Failure

Introduction Failure still occurs despite the understanding of the behavior of materials.
Sources of failure include:- improper design; materials selection; materials processing; and abuse.

Expect failure to occur: therefore, exercise good design, materials and processing selection; quality control, and testing to prevent failures. In an event of failure, determine the cause so as to prevent future occurrences.

Failure Mechanisms
An understanding of failure mechanisms is important in order to determine the cause of failure. There are six common fracture mechanisms: Ductile, brittle, fatigue, creep and stress rupture, and stress corrosion.

Ductile fracture
Ductile fracture occurs in a transgranular manner in metals having good ductility and toughness.
Considerable deformation occurs with this type of failure necking, deformation occurs before the actual fracture. These type of fractures are caused by small loads.

In a tensile test, ductile fracture follows: nucleation, growth, and coalescence of micrvoids at the centre of the test bar.

Ductile fracture

Ductile fracture

Ductile fracture

On both macroscopic and microscopic levels, ductile fracture surfaces have distinct features. Macroscopically, ductile fracture surfaces have larger necking regions and an overall rougher appearance than a brittle fracture surface. Figure above shows the macroscopic differences between two ductile specimens(a) ductile specimen and (b) the brittle specimen

Brittle fracture
Brittle fracture occurs in high strength metals or metals with poor ductility and toughness. Ductile metals can failure in brittle manner at low temperatures, in thick sections, at high strain rates (such as impact loads). In brittle fracture, there is little or no plastic deformation. Crack initiation occurs at small flaws, which cause concentration of stress.

Brittle fracture

Brittle fracture
Crack may move very fast, at a rate close to velocity of sound in metals. Crack propagates most easily along specific crystallographic planes, often the {100} planes cleavage. In some cases, the crack can take intergranular path (along the grain boundaries), especially when segregation or inclusions weaken the grain boundaries.

Brittle fracture
A. Transgranular fracture: Fracture cracks pass through grains. Fracture surface have faceted texture because of different orientation of cleavage planes in grains. B. Intergranular fracture: Fracture crack propagation is along grain boundaries (grain boundaries are weakened or embrittled by impurities segregation etc.)

Brittle fracture

Brittle fracture
Brittle fracture is identified by observing the features on the failed surface. The surface is flat and perpendicular to the applied stress in a tensile test. Failure by cleavage, the surface is featured by flat grains differently oriented, giving a crystalline or rock candy appearance. Crack often propagates by cleavage breaking of atomic bonds along specific crystallographic planes (cleavage planes).

Brittle fracture

Brittle fracture in a mild steel

Brittle fracture

Brittle vs. Ductile Fracture

A. Very ductile, soft metals (e.g. Pb, Au) at room temperature, other metals, polymers, glasses at high temperature. B. Moderately ductile fracture, typical for ductile metals C. Brittle fracture, cold metals, ceramics.

Creep
Creep is a time-dependent and permanent deformation of materials when subjected to a constant load at a high temperature (> 0.4 Tm). Examples: turbine blades, steam generators. Parameters of creep behavior The stage of secondary/steady-state creep is of longest duration and the steady-state creep rate is the most important parameter of the creep behavior in long-life applications. Another parameter, especially important in short-life creep situations, is time to rupture, or the rupture

Creep
Creep: stress and temperature effects With increasing stress or temperature: The instantaneous strain increases The steady-state creep rate increases The time to rupture decreases

Mechanisms of Creep
Different mechanisms are responsible for creep in different materials and under different loading and temperature conditions. The mechanisms include
Stress-assisted vacancy diffusion Grain boundary diffusion Grain boundary sliding Dislocation motion

Stress Rupture
At elevated temps., a metal undergoes thermally induced plastic deformation; even though nominal stress in below yield strength. Fracture accompanied by necking, void nucleation, coalescence or grain boundary sliding. Stress rupture is the actual fracture of the metal part. Ductile stress-ruptures include necking, presence of many cracks, and elongated grains near the fracture surface.

Stress Rupture
Normally ductile-stress rupture failures occur at high creep rates and relatively low temps and short rupture times. Brittle stress-rupture fractures show little necking and occur more often at slow rupture rates and high temps.
Brittle fracture occurs by formation of voids at the intersection of three grain boundaries, and Precipitation of additional voids along grain boundaries by diffusion processes.

Stress-Corrosion Fractures
Stress-corrosion fractures occur at stresses well below yield strength of the metal, due
Attack accompanied by a corrosive medium, Deep fine cracks are produced

Stresses can be external or stored as residual stresses. Identified by extensive branching of cracks along grain boundaries