Chapter 10: Mechanical Failure & Failure
Analysis
ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
• How do flaws in a material initiate failure?
• How is fracture resistance quantified; how do different
material classes compare?
• How do we estimate the stress to fracture?
• How do loading rate, loading history, and temperature
affect the failure stress?
Ship-cyclic loading Computer chip-cyclic Hip implant-cyclic
from waves. thermal loading. loading from walking.
Adapted from chapter-opening Adapted from Fig. 22.30(b), Callister 7e. Adapted from Fig. 22.26(b),
photograph, Chapter 8, Callister 7e. (by (Fig. 22.30(b) is courtesy of National Callister 7e.
Neil Boenzi, The New York Times.) Semiconductor Corporation.)
Fracture mechanisms
• Ductile fracture
– Occurs with plastic deformation
• Brittle fracture
– Occurs with Little or no plastic
deformation
– Thus they are Catastrophic meaning
they occur without warning!
Ductile vs Brittle Failure
Fracture Very Moderately
Brittle
behavior: Ductile Ductile
• Ductile fracture is
nearly always
desirable!
%Ra or %El Large Moderate Small
Ductile: Brittle:
warning before No
fracture warning
Example: Failure of a Pipe
• Ductile failure:
--one piece
--large deformation
• Brittle failure:
--many pieces
--small deformation
Figures from V.J. Colangelo and F.A.
Heiser, Analysis of Metallurgical Failures
(2nd ed.), Fig. 4.1(a) and (b), p. 66 John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1987. Used with
permission.
Moderately Ductile Failure
• Evolution to failure:
void void growth shearing
necking and linkage at surface fracture
nucleation
s
• Resulting 50
50mm
mm
fracture
surfaces
(steel)
100 mm
Inclusion From V.J. Colangelo and F.A. Heiser, Fracture surface of tire cord wire
particles Analysis of Metallurgical Failures (2nd loaded in tension. Courtesy of F.
ed.), Fig. 11.28, p. 294, John Wiley and Roehrig, CC Technologies, Dublin,
serve as void Sons, Inc., 1987. (Orig. source: P. OH. Used with permission.
nucleation Thornton, J. Mater. Sci., Vol. 6, 1971, pp.
347-56.)
sites.
Failure Analysis – Failure Avoidance
• Most failure occur due to the presence of defects
in materials
– Cracks or Flaws (stress concentrators)
– Voids or inclusions
• Presence of defects is best found before hand
and they should be determined non-destructively
– X-Ray analysis
– Ultra-Sonic Inspection
– Surface inspection
• Magna-flux
• Dye Penetrant
Ideal vs Real Materials
• Stress-strain behavior (Room Temp):
s perfect mat’l-no flaws
E/10 TSengineering << TS perfect
materials materials
carefully produced glass fiber
E/100 typical ceramic typical strengthened metal
typical polymer
0.1 e
• DaVinci (500 yrs ago!) observed... Reprinted w/
permission from R.W.
-- the longer the wire, the Hertzberg,
"Deformation and
smaller the load for failure. Fracture Mechanics
of Engineering
• Reasons: Materials", (4th ed.)
Fig. 7.4. John Wiley
-- flaws cause premature failure. and Sons, Inc., 1996.
-- Larger samples contain more flaws!
Considering Loading Rate Effect
• Increased loading rate... • Why? An increased rate
-- increases sy and TS allows less time for
-- decreases %EL dislocations to move past
obstacles.
s
TS e
sy larger
e
TS
smaller
sy
e
Impact (high strain rate) Testing
• Impact loading (see ASTM E23 std.):
(Charpy Specimen)
-- severe testing case
-- makes material act more brittle
-- decreases toughness
• Useful to compare alternative materials
for severe applications
Adapted from Fig. 8.12(b),
Callister 7e. (Fig. 8.12(b) is
adapted from H.W. Hayden,
W.G. Moffatt, and J. Wulff, The
Structure and Properties of
Materials, Vol. III, Mechanical
Behavior, John Wiley and Sons,
Inc. (1965) p. 13.)
final height initial height
Considering Temperature Effects
• Increasing temperature...
--increases %EL and Kc
• Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)...
FCC metals (e.g., Cu, Ni)
Impact Energy
BCC metals (e.g., iron at T < 914°C)
polymers
Brittle More Ductile
High strength materials (s y > E/150)
Adapted from Fig. 8.15,
Callister 7e.
Temperature
Ductile-to-brittle
transition temperature
Flaws are Stress Concentrators!
Results from crack propagation
• Griffith Crack Model:
1/ 2
æa ö
s m = 2so çç ÷÷ = K t so
è rt ø
rt where
rt = radius of curvature of
crack tip
so = applied stress
sm = stress at crack tip
Adapted from Fig. 8.8(a), Callister 7e.
Concentration of Stress at Crack Tip
Adapted from Fig. 8.8(b), Callister 7e.
Engineering Fracture Design
• Avoid sharp corners!
so s max
Stress Conc. Factor, K t = s
o
sw
max 2.5 smax is the concentrated
stress in the narrowed
r, h region
fillet 2.0 increasing w/h
radius
Adapted from G.H. 1.5
Neugebauer, Prod. Eng.
(NY), Vol. 14, pp. 82-87
1943.)
1.0 r/h
0 0.5 1.0
sharper fillet radius
Crack Propagation
Cracks propagate due to sharpness of crack tip
• A plastic material deforms at the tip, “blunting” the
crack.
plastic
deformed
region
brittle
Energy balance on the crack
• Elastic strain energy-
• energy is stored in material as it is elastically deformed
• this energy is released when the crack propagates
• creation of new surfaces requires (this) energy
When Does a Crack Propagate?
