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1 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure

How do Materials Break?
Chapter Outline: Failure
Ductile vs. brittle fracture
Principles of fracture mechanics
Stress concentration
Impact fracture testing
Fatigue (cyclic stresses)
Cyclic stresses, the SN curve
Crack initiation and propagation
Factors that affect fatigue behavior
Creep (time dependent deformation)
Stress and temperature effects
Alloys for high-temperature use
Not tested: in 8.5 Fracture Toughness
8.14 Data extrapolation methods
2 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fracture: separation of a body into pieces due to stress, at
temperatures below the melting point.
Steps in fracture:
crack formation
crack propagation
Fracture
Depending on the ability of material to undergo plastic
deformation before the fracture two fracture modes can be
defined - ductile or brittle
Ductile fracture - most metals (not too cold):
Extensive plastic deformation ahead of crack
Crack is stable: resists further extension unless
applied stress is increased
Brittle fracture - ceramics, ice, cold metals:
Relatively little plastic deformation
Crack is unstable: propagates rapidly without
increase in applied stress
Ductile fracture is preferred in most applications
3 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Brittle vs. Ductile Fracture
Ductile materials - extensive plastic deformation and
energy absorption (toughness) before fracture
Brittle materials - little plastic deformation and low
energy absorption before fracture
4 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
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.
A B C
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5 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Ductile Fracture (Dislocation Mediated)
(a) Necking
(b) Formation of microvoids
(c) Coalescence of microvoids to form a crack
(d) Crack propagation by shear deformation
(e) Fracture
Crack
grows
90
o
to
applied
stress
45
O
-
maximum
shear
stress
Cup-and-cone
fracture
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Ductile Fracture
(Cup-and-cone fracture in Al)
Scanning Electron Microscopy: Fractographic studies at
high resolution. Spherical dimples correspond to
microvoids that initiate crack formation.
tensile failure shear failure
7 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
No appreciable plastic deformation
Crack propagation is very fast
Crack propagates nearly perpendicular to the
direction of the applied stress
Crack often propagates by cleavage - breaking
of atomic bonds along specific
crystallographic planes (cleavage planes).
Brittle Fracture (Limited Dislocation Mobility)
Brittle fracture in a mild steel
8 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
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.)
A B
Brittle Fracture
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9 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fracture strength of a brittle solid is related to the cohesive
forces between atoms. One can estimate that the
theoretical cohesive strength of a brittle material should be
~ E/10. But experimental fracture strength is normally
E/100 - E/10,000.
This much lower fracture strength is explained by the
effect of stress concentration at microscopic flaws. The
applied stress is amplified at the tips of micro-cracks,
voids, notches, surface scratches, corners, etc. that are
called stress raisers. The magnitude of this amplification
depends on micro-crack orientations, geometry and
dimensions.
Stress Concentration
Figure by
N. Bernstein &
D. Hess, NRL
10 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Stress Concentration
where
0
is the applied external stress, a is the half-length
of the crack, and
t
the radius of curvature of the crack tip.
(note that a is half-length of the internal flaw, but the full
length for a surface flaw).
The stress concentration factor is:
2 / 1
t
0 m
a
2

For a long crack oriented perpendicular to the applied
stress the maximum stress near the crack tip is:
2 / 1
t 0
m
t
a
2 K

=
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Crack propagation
Energy balance on the crack
Elastic strain energy:
energy stored in material as it is elastically deformed
this energy is released when the crack propagates
creation of new surfaces requires energy
ductile
Cracks with sharp tips propagate easier than cracks having
blunt tips
2 / 1
t
0 m
a
2

In ductile materials, plastic deformation at a crack tip
blunts the crack.
brittle
deformed
region
2 1
2
/
s
c
a
E

