ME 215 – Engineering Materials I

Chapter 7
Brittle Fracture and Impact Properties

Mechanical
M h i lE Engineering
i i Dr. A.
D A Tolga
T l Bozdana
B d
University of Gaziantep www.gantep.edu.tr/~bozdana
 Introduction
h There are five kinds of fracture in metals based on the nature of process:
(1) ductile (2) brittle (3) adiabatic shear (4) creep (5) fatigue

h There are circumstances under which certain ductile materials behave as

brittle. Two important cases of this type of failure (i.e. brittle failure of ductile
materials) are: fatigue failure (which was studied previously) and brittle
fracture (which is going to be treated here).

h C
Common examples l off catastrophic
t t hi failures
f il off structures
t t caused
d by
b brittle
b ittl
fracture are: welded ships & tankers made of mild steel (during world war II),
and rails of railways during cold winter periods.
periods

h Brittle fractures in steel structures usually occur without visible or audible

warnings at stresses less than nominal Sy value. Such fractures usually
initiate at sharp notches and crackcrack-like
like defects, and may subsequently
propagate through a complete structure at faster than speed of sound.
1
 Brittle Fracture
h Radiating pattern of markings is important as they point back towards origin
of fracture, allowing the point of crack initiation to be traced (Fig. 1).
origin of fracture
radiating markings

Figure 1
2
 Brittle Fracture
h Fig. 2 shows crack initiation and propagation with herringbone type surface
markings. The direction of crack propagation is opposite to the direction of
crack initiation.

direction of crack propagation

p p g

Figure 2

3
 Impact Properties
h Many engineering components are subjected to suddenly applied loads and
they are expected to transmit or absorb this impact load. The energy of
impact load can be absorbed as deformation in elastic, plastic, or both.

h In design stage,
stage it is aimed that this energy of impact load is absorbed as
elastic deformation. After load is passed, this elastic strain is released or
transmitted, and the structure does not suffer permanent deformation.

h However, the elastic range may be exceeded due to unexpected service

conditions
diti or faulty
f lt design.
d i I such
In h cases, mostt ductile
d til metals
t l exhibit
hibit some
plastic deformation in two ways: they can redistribute the stress (thus,
reducing harmful effects),
effects) or the visible appearance of plastic deformation
itself can be a warning for taking further precautions.

h In brittle metal structure, no noticeable deformation is observed and fracture

happens without warning. Due to this fact, necessary cautions must be
taken when using brittle metals (e.g. using large safety factors).
4
 Impact Properties
h However, serious problems arise when a ductile metal fractures in a brittle
manner without any prior plastic deformation. Many metals showing a ductile
behaviour in static tensile tests exhibit a brittle behaviour under impact
loading at low temperatures. Thereby, the information from tensile tests is
not enough to predict the behaviour in such cases.

h Material property related to work required to cause rupture is toughness,

which depends on ductility and ultimate strength. It is known that a high-rate
of loading
g results in an increase in strength,
g , but a reduction in ductility.
y
h Not all materials respond in the same way to variations in strain rate. For
instance a slowly applied point load shatters the glass while a high-speed
instance, high speed
bullet punctures a fairly clean hole.
h Toughness does not vary greatly over considerable range in striking velocity.
However, above the critical speed (varying from material-to-material),
energy required
i d for
f rupture
t d
decreases rapidly.
idl Critical
C iti l velocity
l it isi associated
i t d
with rate of propagation of plastic strain and effected by specimen length.
5
 Impact Testing (Pendulum Type)
h In pendulum type of impact testing,
impact load is produced by swinging
of impact weight (W = m * g) from
the initial height (h0) through the arc of
a circle, thus striking and fracturing
the notched specimen (Fig. 3). After
that, the weight reaches its maximum
height (h1). Thus, neclecting frictional
l
losses, energy tot fracture
f t specimen
i
(U) is approximately defined as below:
Figure 3

Absorbed Energy Initial Potential Energy Final Potential Energy

= – U = m * g * (h0 – h1)
(energy to rupture) (energy before rupture) (energy after rupture)

h The absorbed energy (U), indicated on the scale of tester, is expressed in

joule (N*m) or kg*m in metric system and inch-pounds
inch pounds in imperial system.
system
This energy value is sometimes called “impact toughness”.
6
 Specimen Shape
h Specimen shape has an effect on material’s capacity to resist impact loads.
A plain ductile bar will not fracture under impact load at normal temperature.
If specimen is notched, fracture can happen under a single blow.

h Many different notch

configurations to be
p
used in impact tests
are given in ASTM
E23 & DIN 50115.

h Charpy & Izod are

standard classes of
specimens used for
notched-bar
notched bar impact
testing (Fig. 4).

Figure 4
7
 Charpy & Izod Type Impact Tests
h Charpy specimen is supported at the ends while Figure 5
struck in the middle (Fig. 5). Izod specimen is
cantilever beam with a notch on the tension side to
ensure fracture when impact load applied (Fig. 6).

h Impact tests with Charpy and Izod specimens bring

out the notch behaviour (brittleness versus ductility)
by applying a single overload of stress. The energy
values are qquantitative comparisons
p on a selected
specimen, but not serving for design calculations.

h The notch behaviour in an individual test applies to

specimen size, notch geometry, testing conditions.
Thus, such behaviour cannot be generalized to
the other specimen sizes or conditions.

