Principles of Failure Analysis

Lesson 1
General Procedures for Failure Analysis
 Introduction
• Why?

– To produce an economical, reliable product at

a profit (Mfg Goal)
– The potential for litigation
 Scope of This Lesson
• This lesson covers:
• The stages of investigation
• The various features of the more common
causes for failure
• Some of the more fundamental
mechanisms
 Objectives
• Steps to follow in a failure analysis
• Understand the role of visual examination
• Comprehend the complexities of failure
analysis and why great care must be taken
not to alter the physical appearance of
critical areas of the failed part
• Identify failure mechanisms
 Stages of a Failure Analysis
Collection of information
• Preliminary evaluation of the failed part
• Site examination and circumstances of the failure
• Selection of samples for use in laboratory
evaluation
• Pertinent specification, codes
 Stages of a Failure Analysis
Laboratory testing and examination
• Post-failure property determination (e.g.,
mechanical testing)
• Microstructural evaluation
• Fractography
• Chemical analysis of component and any coatings
and/or corrosion products
• Testing of exemplars and testing under simulated-
service conditions
 Stages of a Failure Analysis
Analysis
• Stress analysis
• Determination of failure mode
• Fracture-mechanics analysis
• Quantitative fractographic analysis
• Consultation with experts in other disciplines
• Formation of root-cause conclusions
 Stages of a Failure Analysis
Completion
• Synthesis of all information collected
• Final report preparation
• Recommendations
 Alteration of Condition
• Removal of sections, cleaning, etc. alter
the original condition.
• Legal regulations for evidence collecting
 Collection of Information
Background Data
• Details relating to the failure
• Design, manufacture, processing, and
service history
• Drawings, Specifications, Warranties, etc.
• Reconstruct the sequence of events.
• Maintenance records
• Weather reports (structure collapse )
 Collection of Information
Site Investigation
• View the site of the incident, if practical.
• The site scene may have been altered
• Some good ideas:
– Standard check sheets for site inspection
– “Tool Box" for field investigations
– Document location of components at the site
– Inventory all the parts
 Collection of Information
Photographic Records

• Photographic records are crucial.

• Document all steps of the analysis.
• Photos should be professional quality.
 Collection of Information
Sample Selection
• Suitable for the intended purposes
• Represent the features of the failure
• Look for additional damage and evidence.
• Involve other parties (site inspection, sectioning,
storage, etc.)
• Guidelines governing sample collection are
covered in ASTM Specifications E 620, E 673, E
860 and E 1020.
• Compare the failure to new and operative parts.
• Collect lubricants and/or corrosion products.
 Collection of Information
Failure Conditions
• Root cause may be abnormal conditions.
• Accident, repair, overhaul or inadvertent
change in operating conditions
• Isolated event (service error) vs. Multiple
events (design or mfg error)
 Collection of Information
Preliminary Examination
• Fatigue cracks are smoother than
overload cracks
• Fatigue cracks may display beach marks
• Shear lip – overload region
• Fracture initiates in the fatigue region, not
the overload region.
 Preliminary Examination
T-Junction Analysis
• Identify the first crack in a multiple-
cracking situation
• Fast-propagating cracks produce radial
ridges or chevrons
• The fan of the radial ridges and the V of
the chevron point back to origin.
Sequencing by the T-Junction Procedure (used in wreckage
analysis) – Fracture A precedes and arrests Fracture B
 Preliminary Examination
Visual Inspection
• The unaided human eye
– Depth of focus, texture and color changes
– A large area can be scanned quickly
• Lighting highlights fractographic features
– Oblique lighting
– Low-level backlighting (reflective surfaces)
 Visual Inspection
• Features of importance include:
– Surface texture and changes in surface
roughness
– Optical reflectivity
– Radial marks and/or chevron patterns
– Localized and general oxidation/corrosion
– Orientation of fracture relative to the
component geometry
 Preliminary Examination
Specimen Handling
• Do NOT "fit together" fracture surfaces
• Do bring fragments into close proximity
• Ductile vs. brittle fractures
Fractured Lug showing fracture sequence – Fracture A preceded
Fractures B and C.
