10 Post Mortem Failure Analysis FRACTOGRAPHY The occurrence of fracture in any type of material leaves behind a wealth of infor- mation in the form of fracture surface features. Fractography is the science of studying the fracture surface in order to determine the source of fracture and relationship between the mode of crack propagation and the microstructure of the material. Fracture surface appearances and features were used to assess the quality of iron and steel as early as the 17th century. With the advent of micro- scopes, observation of the fracture surface is possible in greater detail, and this has enabled better understanding of the microlevel mechanisms involved in the fracture process. Apart from this, fractography is extensively used in failure analysis, wherein the features of the fracture surface are effectively used to ident- ify the reasons that led to the failure. Thus, design engineers can learn a lot from fractured components and can use this information in understanding why fracture occurred and how to design the component so that such failures do not occur in the future. The techniques generally used in fracture surface analysis consist of visual examination, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and trans- mission electron microscopy, depending upon the extent of details required. The fracture surface features that can be identified depend to a great extent on the technique employed. These techniques will be reviewed very briefly in this chapter. However, the main focus will be on the various fracture surface features 337 Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker338 Chapter 10 commonly observed, in different materials such as metals, polymers, and compo- sites, and their interpretation at macroscopic and microscopic levels. OPTICAL MICROSCOPY In this technique the fracture surface is viewed through an optical microscope. For opaque materials light is shined onto the fracture surface and the reflections are viewed through the microscope. For transparent materials like polymers, the fracture surface can be cut in the form of a thin slice from the parent material, illuminated from beneath and viewed through the microscope. These micro- scopes have limited resolution and low depth of field. The maximum magnifi- cation possible using this technique is 1300 at a resolution of 1 wm. In spite of these limitations optical microscopy is still the most widely adopted technique during the initial stages of fractographic analysis, to obtain a general overview of the fracture surface and to identify different regions, which should be studied in detail. The salient features revealed by this technique are crack origination sites, crack propagation direction, and location of arrest marks. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY Ina scanning electron microscope (SEM), a focused beam of electrons scans the specimen (the fracture surface itself or a replica of it), which is placed in the SEM chamber. These electrons on impinging the specimen generate several signals, such as secondary electrons, back scattered electrons, auger electrons, cathodolu- minescence, x-rays, and transmitted electrons. Of these, the secondary emitted electrons (emissive mode) and the back-scattered electrons (reflective mode) are of interest in fractographic analysis. These signals are collected and electro- nically processed to generate an image of the specimen surface. The principal contrast mechanism is due to the variation in the angle of incidence of the elec- tron beam to the surface of the specimen, which is surface topography. This technique allows magnifications varying from 5 to 240,000, but the useful upper limit for fractography is about 30,000. It has a resolution limit of 100A and depth of field varying from 1mm at a magnification of 100 to 10 jum at magnification of 10,000. The SEM process frequently needs sectioning of the fracture surface or preparation of a replica of the fracture surface. The specimen or the replica has to be electrically conductive. Hence, nonconducting materials and plastic replica have to be provided with an electrically conductive coating. The SEM permits direct examination of the fracture surface without any surface preparation for conductive materials. The unique feature of this technique is that there is no magnification or image formation produced due to optical or magnetic lenses. Copyright © 2005 by Marcel DekkerPost Mortem Failure Analysis 339 TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) In transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a beam of high-energy electrons is focused by a set of magnetic lenses and this beam is made to pass through the specimen. The electrons, which are transmitted through the specimen, are col- lected and magnified by passing them through another set of magnetic lenses. Magnifications varying from 210 to 300,000 can be obtained in this type of microscope. The specimens in TEM must be reasonably transparent to electrons, and must have sufficient local variations in thickness and/or density, in order to provide adequate image contrast, and must be small enough to fit within the specimen chamber. This would many times call for preparation of a carbon or plastic replica of the fracture surface. These microscopes have better resolution of the order of 25-50 A, when compared to SEM. Also, TEM photographs do not provide three-dimensional effects as well as an SEM photograph. There are many factors that cause various types of artifé in TEM and SEM fractographs, which can mislead the analysis. Experience, along with care- ful deliberation of multiple fractographs of the same region, is often required before reaching valid conclusions. INTERPRETATION OF FRACTURE SURFACE FEATURES Brittle Fracture in Metals Brittle fracture is characterized by very little plastic deformation ahead of the crack tip. Cleavage fracture is the most