CHAPTER

Mechanical Properties of Metals:

FRACTURE

By Clinton Bemont
Adapted from McGraw-Hill and other sources
 Fracture of Metals – Ductile Fracture
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• Fracture results in separation of stressed solid into two or more

parts.
• Ductile fracture : High plastic deformation & slow crack
propagation.
• Three steps :
 Specimen forms neck and
cavities within neck.
 Cavities coalesce to form a
crack
and crack propagates towards
surface, perpendicular to stress.
 Direction of crack changes to
450 resulting in cup-cone
fracture.

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Brittle Fracture
• No significant plastic deformation before fracture.
• Common at high strain rates and low temperature.
• Three stages:
 Plastic deformation concentrates
dislocations along slip planes.
 Microcracks nucleate due to shear
stress where dislocations are blocked
due to extreme dislocation density and
SEM of ductile fracture
resulting dislocation “entanglement”.
 Crack propagates to fracture.

• Example: HCP Zinc single crystal

under high stress along {0001}
plane undergoes brittle fracture.
3 SEM of brittle fracture
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Ductile and Brittle Fractures

Ductile fracture Brittle Fracture

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Ductile cup & cone fracture; Rapid “chevron mark” facture

Centrol South University

Us department of transport

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Fatigue of Metals
• Metals commonly fail at much lower stresses during cyclic loading compared
to static loading. Failure can even occur well below the material's yield point.
• Crack nucleates at region of stress concentration and steadily (usually slowly)
propagates due to cyclic loading.
• Failure occurs when the
remaining cross sectional area
of the metal is too small to
withstand the applied load.
• Beach marks represent a
change in cyclic loading Fracture started here
frequency or environment (eg.
Beach marks
temperature). They are visible
at low magnification or even Final rupture
with the eye.
• Striations represent individual
load cycles and are very small.
They are visible with an Fatigue fractured surface of keyed shaft
electron microscope.
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Beach Marks and Striations

Top – Beach Marks Top – Beach Marks Top – Beach Marks

Bottom – Striations Bottom – Striations Bottom – Striations
Metallurgical Technologies Inc Key to metals Plymouth University

Note “Chevron” fracture pattern in fast

7 fracture portion of top, centre image
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Fatigues Testing
• Alternating compression and tension load is applied on metal
piece tapered towards center.

• Stress to cause failure at a

given number of cycles
are plotted to form the
SN curve (right).
• This is for fully reversed
cyclic loading with mean
stress (σm) = 0 Mpa
(this will be discussed later).
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Factors Affecting Fatigue Strength

• Stress concentration: Fatigue strength is reduced
by stress concentration.
• Surface roughness: Smoother surface increases
the fatigue strength.
• Surface condition: Surface treatments like
carburizing and nitriding increases fatigue life.
• Environment: Chemically reactive environment,
which might result in corrosion, decreases fatigue
life.

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Cyclic Stresses
• Different types of stress cycles are possible (axial, torsional, flexural, combination).
• A cyclic load often varies between equal amounts of tension and compression, as in
figure (a).
• Sometimes a cyclic load occurs on a component that also has a static load, or the
cyclic load is compressive or tensile only. In such cases there is a mean load as well
as an alternating load, fig (b).
 max   min
Mean stress = m 
2

Stress range =  r   max   min

 max   min
Stress amplitude =  a 
2

 min
Stress ratio = R 
 max
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…Fatigue - Goodman’s Law

• SN curves are determined for fully reversed cyclic loading (no

mean stress).
• When a mean stress is present with a cyclic stress, we use the
Goodman law to relate the combination of these two stresses to
a fully reversed cyclic stress (σfat ).
• We can then use a standard SN curve for the material.

a m 1
Goodman Relation:  
 fat  UTS RF
, where σfat is the equivalent fatigue strength under
fully reversed cyclic loading (when mean stress, σm is 0)

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Creep in Metals

• Creep is progressive deformation under constant stress.

• Important in high temperature applications.
• Primary creep: creep rate
decreases with time due
to strain hardening.
• Secondary creep: Creep
rate is constant due to
simultaneous strain
hardening and recovery
process.
• Tertiary creep: Creep rate
increases with time leading
to necking and fracture.

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Creep Test
• Creep test determines the effect of temperature and stress on
creep rate.
• Metals are tested at constant stress at different temperature &
constant temperature with different stress.

High
temperature
or stress

Medium
temperature
or stress
Creep strength: Stress to produce
Low temperature
or stress minimum creep rate of 10-5 %/hr
at a given temperature.
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Creep Test (Cont..)

• Creep rupture test is same as creep test but aimed at

failing the specimen.
• Plotted as log stress
versus log rupture time.
• Time for stress rupture
decreases with increased
stress and temperature.

