1. Home
    2. Journals
    3. Bulletin of Materials Science
    4. Volume 6
    5. Issue 4

    • Strength and electronic structure

      K Govinda Rajan

      Volume 6 Issue 4 September 1984 pp 717-732

    • Fulltext

       

        Click here to view fulltext PDF


      Permanent link:
      https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/boms/006/04/0717-0732

    • Keywords

       

      Strength; cohesive energy; electronic energy; electron-mediated interactions; strengthening mechanisms

    • Abstract

       

      The main attribute of a solid is its resistance to deformation, or its ‘strength’. We discuss first the interpretation of the strength parameter. The current situation with regard to the central problem of providing a microscopic description of the strength parameter is briefly reviewed. Electrons in metals provide the cohesion, so that an understanding of the role played by electronic structure in the strength attribute should lead to practical hints for building stronger materials. The useful ‘aircraft alloy’ (Ti + Al + V) illustrates one such important relationship,viz., that the addition of a nond-character metal to ad-electron host strengthens the latter. Again, metals are distinguished from non-metals by the Fermi surface they possess, and it is interesting to examine any possible relationship between the anisotropy of the Fermi surface with the observed anisotropy in hardness (or yield strength). Next, we turn to cleavage, and point out that the assumption that it is the exact opposite of cohesion faces objections. Cohesion is an average property, whereas cleavage is a crack-tip phenomenon. Finally, among the processes familiar to the metallurgist wherein a metal is hardened, electron-moderated mechanisms have been identified in at least two cases, and we conclude with a brief account of these.

    • Author Affiliations

       

      K Govinda Rajan1

      1. Materials Science Laboratory, Reactor Research Centre, Kalpakkam - 603 102, India

    • Dates

       
      Published
      September 1984

  • Bulletin of Materials Science | News

    • Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar for Science and Technology

      Posted on October 12, 2020

      Prof. Subi Jacob George — Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bengaluru
      Chemical Sciences 2020

      Prof. Surajit Dhara — School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
      Physical Sciences 2020

    • Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

      Posted on July 25, 2019

      Click here for Editorial Note on CAP Mode

© 2022-2023 Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru.

Contact | Site index