Figure 6
 Impact Fracture

ductile fracture brittle fracture

9
 Factors Affecting Impact Properties
h Impact toughness values are greatly influenced by the testing conditions.
The most pronounced is the effect of temperature on notch behaviour of
material. Tangential striking velocity should be 3-6 m/s. Rigidity of testing
machine and its parts is important as some energy is absorbed by machine
itself. There are other important factors:

1 Temperature:
1. T t Th notched-bar
The t h d b impact
i t test
t t has
h the
th greatest
t t importance
i t i
in
determining “ductile-to-brittle transition” of material. This transition occurs
at a temperature below which the material is brittle and fractures with a low
energy absorption & low ductility, and above which it is ductile.

h The transition actually covers a range of temperatures in which degree of

brittleness increases gradually as temperature falls. It is very difficult to
make a universal definition of transition temperature since two different
materials having the same transition temperature may have different failures.
Thus, there are many definitions of this temperature (see the next page).
10
 Factors Affecting Impact Properties
Various definitions
f off transition temperature (Fig.
( 7)) are as follows:
f
Ta : Average temp. corresponding to minimum impact strength (15 ft/lb)
Tb : Lowest
L t temp.
t f 100% ductile
for d til fracture
f t (F t
(Fracture T
Transition
iti Plastic,
Pl ti FTP)
Tc : Temp. for 50% ductile fracture (Fracture Appearance Transition Temperature, FATT)
Td : Average temp.
temp between ductile and brittle fracture,
fracture i.e.
i e (Tb+Tf)/2
Te : Special temp. for an arbitrary toughness (Ductility Transition Temperature, DTT)
Tf : Temp.
Temp for 100% brittle fracture (Nil Ductility Temperature,
Temperature NDT)

Figure 7
11
 Factors Affecting Impact Properties
2. Composition: Impact testing is mostly
applied to steels. Increasing the carbon
content increases transition temperature
and reduces energy required for impact
fracture (Fig. 8).

h The optimum combination of properties

in quenched & tempered low alloy steel
occurs for 0.3-0.4 % C. Figure
g 8

h Killing steel with aluminum and silicon will lower the transition temperature
(only a small amount of silicon in combination with aluminum must be used).

h High
g ratio of manganese/carbon
g gives g
g good p
properties
p to steel ((even with
higher carbon content).

h Nickel is the most beneficial element added to steel as it lowers transition

temperature progressively.
12
 Factors Affecting Impact Properties
3. Grain Size: As grain size increases, transition temperature increases and
fracture stress decreases. It is actually possible to improve ductility and
toughness of steels by obtaining ultrafine grain size.

4. Microstructure:
c ost uctu e SShape
ape o of ca
carbide
b de p
precipitates
ec p a es in ssteel
ee has
as g
great
ea eeffect
ec oon
impact toughness. Tempered martensitic structure (after heat treatment)
gives
g the best combination of strength
g and fracture toughness.
g

5. Orientation: Orientation of test bar in Figure 9

rolled product affects impact energy,
energy
and transition temperature (Fig. 9).
h Longitudinal specimens give the best
energy absorption (crack propagation
i across fiber
is fib alignment).
li t)
h Transverse specimen gives the worst
energy absorption (crack propagates
as parallel to rolling direction).
 Ductile-to-Brittle Transition (Embrittlement)
1. Hydrogen Embrittlement: Hydrogen causes severe embrittlement in many
metals. Even very small amount of hydrogen can cause cracking in steel
and titanium. It may be introduced during melting and entrapped during
solidification, or it may be picked up during heat treatment, acid pickling,
electroplating, or welding.

2. Temper Embrittlement: Tempering some steels within 450 450-590

590 °C
C results in
temper brittlement, manifested by increase in impact transition temperature.
It is due to segregation of certain elements (like phosphorus, arsenic, tin,
antimony, silicon) to grain boundaries, giving local hardening to fracture.
Molybdenum
y is useful in retarding
g this form of embrittlement.

3. Blue Brittleness (Aging): Low-carbon steels exhibit two types of aging

(
(quench h aging
i & strain
t i aging),
i ) causing i increase
i i transition
in t iti temperature.
t t
Strain aging is the slow increase in hardness in steels finished by cold work
(mainly cold rolling).
rolling) Blue brittleness is attributed to strain aging caused by
heating cold worked steel to around 205 °C.
14
 Alternative Impact Tests
h In case of using larger specimen size than standard Charpy and Izod,
there are two alternative tests of practical importance:

1. Drop Weight Test: It is used to determine

NDT of ferritic steels of 16 mm or thicker
(ASTM E208). A rectangular specimen is
subjected to impact load (free-falling weight
with the energy of 340-1630 J) at selected
temperatures to determine the maximum
temp. at which specimen breaks (Fig. 10).

h A weld
ld (63.5
(63 5 mm long
l & 12.7
12 7 mm wide)
id ) is
i
deposited on the tension side of specimen.
A artificial
An tifi i l notch
t h is
i cutt att the
th center
t off
weld bead to start the crack.
Figure 10

15
 Alternative Impact Tests
2. Dynamic Tear Test: It is used to determine Figure 11

resistance of material to rapid progressive

fracturing (ASTM E604). A notched beam is
impact loaded in 3-point bending (Fig. 11).
The impact energy is imparted by swinging
pendulum or drop-weight at velocity range
of 4.9-8.5 m/s. Hence, the total energy loss
during separation is recorded.

h At temperatures below NDT, the fracture is

flat and completely brittle without any shear
lips (Fig. 12). Above NDT, absorbed energy
increases and surface begins to develop
shear lips, as it becomes more dominant.
At FTP or above, fracture is fully ductile.
Figure 12

16
 Impact Testing of Plastics
h The impact tests for plastics are similar to those for metals.
h Swinging
g g pendulum
p or free-falling
g weight
g imparts
p the energy
gy to plastic
p material.
h In such tests, Izod & Charpy specimens for plastics are used (as seen in Fig. 4).

Figure 4
17