1.

Plane strain
2.Plain strain fracture toughness
3.Stress raiser
4.Thermal fatigue

Failure
 Failure
WHY STUDY Failure?

The design of a component or

structure often calls upon the engineer
to minimize the possibility of failure.
Thus, it is important to understand the
mechanics of the various failure modes—
i.e., fracture, fatigue, and creep—and,
in addition, be familiar with appropriate
design principles that may be employed
to prevent in-service failures.
 Failure
- In engineering materials, Failure is almost always an
undesirable event for the reason that:
• Human lives that are put in jeopardy
• Economic losses
• The interference with the availability of
products and services
- Even though the causes of failure and the behavior
of materials may be known, prevention of failures is
difficult to guarantee
- The usual causes are improper materials selection
and processing and inadequate design of the
component or its misuse.
 Failure
- Responsibility of the Engineer with failure of
Materials before and after it occurs:

• To anticipate and plan for possible failure

• To assess its cause and then take appropriate
preventive measures against future incidents
 Fundamentals of
Fracture
- Simple Fracture

• Is the separation of a body into two or more

pieces in response to an imposed stress that is
static and at temperatures that are low relative to
the melting temperature of the materials
• The applied stress may be tensile, compressive,
shear, or torsional
 Fracture Modes
Two Fracture Modes

• Ductile Fracture

• Brittle Fracture
 Ductile Fracture
- Ductile materials typically exhibit substantial
plastic deformation with high energy absorption
before fracture

- Ductile fracture surfaces will have their own

distinctive features on both macroscopic and
microscopic levels
 Stages in ductile fracture

(a) Initial necking

(b) Small cavity formation
(c) Coalescence of
cavities to form a
crack
(d) Crack propagation
(e) Final shear fracture at
a
45o angle relative to
Note: Sometimes a fracture having the
this tensile direction.
characteristic surface
contour is termed a cup-and-cone fracture because one of the
mating surfaces is in the form of a cup, the other like a cone. In
this type of fractured specimen, the central interior region of
the surface has an irregular and fibrous appearance, which is
 Stages in Ductile Fracture
• First - after necking begins, small cavities, or
microvoids, form in the interior of the cross Section.
• Second - as deformation continues, these microvoids
enlarge, come together, and coalesce to form an
elliptical crack, which has its long axis perpendicular
to the stress direction.
• Third - The crack continues to grow in a direction
parallel to its major axis by this microvoid coalescence
process
• Fourth - fracture ensues by the rapid propagation of a
crack around the outer perimeter of the neck
• Fifth - by shear deformation at an angle of about 45o
with the tensile axis—this is the angle at which the
Cup-and-Cone Fracture
 Brittle Fracture
- Brittle fracture takes place without any appreciable
deformation, and by rapid crack propagation. The
direction of crack motion is very nearly
perpendicular to the direction of the applied tensile
stress and yields a relatively flat fracture surface

- Brittle fracture surfaces contain lines or ridges that

radiate from the origin of the crack in a fanlike
pattern, often both of these marking patterns will be
sufficiently coarse to be discerned with the naked
eye.
(a) Photograph
showing V-shaped
“chevron” markings
characteristic of
brittle
fracture.

(b) Photograph of a
brittle fracture
surface showing radial
fan- shaped ridges.
Brittle Fracture
 Ductile Vs Brittle Fracture

• Ductile materials typically exhibit substantial plastic

deformation with high energy absorption on the
other hand, Brittle materials has normally little or no
plastic deformation with low energy absorption

• Strength of brittle materials are much lower than of

ductile materials

• Brittle fracture occurs suddenly and catastrophically

without any warning while ductile fracture the
presence of plastic deformation gives warning that
fracture is imminent, allowing preventive measures
(a) Highly ductile fracture in which the
specimen necks down to a point
(b) Moderately ductile fracture after some
necking
(c) Brittle fracture without any plastic
deformation
 Principles of Fracture Mechanics

• Stress Concentration

• Fracture Toughness

• Plane Strain
 Stress Concentration
- It is also called Stress Raisers
- A Stress Concentration is a location in an object
where stress is concentrated
- An object is strongest when force is evenly
distributed over its area, so a reduction in area
results in a localized increase in stress.
- A material can fail, via a propagating crack, when a
concentrated stress exceeds the material's
theoretical cohesive strength
- Fatigue cracks always start at stress raisers, so
removing such defects increases the fatigue strength
 Fracture Toughness
- Fracture Toughness is a property that is a measure of
a material’s resistance to brittle fracture when a
crack is present

