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Debbie Aliya
Aliya Analytical Inc., Grand Rapids, MI
www.itothen.com
Approaches to Failure Analysis
How confidently do
we want to know
what we have
figured out that we
want to know?
WHAT DOES
CONFIDENT
MEAN?
Why did it break?
Well, we can do a
couple of hardness
tests.
OK.
A more productive approach
OK.
(Silence.)
What else would you like to
know?
Well, weve been using others
JUST LIKE IT FOR 40 years.
Why did THESE break?
Well, we have 5
more and were
already losing
production capacity.
Why do you
want to know?
P Time
between
steps gets
shorter as
we go from
top to
bottom....
Define Purpose of investigation
How comprehensive was the design in the first place?
NEW TOPIC....Damage Categories
P deformation makes
many materials more
forgiving of both
imperfections and
excessive loads than
they otherwise would
be
For broken components, first things
we want to know are....
P Oxidation
Often a result of corrosion (rust)
If high temperature related, more likely to be called oxidation
Aluminum people may call it oxidation when it is really heat
damage (! Lots of funny and wrong terminology)
P For corroded or oxidized or heat damaged
structures, assemblies or components, we
want to know....
< What environmental conditions were present at what
times?
< What stresses were present?
Corrosion product can create stresses
Gas as a corrosion product or absorbed gas can create stresses
Heat or Thermal Damage
P First do nothing
P Then preserve evidence in an intelligent, planned
manner. May need to get agreement from other
parties.
< Need to do a visual inspection in order to do this...
We will have instruction on this next....
P Then plan the investigation. May need to get
agreement from other parties.
Intro to visual inspection techniques
P Overview of part
< Witness marks may be near the initiation or may be
somewhere else!
Look for anything unusual
P Surface finish
issues
P Secondary
cracks
Intro to visual inspection techniques
< Look for general appearance
Corrosion
Coating uniformity
Is it old, new? Consistent with reports/ background data?
Part number, date, lot number, etc.??
Intro to visual inspection techniques
< Compare to print
Deformation
Manufacturing problems
Look for Heat or Environmental
Damage
Start doing your classical
macrofractograhy evaluation
Shear lip shows final separation
Classical Macro-Fractography
Intro comments on identification of crack initiation site(s)
P Ratchet marks
often indicate
fatigue crack
origins
P We may or may
not see beach
marks.
Classical Macro-Fractography
Intro comments on identification of crack propagation direction
P Solidification Features
Smear Marks
Intro to visual inspection techniques
Macrofractography is an important part
of visual inspection
P Identification of expected crack locations and
initiation sites a key part of macrofractography
The Art and Science of
Macro-Fractography
with Loading Geometries
These are
considered
macroscopically
ductile
Recognizing fracture appearances
Classical and Nominal 2D fracture views
P Axial Tension
< For elastic loads in smooth sections, stresses are uniform
< Cracks will either be perpendicular to load (brittle, in
presence of notch) or at approximately 45 degrees to load
(ductile)
Classification by Loading Geometry
Key to Macrofractography
P Axial
< For plastic loads, stress becomes non-uniform even in
smooth sections (necking)
< For shapes with notches, etc., stress is non-uniform-
higher near notch
Recognizing basic fragment shapes
3 D VIEW IMPERATIVE-- Monotonic loading
P Basic Simplified Loading Geometries
< AXIAL Compression
(Images from Understanding How Components Fail by
Don Wulpi, Pub. ASM International
What if specimen were cylindrical???
What if specimen were tall and skinny???
AXIAL COMPRESSION
CREATES LATERAL TENSION!
