
the superconducting transition temperature Tc. In inefficient. Thus, the resistivity, being proportional
essence, the superconducting state results from to the incidence of electron scattering is zero.
attractive interactions between pairs of conducting • Tc is very low for elemental superconductors.
electrons; the motion of these paired electrons Among the elements Nb has the highest transition

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 temperature of 9.5 K. Some alloys and intermetallic two electrons, via the phonon which leads to
compounds have higher Tc of about 18 – 20 K. pairing of electrons in the superconducting state.
• There are two types of superconductors — Type The electron pairs are called the cooper pairs.
I and type II. Type I superconductors are perfect • In a superconductor, the density of electron states
diamagnets below the critical field i.e. the magnetic has a discontinuity near Fermi energy. There is a
lines of force are completely expelled from he very small energy gap (  1 me V) near EF. The
material below the critical field B c. Type II energy gap decreases with increasing temperature
superconductors have two critical fields Bc1 and and vanishes at Tc.
Bc2. Below Bc1 the magnetic lines of force are • Compounds of the type AxMo6Ch8 (A is a metal
completely expelled whereas between Bc1 and Bc2 atom and Ch is a Chalcogen atom) and certain
the magnetic lines of force partially penetrate into mixed oxide materials (ceramics) exhibit
the material. Between the two critical fields the superconductivity at relatively higher temperatures.
type II super conductor exists in the so called mixed The latter are called high Tc superconductors. The
or vortex state (in which flux lines in the form of highest Tc reported is about 133K in the ceramic
quantized vortices are arranged in a periodic two HgBa 2 CaCu 2 O 6 . The high T c ceramic
dimensional array called the flux lattice). Beyond superconductors crystallize in a modified perovskite
Bc2, they become paramagnetic, i.e. they become structure.
normal metals. • One of the important applications of
• Type II superconductors are more useful than type superconductor is in the generation of extremely
I superconductors in practical applications because high magnetic fields.
the Bc2 values are much higher than the Bc values • Perovskites is high temperature ceramic
of type I superconductors. superconductor having cubic structure. Several
• Superconducting state is an ordered state. There ferroelectric, ferromagnetic and anti ferromagnetic
is a decrease in free energy of the system when materials also have this structure. Atoms of
there is a transition from the normal to the different elements occupy corner, face and central
superconducting state. Correspondingly, the positions in the cubic structure.
entropy in the superconducting state is lower than • Superconductors are used in MRI.
the entropy in the normal state.
• New complex oxide ceramics are being developed
• BCS theory is a microscopic theory, that accounts with relatively high critical temperature which allow
for the superconducting behavior. According to this inexpensive liquid nitrogen to be used as coolents.
theory, there is an attractive interaction between

8. DIELECTRICS MATERIALS
• Dielectrics are electrical insulators. Materials with This is because the ionic polarization and the dipolar
covalent and ionic bonding may be classified as polarization which are slower processes cannot
dielectrics. follow the rapidly varying electric fields. So, at
• When a dielectric is subjected to an external higher frequencies (visible and UV), the
electric field, the positive and negative charges in contribution to polarization is only form the
the dielectric get displaced inducing electrical dipole electronic polarization.
moment in the material. • In an ac field, polarizability and the dielectric
• The dielectric constant and the electrical constant are represented as complex quantities.
susceptibility are related by At low frequencies, the polarizability and dielectric
constant are almost independent of frequency and
E  r 1 equal to their static values. The electronic
• The three types of polarization mechanisms in a polarizability and ionic polarizability show dispersion
dielectric are (i) electronic (ii) ionic (iii) dipolar (or in the ultraviolet and infrared frequency ranges
orientation). respectively.
• When a dielectric is subjected to ac fields, the • The maximum electric field that a dielectric can
polarization decreases with increasing frequency. withstand without breakdown is called the
dielectric strength.

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• Ferroelectrics are dielectrics which possess 
spontaneous polarization. That is, they possess r 
polarization even in the absence of external electric 0
field. In a ferroelectric material, the P versus E where,  = Permittivity of dielectric medium,
curve shows hysteresis. The dielectric constant of
value greater than  0
a ferroelectric is very high and its value depends
on the applied electric field.  0 = permittivity of a vacuum and is universal
• Crystals which do not possess a Centre of constant having value 8.85 × 10–2 F/m
symmetry exhibit piezoelectricity. Piezoelectric are
• r  1 represents the  in the charge storing
those dielectrics that get polarized when subjected
to stress. capacity by insertion of dielectric medium in
between plates of capacitor.
• Pyro electrics are those dielectrics that get
polarized when they are heated. All pyro electrics • In short the total polarization P of a substance is
are piezoelectric but not all piezoelectric are pyro equal to the sum of electronic, ionic and
electrics. orientational polarization (P e , P i and P o
respectively).
• Pyro electrics are a special class of piezoelectric
materials and ferroelectrics are a special class of P = Pe + Pi + Po
pyro electrics which possess spontaneous and • It is possible for one or more of these contributions
reversible polarization. to the total polarization to be either absent or
• When a high frequency ac field is applied to a negligible in magnitude relative to others.
dielectric, there will be a dielectric loss and due to For example : Ionic polarization will not exist in
this the material gets heated up. So when dielectrics covalently bonded materials in which no ions are
are used as insulators in electrical circuits, different present.
types of dielectrics must be used for different • A number of ceramics and polymers are utilized as
temperature ranges. insulaters and or in capacitors. Many of ceramics
• including glass, porcelain, steatite and mica have
Dielectrics dielectric constant in the range of 6 to 10%. These
materials also exhibit a high degree of dimensional
stability and mechanical strength. Typical application
Centro-symmetry Piezoelectrics are :
(Non-centro symmetric) Powerline and electrical insulators, switch bases
and light receptacles.
• Magnitude of the dielectric constant of most
Non Pyroelectrics
polymers is less than for ceramics, since the latter
pyroelectrics
may exhibit greater dipole moment.
Non Ferroelectrics • Polymer : r (2 to 5) used in wires, cables, motors,
ferroelectrics generators, capacitors etc.
• Dielectric constant  r 

9. MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

• Atoms possess magnetic moments by virtue of the Paired electrons do not contribute to spin magnetic
motion of the electrons in orbits around the nucleus moments. So the contributions to atomic magnetic
and the spin of the electrons. The total atomic moments come from electrons in partially filled
magnetic moment is the vector sum of the total orbitals and unpaired electrons.
orbital magnetic moments and the total spin • Based on the response of a material to an external
magnetic moments of all the electrons in the atom. magnetic field, materials may be broadly classified
• Electrons in completely filled orbitals do not as :
contribute to orbital and spin magnetic moments. (i) Diamagnetic materials

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 (ii) Paramagnetic materials hysteresis curve will be wide. They are suitable
(iii) Ferromagnetic materials for making permanent magnets. Soft magnetic
materials have high remnant and long. They are
The first two types (dia and para) are the ones
suitable for electromagnets and high frequency
which are commonly referred to as non-magnetic.
magnetic applications.
They exhibit extremely weak response to an
external magnetic field. Ferromagnetic materials • Ferrites are special types of ferromagnetic materials
are those that are commonly referred to as in which some spins are oriented parallel and some
magnetic materials. They respond very strongly are oriented antiparallel. They are ceramics with
to external magnetic fields and have wide variety the molecular formula MeO. Fe2O3 where Me is
of applications. Modern technology would be a divalent metal ion. Ferrites have a wide variety
unthinkable without ferromagnetic materials. They of applications in many magnetic devices as they
are used in a plethora of modern devices and have some unique properties.
gadgets. Computer floppy disks, hard disks, • The temperature dependence of paramagnetic
magnetic tapes, fridge doors, fans, generators, susceptibility is described by the relation,
motors, telephones, transformers, televisions,
C
credit cards are a few examples of our daily use. 
Some of these devices are ferrimagnetic T
materials, more commonly known as ferrites, This is called Curie Law of paramagnetism and C
which are a sub-class of ferromagnetic materials. is called the Curie constant. Examples of some
elements that are paramagnetic are aluminium,
• There is one more category called anti-
chromium, sodium, titanium, zirconium.
ferromagnetic materials which is more of scientific
interest. C
• 
• In diamagnetic materials, individual atoms do not T
possess permanent magnetic moments. In the
where   C is a constant characteristic of the
presence of and external magnetic field, they
acquire moments. In the presence of and external material. Equation is called the Curie-Weiss Law.
magnetic field, they acquire induced magnetic For a ferromagnetic material  is positive. The
moments in the direction opposite to the applied Curie-Weiss law holds good for temperatures
field. Diamagnetic materials get feebly repelled in T   . Equation describes the behaviour of a
a magnetic field. ferromagnetic material above a certain
• In ferromagnetic materials, the individual characteristic temperature  .  is identified with
permanent atomic magnetic moments align the critical temperature TC, of the ferromagnetic
themselves, even in the absence of an external material. Above the critical temperature, the
magnetic field, due to a strong internal interaction ferromagnetic material behaves like a paramagnetic
known as exchange interaction. The material material. Below TC, the ferromagnetic material has
exhibits spontaneous magnetization which is quite spontaneous magnetization due to the alignment
high. of magnetic moments even in the absence of
• The internal field in a ferromagnetic material is external magnetic field (this is due to the strong
called the Weiss field. The origin of the Weiss field internal field). TC is the ferromagnetic transition
is the strong interaction between adjacent spins temperature, above which the spontaneous
called the exchange interaction. magnetization vanishes and the material becomes
paramagnetic.
• Ferromagnetic materials exhibit magnetic
hysteresis. That is the M versus H curve is non- • Bohr Magneton : For a single isolated electron,
linear and M lags behind H. the total magnetic moment is that due to spin
only.
• Coercive field is the magnetic field that is required
to be applied in the reverse direction to a • The magnetic moment of an atom or an ion is
magnetized ferromagnetic material, in order to decided by the effective number of Bohr magneton
make its magnetization zero. p.
• Hard magnetic materials have high remnant • The evaluation of p of the ions from the electronic
magnetization and high coercive field. Their configuration requires the use of Hund’s rule.

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 Hund’s rules provide an axiom for knowing the preferred crystallographic directions. For example
way in which the electrons occupy the degenerate in iron crystal which is BCC, it is easily magnetized
sub-shells of the atoms or ions in their ground in the <100> direction. Easily magnetized means
state. that it attains saturation magnetization at a much
• Hund’s rules state that, the ground state of the lower applied magnetic fields. Such a direction in
atom or ion is characterized by which a crystal can be easily magnetized is called
the easy direction. Other directions in which it is
(i) Maximum value of the total spin allowed by
more difficult to magnetize the crystal are called
the exclusion principle. (This means that the
hard directions.
spins of the electrons remain parallel to each
other to the extent possible.) • For Nickel which is FCC, the easy direction is
<111> and for cobalt which is HCP the easy
(ii) Maximum value of the orbital angular
direction is <001>.
momentum L consistent with the spin S.
• Magnetostriction : When a ferromagnetic crystal
(iii) The total angular momentum J is determined
is magnetized in the easy direction of magnetization,
using the following rule : J = |L – S| when
the crystal gets alongaed in that direction. If it is
the shell is less than half-full and J = |L + S|
magnetized in the hard direction it gets contracted.
when the shell is more than half-full. When
For example, iron gets elongated when the
the shell is half-full, L = 0 and so J = S.
magnetic field is applied in the <100> direction
• In an unmagnetized piece of iron, although there and gets contracted when the field is applied in
is spontaneous magnetization due to the strong the <111> direction. The longitudinal strain in
internal magnetic field, the orientation order of the direction of the applied field is called the
the spin magnetic moments does not extend magnetostriction constant. In polycrystalline iron
throughout the material. The atoms (spin magnetic there will be elongation at low fields and
moments) within a small region get aligned in a contraction at high fields.
specific direction. This small region within which
• When a long rod of ferromagnetic material, with
there is a single direction of orientation is called a
the axis along the easy direction is subjected to
ferromagnetic domain. A ferromagnetic material
alternating magnetic field, the rod vibrates at twice
consists of a large number of domains within each
the frequency of the applied AC field. This is
of which all the spin magnetic moments are
because the rod gets magnetized and demagnetized
oriented in one specific direction.
twice in one cycle of the applied AC field. When
• Domain wall : Two adjacent domains which are the rod vibrates it produces acoustic waves at the
aligned in different directions are separated by a vibrating frequency. This principle is made use of
thin region called the domain wall. in the generation of ultrasonic waves.
Easy and Hard Directions of Magnetization • Ferromagnetic materials have wide variety of
• When a single crystals of ferromagnetic materials applications in almost all engineering fields.
are magnetized by applying external magnetic fields, Depending on their characteristic parameter values,
the crystal gets easily magnetized in certain ferromagnetic materials are classified as soft and
hard ferromagnetic materials.