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Larsen Miller Parameter

At a given stress level, the log time to stress rupture plus

constant multiplied by temperature remains constant for a
given material. This results in:

 Larsen-Miller parameter is used to represent creep-stress

rupture data and is usually of the form:
P = T[C + log10(tr)]
Where:
P = Larsen-Miller Parameter
T = temperature(K)
tr = stress-rupture time (in hours!)
C = Constant (order of 20)

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Larsen Miller Parameter

NOTE: The correct Larsen-Miller
Larsen-Miller Parameter, P = T[20+log(tr)] x 10-3
Parameter relation should always
be found on the relevant graph axis
(this relation can change according to material)

If time to rupture, temperature

and stress are known, P can be
determined.

Example:
For the alloy represented on the
upper-most curve, at 207 MPa,
LM parameter is 27.81 x 103 K.
Then for a given temperature,
time to rupture can be found.

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L.M. Diagram of several alloys

Example:

If the alloy represented by the upper curve in the figure in the previous
slide is to be subjected to a temperature of 960ºC for 3 years, determine
the maximum stress that it will support without failing.

tr = 3 yrs = 26280 hours

T = 960ºC = 1233K

Therefore, P = 1233(log26280 + 20) x 10-3

= 30,1

Therefore from the graph, Max allowable stress = ±95MPa

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 Case Study – Analysis of Failed Fan Shaft
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-for interest only-

• Requirements
 Function – Fan drive support
 Material 1045 cold drawn steel
 Yield strength – 586 Mpa
 Expected life – 644000 Km (failed at 36000 km)
• Visual examination (avoid additional damage)
 Failure initiated at two points near fillet
 Characteristic of reverse bending fracture

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 …Failed Shaft – Further Analysis
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-for interest only-

• Tensile test proved yield strength to be 369 MPa

(lower than specified 586 MPa).
• Metallographic examination revealed grain
structure to be equiaxed (cold drawn metal has
elongated grains).
• Transition radius was smaller than specified.
• Conclusion: Material is not cold drawn – it is hot
rolled !.
 Lower fatigue strength and stress raiser
caused the failure of the shaft.

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Corrosion – 9 Categories
• General (uniform) corrosion
• Localised corrosion
 Pitting
 Crevice
• Galvanic corrosion
• Mechanical / velocity
corrosion
 Erosion
 Cavitation
 Fretting
• Intergranular corrosion
 Weld (grain boundary) decay
 Exfoliation (don’t learn)
• Dealloying
• Cracking phenomenon
 Stress corrosion cracking
 Corrosion fatigue
• High temperature corrosion
 Scaling
 Internal attack
• Microbial corrosion
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Corrosion - details
General / Uniform Corrosion:
All surfaces exposed to corrodent are attacked
Usually electrochemical or direct attack

Pitting Corrosion:
Local corrosion damage characterized by surface cavities
Small amount of material removal can cause severe damage
Avoid materials prone to pitting in the service environment

Crevice corrosion:
Local attack in a crevice between a metal and another surface
Corrodent in crevice
Caused by poor gasketing, under bolt heads, immersed attachments
Associated to pitting corrosion
Deposit Corrosion - Similar to crevice corrosion but occurs under a deposit

Galvanic Corrosion:
Two dissimilar metals electrically connected in an electrolyte
Behave similarly to an electrochemical cell
Don’t mix metals immersed in electrolyte or insulate

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...Corrosion - details
Erosion:
Liquid impingement (stream of fluid onto surface)
Liquid erosion (fluid flow over surface)
Slurry erosion (corrosion combined with wear – abrasive material in fluid)
Cavitation (imploding bubbles)

Fretting Corrosion:
Oscillatory motion between two surfaces in a corrosive environment
Bearings, gears, hubs, shafts (vibrating components)
Possible prevention by electroplating with soft material

Intercrystalline / Intergranular Corrosion:

Occurs preferentially at grain boundaries
Usually caused by alloy segregation
Common in stainless steels (esp weld zones), some high strength aluminium
alloys

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...Corrosion - details
Selective Corrosion / Leaching / Dealloying:
One element of alloy removed by corrosion
Common in Zinc Brasses (also occurs in other alloy systems)
Reduced by using lower zinc content brasses
Graphitic Corrosion - Deterioration of gray cast iron in which the metallic
constituents are selectively leached or converted to corrosion products leaving the
graphite intact

Stress Corrosion Cracking:

Not due to significant material removal but to cracking
Corrosion induced cracking under static stress
Eliminate stress or change material

Corrosion Fatigue:
Corrosion induced cracking / pitting under dynamic (cyclic) stress

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