= Critical stress for crack propagation:

s
= specific surface energy
for ductile materials
s
should be replaced with
s
+
p
where
p
is plastic deformation energy
Griffith's criterion
12 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Two standard tests, the Charpy and Izod, measure the
impact energy (the energy required to fracture a test piece
under an impact load), also called the notch toughness.
Impact Fracture Testing
(testing fracture characteristics under high strain rates)
Charpy
Izod
h
h
Energy ~ h - h
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13 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
As temperature decreases a ductile material can become
brittle - ductile-to-brittle transition
Alloying usually increases the ductile-to-brittle transition
temperature. FCC metals remain ductile down to very
low temperatures. For ceramics, this type of transition
occurs at much higher temperatures than for metals.
The ductile-to-brittle transition can be measured by
impact testing: the impact energy needed for fracture
drops suddenly over a relatively narrow temperature
range temperature of the ductile-to-brittle transition.
Ductile-to-brittle transition
BCC metals (e.g., iron at T <914C)
I
m
p
a
c
t

E
n
e
r
g
y
Temperature
High strength materials (
y
>E/150)
polymers
More Ductile Brittle
Ductile-to-brittle
transition temperature
FCC metals (e.g., Cu, Ni)
14 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Low temperatures can severely embrittle steels. The
Liberty ships, produced in great numbers during the WWII
were the first all-welded ships. A significant number of
ships failed by catastrophic fracture. Fatigue cracks
nucleated at the corners of square hatches and propagated
rapidly by brittle fracture.
Ductile-to-brittle transition
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V. Bulatov et al., Nature 391, #6668, 669 (1998)
Dynamic" Brittle-to-Ductile Transition (not tested)
(from molecular dynamics simulation of crack propagation)
Ductile
Brittle
16 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Under fluctuating / cyclic stresses, failure can occur at
loads considerably lower than tensile or yield strengths of
material under a static load: Fatigue
Estimated to causes 90% of all failures of metallic
structures (bridges, aircraft, machine components, etc.)
Fatigue failure is brittle-like (relatively little plastic
deformation) - even in normally ductile materials. Thus
sudden and catastrophic!
Applied stresses causing fatigue may be axial (tension or
compression), flextural (bending) or torsional (twisting).
Fatigue failure proceeds in three distinct stages: crack
initiation in the areas of stress concentration (near stress
raisers), incremental crack propagation, final catastrophic
failure.
Fatigue
(Failure under fluctuating / cyclic stresses)
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17 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fatigue: Cyclic Stresses (I)
Periodic and
symmetrical
about zero
stress
Periodic and
asymmetrical
about zero
stress
Random
stress
fluctuations
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Fatigue: Cyclic Stresses (II)
Cyclic stresses are characterized by maximum, minimum
and mean stress, the range of stress, the stress amplitude,
and the stress ratio
Mean stress:
m
= (
max
+
min
) / 2
Range of stress:
r
= (
max
-
min
)
Stress amplitude:
a
=
r
/2 = (
max
-
min
) / 2
Stress ratio: R =
min
/
max
Remember the convention that tensile stresses are positive,
compressive stresses are negative
19 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fatigue: S N curves (I)
(stress number of cycles to failure)
Fatigue properties of a material (S-N curves) are tested in
rotating-bending tests in fatigue testing apparatus:
Result is commonly plotted as S (stress) vs. N (number of
cycles to failure)
Low cycle fatigue: high loads, plastic and elastic
deformation
High cycle fatigue: low loads, elastic deformation (N >
10
5
)
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Fatigue: SN curves (II)
Fatigue limit (endurance limit) occurs for some materials
(e.g. some Fe and Ti alloys). In this case, the SN curve
becomes horizontal at large N. The fatigue limit is a
maximum stress amplitude below which the material never
fails, no matter how large the number of cycles is.
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21 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fatigue: SN curves (III)
In most alloys, S decreases continuously with N. In this
cases the fatigue properties are described by
Fatigue strength: stress at which fracture occurs after a
specified number of cycles (e.g. 10
7
)
Fatigue life: Number of cycles to fail at a specified stress
level
22 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fatigue: Crack initiation and propagation (I)
Three stages of fatigue failure:
1. crack initiation in the areas of stress concentration
(near stress raisers)
2. incremental crack propagation
3. final rapid crack propagation after crack reaches
critical size
The total number of cycles to failure is the sum of cycles at
the first and the second stages:
N
f
= N
i
+ N
p
N
f
: Number of cycles to failure
N
i
: Number of cycles for crack initiation
N
p
: Number of cycles for crack propagation
High cycle fatigue (low loads): N
i
is relatively high. With
increasing stress level, N
i
decreases and N
p
dominates
23 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Fatigue: Crack initiation and propagation (II)
Crack initiation at the sites of stress concentration
(microcracks, scratches, indents, interior corners,
dislocation slip steps, etc.). Quality of surface is
important.
Crack propagation
Stage I: initial slow
propagation along crystal
planes with high resolved
shear stress. Involves just a
few grains, and has flat
fracture surface
Stage II: faster propagation
perpendicular to the applied
stress. Crack grows by
repetitive blunting and
sharpening process at crack
tip. Rough fracture surface.
Crack eventually reaches critical dimension and
propagates very rapidly
24 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Factors that affect fatigue life
Magnitude of stress (mean, amplitude...)
Quality of the surface (scratches, sharp transitions).
Solutions:
Polishing (removes machining flaws etc.)
Introducing compressive stresses (compensate for
applied tensile stresses) into thin surface layer by Shot
Peening- firing small shot into surface to be treated.
High-tech solution - ion implantation, laser peening.
Case Hardening - create C- or N- rich outer layer in
steels by atomic diffusion from the surface. Makes
harder outer layer and also introduces compressive
stresses
Optimizing geometry - avoid internal corners, notches
etc.
shot peening
put
surface
into
compression
shot
carburizing
C-rich gas
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25 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Factors that affect fatigue life: environmental effects
Thermal Fatigue. Thermal cycling causes expansion
and contraction, hence thermal stress, if component is
restrained.
Solutions:
eliminate restraint by design
use materials with low thermal expansion
coefficients
Corrosion fatigue. Chemical reactions induce pits
which act as stress raisers. Corrosion also enhances
crack propagation.
Solutions:
decrease corrosiveness of medium, if possible
add protective surface coating
add residual compressive stresses
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Creep
Furnace
Creep is a time-dependent and permanent deformation
of materials when subjected to a constant load at a high
temperature (> 0.4 T
m
). Examples: turbine blades, steam
generators.
Creep testing:
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Stages of creep
1. Instantaneous deformation, mainly elastic.
2. Primary/transient creep. Slope of strain vs. time
decreases with time: work-hardening
3. Secondary/steady-state creep. Rate of straining is
constant: balance of work-hardening and recovery.
4. Tertiary. Rapidly accelerating strain rate up to failure:
formation of internal cracks, voids, grain boundary
separation, necking, etc.
28 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
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 lifetime, t
r
.
t /
s
= &
t
r
/t
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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
30 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Creep: stress and temperature effects
The stress/temperature dependence of the steady-state
creep rate can be described by

