This article provides an overview of fractography and explains how it is used in failure analysis. It reviews the basic types of fracture processes, namely, ductile, brittle, fatigue, and creep, principally in terms of fracture appearances, such as microstructure. The article also describes the general features of fatigue fractures in terms of crack initiation and fatigue crack propagation.

The fracture-mechanics technology has significantly improved the ability to design safe and reliable structures and identify and quantify the primary parameters that affect structural integrity of materials. This article provides a discussion on fracture toughness of notched materials by explaining the ductile-to-brittle fracture transition and by correlating KId, KIc, and Charpy V-notch impact energy absorptions. It highlights the effects of constraint, temperature, and loading rate on the fracture transition. The article discusses the applications of fracture mechanism in limiting of operating stresses. It describes the mechanisms, testing methods, and effecting parameters of two main categories of fracture mechanics: linear-elastic fracture mechanics and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics. The article concludes with a discussion on the three major progressive stages of fatigue: crack initiation, crack growth, and fracture on the final cycle.

Engineering component and structure failures manifest through many mechanisms but are most often associated with fracture in one or more forms. This article introduces the subject of fractography and aspects of how it is used in failure analysis. The basic types of fracture processes (ductile, brittle, fatigue, and creep) are described briefly, principally in terms of fracture appearances. A description of the surface, structure, and behavior of each fracture process is also included. The article provides a framework from which a prospective analyst can begin to study the fracture of a component of interest in a failure investigation. Details on the mechanisms of deformation, brittle transgranular fracture, intergranular fracture, fatigue fracture, and environmentally affected fracture are also provided.

This article discusses the visual and microscopic characteristics of fractures of cast alloys. These fractures include ductile rupture, transgranular brittle fracture, intergranular fracture, fatigue, and environmentally induced fracture. The article also describes the factors that affect fracture appearance.

The cracking process occurs slowly over the service life from various crack growth mechanisms such as fatigue, stress-corrosion cracking, creep, and hydrogen-induced cracking. Each of these mechanisms has certain characteristic features that are used in failure analysis to determine the cause of cracking or crack growth. This article discusses the macroscopic and microscopic basis of understanding and modeling fracture resistance of metals. It describes the four major types of failure modes in engineering alloys, namely, dimpled rupture, ductile striation formation, cleavage or quasicleavage, and intergranular failure. Certain fundamental characteristics of fracture observed in precipitation-hardening alloys, ferrous alloys, titanium alloys are also discussed.

The concepts of fracture mechanics are basic ideas for developing the methods of predicting the load-carrying capabilities of structures and components containing cracks. This article provides an introduction to the methodology for computing the onset of fracture and describes plane strain fracture toughness, denoted as K IC . It presents formulas for the stress-intensity parameter as a function of crack size, crack shape, applied stress (or load), and geometry of load application.

This article summarizes the fatigue and fracture resistance of selected magnesium alloys. It reviews the effects of surface condition and test variables on fatigue strength. The article also provides an overview of the fatigue crack growth, fracture toughness, and stress-corrosion cracking of magnesium alloys.

This article discusses the various options for controlling fatigue and fractures in welded steel structures, with illustrations. It describes the factors that influence them the most. The article details some of the leading codes and standards for designing against failure mechanisms. Codes are presented for fitness-for-service and standards for fatigue and fracture control.

This article describes the fracture toughness behavior of austenitic stainless steels and their welds at ambient, elevated, and cryogenic temperatures. Minimum expected toughness values are provided for use in fracture mechanics evaluations. The article explains the effect of crack orientation, strain rate, thermal aging, and neutron irradiation on base metal and weld toughness. It discusses the effect of cold-work-induced strengthening on fracture toughness. The article examines the fracture toughness behavior of aged base metal and welding-induced heat-affected zones. It concludes with a discussion on the Charpy energy correlations for aged stainless steels.

This article illustrates the role that fracture mechanics can play in failure analysis. It describes the important failure criteria as relations between design and materials factors, which are used to correlate fracture mechanics analysis to the observations of a failure analysis. Descriptions include an indication of how the factors are typically evaluated. The article also provides information on subcritical fracture mechanics. Finally, a group of failure analysis examples explain how fracture mechanics parameters can be determined and how they may be fitted into an overall failure investigation.

