Fundamentals of Fracture:

* For engineering materials, two fracture modes are possible ductile and brittle. Classification is
based on the ability of a material to experience plastic deformation.
•Ductile materials typically exhibit substantial plastic deformation with high energy absorption
before fracture. On the other hand, there is normally little or no plastic deformation with low
energy absorption accompanying a brittle fracture

* Any fracture process involves two steps crack formation and propagation in response to an
imposed stress. Ductile fracture is characterized by extensive plastic deformation in the vicinity
of an advancing crack. Further more, the process proceeds relatively slowly as the crack length
is extended. Such a crack is often said to be stable.
•On the other hand, for brittle fracture, cracks may spread extremely rapidly, with very little
accompanying plastic deformation. Such cracks may be said to be unstable, and crack
propagation, once started, will continue spontaneously without an increase in magnitude of the
applied stress.

* Ductile fracture is almost always preferred for two reasons. First, brittle fracture occurs
suddenly and catastrophically without any warning, this is consequence of the spontaneous and
rapid crack propagation. On the other hand, for ductile fracture, the presence of plastic
deformation gives warning that fracture is imminent, allowing preventive measures to be taken.
Second, more strain energy is required to induce ductile fracture inasmuch as ductile materials
are generally tougher.
Ductile Fracture:
* The most common type of tensile fracture profile for ductile metals is represented in Fig.8.1b.
The fracture process normally occurs in several stages Fig.8.2. First, after necking begins, small
cavities, or microvoids, form in the interior of the cross section as indicated in Fig. 8.2b, 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.
•The crack continues to grow in a direction parallel to its major axis by this microvoid
coalescence process.
• Finally fracture ensures by the rapid propagation of a crack around the outer perimeter of the
neck by shear deformation at an angle of 45 with the tensile axis, this is the angle at which the
shear stress is maximum.
* Some times a fracture having this 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.
The central interior region of the surface has an irregular and fibrous appearance, which is
indicative of plastic deformation.

Figure 8.1 (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.
 Figure 8.2 Stages in the cup-and-cone
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
angle relative to the tensile direction.

Figure 8.3 (a) Cup-and-cone

fracture in aluminum.
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, in fig 8.1c.Fracture surfaces of
materials that failed in a brittle manner will have their own distinctive patterns any signs of
gross plastic deformation will be absent. For example in some steel pieces, a series of V-shaped
chevron marking may form near the center of the fracture cross section that point back towards
the crack initiation site.
* For most brittle crystalline materials, crack propagation corresponds to the successive and
repeated breaking of atomic bonds along specific crystallographic planes, such a process is
terms cleavage. This type of fracture is said to be transgranular because the fracture cracks
pass through the grains. Macroscopically, the fracture surface may have a grainy or faceted
texture as a result of changes in orientation of the cleavage planes from grain to grain.

V-shaped “chevron” markings characteristic of brittle Fig.8.3 (b) Brittle fracture in a mild
fracture. steel.
Grains Path of crack propagation Grains boundaries Path of crack propagation

Schematic cross-section and SEM micrographs of fracture

Principles of Fracture Mechanics
* The fracture strength of a solid material is a function of the cohesive forces that exist
between atoms.
•The measured fracture strengths for most brittle materials are significantly lower than those
predicted by theoretical calculations based on atomic bonding energies.
• This discrepancy is explained by the presence of very small, microscopic flaws or cracks that
always exist under normal conditions at the surface and within the interior of a body of
material.
•These flaws are a detriment to the fracture strength because an applied stress may be
amplified or concentrated at the tip, the magnitude of this amplification depending on crack
orientation and geometry.
Griffith theory of Brittle/Ductile Fracture
Griffith propose that all brittle materials contain a population of small cracks and flaws that have
a variety of sizes, geometries, and orientations. Fracture will result when, upon application of a
tensile stress, the theoretical cohesive strength of the material is exceeded at the tip of one of
these flaws. This leads to the formation of a crack that then rapidly propagates. If no flaws were
present the fracture strength would be equal to the cohesive strength of the material.
During the propagation of a crack, there is a release of what is termed the elastic strain energy,
some of the energy that is stored in the material as it is elastically deformed, during the crack
extension process, new free surfaces are created at the faces of a crack, which give rise to an
increase in surface energy of the system.
He demonstrated that the critical stress σc required for crack propagation in a brittle material is
described by
E= modulus of elasticity
A= one half the length of an internal crack.
γs= specific surface energy