10. POLYMERS, CERAMICS & COMPOSITE

• Polymers are organic amorphous materials with • Thermoplastics soften on heating and after they
large sized molecules. The molecules in polymers melt they can be solidified on cooling and this
are in the form of long chains. process can be recycled. On the other hand,
• Polymers may be classified as thermoplastics and thermosets do not soften on heating. Heating
thermosets. In thermoplastics, the molecular chains causes further polymerization and the structure
are bonded together by weak secondary bonds develops cross links. On subsequent cooling, the
whereas in thermosets the polymer chains have thermoset becomes hard and brittle. The process
side chains which are strongly bonded by covalent cannot be recycled, i.e. once heated and cooled
bonds. The side chains link the long molecular the thermoset gets hardened and on heating again
chains forming a three dimensional network. the material decomposes.

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• Polymers which contain more than one type of • Micro composites are composites in which the
mer units are called co-polymers. components are of atomic dimensions. Alloys which
• Degree of polymerization of a polymer is the have multiphase structures are examples of micro
average number of mer units per molecule. composites.
• Polymers may be partially ctystalline with crystalline • In macro composites the components are of large
regions dispersed within amorphous polymer dimensions. Two types of macro composites are
region. A parameter called crystallinity is defined (i) large particle composites and (ii) fibre reinforced
for a polymer which is a measure of percentage of composites.
crystalline regions in the polymer. • In large particle composites, large sized particulate
• The response of materials to an externally applied of one type of material are uniformly dispersed in
stress can be recoverable or permanent a matrix material.
deformation or both. Each of these deformations • In fibre reinforced composites, thin fibers on one
can be time dependent or independent. type of material are uniformly distributed in a
matrix material.
• Rubber-like elasticity arises from entropy changes
during stretching, when the coiled long chain • The special characteristics of composites that make
molecules uncoil. them unique are high strength and high elastic
modulus combined with low specific gravity.
• The time dependent part of recoverable
• If the fibres are long and extend over the entire
deformation is always associated with a relaxation
dimension of the composite material, the
phenomenon.
composite is called continuous fibre composite. If
• Energy losses due to anelastic processes should be the fibres are short, they are called short fibre
kept a minimum and should be dissipated efficiently composites.
in most applications. • Continuous fibre composites are highly anistropic
• Long chain polymers exhibit viscoelastic behavior. in their mechanical properties.
• Ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic materials. • The elastic modulus of the composite may be
Mostly oxides, carbides and nitrides are classified related to the elastic moduli of the individual
as ceramics. components of the composite. The relation is called
• Ceramics are classified according to their structure the rule of mixtures.
as AX, AX2, ABX3 and AB2X4. • The strength of the composite increases with the
• Most ceramic are brittle and have low toughness. volume fraction of the fibres in the compsite.
But they possess other superior mechanical • The fibre-matrix bond strength is an important
characteristics such as, high strength hardness, parameter that influences the mechanical properties
stiffness constant, creep resistance, etc. of the composites
• Ceramics have wide applications where high • The common matrix materials are polymers, metals
strength at high operating temperatures are and ceramics. The fibres normally used are glass
required. fibres, carbon fibres and aramid fibres.
• Composites are materials formed by a combination • The structure of silica and the silicates can be
of two or more distinct type of materials. described with reference to the basic unit, the
silicate tetrahedron.

11. MISCELLANEOUS
Galvanic Cell 1. two different phases in the same metal.
 Galvanic cell forms in the presence of two dissimilar 2. fine and coarse grains in the same metal.
electrodes (metals) and an electrolyte. 3. difference in metal ion-concentration
Anodic (active end)  Li, K, Ca, Na, Mg, Be, U, Al, Ti, 4. difference in oxygen concentration
Zr, Mn, Zn, Cr, Ga, Fe, Cd, In, Tl,
Li  most anodic / least noble Co, Ni, Mo, Sn, Pb, H, Bi, Cu, Hg, 5. different residual stresses in the same metal.
Au  most cathodic / noble Ag, Pd, Pt, Au   Pearlite, a microconstituent, has a mixture of two
Cathodic (inactive end)
phases viz ferrite and cementite of which ferrite is
A galvanic cell may also formed due to some more anodic than cementite. A phase cell or galvanic
other reasons such as couple is formed by them. Under corrosive