Fracture mechanics is a multidisciplinary engineering topic that has foundations in both mechanics and materials science. This article summarizes the microstructural aspect of fracture resistance in structural materials. It provides a discussion on basic fracture principles and schematically illustrates the mechanism of crack propagation. The article describes the fracture resistance of high-strength steels, aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and composites such as brittle matrix-ductile phase composites and metal-matrix composites. It also lists the effects of microstructural variables on fracture toughness of steels, aluminum alloys, and titanium alloys.

This article discusses the fracture and fatigue properties of powder metallurgy (P/M) materials depending on the microstructure. It describes the effects of porosity on the P/M processes relevant to fatigue and fracture resistance. The article details the factors determining fatigue and fracture resistance of P/M materials. It reviews the methods employed to improve fatigue and fracture resistance, including carbonitriding, surface strengthening and sealing treatments, shot-peening, case hardening, repressing and resintering, coining, sizing, and postsintering heat treatments. Safety factors for P/M materials are also detailed.

This article reviews the influence of local strains and corrosion fatigue on the initiation of fatigue cracks in duplex stainless steels. It provides useful information on fatigue crack growth, fatigue strength, and fracture toughness of duplex stainless steels. The article discusses the fatigue and fracture behavior of duplex stainless steels during stress-corrosion cracking. It details the elevated-temperature properties of duplex stainless steels, such as creep-fatigue behavior and thermal cycling properties.

This article reviews the basic processes of fracture and fatigue and shows how these processes occur in materials. It presents an overview of the fatigue mechanisms and some related models for appropriate classes of materials, such as carbon and alloy steels, aluminum alloys, and titanium alloys. Microstructural factors that affect the fracture toughness of these materials, are discussed. The article describes fatigue crack propagation (FCP) mechanisms and related models. It also analyzes FCP behavior in these materials, with an emphasis on general microstructural factors.

This article summarizes the metallurgy of carbon and alloy steels, followed by discussions on their major mechanical properties, namely, static fracture toughness, dynamic fracture toughness, fatigue or sustained-load crack growth rates, and fatigue or sustained-load thresholds. It addresses fatigue crack propagation and sustained-load crack propagation, as well as the fundamental aspects of fracture in steels. The article illustrates the effects of variations in the alloy chemistry, microstructure, temperature, strain rate, and environment on various fracture toughness or crack growth rate parameters.

This article describes the test methods of fracture toughness, namely, linear-elastic and nonlinear fracture toughness testing methods. Linear-elastic fracture toughness testing includes slow and rapid loading, crack initiation, and crack arrest method. Nonlinear testing comprises J IC testing, J-R curve evaluation, and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) method. Other methods used include the combined J standard method, the common fracture toughness test, transition fracture toughness testing, and the weldment fracture testing method.

This article reviews the tensile properties and toughness characteristics of discontinuously reinforced aluminum (DRA) composites in terms of particle spacing, particle size, volume fraction, matrix alloy, and matrix microstructure. Both fracture toughness data and impact toughness data of the DRA composites are summarized. The article discusses the effects of confining pressure on the ductility of the DRA materials. It describes the fatigue behavior, such as stress-life behavior, strain-life behavior, and fatigue crack propagation, of the DRA.

This article reviews the fatigue and fracture properties of aluminum alloy castings, specifically alloys A356 and A357/D357 (all-T6) and alloy A201-T7, from the perspective of both design and manufacturing considerations. In addition, it provides an overview of the roles played by microstructure, manufacturing processes, test conditions, and casting design in determining the fatigue and fracture properties of aluminum casting alloys.

This article summarizes the general fatigue and fracture properties of cast steels, namely, toughness, fatigue, and component design factors such as section size and discontinuities. It describes the various factors that influence fatigue of cast steels. These factors include section size, defect size, stress modes, and waveform types. The article discusses various fracture mechanics in cast steels: cyclic stress-strain behavior and low- and high-cycle fatigue life behavior; plane-stress fracture toughness; plane-strain fracture toughness; constant-amplitude fatigue crack initiation and growth; and variable-amplitude fatigue crack initiation and growth.