 Preliminary Examination
Cleaning
• Debris obscures fracture surfaces
• Debris may be critical to root-cause
determination.
• The less cleaning the better
• Collect debris
• Protect cleaned fracture surfaces
 Nondestructive Evaluation
(NDE)
• Magnetic-particle inspection (ferrous
alloys)
• Liquid-penetrant inspection
• Ultrasonic inspection
• Eddy current inspection
• Radiography - subsurface imperfections
 Magnetic-Particle Inspection
• Surface and near-surface irregularities
• Must be ferromagnetic
• Cannot detect small area perpendicular to
the magnetic field
• Magnetic leakage field is formed at/above
surface of part
• Magnetic powder outlines discontinuity
• Fluorescent material is often employed
 Liquid-Penetrant Inspection
• Penetrant seeps into imperfections open
to the surface.
– Red dye and fluorescent penetrants
• Excess liquid is wiped from the surface.
• Developer draws penetrant to surface.
 Ultrasonic Inspection
• Pass high-frequency sound waves through
material
• Waves are reflected at free surfaces
• Can detect small discontinuities, if careful
• Sound waves are absorbed in large-
grained materials
 Radiography
• Uses x-rays
• Photographic film (behind) is darkened by
exposure to the x-rays
• Porosity, holes, cracks, etc. appear lighter
• Won’t detect tight cracks parallel x-rays
• Provides a permanent record.
 Residual-Stress Analysis
• X-ray diffraction measures microscale
distortion of the crystalline lattice
• Calculate residual stresses from distortion
• Cracking locally relieves stresses
• Use with uncracked parts (i.e., exemplars)
• Other methods – strain gauge/hole drill,
strain gauge/section, neutron diffraction,
stress cracking tests (boiling MgCl2)
 Metallographic Examination
• Specimen selection and orientation
– Perpendicular to fracture surface,
through origin, remote from fracture
• Macroexamination
– Segregation, larger imperfections
• Microscale examination
– Microstructure, imperfections, etc.
• Hardness or microhardness may confirm
heat treat condition
 Mechanical Testing
• Mechanical properties vs. design/spec’s
• May not have enough material
• May not be able to correlate to spec’s
• Hardness testing
• Tensile testing
• Cyclic-load testing
• Elevated-temperature creep testing
• Wear tests
• Toughness testing
 Hardness Testing
• May be considered nondestructive
• Simple, convenient and low expense
• Average bulk section mech properties
• Variation in mechanical properties
– Decarburized, surface treated, etc.
• Correlates with tensile and fatigue strength
• No simple correlation with YS or ductility
 Hardness Testing
• No correlation with toughness
• No correlation with low cycle fatigue
• Several different hardness tests
– loads, indenter size/shape
• Select type of hardness test based on
material and microstructure.
– Use large indenter (e.g., Brinell) with coarse
microstructures (e.g., castings)
 Tensile Testing
• Standard mechanical properties used for
design (monotonic loads)
• Stress at the onset of permanent
deformation (yield strength)
• Stress at the onset of unstable
deformation (tensile strength)
• Tensile elongation and reduction of area
(measures of “ductility")
 Toughness Testing
• Ability to absorb energy during fracture
• Transition temperature test
• Fracture mechanics tests
 Compliance with Spec’s
• Deviations may or may not be significant
– Mech properties, chemistry, geometry, etc.
• Nominal properties are not guaranteed
min/max values.
• Specimen orientation may have large
effect.
 Preserve Fracture Surfaces
• Fracture surfaces and met mounts
• Failure may result in litigation
• Wrap with cloth or cotton covering
• Unwrap carefully (loose debris)
• Chemical damage is harder to prevent
• Oils/greases may destroy evidence
• Corrosion-resistant paper, acrylic sprays, etc.
• Desiccators
• Softened acetate tape or acrylic spray
Cleaning of Fracture Surfaces
• Necessary for macroscale and microscale
• Alters surface condition/loss of info
• Least to most aggressive
• Avoid water (corrosion)
– Exception - seawater or fire-extinguisher fluid
– Rinse with acetone or alcohol
• Organic solvents remove organic deposits.
