Shivesh Sohawan

20923765
Smat302 ASSIGNMENT
Mechanical Properties of engineering
materials

a) Various Fracture Mechanisms:

The introduction of malleable irons during the revolution of material
construction led to the perception of brittle and ductile fractures as well as
fatigue failure in metals.
Ductile failure
This type of fracture involves a large amount of plastic deformation and
can be detected ahead of time.
Brittle Fracture
This is more calamitous and has been studied extensively. There is little or
no plastic deformation and the strain is usually less than 5%
Ductile fracture is usually more favourable than brittle fracture as there is
a warning with ductile fracture that you dont get with brittle fracture.

Higher energy is absorbed in a ductile

Fracture and is therefore less
catastrophic

Lower energy is absorbed in a

brittle fracture and is therefore
more catastrophic

Ductile Fracture We can see that the pipe is in one piece and there is a
large deformation

Brittle Fracture We see that the pipe has been broken into many small
different pieces with small deformation
Figures from V.J. Colangelo and F.A.
Heiser, Analysis of Metallurgical
Failures (2nd ed.), Fig. 4.1(a) and (b),
p. 66 John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1987.

Ductile cup and cone fracture

There are five main stages in ductile fracture:

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Necking
Microvoid formation and coalescence
Crack propagation
Propagation along the shear plane
Cup and cone fracture

b) Explain how fatigue resistance is

quantified
Fatigue is the progressive, confined, and lasting structural change that
occurs in a material subjected to intermittent or fluctuating strains at
nominal stresses that have maximum values less than the tensile strength
of the material. Fatigue may cause the material to end up with cracks and
cause fracture after a sufficient number of fluctuations. The process of
fatigue consists of three stages:

Initial fatigue damage leading to crack initiation

Crack propagation to some critical size (a size at which the
remaining unaffected cross section of the part cannot maintain the
load being applied)
Final, sudden fracture of the remaining cross section

Fatigue damage is caused by the simultaneous action of cyclic stress,

tensile stress, and plastic strain. If any one of these three is not present, a
fatigue crack will not initiate and propagate. The plastic strain initiates the
crack because of the cyclic stress then the tensile stress encourages the
crack growth.
The fatigue resistance of metals may be quantified as the resistance to
crack propagation offered by the material. This resistance can be studied
by looking the following two conditions.
Intensity and spacing of microstructural barriers
If a crack is obstructed in its path by many closely packed barriers which
deflect the path of crack growth, then the fatigue resistance is high. It
follows that small grains offer the maximum resistance to crack advance
in a material. If the grain boundaries have a necklace type structure which
impedes the crack extensions across grain boundaries, then the intensity
of the barrier is increased, as is the fatigue resistance of the metal.

Crack tip plastic zone size

As a crack grows longer at a constant cyclic stress range its plastic zone
size, which controls crack growth rate, increases. However, the actual
onset and the extent of crack tip plasticity are functions of the cyclic
stress-strain curve.
A material having high yield strength and displaying cyclic strain
hardening behaviour will have a smaller plastic zone size and a smaller
crack growth rate compared with a lower yield strength that cyclically

softens. Many materials that have a low yield strength to ultimate tensile
strength ratio often show cyclic strain hardening.

c) How can one design against fatigue:

If we look at a component that is due to subject to cyclic loading we could
operate under low stresses for which Fatigue failure is not possible. This is
known as Fail safe conditions. For example, in a non-cracked
component, when the stress is less than the fatigue limit, then the system
will not fail by fatigue. -When the component is already cracked, crack
growth can only take place if K > Kth. So, even if a component is
cracked it is possible to operate under fail safe fatigue condition

Prevention of Fatigue Failure

A thorough understanding of the factors that can cause a component to
fail is essential before designing a part. The occurrence of fatigue failure
can be significantly reduced by paying careful attention to design details
and manufacturing processes. As long as the metal is sound and free from
major flaws, a change in material composition is not as effective for
achieving satisfactory fatigue life as is care taken in design, fabrication,
and maintenance during service. The most effective and economical
method of improving fatigue performance is improvement in design to:
Eliminate or reduce stress raisers by streamlining the part
Avoid sharp surface tears resulting from punching, stamping, shearing,
and so on
Prevent the development of surface discontinuities or decarburizing
during processing or heat treatment
Reduce or eliminate tensile residual stresses caused by manufacturing,
heat treating, and welding
Improve the details of fabrication and fastening procedures

References
K. L MILLER: Proc. lnst. Mech. Eng., l 99 l, 205(C5), 291 ~ 304.
P. L L FORSYTH: in Proc. Symp. on 'Crack propagation'. 76-94 , London,
HMSO.
C.H, WANG and K. J. MILLER: Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 1993, 16,
{2), 181-198.
COTTRELL, A.H., Theory of brittle fracture in steel and similar metals,
1958, Transactions of the metallurgical society of AIME, Vol. 212, p. 192203
STROH, A.N., Advanced Physics, 1957. Vol 6: p. 418
D.J. WULPI, Understanding How Components Fail, American Society for
Metals, 1985
H.O. FUCHS and R.I. STEPHENS, Metal Fatigue in Engineering, John Wiley &
Sons, 1980
R.W. Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering
Materials, John Wiley & Sons, 1976
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