The Atlas of Fractographs contains more than 1,300 fractographs, corresponding to 30 materials, including common grades of iron and steel, nonferrous metals and alloys, composites, and polymers. This article serves as the table of contents, describing how the information in the Atlas is organized and how the fractographs are laid out. It also provides a summary of the various causes or modes of fracture, including cleavage, dimple rupture, fatigue fracture, and decohesion.

This article is an atlas of fractographs that helps in understanding the causes and mechanisms of fracture of pure irons and in identifying and interpreting the morphology of fracture surfaces. The fractographs illustrate the grain-boundary cavitation; slip lines; intergranular fracture; cleavage fracture; notch-impact fracture; oxide inclusions and blowholes; ductile rupture; impact fracture and tensile-test fracture surfaces; fatigue striations; and crack initiation and propagation of pure irons.