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 conditions ferrite corrodes, and thus causes single involved with corrosion of metals.
metal corrosion.  Ceramics are indeed much more environmentally
Crevice Corrosion stable, as compared to any other group of
 Galvanic cell is also formed due to concentration engineering materials, e.g. metals or plastics.
of oxygen in the path of electrolyte flow. Degradation of polymers
 Oxygen plays an important role and corrosion  Plastic are organic and can are prone to
depends on the rate at which oxygen diffuses to physiochemical attacks.
cathode.  Degradation of plastic is not termed as corrosion
 The oxygen rich region becomes cathodic with as it is of physiochemcial in nature in opposite to
respect to oxygen lean region, thus resulting in electrochemical corrosion of metals
crevice corrosion.  Polymeric materials degrade by non-corrosive
 Corrosion at the corners, holes and discontinuities processes.
such as in coupled pipe joints and thereaded  Degradation of polymers, thus involves a wide
connections are the example.
variety of reactions and results like absorption and
Stress Corrosion swelling, dissolution, bond rupture due to heat,
 Difference in stresses at various regions of a metal chemical effects, or radiation; weathering, etc.
is responsible for creating a stress galvanic cell in  Swelling and dissolution : Polymers, when
the metal. This cell is also known as stress cell. exposed to liquids, they get swelling as a result of
 The stress variation may be due to the presence solute diffusion and absorption of solute. Because
of residual stresses produced during cold working of swelling i.e. separation of chains, secondary
or hardening of metals. bonds become weaker. It results in the material
 The grain boundaries in a polycrystalline metal also becomes softer and more ductile.
corrodes being anodic to the crystals.  Bond rupture : Bond rupture in polymers due to
 A plastically deformed metal piece corrodes more degradiation is known as scission Polymers bond
readily than the elastically deformed metal piece. may get rupture due to radiation, heat energy, or
 A folded metal sheet is likely to corrode more at chemical reactions.
the folds due to higher plastic deformation. Earthenware
Pitting  The term earthenware is used to indicate wares
 It is another form of localized corrosion. As a or articles prepared from clay which is burnt at
consequence of this, small pits, and holes form, low temperature and cooled down slowly. The
hence the name. clay is mixed with required quantity of sand,
 This occurs in normal direction to the surface crushed pottery, etc. The addition of such materials
exposed. It is extremely dangerous form of prevents the shrinkage during drying and burning.
corrosion, as material loss is often undetectable till  The earthenwares are generally soft and porous.
the component fails. When glazed, the earthenwares become
Inter-Granular Corrosion impervious to the water and they are not affected
This occurs again due to concentration difference, by acids or atmospheric agencies.
but now along grain boundaries, which are usually Stoneware
of different chemical composition compared with  The term stoneware is used to indicate the wares
rest of the grains. Thus grain boundaries are highly or articles prepared from refractory clays which
suceptible to corrosion. are mixed with stone and crushed pottery. Such a
Corrosion of Ceramics mixture is then burnt at a high temperature and
cooled down slowly.
 Generally, it is said that one of the biggest
advantages which ceramics have over other  The stoneware is more compact and dense than
engineering matterials is their corrosion resistance, earthenware. When glazed, the stonewares
that is, their chemical inertness in corrosive become impervious to the water and they are not
environments. affected by acids or atmospheric agencies. The
sound stonewares give clear ringing sound when
 Ceramics corrode by simple chemical dissolution,
struck with each other.
in opposite to the electrochemical processes
Porcelain

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 The term porcelain is used to indicate find from the combustion of ground or powdered
earthenware which is white, thin and semi- bituminous coal or sub-bituminous coal like lignite
transparent. Since the colour of porcelain is white, and transported by the flue gases of boilers fired
it is also referred to as the whiteware. by pulverised coal or lignite. It is a by-product of
Kilns many thermal power stations and other plants using
 A kiln is a large oven which is used to burn bricks. pulverised coal or lignite as a source of heat for
The kilns which are used in the manufacture of boilers.
bricks are of the following two types: Gypsum
(1)Intermittent kilns  The gypsum is the hydrated sulphate of calcium
(2)Continuous kilns and its chemical composition is CaSO4, 2H2O. It
Fire-clays contains 79.1 per cent calcium sulphate and 20.9
percent water. It is a white crystalline substance.
 The fire-clay is a refractory clay which is capable
As a binding material, the gypsum quickly sets and
of resisting a high temperature without being
hardens.
melted or softened. It is used for making refractory
materials.  Ausforming : A thermommechanical heat
treatment in which austenite is plastically deformed
Fire-bricks
below the A1 temperature, then permitted to
 These bricks are made from fire-clay. The process transform to bainite or martensite.
of manufacture is the same as that of ordinary clay
 Annealing point (glass) : The temperature at
bricks. the burning and cooling of fire-bricks are
which residual stresses in a glass are eliminated
done gradually.
within about 15 min. this corresponds to a glass
Fat lime: This lime is also known as the high viscosity of about 1012 Pa-s (1013P).
calcium lime, pure lime, rich lime or white lime. It
 Antiferromagnetism : A phenomenon observed
is popularly known as the fat lime as it slakes
in some materials (e.g., MnO); complete magnetic
vigorously and its volume is increased to about 2
moment cancellation occurs as a result of
to 2½ times the volume that of quick lime. It is
antiparallel coupling of adjacent atoms or ions. The
prepared by calcining comparatively pure carbonate
macroscopic solid possesses no net magnetic
of lime which is composed of about 95 percent of
moment.
calcium oxide.
 Brazing : A metal joining technique that uses a
Properties of fat lime:
molten filler metal alloy having a melting
(i) It hardens very slowly. temperature greater than about 425°C (800°F).
(ii) It has a high degree of plasticity.  Calcination : A high-temperature reaction
(iii) It is soluble in water which is changed frequently. whereby one solid material dissocaites to form a
(iv) Its colour is perfectly white gas and an other solid. It is one step in the
(v) It sets slowly in presence of air production of cement.
(vi) It slakes vigorously  Carburization of Steel : Surface hardening of
 Pit sand : This is found as deposits in soil and it steel objects such as gears is frequently done by
is obtained by forming pits into soils. It is excavated carburizing or nitriding. The process consists of
from a depth of about 1m to 2m from ground diffusing carbon (or nitrogen) into the surface layers
level. of the steel object. In pack crburizing, the object
 River sand : This sand is obtained from banks or is packed in solid carbon powder. In gas carburizing,
beds of beds of rivers. an atmosphere of methane gas that is rich in carbon
• Sea sand : This sand is obtained from sea shore. surrounds the object to be carburized. here, the
Bitumen following reaction takes place at the steel surface.
 The bitumen is the binding material which is
 Cast iron : Generically, a ferrous alloy the carbon
present in asphalt. It is also sometimes called the content of which is greater than the maximum
mineral tar. It is obtained by partial distillation of solubility in austenite at the eutectic temperature.
crude petroleum. It is chemically a hydro-carbon. Most commercial cast irons contain between 3.0
and 4.5 wt% C, and between 1 and 3 wt% Si.
Fly-ash
 Coercivity (or coercive field, Hc) : The applied
 The fly-ash is a fairly divided residue which results
magnetic field necessary to reduce to zero the

