2. Metallurgical principles

Crystallographic aspects play a decisive role in the mechanical behavior of any metallic phase , but also in the possibilities – widely exploited in heat treatments – of cohabitation of several phases with orientation relationships within the same alloy [M 4 340] ref. , , , .

The following table summarizes the crystalline structure(s) of the main metals, and gives a glimpse of the allotropic varieties of some of them.