9.

Crystal Structures II

1
 Question

“If most crystals are orthotropic why are most

materials isotropic?

2
 Learning objectives
• Describe the common unit cell geometries
• Define and determine crystallographic
directions and crystal planes

3
Garnet Single Crystal

4
 Effect of Crystal Directions and
Planes
At the scale of a single crystal, the following mechanical properties
depend on orientation with respect to crystallographic planes:
• brittle fracture occurs on specific planes
• elastic properties of crystals depend on direction of
loading
• permanent deformation occurs by sliding between
crystal planes
• low ductility of magnesium is related to the HCP
structure (low symmetry of crystal)

5
Effect of Crystal Directions and
Planes

Iron cracks on unit Diamond cracks on

cell sides diagonal of unit cell

6
 Crystal Systems

• unit cells defined by

– i) unit cell
dimensions (a,b,c)
– ii) angles between
the sides of the unit
cell (a,b,g)

7
Unit Cell Geometries

8
Unit Cell Geometries (cont.)

9
 Defining Crystallographic Directions
Crystallographic directions are defined as follows:
• a vector is defined such that it passes through the origin
of the coordinate system. Any vector may be translated
throughout the crystal lattice without alteration, if
parallelism is maintained.
• The length of the vector projection on each of the three
axes is determined; these are measured in terms of the
unit cell dimensions, a, b and c.
• Three indices are then defined, not separated by commas,
and are enclosed in square brackets – e.g. [uvw]. The u, v,
w integers correspond to the reduced projections along
the x, y, and z axes, respectively.

10
 Crystallographic Directions, cont’d

z
projection
on x axis
(a/2)
projection on y axis (1b)

Projection on z axis (0c)

y
c
x y z
a Projections a/2 1b 0c
Projections* ½ 1 0
Reduction 1 2 0
b Enclosure [120]
x * In terms of a,b,c
11
Crystallographic Directions, cont’d

Three common
directions

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A couple of examples
Direction A
x y z
Projections 0a -1b -1c
Projections* 0 -1 -1
Origin Reduction 0 -1 -1
Enclosure
0 1 1
Direction B
x y z
Projections 1a -1/2b 0c
Projections* 1 -1/2 0
Reduction 2 -1 0
Enclosure
2 1 0
* In terms of a,b,c

13
 Modulus of Elasticity Values for
Several Metals at Various
Crystallographic Orientations

Anisotropic – having different properties in different directions

Isotropic – properties are independent of direction
14
 Crystallographic Planes
(Miller Indices)

• Orientation of planes for a crystal structure are

represented in a similar manner to directions
• Crystallographic planes are specified by three Miller
Indices as (hkl)
• Miller indices represent the normal vector to the plane

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 Crystallographic Planes
(Miller Indices)
• If the plane passes through the selected origin, either another plane
must be constructed within the unit cell by an appropriate
translation, or a new origin must be established at the corner of
another unit cell.
• At this point, the crystallographic plane either intersects or parallels
each of the three axes; the length of the planar intercept for each axis
is determined in terms of the lattice parameters a,b,c.
• The reciprocals of these numbers are taken. A plane that parallels an
axis may be considered to have an infinite intercept, and, therefore, a
zero reciprocal.
• These three numbers may be changed to the set of smallest integers
by multiplication or division using a common factor
• Finally, the integer indices, not separated by commas, are enclosed
within parentheses, thus (hkl).
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 Crystallographic Planes
z z’
a

c/2

y y’ x y z
c O O Intercepts a -b c/2
a Intercepts*  -1 ½
Reciprocals 0 -1 2
b Enclosure ( 0 1 2)
-b
x x’

* In terms of lattice parameters a,b,c 17

 Example
Plane A
x y z
Intercepts 2a/3 -1b c/2
1/2 Intercepts* 2/3 -1 1/2
Reciprocals 3/2 -1 2

Origin
Enclosure
324)
2/3

* In terms of lattice parameters a,b,c

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Crystallographic Planes

19
 Atomic Arrangements
(Family of planes and directions)
What plane ?
(110)
FCC

BCC

20
Family of planes

A family of planes
contains all those
planes that are
crystallographically
equivalent, in other
words having the
same atomic packing

Specific planes (hkl)

General planes {hkl}
21
Family of directions

Specific direction [uvw]

General direction <uvw>
22
Comparison of close packed crystals
FCC and HCP

23
Close-packed planes

FCC
HCP

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 Close Packed Structures
• For FCC and HCP, APF = 0.74
• This is the most efficient way of packing
equal sized spheres in 3-D
• FCC has ABCABC stacking sequence
• HCP has ABABAB stacking sequence

25
HCP close-packed

26
FCC close-packed

(111) plane

27
Solidification of Polycrystalline
Materials

28
 Polycrystalline Materials
• each crystal or grain is composed from many unit
cells
• orientation of unit cells varies from grain to grain
• grain boundaries are regions of atomic disorder
and higher energy
• grain boundaries are more chemically active
• grain size is an important parameter for
mechanical properties

29
Microscopy

30
Microstructure of AA5754 – Automotive Alloy

31
Polycrystalline Structure

32
 Question

“If most crystals are orthotropic why are most

materials isotropic?

33
 Learning objectives
• Describe the common unit cell geometries
• Define and determine crystallographic
directions and crystallographic planes

34
 Problem 3.7
Molybdenum (Mo) has a BCC crystal
structure, an atomic radius of 0.1363 nm, and
an atomic weight of 95.94 g/mol. Compute
and compare its theoretical density with the
experimental value found inside the front
cover of the book.

APSC278 by Warren Poole and

Anoush Poursartip