=
RT
Q
exp K
c n
2 s
&
where Q
c
is the activation energy for creep, K
2
and n
are material constants.
(Remember the Arrhenius dependence on temperature for
thermally activated processes that we discussed for diffusion)
31 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
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
Different mechanisms result in different values of n, Q
c
.
Grain boundary diffusion Dislocation glide and climb
32 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Alloys for high-temperature use
(turbines in jet engines, hypersonic airplanes, nuclear
reactors, etc.)
Creep is generally minimized in materials with:
High melting temperature
High elastic modulus
Large grain sizes (inhibits grain boundary sliding)
Following alloys are especially resilient to creep:
Stainless steels
Refractory metals (containing elements of high
melting point, like Nb, Mo, W, Ta)
Superalloys (Co, Ni based: solid solution
hardening and secondary phases)
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33 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Summary
Brittle fracture
Corrosion fatigue
Creep
Ductile fracture
Ductile-to-brittle transition
Fatigue
Fatigue life
Fatigue limit
Fatigue strength
Impact energy
Intergranular fracture
Stress raiser
Thermal fatigue
Transgranular fracture
Make sure you understand language and concepts:
34 MSE 2090: Introduction to Materials Science Chapter 8, Failure
Reading for next class:
Chapter 9: Phase diagrams
Fundamental concepts and language
Phases and microstructure
Binary isomorphous systems (complete solid solubility)
Binary eutectic systems (limited solid solubility)
Binary systems with intermediate phases/compounds
The iron-carbon system (steel and cast iron)