Recognizing basic fragment shapes
3 D VIEW IMPERATIVE-- Monotonic loading
P Bending
< For both elastic and plastic loads, stress is non-
uniform
< Tension side tends
to initiate cracks
< Compression side
will not usually have
cracks initiate
< Center thickness
has high shear
stresses
Classification by Loading Geometry:
Key to Macrofractography
Bending, continued
Axial tension
plus bending
Recognizing basic fragment shapes
3 D VIEW IMPERATIVE-- Monotonic loading
P TORSION
Recognizing basic fragment shapes
Torsion (BRITTLE)
P Carrot photo by Marc Pepi, Naval Air Warfare
Center, Ridgecrest CA
P Torsion
< DUCTILE Single Overload FRACTURES MAY
Be FLAT
Often show swirl pattern
(example of low clamping force torqued off screw....)
Stress is lowest at the center, that is the last to go!
NOTE: Ductile Torsion Can be LONGITUDINAL ON
CYLINDER....
Shear Stresses demonstrated with longitudinal slit garden hose
P Final fracture in (rotating) bending
< STRESS STATE CHANGES AS CRACK GROWS
Recognizing basic fragment shapes
Fourth Loading Geometry- Direct Shear
P FATIGUE CRACKS
< The beach marks you SEE with your EYES are
created by
Changes in atmospheric conditions / environment / humidity
OR
Changes in dymanic load range over some time period
< Beach marks are not the same as striations
Recognizing fracture appearances
Fatigue Cracks due to Cyclic Loading
P Classical and Nominal 2D fracture features
Beach Marks
Beach marks can be hard to
see sometimes.....
Cyclic Loads- Brittle Materials
YOU NEED TO KNOW THE SERVICE CONDITIONS
Recognizing fracture appearances
Fatigue Cracks due to Cyclic Loading
P Classical and Nominal 2D fracture features
< Ratchet Marks
Useful as fatigue identifiers when there are no beachmarks
Be careful- some monotonic cracks have step like features
that are due to the same causes as those found in fatigue
Monotonic ratchet marks much less common
Recognizing fracture appearances
FAST FRACTURE
P Classical and Nominal 2D fracture features
< River Patterns USUALLY point back to crack
initiation
Can be due to brittle cracking
Can also be due to technically (microscopic scale) ductile cracking
Can be due to monotonic (single) load
Can be due to last stages of separation after fatigue cracking
Recognizing basic fracture
appearances
USEFUL FOR MANY SITUATIONS...
P Replication procedures
< Do it if you need to be safe
< Acetate Tape
< Acetate Slurry
< Silicone
Specimen extraction
P Cleaning Issues
< You may have to clean to see anything
< You destroy evidence when you clean
< If you keep some of corrosion product, you can
prevent some loss of information
< You can do EDS on one side- AS RECEIVED
< Do Macro and Micro Fractography on the mating side
< If you have to cut your part to get it in the SEM, you
will probably need to use coolant.
< NO PERFECT WORLD. COMPROMISE.
The DETAILED TOOLBOX
Composition- You need to know what
you think youre working with....
P AT BEST, TELL YOU WHAT IS THERE, NOT
HOW STRONG IT IS OR ANY OTHER
CHARACTERISTIC!
P many different methods
< spark, wet, instrumental, gravimetric, combustion,
AA. OES, ICP, GDS, EDS, WDS, etc.
economy tests
May test only a small portion of specimen
referee method tests
Usually capable of testing entire cross section of specimen
< With proper calibration, economy tests as precise as referee,
but may not be as accurate due to differences in composition
from location to location within part.
Back to Visual Inspection-
WHAT IS REALLY THERE???
REMEMBER: You shall find what you shall seek!!!*
P Recognizing
< Solidification features (shown below....)
< Rub marks
< Dirt
Microfractography
- THE NON FRACTURE FEATURES....
P Recognizing
< Rust and other corrosion products
Microfractography- WHY DO IT?
Understanding interactions of microstructure with crack path
P Striations
P False striations
P Rub marks
Micro Scale Fatigue Features
HRC 40 Alloy Steel
Micro chemical analysis (EDS)
Contaminants and Corrosion Products, Plating Layers