 Adherent Oxide Scales
• Ultrasonic cleaning and tape stripping
– Clean the specimen ultrasonically.
– Brush with a soft brush.
– Apply acetate tape, let it dry, and strip it.
– Flush the surface with acetone.
– 8-10 repetitions may be necessary.
– Collect/analyze particulate.
 Sectioning
• For SEM, hardness, met mounts, ...
• Approval may be necessary.
• Protect fracture from heat and fluids.
– Heat alters microstructure and properties
– Fluids contaminate surfaces
• Flame cut (large parts)
• Abrasive cutoff saws (most common)
• Hand hacksaw (nonferrous)
• Encapsulate fracture surfaces (coolant)
Sectioning Secondary Cracks
• Often less mechanical damage
• 1st measure apparent crack length
• Saw cut (notch) the back side
• Part using tensile tester or vise
• Pre-chilling is helpful (ferrous)
• Lab fracture vs. field fracture
 Fracture Surface Macroscale
Examination
• Often the most useful step
• 1 to 25×
• Unaided eye
• Hand lens (particularly in the field)
• Stereomicroscopes
– Small aperture for maximum depth of field
• SEM for best depth of field
• Replicas (cellulose-acetate tape)
Macroscale Fracture Features
• Orientation of fracture
• Light reflectivity of the surface
• Roughness and changes in roughness
• Crack-arrest lines and beach marks
• Radial marks, ratchet marks and chevrons
• Shear lips
• Local and general oxidation/corrosion
A fan-shaped pattern of radial marks serve to locate the origin of
this single-load brittle fracture.
Steel tube fracture surface exhibiting chevron marks, fan-shaped
radial marks and texture changes associated with the origin.
Rotating shaft fatigue fracture surface – Beach marks identify the
fracture origin and the direction of shaft rotation.
 Fracture Surface Orientation
• Related to loading
• Brittle tension – flat & normal to load
• Bending
– Brittle (normal to the applied load)
– Ductile (45° to the applied load)
– Mixed (normal and 45° shear lip)
• Torsion
– Ductile (normal to axis & swirled rub pattern)
– Brittle (helical fracture surface at 45° to axis)
 Roughness and Texture
• Matte and dull fracture - microscale ductile
• Shiny and - microscale brittle (IG & TG)
• Light reflectivity increases with grain size
• Roughness increases as crack propagates
• Fatigue is smoother than monotonic
overload
 Microfractography
• Directly or indirectly with a replica
• SEM or TEM (replica only).
• Size limitations
• Features provide information regarding:
– Root cause of failure
– Failure mechanism (ductile, brittle, fatigue, SCC)
– Material defects
– Manufacturing defects
– Environmental interaction
– Nature of stresses
– Fracture origin and direction of propagation
 Fractographic Features
• Ductile fracture – microvoid coalescence
(MVC) → dimpled rupture
• Transgranular brittle fracture - cleavage
(BCC and HCP)
– Cleavage facets
– River lines
Dimpled rupture fracture surface
Cleavage fracture (hardened steel) – Note the direction of crack
propagation (arrow) based on the progression of river marks.
 Fractographic Features
• Intergranular (IG) fracture
– Macroscale brittle, usually microscale brittle
– Ductile IG microscale - dimpled rupture on the
grain facets
• Fatigue striations
– Not all materials (steels)
– Striation spacing – crack growth rate
Intergranular (IG) fracture – Note the “rock candy” appearance.
Fatigue striations are visible on this Type 302 stainless steel
spring fracture
 Metallographic Examination
• Light microscopy – up to ~1000X
• SEM up to ~100,000X
• Typical examination - 100–800X
• Transverse and longitudinal sections
• Unetched specimens - inclusion content
• Adjacent vs. removed from the failure
• Compare with others (new, intact, etc.)
 Metallographic Examination
• Is microistructure …
– Consistent with design? With expected service?
– Different at failure location? At surface?
• Grain size, case depth, decarburization, plating
thickness, etc.
• Material imperfections and defects
• Edge retention (plate, mix hard particles, wrap
thin-gage sheet metal)
• Some embrittling processes are not revealed by
microstructural examination.