Crack propagates if applied stress is above critical
stress
1/ 2
i.e., sm > sc æ 2Eg s ö
sc = ç ÷
or Kt > Kc è pa ø
where
– E = modulus of elasticity
– gs = specific surface energy
– a = one half length of internal crack
– Kc = sc/s0
For ductile materials Þ replace gs by gs + gp
where gp is plastic deformation energy
Fracture Toughness
Graphite/ K1c – plane strain stress
Metals/ Composites/
Alloys
Ceramics/ Polymers
fibers
concentration factor – with
Semicond edge crack; A Material
100
C-C(|| fibers) 1 Property we use for design,
70 Steels
60 Ti alloys
developed using ASTM Std:
50 ASTM E399 - 09 Standard
40
Al alloys Test Method for Linear-
30 Mg alloys Elastic Plane-Strain Fracture
K Ic (MPa · m0.5 )
20 Toughness K Ic of Metallic
Al/Al oxide(sf) 2
Y2 O 3 /ZrO 2 (p) 4
Materials
10 C/C( fibers) 1 Composite reinforcement geometry is: f =
Al oxid/SiC(w) 3 fibers; sf = short fibers; w = whiskers; p =
Diamond Si nitr/SiC(w) 5
7 Al oxid/ZrO 2 (p) 4
particles. Addition data as noted (vol. fraction of
6 Si carbide Glass/SiC(w) 6 reinforcement):
5 Al oxide PET 1. (55vol%) ASM Handbook, Vol. 21, ASM Int., Materials
4 Si nitride Park, OH (2001) p. 606.
PP 2. (55 vol%) Courtesy J. Cornie, MMC, Inc., Waltham,
3 PVC
MA.
3. (30 vol%) P.F. Becher et al., Fracture Mechanics of
Ceramics, Vol. 7, Plenum Press (1986). pp. 61-73.
2 PC 4. Courtesy CoorsTek, Golden, CO.
5. (30 vol%) S.T. Buljan et al., "Development of Ceramic
Matrix Composites for Application in Technology for
Advanced Engines Program", ORNL/Sub/85-22011/2,
1 <100> ORNL, 1992.
Si crystal PS Glass 6 6. (20vol%) F.D. Gace et al., Ceram. Eng. Sci. Proc., Vol.
<111>
0.7 Glass -soda 7 (1986) pp. 978-82.
0.6 Polyester
Concrete
0.5
As Engineers we must Design Against Crack
Growth
• Crack growth condition:
K ≥ Kc = Ys pa
• Largest, most stressed cracks grow first!
--Result 1: Max. flaw size --Result 2: Design stress
dictates design stress! dictates max. flaw size!
2
Kc 1 æç K c ö
sdesign < amax < ÷
Y pamax p çè Ysdesign ÷
ø
amax
s
fracture fracture
no no
fracture amax fracture s
Y is a material behavior shape factor
Design Example: Aircraft Wing
• Material has Kc = 26 MPa-m0.5
• Two designs to consider...
Design A Design B
--largest flaw is 9 mm --use same material
--failure occurs at stress = 112 MPa --largest flaw is 4 mm
Kc --failure stress = ?
• Use... sc =
Y pamax
• Key point: Y and Kc are the same in both designs!
--Result:
112 MPa 9 mm 4 mm • Reducing flaw size pa
(sc amax )A = (sc amax )B
Consider two different designs for an areophane wing. In one
design for a largest flaw dimension of 9 mm it fails at a stress of
112 MPa. What will be the failure stress if in another wing the flaw
size is 4 mm?
Let’s look at Another Situation
• Steel subject to tensile
stress of 1030 MPa, it has
K1c of 54.8 MPaÖ(m) – a
handbook value
• If it has a ‘largest surface
crack’ .5 mm (.0005 m)
long will it grow and
fracture?
• What crack size will result
in failure?
Let’s look at Another Situation
• Steel subject to tensile
stress of 1030 MPa, it has K a = Ys a p a
K1c of 54.8 MPaÖ(m) – a here
handbook value Y =1
• If it has a ‘largest surface
crack’ .5 mm (.0005 m) Y s a p a = 1*1030* 3.141*.0005 = 40.82
long will it grow and Since K a < K1c the part won't fail!
fracture?
K1c = Y s c p a
2
æ K1c ö
( )
2
ç 54.8
• What crack size will result
è Y s c ÷ø 1*1030
a= =
in failure? p 3.1416
a = .0009m = .9mm
Figure 8.7 Two mechanisms for improving fracture toughness of ceramics by crack
arrest. (a) Transformation toughening of partially stabilized zirconia involves the stress-
induced transformation of tetragonal grains to the monoclinic structure, which has a
larger specific volume. The result is a local volume expansion at the crack tip, squeezing
the crack shut and producing a residual compressive stress. (b) Microcracks produced
during fabrication of the ceramic can blunt the advancing crack tip
SUMMARY
• Engineering materials don't reach theoretical strength.
• Flaws produce stress concentrations that cause
premature failure.
• Sharp corners produce large stress concentrations
and premature failure.
• Failure type depends on T and stress:
- for noncyclic s and T < 0.4Tm, failure stress decreases with:
- increased maximum flaw size,
- decreased T,
- increased rate of loading.
- for cyclic s:
- cycles to fail decreases as Ds increases.
- for higher T (T > 0.4Tm):
- time to fail decreases as s or T increases.