brittle form of fracture, which occurs in metallic materials. Cleavage fracture in metals occurs by direct separation along certain preferred crystallographic planes due to simple breaking of atomic bonds. The sali- ent feature of cleavage fracture, which is obvious even to visual examination, is the bright shiny appearance of the fracture surface. This is due to the high reflectivity of the flat cleavage facets. At higher magnifications under an optical or electron microscope, the cleavage facets appear to contain some irregularities. The fracture surface at higher magnifications will reveal cleavage steps, river patterns, tongues, and fanlike markings, each of which is associated with a particular fracture mechanism at the microscopic level. Within a grain the crack may grow simultaneously on two parallel planes. These two cracks may join along the line where they overlap, through secondary cleavage or shear, forming a step in the fracture surface. A cleavage step may also form when a crack crosses a screw dislocation. Cleavage fracture takes place on certain pre- ferred crystallographic planes called cleavage planes. When the cleavage planes of the adjacent grains have different orientation as in the case of a twist boundary, the crack must reinitiate on the differently oriented cleavage plane. It may do so at a number of places and spread out into the new grain [1] as explained in Fig. 10.1. This results in the formation of a number of cleavage steps. Merging Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker340 Chapter 10 River pattern Figure 10.1 Formation of river pattern (from Ref. 1). of cleavage steps results in the formation of river patterns on the fracture surface as shown in Fig. 10.2a. These river patterns coalesce downstream of crack propa- gation and thus give the possibility of determining the direction of local crack propagation from a fractograph. If the cleavage crack initiates at only one point along the grain boundary, it must fan out into the whole crystal from this one point, forming cleavage surfaces which resembles a fan, as shown in Fig. 10.2b. Cleavage tongues are formed when a cleavage crack intersects a twin inter- face and propagates along the interface, before joining the main cleavage, which continues around the twin. Such tongues are shown in Fig. 10.2c. Another feature seen in cleavage fracture, called Wallner lines, is shown in Fig. 10.3. These marks are the result of the propagating crack front interacting with the elastic stress waves in the material. The Wallner lines appear as parallel cleavage steps, creat- ing a rippled pattern. The significant difference between Wallner lines and fatigue striations is that Wallner lines cross each other, where as striations do not. Ductile Fracture in Metals The mechanism of initiation, growth, and coalescence of microvoids give rise to the characteristic fractographic features in a ductile fracture. Fractographs of duc- tile fracture obtained from SEM will show small dimples, which represent coa- lesced voids. Microvoids generally initiate from internal free surfaces created during casting or metalworking and also from the boundary between a second phase brittle particle and the matrix. Dimples appear in two different shapes, equiaxed or parabolic, as shown in Fig. 10.4. Equiaxed dimples indicate that loading was predominantly tensile, whereas elongated (parabolic) dimples occur under shear or tear mode. Fatigue Fracture in Metals Fatigue fracture surfaces usually exhibit features such as beach marks, striations, and ratchet marks. The beach marks, also referred to as clamshell marks, are shown in Fig. 10.5. They are visible at very low magnifications, in some cases Copyright © 2005 by Marcel DekkerPost Mortem Failure Analysis 341 (c) Figure 10.2 (a) River pattern, arrow shows the direction of crack propagation (from Ref. 2); (b) Fanlike markings, arrows indicate crack propagation direction (from Ref. 3); (c) Cleavage tongues, big arrow shows the overall direction of crack propagation, small arrow gives local fracture direction (from Ref. 3). even to naked eye observation. The individual marks represent successive pos- itions of the crack front where there is either a variation in the cyclic load or a difference in rate of oxidation or corrosion of the fracture surface. Their spacing gives an idea of the nonuniformity of the cyclic load. These marks are concentric about the crack origination site and grow outwards in the direction of crack growth. Although most of the time beach marks are associated with fatigue cracks, their presence does not always indicate a fatigue fracture. Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker342 Chapter 10 Figure 10.3 Wallner lines (black arrow indicates fracture direction (from Ref. 2). Fatigue striations, shown in Fig. 10.6, are often seen under high magnifi- cations and the striation spacing indicate the progress of a crack during each load cycle. These are most often found within the fine structure of individual beach marks. The presence of these striations is definite evidence of fatigue- crack propagation, but their absence does not positively conclude the absence of fatigue-crack propagation. The formation of striations calls for continuity of crack front through adjacent grains and more than one crystallographic plane for crack growth. If these requirements are not met, well-developed striations cannot be seen on the fracture surface. The striations (1) are parallel to each other and at right angles to the local crack growth direction, (2) vary in spacing with cycle amplitude, (3) are equal in number to the number of load cycles, and (4) are generally grouped into patches within which all markings are continuous. (@) (b) Figure 10.4 (a) Equiaxed dimples; (b) Parabolic tear dimples (from Ref. 2). Copyright © 2005 by Marcel DekkerPost Mortem Failure Analysis 343 Figure 10.5 Beach marks (2x) (from Ref. 2). Ratchet