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 magnetic flux density of a magnetized ferromagnetic  Fracture toughness (Kc) : The measure of a
or ferrimagnetic material. material's resistance to fracture when a crack is
 Compacted graphic iron : A cast iron that is present.
alloyed with silicon and a small amount of  Full annealing : For ferrous alloys, austenitizing,
magnesium, cerium, or other additives, in which followed by cooling slowly to room temperature.
the graphite exists as worm-Like particles.  Gray cast iron : A cast iron alloyed with silicon
 Concrete : A composite material consisting of in which the graphite exists in the form of flakes.
aggregate particles bound together in a solid body A fractured surface appears gray.
by a cement.  Glasses : Non-crystalline engineering materials
 Dielectric (breakdown) strength : The having short-range ordering between the atoms.
magnitude of an electric field necessary to cause  Grain : The part of a solid material within which
significant current passage through a dielectric atoms are not only arranged in a well-defined
material. manner but also oriented in one direction only. It
 Duplex stainless steels : It has ferrite and is an individual crystal in a polycrystalline material.
austenite in their microstructure attained by  Hardness : The resistance of material to plastic
balancing the nickel and chromium contents. Better deformation (usually by indentation).
strength than the austenitic stainless steels,  Heat capacity (Cp, Cv) : The quantity of heat
excellent resistance to corrosion (comparable with required to produce a unit temperature rise per
austenitic ones), immunity to stress corrosion mole of material.
cracking and good weldability are some salient  Hydrogen Bond : A kind of secondary bond in
features of duplex stainless steels. which hydrogen atom is shared between two
 Dislocation : A linear crystalline defect around strongly electronegative atoms such as O, N, CI
which there is atomic misalignemtn. Plastic or F.
deformation corresponds to the motion of  High polymer : A solid polymeric material having
dislocations in response to an applied shear stress. a molecular weight greater than about 10,000 g/
Edge, screw, and mixed dislocations are possible. mol.
 Diamond cubic (DC) : A special type of face-  High-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) Steels :
centered cubic crystal structure found in carbon, Relatively strong, low-carbon steels, with less than
silicon and other covalently bonded materials. about 10 wt% total of alloying elements
 Dislocation density : The total length of  Hysteresis (magnetic) : The irreversible magnetic
dislocation line per cubic centimeter in a material. flux density versus-magnetic field strength (B-
 Endurance Limit : The maximum stress below versus-H) behavior found for ferromagnetic and
which a material can theoretically endure an infinite ferrimagnetic material; a closed B–H loop is formed
number of stress cycles. This is also called Fatigue upon field reversal.
Limit.  Hypereutectoid alloy : For an alloy system
 Ferritic stainless steels : Its process fairly high displaying a eutectoid, an alloy for which the
ductility, good hot and cold workability and concentration of solute is greater than the eutectoid
excellent resistance to corrosion. Kitchen sinks composition.
decorative trim, annealing baskets, nitric acid tanks,  Inconels : Alloys of nickel, with 14-17% chromium
dairy machinery, motor boat propeller shafts, and 6-10% iron having small amounts of titanium,
aeroplane and automobile fittings, stainless nuts aluminium and niobium, well-known for their
and bolts and furnace parts are some engineering superior resistance to creep, corrosion, hot
applications of ferritic stainless steels. corrosion and oxidation at elevated temperatures.
 Fick's first law : The diffusion flux is proportional  Isotopes : Atoms of same element having same
to the concentration gradient. This relationship is atomic numbers, but different atomic mass
employed for steady-state diffusion situations. numbers.
 Fine pearlite : Pearlite for which the alternating  Isomorphous phase diagram : A phase diagram
ferrite and cementite layers are relatively thin. in which components display unlimited solid
 Forging : Mechanical forming of a metal by heating solubility.
and hammering.  Insulator (electrical) : A nonmetallic material that

