This article provides an overview of fractography as it applies to metal weldments and presents examples of various fracture surface morphologies to demonstrate how fractographic analysis can be used to determine the cause of weld failures. It identifies weld fractography principles and details several weldment-specific geometric and metallurgical considerations. The role of the weld-cracking mechanisms on the resultant fracture surfaces is described, along with example micrographs and fractographs of weldments. Common discontinuities related to welding processes and their impact on the resulting fracture behavior and surfaces are covered, as well as the common fractographic features related to fatigue failures of welds.

The use of additive manufacturing (AM) is increasing for high-value, critical applications across a range of disparate industries. This article presents a discussion of high-valued engineering components predominantly used in the aerospace and medical industries. Applications involving metal AM, including methods to identify pores and voids in AM materials, are the focus. The article reviews flaw formation in laser-based powder-bed fusion, summarizes sensors used for in situ process monitoring, and outlines advances made with in situ process-monitoring data to detect AM process flaws. It reviews investigations of ML-based strategies, identifies challenges and research opportunities, and presents strategies for assessing anomaly detection performance.

This article focuses on manufacturing-related failures of injection-molded plastic parts, although the concepts apply to all plastic manufacturing processes It provides detailed examples of failures due to improper material handling, drying, mixing of additives, and molecular packing and orientation. It also presents examples of failures stemming from material degradation improper use of metal inserts, weak weld lines, insufficient curing of thermosets, and inadequate mixing and impregnation in the case of thermoset composites.

This article offers an overview of fatigue fundamentals, common fatigue terminology, and examples of damage morphology. It presents a summary of relevant engineering mechanics, cyclic plasticity principles, and perspective on the modern design by analysis (DBA) techniques. The article reviews fatigue assessment methods incorporated in international design and post construction codes and standards, with special emphasis on evaluating welds. Specifically, the stress-life approach, the strain-life approach, and the fracture mechanics (crack growth) approach are described. An overview of high-cycle welded fatigue methods, cycle-counting techniques, and a discussion on ratcheting are also offered. A historical synopsis of fatigue technology advancements and commentary on component design and fabrication strategies to mitigate fatigue damage and improve damage tolerance are provided. Finally, the article presents practical fatigue assessment case studies of in-service equipment (pressure vessels) that employ DBA methods.

This article describes some of the welding discontinuities and flaws characterized by nondestructive examinations. It focuses on nondestructive inspection methods used in the welding industry. The sources of weld discontinuities and defects as they relate to service failures or rejection in new construction inspection are also discussed. The article discusses the types of base metal cracks and metallurgical weld cracking. The article discusses the processes involved in the analysis of in-service weld failures. It briefly reviews the general types of process-related discontinuities of arc welds. Mechanical and environmental failure origins related to other types of welding processes are also described. The article explains the cause and effects of process-related discontinuities including weld porosity, inclusions, incomplete fusion, and incomplete penetration. Different fitness-for-service assessment methodologies for calculating allowable or critical flaw sizes are also discussed.

Welded connections are a common location for failures for many reasons, as explained in this article. This article looks at such failures from a holistic perspective. It discusses the interaction of manufacturing-related cracking and service failures and primarily deals with failures that occur in service due to stresses caused by externally applied loads. The purpose of this article is to enable a failure analyst to identify the causative factors that lead to welded connection failure and to identify the corrective actions needed to overcome such failures in the future. Additionally, the reader will learn from the mistakes of others and use principles that will avoid the occurrence of similar failures in the future. The topics covered include failure analysis fundamentals, welded connections failure analysis, welded connections and discontinuities, and fatigue. In addition, several case studies that demonstrate how a holistic approach to failure analysis is necessary are presented.

The potential for introducing defects during processing becomes greater as the relative density of pressed and sintered powder metallurgy (PM) parts increases and more multilevel parts with complex geometric shapes are produced. This article discusses the potential defects in pressed and sintered PM parts: density variations, compaction and ejection cracks, microlaminations, poor degree of sintering, and voids from prior lubricant agglomerates. It describes the various methods applicable to green compacts: direct-current resistivity testing, radiographic techniques, computed tomography, and gamma-ray density determination. The article also discusses the methods for automated nondestructive testing of pressed and sintered PM parts: acoustic methods-resonance testing, eddy current testing, magnetic bridge comparator testing, ultrasonic techniques, radiographic techniques, gamma-ray density determination, and visual inspection.

Honeycomb-cored sandwich panels increase part stiffness at a lower weight than monolithic composite materials. This article illustrates an area of a honeycomb-cored sandwich structure composite cross section that is viewed using transmitted polarized light. This area shows the differences in the constituents and resin intermingling. The article discusses the factors that govern the honeycomb core movement and honeycomb core crush, with illustrations. Some common tests performed on honeycomb composites to characterize the skin-to-core bond strength are the climbing drum peel and flatwise tensile tests. The article concludes with a description on the reasons for core failure, which are analyzed after these tests.

This article briefly reviews the general causes of weldment failures, which may arise from rejection after inspection or failure to pass mechanical testing as well as loss of function in service. It focuses on the general discontinuities observed in welds, and shows how some imperfections may be tolerable and how the other may be root-cause defects in service failures. The article explains the effects of joint design on weldment integrity. It outlines the origins of failure associated with the inherent discontinuity of welds and the imperfections that might be introduced from arc welding processes. The article also describes failure origins in other welding processes, such as electroslag welds, electrogas welds, flash welds, upset butt welds, flash welds, electron and laser beam weld, and high-frequency induction welds.

This article examines the factors influencing the fatigue behavior of an individual weldment, using extensive experimental data and a computer model, which simulates the fatigue resistance of weldments. It discusses the process of fatigue in weldments. The service conditions, which favor long crack growth and the conditions, which favor crack nucleation are contrasted. The article presents experimental data, which is used to show the effect of weldment geometry on fatigue resistance. Several useful geometry classification systems are compared. The article analyzes a computer model, which is employed to investigate the behavior of two hypothetical weldments, namely, a discontinuity-containing weldment and a discontinuity-free weldment.

This article describes eight stages of the atomistic film growth: vaporization of the material, transport of the material to the substrate, condensation and nucleation of the atoms, nuclei growth, interface formation, film growth, changes in structure during the deposition, and postdeposition changes. It also discusses the effects and causes of growth-related properties of films deposited by physical vapor deposition processes, including residual film stress, density, and adhesion.

Austenitic stainless steels exhibit a single-phase, face-centered cubic structure that is maintained over a wide range of temperatures. This article reviews the compositions of standard and nonstandard austenitic stainless steels. It summarizes the important aspects of solidification behavior and microstructural evolution that dictate weld-metal ferrite content and morphology. The article describes weld defect formation, namely, solidification cracking, heat-affected zone liquation cracking, weld-metal liquation cracking, copper contamination cracking, ductility dip cracking, and weld porosity. It discusses four general types of corrosive attack: intergranular attack, stress-corrosion cracking, pitting and crevice corrosion, and microbiologically influenced corrosion. The article concludes with information on weld thermal treatments such as preheat and interpass heat treatments and postweld heat treatment.

This article provides an overview of the types of weld discontinuities that are characteristic of specialized welding processes. These welding processes include electron-beam welding, plasma arc welding, electroslag welding, friction welding, resistance welding, and diffusion welding. The article also describes the common inspection methods used to detect these discontinuities.

This article is an atlas of fractographs that helps in understanding the causes and mechanisms of fracture of sulfur concrete and asphalt and in identifying and interpreting the morphology of fracture surfaces. The fractographs illustrate the crystal morphology, noninterconnecting voids, and microvoids of these surfaces.