Mechanical Failure

ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
How do flaws in a material initiate failure? How is fracture resistance quantified; how do different material classes compare? How do we estimate the stress to fracture? How do loading rate, loading history, and temperature affect the failure stress?

Fracture mechanisms
Ductile fracture
Occurs with plastic deformation Can be graceful failure

Brittle fracture
Little or no plastic deformation Catastrophic

Ship-cyclic loading from waves.

Adapted from chapter-opening photograph, Chapter 8, Callister 7e. (by Neil Boenzi, The New York Times.)

Computer chip-cyclic thermal loading.

Adapted from Fig. 22.30(b), Callister 7e. (Fig. 22.30(b) is courtesy of National Semiconductor Corporation.)

Hip implant-cyclic loading from walking.

Adapted from Fig. 22.26(b), Callister 7e.
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Ductile vs Brittle Failure

Classification:
Fracture behavior: Very Ductile Moderately Ductile Brittle

Example: Failure of a Pipe

Ductile failure:
--one piece --large deformation

Adapted from Fig. 8.1, Callister 7e.

Brittle failure:
--many pieces --small deformation

%AR or %EL
Ductile fracture is usually preferred.

Large

Moderate

Small
Brittle: No warning
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. Used with permission.

Ductile: warning before fracture

Moderately Ductile Failure

Evolution to failure:
necking

Ductile vs. Brittle Failure

fracture

void nucleation

void growth and linkage

shearing at surface

50 50mm mm cup-and-cone fracture

particles serve as void nucleation sites.
Adapted from Fig. 8.3, Callister 7e.

brittle fracture

100 mm
Fracture surface of steel Fracture surface of tire cord wire

Brittle Failure
Arrows indicate point at which failure originated

Brittle Failure

Adapted from Fig. 8.5(a), Callister 7e.

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Adapted from Fig. 8.5(a), Callister 7e.

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Brittle Fracture Surfaces

Brittle Fracture Surfaces

Intergranular
304 S. Steel

(between grains) (metal)

Intragranular
(within grains)

316 S. Steel (metal)

4 mm

160 mm

Polypropylene (polymer)

Al Oxide (ceramic)

Intergranular
(between grains)

Intragranular
(within grains)
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1 mm

3 mm

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Ideal vs Real Materials

Stress-strain behavior (Room T):

Stress at Cracks

E/10

perfect matl-no flaws

TS engineering << TS perfect

materials materials

carefully produced glass fiber

E/100
E = Youngs modulus

typical ceramic 0.1

typical strengthened metal typical polymer

DaVinci (500 yrs ago!) observed...

the longer the wire, the smaller the load for failure. Reason: Flaws cause premature failure. Larger samples contain more flaws!
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Flaws are Stress Concentrators!

Concentration of Stress at Crack Tip

Adapted from Fig. 8.8(b), Callister 7e.

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Flaws are Stress Concentrators!

Results from crack propagation

Stress at Cracks
Stress at the tip of a sharp crack approaches infinity. (=> any structure containing a crack should fail, no matter how small the crack or how light the load!) Griffith developed a thermodynamic approach: Growth of a crack requires increase in surface energy (endothermic) Loss of strain energy from relaxation of local stresses as the crack advances (exothermic). Failure occurs when the loss of strain energy is sufficient to provide the increase in surface energy

Griffith Crack

a m = 2o t
t

1/ 2

= K t o

where t = radius of curvature o = applied stress

Adapted from Fig. 8.8(a), Callister 7e.

m = stress at crack tip

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Flaws are Stress Concentrators!

In spite of increased strengthening from flaws.

Crack Propagation
Cracks propagate due to sharpness of crack tip

A plastic material deforms at the tip, blunting the crack.

deformed
brittle

plastic

Energy balance on the crack

Elastic strain energyenergy stored in material as it is elastically deformed this energy is released when the crack propagates creation of new surfaces requires energy
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Avoid sharp corners!

When Does a Crack Propagate?

Crack propagates if above critical stress

i.e., m > c or
where

Kt > Kc

2E s c = a

1/ 2

E = modulus of elasticity s = specific surface energy a = one half length of internal crack Kc = c/0

For ductile => replace s by s + p

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where p is plastic deformation energy

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Fracture Toughness
Metals/ Alloys 100 70 60 50 40
Steels Ti alloys Al alloys Mg alloys Al/Al oxide(sf) 2 Y2 O 3 /ZrO 2 (p) 4 C/C( fibers) 1 Al oxid/SiC(w) 3 Si nitr/SiC(w) 5 Al oxid/ZrO 2 (p) 4 Glass/SiC(w) 6

Engineering Fracture Design

Avoid sharp corners! o max Stress Conc. Factor, K t =

Graphite/ Ceramics/ Semicond

Polymers

Composites/ fibers
C-C(|| fibers) 1

K Ic (MPa m 0.5 )

30 20 10 7 6 5 4 3 2

Based on data in Table B5, Callister 7e.

Composite reinforcement geometry is: f = fibers; sf = short fibers; w = whiskers; p = particles. Addition data as noted (vol. fraction of reinforcement):
1. (55vol%) ASM Handbook, Vol. 21, ASM Int., Materials Park, OH (2001) p. 606. 2. (55 vol%) Courtesy J. Cornie, MMC, Inc., Waltham, MA. 3. (30 vol%) P.F. Becher et al., Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics, Vol. 7, Plenum Press (1986). pp. 61-73. 4. Courtesy CoorsTek, Golden, CO. 5. (30 vol%) S.T. Buljan et al., "Development of Ceramic Matrix Composites for Application in Technology for Advanced Engines Program", ORNL/Sub/85-22011/2, ORNL, 1992. 6. (20vol%) F.D. Gace et al., Ceram. Eng. Sci. Proc., Vol. 7 (1986) pp. 978-82.

w max h

2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0 0.5 1.0 sharper fillet radius increasing w/h

Diamond Si carbide Al oxide Si nitride PET PP PVC PC

r, fillet radius

Adapted from Fig. 8.2W(c), Callister 6e. (Fig. 8.2W(c) is from G.H. Neugebauer, Prod. Eng. (NY), Vol. 14, pp. 82-87 1943.)

r/h

1 0.7 0.6 0.5

Si crystal <111> Glass -soda Concrete

<100>

PS Polyester

Glass 6

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Design Against Crack Growth

Crack growth condition: K Kc = Y a Largest, most stressed cracks grow first!
--Result 1: Max. flaw size
dictates design stress.