marks are macroscopic features due to multiple crack origin, each produ- cing a separate fatigue zone. Environment-Assisted Cracking in Metals In both cleavage and fatigue, a major proportion of the advancing crack tip is exposed to the environment. Unless the crack propagates faster, the environment can flow to fill the crack extension. Environmental effect is more often recog- nized in stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Both gaseous and liquid environments are known to cause cracking in var- ious stressed materials. Stress corrosion cracking in steels and aluminum is inter- granular, as shown in Fig. 10.7, in which the grain facets can be clearly seen. The dark patches shown by arrows are secondary cracks, which have grown into the grain boundaries. In stress corrosion cracking the surfaces exposed will normally be coated with a layer of corrosion products along with extensive secondary cracking. Figure 10.8 shows beach marks in steel, which has undergone stress corrosion cracking. These beach marks are the result of differences in the rate of penetration of corrosion on the surface. Figure 10.6 Fatigue striations (from Ref. 2). Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker344 Chapter 10 Figure 10.7 Intergranular stress corrosion cracking surface in 7075-T6 aluminum (from Ref. 3). Brittle Fast Fracture in Polymers Similar to metals, polymers also exhibit features on the fracture surface, which can be used to understand the fracture history. The fracture surface generated by a running crack at high velocity is shown in Fig. 10.9. This surface shows three distinctive regions. The “mirror” is the smooth fracture surface, which reflects light specularly. This is followed by a matte region called the “mist,” and finally the relatively coarse “hackle” pattern. In this particular fracture the crack propagated under increasing stress intensity factor and velocity. The mirror zone under high magnification reveals steps (lines), running parallel to the crack propagation direction. This indicates simultancous crack propagation on different parallel planes and happens when the running crack interacts with voids. In the mirror zone the crack tends to propagate along a single plane, but interaction with voids causes propagation of crack in different planes. The mist zone reveals parabolic markings under high magnifications as shown in Fig. 10.10. These markings are formed when the crack front interacts Figure 10.8 Beach marks due to stress corrosion cracking (4x) (from Ref. 3). Copyright © 2005 by Marcel DekkerPost Mortem Failure Analysis 345 Figure 10.9 Different regions in brittle fast fracture. with a flaw that has been growing ahead of the crack front. For this to happen the stresses ahead of the crack front should be high enough to activate these inher- ently present flaws. The openings of these markings indicate the crack propa- gation direction. The crack begins to propagate along several planes, resulting in the formation of lines (steps) parallel to the direction of propagation. In the hackle region the parabolic markings are deeper than those seen in the mist zone, indicating that the stresses ahead of the crack front are high enough to activate flaws, which are further away from the main crack. The crack also pro- pagates in several planes leading to the formation of lines in the direction of crack propagation. In addition to these features, river markings as shown in Fig. 10.11 are also seen in the hackle zone. These markings are caused by secondary crack propagation perpendicular to the direction of the main crack front. Design Problem 10.1 The fractograph of a failed component, shown in Fig. 10.12, exhibits striations. Assuming that the loading is purely reverse (R = —1) and uniform, determine Figure 10.10 Parabolic markings in mist Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker346 Chapter 10 Figure 10.11 Hackle region showing river markings. the applied stress intensity factor range using the Paris equation (Eq. 5.14). For this material, A = 5 x 107*!, m = 3.2. Solution da/dN ~ (1 x 107°)/10 = 1077 m/cycle (about 10 striations can be seen in the space of 1 jm). da = a(aKy" dN (Ky 1 da)" 1 —ji = 2 AK = {ac} 19.1 MPam’ Figure 10.12 Fractograph of a failed component (from Ref. 2). Copyright © 2005 by Marcel DekkerPost Mortem Failure Analysis 347 Figure 10.13 Fractograph of a failed component (from Ref. 2). Design Problem 10.2 For the same component in Design Problem 10.1, the fractograph at another location is shown in Fig. 10.13. Determine AK. What could be the reasons for this higher AK compared to that in Design Problem 10.1? Solution da/dN ~ (5 x 10~®)/7 = 7x 10-7 m/cycle (about seven striations can be seen in the space of 5 wm). A(AK)" jm AK= lian = 35.4MPam!? Why is AK larger than that in Design Problem 10.1? 1. If this region is further downstream (along the direction of crack growth) of the region in Design Problem 10.1, then crack length has increased. Thus AK is larger either due to the larger crack length or due to the increased crack length and an increase in load. 2. If the region is closer to that in Design Problem 10.1, then one could assume that the crack length was the same and therefore larger AK is entirely due to increase in load. SYMBOLS a Crack length A Paris constant N Cycle number m Paris exponent AK Stress intensity factor fange Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker348 Chapter 10 REFERENCES 1. Broek, D. Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 4th Ed.; Kluwer Academic Publishers: Boston, 1986; 33-71. 2. Fellows, J.A. Fractography and atlas of fractographs. In Metals Hand Book, 8th Ed.; American Society for Metals: Materials Park, OH, 1974; Vol. 9. 3. Beachem, C.D. Microscopic fracture process. In Fracture — An Advanced Treatise; Liebowitz, H., Ed.; Academic Press: New York, 1968; Vol. 1, Chapter 4, 244~347. Copyright © 2005 by Marcel Dekker