... Inc.1Overview of Crystal/Defect Structureand Mechanical Properties andBehavior1.1 INTRODUCTIONThe mechanical behavior of materials describes the response of materials to mechanical loads ... terms of the basic effects of mechanical loads on defects or atomic motion. Asimple understanding of atomic and defect structure is, therefore, an essen-tial prerequisite to the development of ... Inc.nonmetals.Ceramicsmayhaveionic,covalent,ormixedionicandcovalentbonds.Therelativelyhighcompressivestrengthsofmostceramicsmayalsobeattributedlargelytostrongionicand/orcovalentbonds.Unfortunately,however,mostceramicsarebrittleduetotheirinabilitytoaccommodatestrainsinthepresenceofcracktips(especiallyundertensileloadingwherecrackstendtoopenup).Metalsandceramicsusuallyhavelong-range,ordered,crystallinestructures.However,amorphousstructuresmayalsoformundercertainprocessingconditions.Inthecaseofcrystallinemetallicandceramicmate-rials,theatomswithineachcrystalallhavethesameorientation.Acrystal-linelattice,consistingofregularrepeatedunits(somewhatakintoLegobuildingblocksinachild’splaykit)inaregularlattice,isobserved.Eachrepeatedunitisusuallyreferredtoasaunitcell,andtheunitcellisgenerallychosentohighlightthesymmetryofthecrystal.Anexampleofatwo-dimensionalunitcellisshowninFig.1.10(a).This illustrates the two-dimensional layered structure of graphit e which isone of the allotropes of carbon....