Loading Rate
Increased loading rate...
-- increases y and TS -- decreases %EL

Why? An increased rate

gives less time for dislocations to move past obstacles.

--Result 2: Design stress

dictates max. flaw size.

y
TS larger TS

design <

Kc Y amax

amax <

fracture no fracture

amax

1 Kc Ydesign

smaller

fracture

y
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amax

no fracture

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Impact Testing
Impact loading:
-- severe testing case -- makes material more brittle -- decreases toughness
Adapted from Fig. 8.12(b), Callister 7e. (Fig. 8.12(b) is adapted from H.W. Hayden, W.G. Moffatt, and J. Wulff, The Structure and Properties of Materials, Vol. III, Mechanical Behavior, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (1965) p. 13.)

Fracture Toughness
(Charpy)

final height

initial height

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Temperature
Increasing temperature...
--increases %EL and Kc

Design Strategy: Stay Above The DBTT!

Pre-WWII: The Titanic WWII: Liberty ships

Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)...

FCC metals (e.g., Cu, Ni)

Impact Energy

BCC metals (e.g., iron at T < 914C) polymers Brittle More Ductile High strength materials ( y > E/150)

Temperature
Ductile-to-brittle transition temperature

Adapted from Fig. 8.15, Callister 7e.

Problem: Used a type of steel with a DBTT ~ Room temp.

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Fatigue
Fatigue = failure under cyclic stress.
specimen compression on top
bearing bearing motor counter
Adapted from Fig. 8.18, Callister 7e. (Fig. 8.18 is from Materials Science in Engineering, 4/E by Carl. A. Keyser, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.)

Fatigue Design Parameters

Fatigue limit, Sfat:
S = stress amplitude unsafe Sfat safe 10
3
Adapted from Fig. 8.19(a), Callister 7e.

--no fatigue if S < Sfat

case for steel (typ.)

flex coupling tension on bottom

Stress varies with time.

-- key parameters are S, m, and frequency

max m min

S time

10 10 10 N = Cycles to failure

Sometimes, the fatigue limit is zero!

S = stress amplitude unsafe safe 10

3

case for Al (typ.)

Key points: Fatigue...

--can cause part failure, even though max < c. --causes ~ 90% of mechanical engineering failures.
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Adapted from Fig. 8.19(b), Callister 7e.

10 5 10 7 10 9 N = Cycles to failure
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Fatigue Mechanism
Crack grows incrementally

Improving Fatigue Life

1. Impose a compressive surface stress
(to suppress surface cracks from growing)
m
S = stress amplitude
Adapted from Fig. 8.24, Callister 7e.

da m = (K ) dN

typ. 1 to 6

~ ( ) a

Increasing

near zero or compressive m moderate tensile m Larger tensile m N = Cycles to failure

Failed rotating shaft

increase in crack length per loading cycle crack origin

--Method 1: shot peening

shot put surface into compression

--Method 2: carburizing
C-rich gas

--crack grew even though Kmax < Kc --crack grows faster as

increases crack gets longer loading freq. increases.
Adapted from Fig. 8.21, Callister 7e. (Fig. 8.21 is from D.J. Wulpi, Understanding How Components Fail, American Society for Metals, Materials Park, OH, 1985.)
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2. Remove stress concentrators.

bad bad

better better
Adapted from Fig. 8.25, Callister 7e.

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Creep
Sample deformation at a constant stress () vs. time

Creep
Occurs at elevated temperature, T > 0.4 Tm

t tertiary primary secondary

Primary Creep: slope (creep rate) decreases with time. Secondary Creep: steady-state i.e., constant slope. Tertiary Creep: slope (creep rate) increases with time, i.e. acceleration of rate.

elastic

Adapted from Fig. 8.28, Callister 7e.

Adapted from Figs. 8.29, Callister 7e.

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Secondary Creep
Strain rate is constant at a given T,
-- strain hardening is balanced by recovery
stress exponent (material parameter)

SUMMARY
Engineering materials don't reach theoretical strength. Flaws produce stress concentrations that cause premature failure. Sharp corners produce large stress concentrations and premature failure. Failure type depends on T and stress: - for noncyclic and T < 0.4Tm, failure stress decreases with:
- increased maximum flaw size, - decreased T, - increased rate of loading. - cycles to fail decreases as increases.

strain rate material const.

Q & s = K 2 exp c RT
n

activation energy for creep (material parameter)

Adapted from Fig. 8.31, Callister 7e. (Fig. 8.31 is from Metals Handbook: Properties 538 C and Selection: Stainless Steels, Tool Materials, and Special Purpose Metals, Vol. 3, ed., D. Benjamin 649 C 9th (Senior Ed.), American Society for Metals, 1980, p. 131.)

applied stress
200 100 40 20 10 10 -2 10 -1 1 Steady state creep rate

Strain rate increases for higher T,

Stress (MPa)

427C

- for cyclic :

- for higher T (T > 0.4Tm):

s (%/1000hr)
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- time to fail decreases as or T increases.

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