Failed Pin (Ferrite) Opertive Pin (Pearlite)

Two pins from identical dump trucks display very different

microstructures.
Driveshaft fracture from weld buildup – Metallography reveals the
transition from weld (top) to base metal (bottom).
 Stress Analysis
• Types of stress analysis:
• Theoretical with standard structural and machine
design equations
• Theoretical with finite-element analysis
• Experimental using strain gauges or some other
direct experimental procedure (e.g., the use of
Stress-Kote® to determine the plane of maximum
normal stress in a body)
• Fracture mechanics - assumes a crack-like
imperfection
 Stress Analysis
• Obvious distortion (macroscale ductile)
– monotonic overload, low cycle fatigue failure,
or elevated-temperature creep fracture
• Deformation relates to the state of stress
– bending, twisting, axial, compression buckling
– This is very important information since it
shows whether the component was loaded in
the manner assumed in the design.
• No gross deformation (macroscale brittle)
– many possible causes
 Ductile Fracture
• Due to overload or under design
• Macroscale ductile tensile fractures
• Considerable elongation and usually necking
• Triaxial stress state due to necking
• Crack initiates near the centerline
• Lateral expansion on plane of max normal stress
• Crack turns and runs on plane of high shear stress
• "Cup-and-cone" fracture
• Central flat portion size↑ as the inclusion count↑
 Ductile Fracture
• Biaxially loaded sheet/plate and thin-wall
pressurized tubing
– Often consist entirely of a shear lip
– May casually appear brittle with limited ductility
– Closer inspection reveals some wall thinning
– Inclined to the plane of maximum normal stress
• Dimpled rupture
– Equiaxed dimples - Axial loading and combined
bending + axial loading
– Elongated dimples - Shear stress and tearing stress
 Microscale Brittle Fracture
• Brittle fracture may be TG cleavage or IG
or both.
• TG cleavage
– Common in BCC (carbon steels)
– Not common in FCC lattice (aluminum,
copper, nickel, austenitic stainless steel, etc.)
– Bright, high-light-reflecting facets
– Fracture normal to the largest tensile stress
• Brittle fracture in pearlite may resemble
fatigue striations
 River Lines
• Cleavage occurs on closely spaced planes
• River lines - small steps or connecting
ligaments
– Crack propagation is "downstream"
– Often form a fan-shaped pattern
– Fracture origin can be identified
 Tongues and Herringbones
• Brittle fractures propagate at a fast rate
(high strain rate).
• Deformation twins may form ahead of the
propagating cleavage crack.
• Tongues- crack turns and runs temporarily
on the twinning plane.
• Herringbone (Chevron) pattern - cleavage
occurs along a thin rib and propagates
laterally on two twinning planes.
Tongues on an iron fracture surface
 Quasi-Cleavage Fracture
• Predominantly cleavage, but with dimpled
rupture at tear ridges
• River lines ↔ tear ridges and/or microvoid
coalescence
• Cleavage ↔ Quasi-Cleavage ↔ mixed
(cleavage and MVC)
Quasi-cleavage fracture in an tool steel
 Intergranular Fracture
• Elevated-temperature creep fracture → IG
• Case hardening → IG
• Specific environmental and heat treating
conditions → IG
• Identification may require additional
information (e.g., microstructural
examination plus fractographic
information).
 Intergranular Fracture
• Grain-boundary precipitation and/or PFZ
• IG MVC fracture
• May not observe with light microscope
• Local concentration of an embrittling
element
• Not visible in the microstructure
• Auger microscopy (and EDS) may identify
embrittling species.
 Fatigue Failures
• Fatigue (cyclic load) failures
• High cycle fatigue: stresses < yield strength
• Low cycle fatigue: stresses > yield strength
• Variables affecting allowable stress/life:
• Loading conditions - uniaxial, multiaxial; alternating
stress and mean stress
• Geometry - section size, shape, stress risers
• Temperature
• Environment
• Manufacturing processes - residual stresses and
surface finish
• Microstructure
 Fatigue Appearance
• Macroscale features:
– Beach marks
• Crevice corrosion
• Sudden change in the stress amplitude
– Ratchet marks (not destroyed by rubbing)
– Fatigue region + overload region
• The fatigue region is smooth and matte in color
• Overload region is rough and may contain ridges
Piston rod fracture showing ratchet marks, indicative of multi-
origin fatigue, which remain visible despite severe rubbing.
