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Course Materials
1. W.D. Callister, Jr., D.G. Rethwisch, “Materials Science and Engineering: An
Introduction”, 8th Ed, John Wiley and Sons, 2010.
2. G.E. Dieter, “Mechanical Metallurgy” (SI Metric Edition), McGraw-Hill, 1988.
3. W.F. Hosford, “Mechanical Behaviour of Materials”, Cambridge University Press,
2005.
4. A.J. McEvily, J. Kasivitamnuay, “Metal Failures: Mechanisms, Analysis,
Prevention”, Wiley-Interscience, 2013.
5. I. Milne, R.O. Ritchie, and B. Karihaloo (Eds.), “Comprehensive Structural
Integrity”, Elsevier, 2008.
6. M.F. Ashby, D.R.H. Jones, “Engineering Materials I”, 3rd Ed, Butterworth-
Heinemann, 2005.
7. A.K. Das, “Metallurgy of Failure Analysis”, McGraw-Hill, 1997.
8. W.T. Becker, R.J. Shipley (Eds.), ASM Handbook, Volume 11, “Failure Analysis
and Prevention”, ASM International, 2002.
9. D. Hull, “Fractography: Observing, Measuring and Interpreting Fracture Surface
Topography”, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
10. H.M. Tawancy, A. Ul-Hamid, N.M. Abbas, “Practical Engineering Failure
Analysis”, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2004.

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 Steps in Failure Analysis

1) Gathering background information and evidence

2) Visual examination (unaided eye/photography-macro
and micro)
3) Obtaining specimens, marking and coding
4) Chemical analysis
5) NonDestructive Testing (NDT) (Dye penetrant,
Magnetic particle, Eddy current, Ultrasonic,
Radiography)
6) Destructive Testing (Tension, Compression, Bending,
Torsion, Impact, Fatigue, Fracture Toughness, Creep,
Wear)
7) Specialized tests simulating the service environment
8) Collecting all pertinent information&writing FA report
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 Information Required In FA Report

1) Information regarding the failure event

2) Service conditions regarding the failure
3) Service records for the component
4) Chemical composition and mechanical properties of
the component
5) Mechanical and metallurgical test results
6) Proposed cause and mechanism for failure
7) Recommendations for failure prevention

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 Bathtub Curve

Schematic bathtub curve depicting failure rate

as a function of service life

(Source: A.K. Das, “Metallurgy of Failure Analysis”, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997, p. 4)
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 Fracture

Fracture is the separation of a material into two or more

pieces as a result of imposed stress.

Terms commonly used to describe fractures:

Behavior Terms Used
Crystallographic mode Shear Cleavage
Appearance of fracture Fibrous Granular
Strain to fracture Ductile Brittle

(Source: G.E. Dieter, “Mechanical Metallurgy”, McGraw-Hill, London, 1988, p. 242)

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On an atomic scale, fracture occurs by the formation of new crack
surfaces through the breaking of interatomic bonds.

If fracture occurs by the breaking of atomic bonds perpendicular to

specific crystallographic planes, this type of fracture is called cleavage.
Slip on the other hand occurs by the breaking of atomic bonds during
the gliding of specific crystallographic planes.

Crystal structure Slip plane Cleavage plane

BCC {110} {001}
FCC {111} None
HCP {0001} {0002}

(Source: 1. W.F. Hosford, “Mechanical Behaviour of Materials”, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge, 2005, p. 121, p.218; 2. Pineau, A., Pardoen, T., Failure of metals, in
“Comprehensive Structural Integrity”, Chapter 2.06, Elsevier, Oxford, 2008 p. 688.)

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In metals, two fracture modes are possible: ductile and
brittle.

Ductile Fracture
Ductile metals typically exhibit substantial plastic
deformation with high energy absorption before fracture.

Brittle Fracture
Brittle metals normally display little or no plastic deformation
with low energy absorption during fracture.

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Ductile and brittle are relative terms; whether a particular
fracture is one mode or the other depends on the situation.

Ductility may be quantified in terms of percent elongation

(%EL) and percent reduction in area (%RA).

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 Macroscopic Fracture Profiles

Highly Ductile Moderately Brittle Brittle

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Ductile Fracture
Cup-and-cone fractures are common in ductile metals.

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Ductile Fracture (cup-and-cone)

Shear
Fibrous

Microvoid coalescence process

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 Dimples

Dimples are traces of the microvoids produced during fracture.

(Source: W.F. Hosford, “Mechanical Behaviour of Materials”, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 2005, pp. 212-213.) 13