This development applies only to completely brittle materials for which there is no plastic
deformation. Most metals and many polymers do experience some plastic deformation during
fracture, thus crack extension involves more than producing just an increase in the surface
energy. This complication may be accommodated by replacing γs in eq by γs + γp where γp
represents a plastic deformation energy associated with crack extension thus:

For highly ductile materials, it may be the case that γp >> γs such that

In 1950, G.R Irwin chose to incorporate both γs and γp into a single term Gc as
Gc is known as the critical strain energy release rate.

Thus crack extension occur when Πσ2a / E exceeds the value of Gc for the particular material
under consideration.
Fracture Toughness
* The fracture of a metal(material) starts at a place where the stress concentration is the
highest, which may be at the tip of a sharp crack, e.g. let us consider a plate sample under
uniaxial tension which contains an edge crack or a center through crack.
•The stress at the tip of a sharp crack is highest at the tip as indicated in fig. 6.61c. The stress
intensity at the crack tip is found to be dependent on both the applied stress and the width of
the crack. We use the stress intensity factor K1 to express the combination of the effects of the
stress at the crack tip and the crack length.
• The subscript 1 indicates mode 1 testing in which a tensile stress causes the crack to open. By
experiment, for the case of uniaxial tension on a metal plate containing an edge or internal
crack (mode 1 testing), we find that
K1 = Yσ √πa
Where
K1= stress intensity factor
σ = applied nominal stress
a = edge crack length or half the length of an internal through crack
Y= dimensionless geometric constant of the order of 1

* The critical value of the stress intensity factor that causes failure of the plate is called the
fracture toughness K1c of the material. In terms of the fracture stress σf and the crack length a for
an edge crack (or one half of the internal crack length)
K1c = Yσf √ πa
• Fracture toughness values of material are useful in mechanical design when working with
materials of limited toughness or ductility such as high strength aluminum, steel, and titanium
alloys.
• Table 6.5. materials that show little plastic deformation before fracture have relatively low
fracture toughness K1c values and tend to be more brittle, whereas those with higher K1c values
are more ductile.
• Fracture toughness values can be used in mechanical design to predict the allowable flaw size
in alloys with limited ductility when acted upon by specific stresses.

Fig. 6.61

Fig. 6.62
Table.6.65
FATIGUE OF METALS:
* In many types of service applications metal parts subjected to repetitive or cyclic stresses will
fail at a much lower stress than that the part can withstand under the application of a single
static stress . these failures which occur under repeated or cyclic stressing are called fatigue
failures. Examples of machine parts in which fatigue failures are common are moving parts such
as shafts, connecting rods and gears.
* A typical fatigue failure of a keyed steel shaft is shown in Fig.6.63. a fatigue failure usually
originates at a point of stress concentration such as a sharp corner or notch, or a metallurgical
inclusion or flaw. Once nucleated, the crack propagates across the part under the cyclic or
repeated stresses. During this stage of the fatigue process, clamshell or beach marks are
created. Finally the remaining section becomes so small that it can no longer support the load,
and complete fracture occurs.

Fig.6.63
* Many types of tests are used to determine the fatigue life of a material. The most commonly
used small scale fatigue test I the rotating beam test in which specimen is subjected to
alternating compression and tension stresses of equal magnitude while being rotated Fig.6.64 a
sketch of the specimen for the R.R. Moore reversed bending fatigue test is shown in Fig 6.64 the
surface of this specimen is carefully polished toward the center.