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 has a filled valence band at 0 K and a relatively bridge so formed indicates the size and shape of
wide energy band gap. Consequently, the room- surface discontinuity and its location.
temperature electrical conductivity is very low, less  Magnetic Quantum Number : The quantum
than about 10–10 (  m)1 number related to the magnetic moment of the
electron.
 Laminar composition : A series of two -
dimensional sheets, each having a preferred high-  Malleable Cast Iron : A grey cast iron having a
strength direction, fastened one on top of the other microstructure consisting of ferritic or pearlitic
at different orietnations; strength in the plane of matrix and rounded graphite aggregates obtained
the laminate is highly isotropic. from the decomposition of cementite of white cast
iron as a result of prolonged heat treatment cycle
 Large-particle composite : A type of particle-
known as malleablising.
reinforced composite wherein particle-matrix
interactions cannot be treated on an atomic level;  Maraging Steels : High alloy steels principally
the particles reinforce the matrix phase. containing nickel with cobalt. Basically, they are
Fe-Ni alloys with carbon as impurity in which
 Low Carbon Steels : Carbon steels having less
marteniste phase can be developed by suitable heat
than 0.30% carbon.
treatement. Subsequent ageing results in dispersion
 Low Cycle Fatigue : The fatigue failure that occurs of intermetallic compound in the soft and ductile
under the condition of relatively high stress so that Fe-Ni martensite.
significant amount of plastic strain is induced during
 Martensitic Stainless Steels : High chromium
each cycle resulting in failure at low number of
steels with relatively higher carbon, well known
cycles. The value of applied stress is such that the
for their high resistance against corrosion, having
local maximum tensile stresses in the region ahead
only martensitic phase stable at ambient
of the crack tip are greater than the static yield
temperature.
strength of the material. The number of cycles of
failure may vary from one to 104 or 105. That is,  Matrix : A continuous phase that supports a
under low cycle fatigue, the life of a material is second phase.
short while it is much longer under high cycle  Miller Indices : Method of representing various
fatigue. planes and directions of interest in a cubic crystal
 Luders Bands : These are the discrete bands of structure/unit cell. Miller indices are represented
deformed metal often visible on the surface of the by a set of three integers that designate a
polished tensile specimen with naked eye and run crystallographic plane or direction in cubic crystal.
at approximately 45° to the tensile axis. These  Modulus of Elasticity : (i) The ratio of engineering
bands spread along the specimen during yield point stress (tensile or compressive) to engineering strain
elongation. within elastic range for a material. (ii) The slope of
 Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) : A group of the engineering stress-strain curve in the elastic
polymeric materials having extended and rod- limit of the material. (iii) A measure of the stiffness
shaped molecules, which structurally, do not full of a material.
within tranditional liquid, amorphous, crystalline,  Modulus of Resilience : The strain energy
or- semicrystalline classifications. In the molten (or absorbed per unit volume when a material is
liquid) state they can become aligned in highly strained to its proportional limit.
ordered (crystal-like) conformation They are used  Modulus of Rigidity : (i) The ratio of shear stress
in digital displays and a variety of applicatios in to shear strain within elastic range for a material.
electronic and medical equipment industries. (ii) The slope of the shear stress-strain curve within
 Magnetic Particle Inspection : A nondestructive the elastic limit of the material. (iii) A measure of
testing method that relies on the interruption of the rigidity of a material.
lines of magnetic flux by surface and sub-surface  Mohs Hardness : The ability of a material to
cracks. In this method the sample under test is resist surface scratching and abrasive wear is
magnetized and dry or wet iron particles in a liquid referred to as scratch hardness or Mohs hardness
carrier are sprayed over the surface. For any (associated with Mohs scale, after the name of the
surface or subsurface discontinuity oriented at investigator Friedrich Mohs, well known to
approximately 90° to the magnetic field direction mineralogists).
magnetic particles are collected. The magnetic  Monel : Nickel-copper alloy containing about 33%

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 copper.  Permeability : It is defined as the ratio of magnetic
 Metalloids : There are certain typical elements. induction to magnetizing field. It measures the
which possess some characteristics of metals and relative ease with which magnetism may be
some characteristics of nonmetals. Hence, these developed in a material.
are neither metals nor nonmetals. Such elements  Polar molecule : A molecule in which there exists
constitute a third category of elements referred to a permanent electric dipole moment by virtue of
as metalloids. Carbon, boron, silicon, germanium, the asymmetrical distribution of positively and
arsenic, antimony and tellurium belong to the family negatively charged regions.
of metalloids.  Polarization (orientation) : Polarization resulting
 Metal-matrix composite (MMC) : A composite from the alignment (by rotation) of permanent
material that has a metal or metal alloy as the electric diple moments with an applied electric field.
matrix phase. The disperesed phase may be  Phenolics (Bakelite) : Phenolics are the
particulates, fibres, or whiskers that normally are thermosetting plastic materials formed by the
stiffer, stronger, and/or harder than the matrix. reaction between phenol and formaldehyde by
 Magnetoresistance : Because electric currents condensation polymerization reaction accompanied
experience forces in magnetic fields, it is no surprise with the release of water molecules as by product.
to find that magnetic fields can change the voltage  Poisson’s Ratio : The ratio of the lateral
across a piece of conducting material. Magneto deformation to the longitudinal elastic deformation
resistance describes a change in the resistivity of a caused by tensile or compressive stress.
material when a magnetic field is applied. The effect  Principal Quantum Number : The quantum
arises from an increase in the frequency of collision. number related to the main energy levels of the
 Malleability : It is the property of material of electron.
getting permanently deformed by compression  Prestressed concrete : Concrete into which
without rupture. compressive stresses have been introduced using
 Non-Metallic Elements : Group of elements not steel wires or rods.
possessing free electrons.  Quantum numbers : A set of four numbers, the
 Non-Metallic Inclusion : These are the values of which are used to label possible electron
nonmetallic impurities such as slag, sand, oxides, states. Three of the quantum numbers are integers,
or sulphides present in metal castings. Usually these which also specify the size, shape, and spatial
inclusions are irregular in shape. In wrought metals, orietnation of an electron's probability density; the
the inclusions become elongated during hot fourth number designates spin orientation.
working and provide permanent evidence of their  Relatively magnetic permeability (r ) : The
extent.
ratio of the magnetic permeability of some medium
 Notch-Bar Toughness : The energy absorbed by to that of a vaccum.
a notched test bar of a ductile material under
 Relaxatio modulus [Er(t)] : For viscoelastic
impact load.
polymers, the time dependent modulus of elasticity.
 Notch Sensitivity : The tendency of a ductile It is determined from stress relaxation
material to behave like a brittle material in the measurements as the ratio of stress (taken at some
presence of notches known as notch sensitivity. time after the load application–normally 10s) to
 Pauli exclusion principle : The postulate that for strain.
an individual atom, at most two electrons, which  Remanence (remanent induction, Br) : For a
necessarily have opposite spins, can occupy the ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material, the
same state. magnitude of residual flux density taht remains
 Pearlite : A two-phase lamellar microconstituent, when magnetic field is removed.
containing ferrite and cementite, that forms in steel  Radiography Test : A non-destructive testing
cooled in a normal fashion or isothermally method of detecting flaws within a material using
transformed at relatively high temperatures. X-or  -rays. the technique relies on a difference
 Peritectic reaction : A reaction wherein, upon between the absorption of radiation by the material
cooling, a solid and a liquid phase tranform and the flaws present within the material.
isothermally and reversibly to a solid phase having  Refrection Index : It is expressed as the ratio of
a different composition.