- It is a property which describes the ability of a

material containing a crack to resist fracture, and is
one of the most important properties of any material
for virtually all design applications

- If a material has a large value of fracture toughness it

will probably undergo ductile fracture.
 Plane Strain
- Strain is the number that describes relative
deformation or change in shape and size of elastic,
plastic, and fluid materials under applied forces
- Plane Strain is the strains associated with length like
normal strain and the shear strains and are
constrained by nearby material and are small
compared to the cross-sectional strains
- By plane strain we mean that when a load operates on
a crack in the manner represented if there is no strain
component perpendicular to the front and back faces.
- The strain tensor in plane strain can then be
approximated in which the double underline indicates
a second order tensor
The Three Modes of crack surface displacement

(a) Mode I, opening or tensile mode

(b) Mode II, sliding mode
(c) Mode III, tearing mode
 Impact Fracture Testing
- An impact is a high force or shock applied over a short
time period when two or more bodies collide. The
effect depends critically on the relative velocity of the
bodies to one another
- Impact Testing Techniques were established to test the
fracture characteristics of materials
- Impact Fracture Testing test the conditions chosen to
represent those most severe relative to the potential
for fracture namely
• Deformation at a relatively low temperature
• High strain rate
• Triaxial stress state
 Impact Testing Techniques
- Two standardized tests
• Charpy Test - The Charpy V-notch (CVN)
technique is the standardized high strain-rate
test which determines the amount of energy
absorbed by a material during fracture. It is
most commonly used in the United States
• Izod Test – It is the same as the CVN technique
the only difference lies in the manner of
specimen support
- One of the primary functions of Charpy and Izod
tests is to determine whether or not a material
experiences a ductile-to-brittle transition with
decreasing temperature
• Specimen used for
Charpy and Izod impact
tests and the difference
in placing of the
specimen in both
impact test
V-notch Apparatus
- A schematic drawing of
an impact testing
apparatus. The hammer
is released from fixed
height and strikes the
specimen

- The energy expended in

fracture is reflected in
the difference between
height and the swing
height Specimen
placements for both
V-notch Apparatus
• Fracture surfaces of A36 steel Charpy V-
notch specimens tested at indicated
temperatures in oC
 Fatigue
- Fatigue is a form of failure that occurs in structures
subjected to dynamic and fluctuating stresses such as
bridges, aircraft, and machine components
- This type of failure normally occurs after a lengthy
period of repeated stress or strain cycling
- It is the single largest cause of failure in metals,
estimated to comprise approximately 90% of all
metallic failures.
- If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic
cracks will begin to form at the surface. Eventually a
crack will reach a critical size, and the structure will
suddenly fracture. The shape of the structure will
 Cyclic stress
- Cyclic Stress refers to an internal distribution of
forces that changes over time in a repetitive
fashion.

- Cyclic Stress is frequently encountered in rotating

machinery where a bending moment is applied to a
rotating part

- The applied stress may be:

• Axial in nature
• Flexural in nature
• Torsional in nature
 The S–N Curve
- The magnitude of a cyclic stress (S) versus the
logarithm of the number (N) of cycles to failure

- S-N curves are derived from tests on samples of the

material to be characterized where a regular
sinusoidal stress is applied by a testing machine
which also counts the number of cycles to failure

- Analysis of fatigue data requires techniques from

statistics, especially survival analysis and linear
regression
 Parameters that Characterizes a Material’s Fatigue
Behavior taken from S-N Curve
• Fatigue Limit
- also called the endurance limit
- limiting stress level below which fatigue failure will
not occur

• Fatigue Strength
- also called the fatigue response
- the stress level at which failure will occur for some
specified number of cycles

• Fatigue Life
- it is the number of cycles to cause failure at a
specified stress level
Stress amplitude (S)
versus logarithm of
the
number of cycles to
fatigue failure (N) for

(a) A material that

displays a fatigue
limit

(b) A material that

does not display a
fatigue limit.
 Factors That Affect Fatigue Life

- Measures that may be taken to extend fatigue life:

• Reducing the mean stress level

• Eliminating sharp surface discontinuities
• Improving the surface finish by polishing
• Imposing surface residual compressive stresses
by shot peening
• Case hardening by using a carburizing or
nitriding process.
 Fatigue Failure
- The process of fatigue failure is characterized by three
distinct steps:

• Crack Initiation - wherein a small crack forms at

some point of high stress concentration

• Crack Propagation - during which this crack

advances incrementally with each stress cycle.