Fig. 6.64 R.R.Moore reversed-

bending fatigue machine.

* Data from this test is plotted against the number of cycles N at which failure occurs.
Fig.6.66 shows typical SN curves for high carbon steel and a high strength aluminum
alloy. For the aluminum alloy, the stress to cause failure decreases as the number of
cycles is increased. For the carbon steel, there is first a decrease in fatigue strength as
the number of cycles is increased and then there is leaving off in the curve, with a no
decrease in fatigue strength as the number of cycles is increased. This horizontal part of
the SN is called the fatigue or endurance limit and lies between 106 and 1010cycles.
Many ferrous alloys exhibit an endurance limit which is about one half their tensile
strength. Non ferrous alloys such as aluminum alloys do not have an endurance limit and
may have fatigue strengths as low as one third their tensile strength.
Some major factors which effect the fatigue
strength.
1-Stress concentration. Fatigue strength is
greatly reduced by the presence of stress
raisers such as notches, holes, keyways or
sharp changes in cross sections. For example,
the fatigue failure in fig.6.63 started at the
keyway in the steel shaft. Fatigue failures can
be minimized by careful design to avoid
stress raisers whenever possible.

Fig. 6.66

2-Surface roughness. In general the smoother the surface finish on the metal sample, the higher
the fatigue strength. Rough surfaces create stress raisers which facilitate fatigue crack
formation.
3-Surface condition. For example surface hardening treatments for steels such as carburizing
and nitriding which harden the surface increase fatigue life. Decarburizing, on the other hand,
which softens a heat treated steel surface, lower fatigue life.
4-Environment. If a corrosive environment is present during the cyclic stress of a metal, the
chemical attack greatly accelerates the rate at which fatigue cracks propagate. The combination
of corrosion attack and cyclic stresses on a metal is known as corrosion fatigue.
Thermal Fatigue:
Thermal fatigue is normally induced at elevated temperatures by fluctuating thermal
stresses, mechanical stresses from an external source need not be present. The origin
of these thermal stresses is the restraint to the dimensional expansion and or contraction
that would normally occur in a structural member with variations in temperature. The
magnitude of a thermal stress developed by a temperature change is dependent on the
coefficient of thermal α expansion and the modulus of elasticity according to
σ = α E ΔT
CREEP:
* When a metal or an alloy is under a constant load or stress, it may undergo
progressive plastic deformation over a period of time. This time dependent strain is
called creep.
•The creep of metals and alloys is very important for some types of engineering designs,
particularly those operated at elevated temperature, e.g. gas turbine blades must choose
an alloy with a very low creep rate so that the blades can remain in service for a long
period of time before reaching the max. allowable strain.
•Consider creep of pure polycrystalline metal at a temperature above one half of 1/2T M.
let us consider a creep experiment in which an annealed tensile specimen is subjected
to a constant load of sufficient magnitude to cause extensive creep deformation, a creep
curve shown in Fig.6.68.
* There is first an instantaneous rapid
Fig.6.68
elongation of the specimen, ε0 the
specimen exhibits primary creep in which
the strain rate decreases with time. The
slope of the curve (dε/dt) is designated the
creep rate.
* Thus during primary creep the creep rate
progressively decreases with time. After
primary creep, a second stage of creep
rate is essentially constant and is therefore
also referred to as steady state creep.
* Finally, a third or tertiary stage of creep occurs in which the creep rate rapidly
increases with time up to the strain at fracture, because of due to necking of the
specimen and also to the formation of voids. The shape of the creep curve depends
strongly on the applied load (stress) and temperature. Higher stress and higher
temperatures increase the creep rate. In general both the stress on the metal
undergoing creep and its temperature are increased, the creep rate is also increased.

Fig.6.69 A jet engine turbine blade which

has undergone creep deformation causing
local deformation and a multiplicity of
intergranular cracks.