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 sine of angle of incidence and sine of angle of  Structural Steels : The steels that are used for
refraction. applications involving structural loadings.
 Resilience : Resilience is the capacity of a material  Strain point (glass) : The maximum temperature
to absorb or store energy and to resist shock and at which glass fracture without plastic deformation
impact. It is measured by the amount of energy this corresponds to a viscosity of about 3 × 1013
absorbed per unit volume. Pa-s (3 × 1014P)
 Residual stress : A stress that persists in a material  Tensile strength : The stress that corresponds to
that is free of external forces or temperature the maximum load in a tensile test.
gradients.  Tempered martensite : The microconstituent of
 Resistivity () : The reciprocal of electrical ferrite and cementite formed when martensite is
conductivity, and a measure of a material's tempered.
resistance to the passage of electric current.  TD-Nickel : The name given to thoriated nickel,
 Rupture : Failure that is accompanied by significant i.e. thoria (ThO2) dispersed nickel, a dispersion
plastic deforamtion often associated with creep strengthened composite.
failure.  Transition elements : Another group of elements,
 Retained austenite : Austenite that is unable to similar to the rare earths, is found in the seventh
transform into martensite during quenching because periodic row, although the majority of these do
of the volume expansion associated with the not occur in nature because their nuclei are
reaction. unstable – they have, however, been manufactured
artificially. the elements in this last series in Group
 Surface Hardening : Heat treatment is given to
3 are often referred to as the actinide elements
the surface layer. This is achieved by supplying heat
(they all behave like a actinium, the first of the
to the surface, followed by drastic quenching.
series), just as the rate earths are sometimes called
 Sandwich panel : A type of structural composite lanthanide elements.
consisting of two stiff and strong outer faces that
 Thermal fatigue : It is normally induced at
are separated by a lightweight core material.
elevated temperatures by fluetuating thermal
 Selective leaching : A form of corosion wherein stresses; mechanical stresses from an external
one element or constituent of an alloy is source need not be present.
preferentially dissolved.
 Corrosion fatigue : Failure that occurs by the
 Stellites : A group of cobalt base alloys, having simultaneous action of a cyclic stress and chemical
chromium, tungsten, nickel, molybdenum, niobium, attack is termed corrosion fatigue. Corosive
titanium and iron as alloying elements, well known environments have a deleterious influence and
for their high temperature properties. (A typical produce shorter fatigue lives.
composition of satellite is as Co-0.25% C-27%
 Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) : A copolymeric
Cr-3% Ni-5% No-5% Fe.)
material that exhibit elastomeric behavior yet is
 Strain Ageing : Changes in mechanical properties thermoplastic in nature. At the ambient
of plastically deformed (i.e. strain hardened) metals temperature, domains of one repeat unit type form
as a result of ageing at room temperature or at molecular chain ends that crystallize to act as
moderately high temperature. Steel containing physical crosslinks.
nitrogen or carbon are typical example of alloys
 Vicalloy : The name given to a cobalt base alloy
exhibit strain ageing effect. Ductility and impact
having a nominal composition as Co-14% V-34%
value get reduced after strain ageing.
Fe.
 Stress Intensity Factor : It refers to a
 Viscous Creep : The regime of the true creep
combination of the applied stress and flaw size in
curve during which creep rate remains constant.
accordance with the expression: K  Y  a. it  Vitallium : Trade name of cobalt base alloy having
represents the stress distribution in vicinity to a chromium (  30%) and molybdenum (  5%) as
crack up. the main alloying elements.
 Stress Raisers : A small flaw (internal or external)  Yield Point Elongation : The elongation that
or a structural discontinuity (such as an inclusion) occurs at approximately constant stress or load
at which applied tensile stress will be amplified corresponding to lower yield point is called yield
and from which a crack may propagate. point elongation.