• Final Failure - which occurs very rapidly once the

advancing crack has reached a critical size.
 Crack Propagation
- Crack Propagation may be characterized by two types
of markings:
• Beachmarks
- sometimes also called clamshell marks
- are of macroscopic dimensions and may be
observed with the unaided eye
• Striations
- are microscopic in size and subject to
observation with the electron microscope
• Fracture surface of a • Transmission electron
rotating steel shaft fractograph showing
that experienced fatigue striations in
fatigue failure aluminum
• Beachmark ridges
are visible
 Environmental Effects
- Environmental factors may also affect the fatigue
behavior of materials

- The two types of environment-assisted fatigue

failure:

• Thermal Fatigue - is normally induced at

elevated temperatures by fluctuating thermal
stresses

• Corrosion Fatigue – is the failure that occurs by

the simultaneous action of a cyclic stress and
 Creep
- Creep is normally an undesirable phenomenon and is
often the limiting factor in the lifetime of a part.

- A typical creep test consists of subjecting a specimen

to a constant load or stress while maintaining the
temperature constant deformation or strain is
measured and plotted as a function of elapsed time.
 Generalized Creep Behavior

- The three regions creep curve consists of:

• Transient Creep - occurs first typified by a

continuously decreasing creep rate that is, the
slope of the curve diminishes with time

• Steady-State Creep - the rate is constant that is,

the plot becomes linear

• Tertiary Creep - there is an acceleration of the

rate and ultimate failure.
 Stress and Temperature Effects

- Both temperature and applied stress level influence

creep behavior. Increasing either of these parameters
produces the following effects:

• an increase in the instantaneous initial

deformation
• an increase in the steady-state creep rate
• a diminishment of the rupture lifetime.
Analytical expressions were presented which
relate to both temperature and stress.
 Cavitation Erosion in Reducer
Valve

- A flanged reducer with a severely worn inner surface was received for
failure analysis. The reducer was on the downstream side of an 8-inch
V-Ball pressure reducing control valve.

- The causes of failure were diametral mismatch and control valve

orientation. Diametral mismatch was present in the abrupt decrease in
inner diameter between the control valve and the reducer pipe. The
mismatched joint created a 0.865 inch “shelf” that was impacted by
the water stream from the control valve. The turbulence created by
the water stream impacting this “shelf” resulted in cavitation erosion
of the reducer pipe. The control valve located upstream was adjusted
in such a way that the vector created by the water stream targeted a
localized area of the reducer pipe, accelerating the rate of erosion and
causing severe metal loss.
The extensive erosion on one side of the
reducer pipe indicates that the water stream
from the V-Ball pressure reducing control valve
was directed primarily towards one side (left
side as shown in photograph) of the reducer
pipe.
 Lister Racecar Kingpin Failure
Analysis

- RSIME performed a failure investigation of a failed kingpin

of a vintage Lister racecar. The kingpin is a critical
suspension component that must endure high loads.
- The kingpin failed from reversed bending fatigue. This
failure was caused by loading incurred during normal left
and right hand cornering of the racecar.
- The fatigue cracks initiated due to machining marks on the
lathe cut threads.
- The kingpin material was a high hardness, medium carbon
alloy steel, which can be notch sensitive and prone to
fatigue cracks initiating from stress concentrations.
•Overview of failed kingpin. Note the fracture surface
that was sectioned for better inspection

•Machining marks found on lathe cut threads of the

kingpin. Hardness and chemistry composition analysis
was performed. The material had a 52 HRC hardness and
the chemistry results indicated a 4340 alloy steel.
 ELECTRON MICROSCOPY INVESTIGATION
ON FAILED WIRE MESH

- A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is the technique

mostly used in failure analysis. In this works, SEM was used
to investigate the root cause of failure in wire mesh
samples used in a petrochemical plant. Visual observation
on the wire mesh showed brownish rust and mechanical
scratch at the damage area. The wire mesh was cleaned
using pickling acid resulting in smooth clean sample.
Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) result indicates that
the sample surface was covered by oxide precipitate.
•Macroscopic examination shows the mesh wire surface
was covered with brownish rust as shown in Figure 1a.
• The rust nevertheless can be easily cleaned using
pickling acid solution.
• Figure 1b shows the cleaned surface of the mesh wire.
Experiment and Analysis of plane stress
and Stress Concentration
End Of
Report