FRACTURE

Brittle Fracture
Ductile to Brittle transition
Fracture Mechanics
T.L. Anderson
CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA (1995)
Breaking
of
Liberty Ships
Cold waters
Welding instead of riveting
High sulphur in steel
Residual stress
Continuity of the structure
Microcracks
Fracture
Brittle
Ductile
Factors affecting fracture Strain rate
State of stress
Temperature
Behaviour described Terms Used
Crystallographic mode Shear Cleavage
Appearance of Fracture surface Fibrous Granular / bright
Strain to fracture Ductile Brittle
Path Transgranular Intergranular
Conditions of fracture
Torsion
Fatigue
Tension
Creep
Low temperature Brittle fracture
Temper embrittlement
Hydrogen embrittlement
Brittle fracture
Little or no deformation
Observed in single crystals and polycrystals
Have been observed in BCC and HCP metals but not in FCC metals
Types of failure
Promoted by High Strain rate
Triaxial state of State of stress
Low Temperature
Shear fracture of ductile single crystals
Not observed in polycrystals
Slip plane
Completely ductile fracture of polycrystals rupture
Very ductile metals like gold and lead behave like this
Ductile fracture of usual polycrystals
Cup and cone fracture
Necking leads to triaxial state of stress
Cracks nucleate at brittle particles (void formation at the matrix-particle
interface)
Theoretical shear strength and cracks
The theoretical shear strength (to break bonds and cause fracture)
of perfect crystals ~ (E / 6)
Strength of real materials ~ (E / 100 to E /1000)
Tiny cracks are responsible for this
Cracks play the same role in fracture (of weakening)
as dislocations play for deformation
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

F
o
r
c
e

(
F
)

r
a
0
Cohesive force

E

cohesive
t
o ~
=
2a
a
Characterization of Cracks
Surface or interior
Crack length
Crack orientation with respect to geometry and loading
Crack tip radius
Crack growth and failure
Brittle fracture
Crack growth criteria
Stress based
Energy based
Global
~Thermodynamic
Local
~Kinetic
Griffith
Inglis
For growth of crack
Sufficient stress concentration should
exist at crack tip to break bonds
It should be energetically favorable
Brittle fracture
cracks are sharp & no crack tip blunting
No energy spent in plastic deformation at the crack tip
Griffiths criterion for brittle crack propagation
When crack grows
c 4 energy surface in Increase =
E
c energy elastic in Reduction
2
2
o
t =
E
c c 4 U energy in Change
2
2
o
t = A =
c
A
U

0 =
A
dc
U d
0 = AU
*
c
0
c
size crack critical c
*
c
A
U

*
1
c
0
c
*
2
c

E 2
c
2
*
o t

=
By some abracadabra
*
f
c
E 2

t

o =
At constant stress
when c > c
*
by instantaneous
nucleation then specimen fails
At constant c (= c
*
crack length)
when o exceeds o
f
then specimen
fails
Griffith
If a crack of length c
*
nucleates instantaneously then it can grow with
decreasing energy sees a energy downhill
On increasing stress the critical crack size decreases
o
c

Fracture
stable

E 2
c
2
*
o t

=
*
c
o
0
o
0
To derive c
*
we differentiated w.r.t
c keeping o constant
Stress criterion for crack propagation
Cracks have a sharp tip and lead to stress concentration
o
0
(

+ =

c
2 1
0 max
o
0
applied stress
o
max
stress at crack tip
crack tip radius

c

0 max
2 ~
= c
For a circular hole
(

+ =
c
c
2 1
0 max
0 max
3 =

E

cohesive
t
o ~
Work done by crack tip stresses to create a crack (/grow an existing crack)
= Energy of surfaces formed
c a
E
f
0
4

o =
After lot of approximations
Inglis
a
0
Interatomic spacing
Griffith versus Inglis
c a
E
f
0
4

o =
Inglis
*
f
c
E 2

t

o =
Griffith
result same the give criterion Inglis and s Griffith'
8a
If
0
t
=
0
3a Griffith's and Inglis criterion give the same result
the 'Dieter' cross-over criterion
If ~