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 Yield strength : The stress at which a material 77.5%Cu
exhibits a specified deviation from proportionality Aluminium bronze + 20.5%Zn Aluminum improves
of stress and strain. (cast alloys) + rest is corrosion resistance.
 Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) : The aluminium
alumina ceramic that has been dispersed with Used in springs,
metastable tetragonal zirconia particles to impart 94.8%Cu welding rods,
Phosphor bronze
transformation toughening is called ZTA. + 5%Sn diaphragms, fuse
(Wrought alloys)
+ 0.2%P clips. bellows,
 Zirconia Toughened Ceramics (ZTC) : These
clutch discs.
ceramics consist of tetragonal or monoclinic
High corrosion
zirconia (ZrO2) particles finely dispersed in other 88%Cu
resistance. Used in
ceramic matrices such as alumina, mullite and Gun metal + 10%Sn
marine work,
spinel. + 2%Zn
valves, water fittings.
 Killed Steel : It is fully deoxidized steel.  Aluminium bronze has higher density than
 Semi Killed Steel : It is partially deoxidized steel admiraility brass Worm wheel made by bronze.
having some porosity. But has no pipe formation.  Constantan : It is an alloy of copper and nickel
Stainless Steels (or Corrosion Resistant Steels) (55% Cu and 45% Ni).
 These are highly resistant to corrosion in a variety  Y-alloy : This alloy consists of Al (92%), Cu, Ni,
of environments. Predominant alloying element is Mg. It strength and hardness can be comparable
chromium, whose content of minimum 11% is with duralium by doing age hardening on it. It
required. is used in piston, cylinder head, crankcase of
 Austenitic is more corrosion resistent due to scooter, bus and truck etc.
higher % chromium and Ni. Nickel
Manganese Steels/Hadfield Steel  It is crystalline, non-ferrous, ferromagnetic metal
 Manganese steels are hard and have high of silvery-white colour.
abrasion resistance.  Its hardness matches and compared with the
 Manganese steel contains carbon 0.15% and hardness of soft steel but ductility is less than that.
manganese less than 2%. The thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity
 It is mainly used in case of cranks, connecting are poor as compared to copper.
rods, agricultural machinery components,  Nickel is often used as a cladding on mild steel
railway equipment, bulldozer blades etc. (niclad), providing both strength and corrosion
resistance.
Brass Composition Applications  It is resistant to acidic attacks, but dissolves
It has high tensile strength, readily in nitric acid.
suitable for hot working by  Hastelloy : These are Nickel and Molybedenum
Muntz 60%Cu
rolling, stamping, extruding alloys with Fe, Cr, Cu, Al present in certain
Metal + 40%Zn
used in pump parts, marine proportion.
fittings, valves. Monel Metal
High corrosion and abrasion  Composition (63% Ni + 30% Cu + Fe + Mn +
70%Cu
Admirality resistance.
+ 29%Zn Si + C). It is not affected by sea water or
Brass Used in condenser tubes and
+ 1%Sn
marine work.
atmosphere.
 It is highly resistant to the corroding affect of
It can be easily brazed.
5 – 20%Zn Used in plumbing of pipe alkalies and acids, hence used in marine
Red Brass application.
+ rest Cu ends and hardwares,
rivets, radiator etc.  Monel metal filter cloth is used extensively, paints
and varnishes are made of Monel metal.
Bronze K-Monel Metal
 It is a Cu - Sn alloy. Tin varies from 2 - 12%.  When (Al) is added to monel metal it is formed.
These are “harder” than brass.  The utility of K - monel is that it can be made hard
by heat treatment retaining corrosive resisting

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 properties of monel metal. diffusion is much faster than substitutional diffusion.
Inconel • The formation of an adherent oxide film is
 (80% Ni + 14% Cr + 6% Fe) : High mechanical necessary to improve the oxidation resistance of a
properties coupled with corrosion and heat metal. The oxide film should offer a high diffusion
resisting properties. It is highly resistant to oxidation barrier to the diffusing species that control the
upto 900° C. oxidation.
 It is used in manufacturing of machinery for food • The common alloying elements added to steel for
processing industries, especially milk and milk improving its oxidation resistance are chromium,
products, electronic parts , gas turbine parts, heat aluminium and nickel.
treating equipment etc. • The standard electrode potential measures the
Chromel tendency of a metal to go into solution. Metals
 (90% Ni + 10% Cr) : High corrosion resistance with positive potentials are noble, as compared to
and heat resistance upto 1260°C. metals with negative potentials.
 It is used in calibration instruments or measuring • Passivation refers to the formation of a thin, high
instruments such as in thermocouples. resistance oxide layer, which reduces the corrosion
 For low speed operations under high pressures current by two or three orders of magnitude.
bronzes are preferred upto 20% Tin, Lead is • Prevention of corrosion : (a) Designing to avoid
added to bronze where Lubrication is poor. contact between dissimilar metals, (b) use of
Refractory Metals inhibitors, (c) metallic and nonmetallic coatings, (d)
 Metals with extremely high melting point. They cathodic protection with a sacrificial anode or with
are Niobium, Mo, W, Ta. Melting point range an impressed voltage, and (e) passivation by alloy
from (2500 – 3400°). (W) has highest m.p of additions are the main methods of corrosion
3410° C. prevention.
 These have high strength and hardness at very • Bi-Modulus Materials : A material whose stress-
high temperature. strain diagram has different slopes in tension and
 Used as alloying elements in steel for improving compression, is known as bi-modulus material. Such
various properties. a material possesses unequal values of young’s
Zinc moduli in tension and compression. Cast iron is
 Pure zinc is relatively soft, weak and brittle at room not a bi-modulus material while the elastomer and
temperature. It is therefore difficult to cold work. wood may keep bi-moduli character.
 Zinc is also used for sacrificial anodes to protect • High alloy steel : The alloys contains the alloying
ship’s hulls and buried pipes. elements more than about 4%. Example : stainless
Magnesium and Its Alloys steel and highs peed tool steel,
 Outstanding characteristic of Mg is its density • Ferritic Stainless Steel : It contains about 16-
(1.7 g/cm3) which is lowest of all the structural 18% chromium. It has rustless iron with low
metals. carbon content. It has high resistance to corrosion
 Due to low density alloys are used where light but low impact strength and cannot be refined by
weight requirement is there. heat treatment alone. If the chromium percentage
 Mg has HCP crystal structure and it is relativity lies between 25 and 30%, it is used for the purpose
soft and has low elastic modulus. of furnace parts which is resistant to sulphur
 Like aluminium it has moderate melting point compounds.
(651 °C). • Martensitic (Hardenable Alloys) Stainless steel
 These are sucesptible to corrosion in marine : It contains about 12-14% chromium. It is
environment (but Al is not). Due to impurity characterized by high strength combined with
Mg alloys are resistant to corrosion and considerable corrosion resistance. Stainless steel
oxidation at room temp. with 12% Cr and 0.1% C can be welded and
• Substitutional solutes diffuse by interchanging easily fabricated. It is useful for making turbine
positions with vacancies. Interstitial solutes simply blades. Stainless steel with 12% Cr and 0.2% C is
jump to the next interstitial site, without having to difficult to weld is corrosion resistant only when
wait for a vacancy. Consequently, interstitial hardened and polished.

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