Dental Materials Science Flashcards
stress
force is applied to an area of a material
stress Pa = force / unit area
strain
when stress is applied to an object it causes it to change shape
level of shape change = strain
proportional limit
highest limit where stress & strain on diagram continue linearly i.e. they are directly proportional to one another
elastic limit
greatest stress that can be applied to a material without causing permanent deformation
ultimate tensile strength
highest amount of stress that can be applied to a material without it breaking up
fracture stress
stress needed for fracture
young’s modulus
measure of how much a material will change its shape with stress i.e. a high YM means a large stress is required to cause a small strain
stress / strain = YM
brittle
where only a small permanent deformation is needed before fracture of material so distance between elastic limit & UTS will be small
ductile
large permanent deformation before there is fracture of material so distance between elastic limit & UTS will be large
elasticity
ability for a material to return to its original shape after stress is removed
high elasticity = flexible
low elasticity = rigid
grain
single crystal lattice with atoms orientated in different directions, when there is a change in direction of a crystal plane there is a grain boundary
with fast cooling, smaller grains are formed and these will have better mechanical properties
dislocation
in all crystal lattices there are imperfections which can slip & propagate through the metal to the grain boundary; as this changes the lattice it means it changes the shape of the metal, these can be impeded and will increase elastic limit, UTS, hardness & corrosion resistance
ductility / impact resistance are lowered
3 methods of impeding dislocations
- if grains are fine this will limit the amount of defects in crystal lattice
- cold working will push dislocations to grain boundary before metal is finally shaped
- use of alloys as they include atoms of different sizes making dislocations harder
cold working
work done on a metal at a low temp i.e. below recrystallisation temp - causes slip so dislocations will collect at grain boundaries which will allow for metal to become stronger & harder
this process will increase residual stress due to instability in crystal lattice & can lead to atoms returning over time to their original positions distorting metal shape - relieved by heat annealing
stress relief annealing
alloy is heated creating thermal vibrations allowing migration of atoms which eliminates stresses by allowing atoms to rearrange within their grains yet the structure of grains & mechanical properties remain unchanged
MUST be done below recrystallisation temp
recrystallisation
temperature by which metal / alloy forms larger equiaxed grains modifying the current structure of metal alloy & it lowers elastic limit / hardness but increases ductility
this is not wanted as it spoils benefit of cold work but may be necessary to gain correct shape
increasing cold work will decrease recrystallisation temp
phase
physically distinct homogenous structure which can have more than 1 component in this situation it is also a solution
solution
homogenous mixture of components at an atomic scale
solid solution
solution in which 2 or more metals coexist forming a common lattice structure at an atomic scale
3 types of solid solution
- random substitutional solid solution
- ordered substitutional solid solution
- interstitial solid solution - atoms of different sizes
solution hardening
where a solid solution forms with metal atoms of different sizes - this distorts grain structure & impedes dislocation movement to grain boundary therefore improving mechanical properties: elastic limit, UTS, hardness
ordered hardening
similar to solution hardening
ordered structure will impede dislocations
liquidus
temp at which solids start to crystallise
solidus
temp at which alloy has completely crystallised