2
f
*
E 2
c
to

=

o

a
E
c
f
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
0
*
4
Rajesh Prasads Diagrams Validity domains for brittle fracture criteria
Sharpest possible crack
Approximate border for changeover of criterion

c

a
0
3a
0
Validity
region
for
Energy
criterion
Griffith
Validity
region
for
Stress
criterion
Inglis
Sharp
cracks
Blunt
cracks
> c
= c

c

a
0
c
*
Safety regions applying Griffiths criterion alone
Unsafe
Safe
2
f
*
E 2
c
to

=
Unsafe
Safe

c

a
0
Safety regions applying Ingliss criterion alone

a
E
c
f
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
0
*
4

c

a
0
c
*
3a
0
Griffith safe
Inglis unsafe
safe
Griffith unsafe
Inglis safe
safe
Griffith safe
Inglis unsafe
unsafe
Griffith unsafe
Inglis unsafe
unsafe
Griffith safe
Inglis safe
safe
Ductile brittle transition
Deformation should be continuous across grain boundary in polycrystals
for their ductile behaviour 5 independent slip systems required
(absent in HCP and ionic materials)
FCC crystals remain ductile upto 0 K
Common BCC metals become brittle at low temperatures or at v.high
strain rates
Ductile o
y
< o
f
yields before fracture
Brittle o
y
> o
f
fractures before yielding
o
f
,

o
y

o
y
T
o
f
DBTT
Ductile Brittle
Ductile yields before fracture Brittle fractures before yield
c a
E
f
0
4

o =
Inglis
*
f
c
E 2

t

o =
Griffith
o
f
,

o
y

o
y
(BCC)
T
o
f
DBTT
o
y
(FCC)
No DBTT
Griffith versus Hall-Petch
*
f
c
E 2

t

o =
d
k
i y
+ =o o
Griffith
Hall-Petch
*
' 1
c
k
c
E 2

*
f
= =
t

o
o
f
,

o
y

o
y
d
-

DBT
T
1
T
2
T
1
T
2
o
f
Grain size dependence of DBTT
Finer size Large size
Finer grain size has higher DBTT better
T
1
T
2
>
o
f
,

o
y

o
y
d
-

DBT
T
1
T
2
T
1
o
f
Grain size dependence of DBTT- simplified version - o
f
= f(T)
Finer size
Finer grain size has lower DBTT better
T
1
T
2
>
Protection against brittle fracture
o
f
done by chemical adsorbtion of molecules
on the crack surfaces
Removal of surface cracks etching of glass
(followed by resin cover)
Introducing compressive stresses on the surface
Surface of molten glass solidified by cold air followed by
solidification of the bulk (tempered glass)
fracture strength can be increased 2-3 times
Ion exchange method smaller cations like Na
+
in sodium
silicate glass are replaced by larger cations like K
+
on the
surface of glass higher compressive stresses than tempering
Shot peening
Carburizing and Nitriding
Pre-stressed concrete
*
f
c
E 2

t

o =
Cracks developed during grinding of ceramics extend upto one grain
use fine grained ceramics (grain size ~ 0.1 m)
Avoid brittle continuous phase along the grain boundaries
path for intergranular fracture (e.g. iron sulphide film along
grain boundaries in steels Mn added to steel to form spherical
manganese sulphide)
Ductile fracture
Crack tip blunting by plastic deformation at tip
Energy spent in plastic deformation at the crack tip
Ductile fracture
o

o
y
r
o

o
y
r
Sharp crack
Blunted crack
Schematic
r distance from the crack tip
E
c c ) ( 4 U energy in Change
2
2
p s
o
t + = A =
*
p s
f
c
E ) ( 2

t

o
+
=
Orowans modification to the Griffiths equation to include plastic energy
2 3 2
) 10 10 ( ~
) 2 1 ( ~
J/m
J/m
p
2
s

*
p
f
c
E 2

t

o ~