Question 1

One of the important and practical aspects of materials selection in the design, development and production of new components (or parts/ structures) is the possibility of failure of the component (or parts/ structures) under normal operation. a) In term of materials selection and design, define the failure of materials or components and give five (5) types of that failure.
[30 marks]
Answer Failure is defined as inability of materials or components to i) perform the intended function (5) ii) Meet performance criteria although it may still be operational (5) iii) Perform safely (5) and reliably even after deterioration. (5) Examples i) Fracture (2) ii) Corrosion (2) iii) Wear (2) iv) Yielding (2) v) Buckling (elastic instability) (2)

b) Explain why analysis of a failed component is important and what are steps taken in the failure analysis process
[70 marks]
Answer The important of failure analysis are as stated below i) Identify corrective actions based on a determination of the root cause of the failure. (4) ii) Minimize future failures of the same type. (4) iii) Tool that can be used to a) reduce maintenance costs, (4) b) increase system availability, (4) c) reduce the potential losses involved in catastrophic failures. (4) iv) Used to identify the party at fault. (4) v) Financial losses resulting from a failure can often be recovered when deficiencies in design, workmanship or materials can be identified as the root cause of the failure. (4) Steps should be taken in investigating the failure of 1. Collecting background data 3. (3) 4. 2. Visual Examination (3) the component NDT evaluation (3) Fractographic examination by SEM (3)

5. Chemical composition analysis 6. 7. 8. 9.

(3) Mechanical Properties (3) Macroscopic Examination (3) Metallographic Examination (3) Microhardness evaluation (3)

10. Summarize findings (3) 11. Root cause determination (3) 12. Failure mechanism (3) 13. Recommendation to overcome
future failure (3)

14. Report writing (3)

Question 2

Generally, two types of fracture failure (ductile and brittle fracture) are based on the ability of a material to experience plastic deformation. a) In term of plastic deformation, explain the characteristics ductile and brittle fracture.
[20 marks]
Answer A ductile fracture surface has a dull (4), fibrous appearance (4) and often resembles a cup-and cone (4) configuration. A brittle fracture surface typically appears shiny (4) with flat facets (4) which are created during cleavage fracture.

b) Describe the process of fracture of metals and differentiate between ductile and brittle fracture
[80 marks]
Answer The process of fracture: The specimen elongates (4), forming a necked region (4) in which cavities form.

The cavities coalesce (4) in the neck center, forming a crack (4) which propagates toward the specimen surface in a direction perpendicular to the applied stress. As the crack approaches the surface, its growth direction shifts to 45 (4) with respect to the tension axis. This redirection allows for the formation of the cup-and-cone (4) configuration and facilitates fracture.

Ductile fracture Plastic deformation (3) High energy absorption before fracture (3) Characterized by slow crack propagation (3) Detectable failure (3) Stable crack (3) Eg: Metals, polymers (3)

Brittle fracture Small/ no plastic deformation (3) Low energy absorption before fracture (3) Characterized by rapid crack propagation (3) Unexpected failure (3) Unstable crack (3) Eg: Ceramics, polymers (3)