 Fatigue Appearance
• High cycle (long-life fatigue)
– no net-section plastic distortion associated
with the fatigue region.
• Occasionally (alloy-specific) IG
• Initial cracking may be cleavage
 Fatigue Cracking
• Usually, TG in benign environments
• Corrosive environment may lead to IG
• Fretting fatigue - fretting debris
– In aluminum alloys, fretting debris is a hard
dark deposit.
– In steels, it is a rust-like material.
– Fretting reduces the long-life fatigue strength
by as much as a 75%.
 Fatigue Striations
• Not always present.
• Well-developed striations not observed:
• Two-phase with low volume fraction ductile matrix
• Most steels
• Striations may be seen in the ductile
matrix dendrites (castings)
 Fatigue Striations
• Each striation represents a single cycle
• Some cycles may not create a striation
• Typically visible at 1000–2000X
• Other fractographic features can be
confused with fatigue striations
Fatigue striations in a vanadium high-strength low alloy steel
 Stress-Corrosion Cracking
• Occurs in a wide variety of alloy systems.
• 3 prerequisites:
– susceptible material, tensile stress, specific environment
• Environment may be mild
• Often little or no general corrosion
• Incubation period
• Residual stresses may cause SCC
• Laboratory testing - ASTM A 262 and G 35.
• SCC + cyclic loading = corrosion fatigue or cyclic SCC
 General Features of SCC
• SCC may be TG, IG or a combination.
• IGSCC is common in Al alloys, Ni alloys,
Cu alloys, and steels.
• TGSCC is common in austenitic stainless
steels and magnesium alloys.
• IG parallel to the working direction results
in "woody" appearance.
• Thumbnail-shaped progression marks
Cross section showing a branched, transgranular stress corrosion
crack in austenitic stainless steel.
 SCC fracture surface in a high strength steel part showing a
thumbnail-shaped progression mark similar to fatigue beach marks.
 Liquid-Metal Embrittlement
• IG penetration of an alloy by a liquid metal
• Copper/mercury and steel/zinc
• Identify by microprobe or WDS/EDS
• Solid-metal induced embrittlement
 Hydrogen-Assisted Cracking
• Hydrogen embrittles many alloys
• Most common for fracture of high-strength
steels (UTS > 1240 MPa or 180 ksi)
• Requires only a few ppm of hydrogen:
– Hairline cracking, usually along prior-
austenitic grain boundaries
– A loss in ductility
– A loss in notch toughness
– Hydrogen-induced delayed fracture
 Hydrogen-Assisted Cracking
• H2 Sources - operating atmosphere and
corrosion
• Macroscale features of embrittlement
– High light reflecting facets on dull/matte
surface that failed by dimpled rupture
– Hydrogen flakes or fisheyes
• Microscale – often IG
• Difficult to distinguish hydrogen-assisted
cracking from SCC
Fracture of a Cr-Ni steel forging showing fisheyes.
Example of hydrogen embrittled steel - AISI 4130 steel (UTS =
186 ksi, stressed at 142 ksi in hydrogen)
 Creep and Stress-Rupture
• Creep: time-dependent deformation at
constant load
• Stress-rupture: creep strain culminates in
fracture
• Stress relaxation: time-dependent load to
maintain a constant deformation
 Creep and Stress-Rupture
• T > 30-40% of the melting point (absolute)
– RT or slightly above for low-melting-point
alloys (e.g., tin, lead, high-purity aluminum)
– >1000 °C for high-melting-point alloys (nickel-
base heat-resistant alloys, refractory alloys)
• In the absence of dynamic
recrystallization, fracture is typically IG.
• Oxidation product and grain-boundary
penetration of oxides are common
 Creep and Stress-Rupture
• Two different failure mechanisms:
– Grain-boundary sliding leads to wedge cracks
at GB triple points (wedge or W cracking).
• Occurs at higher stresses and lower temperatures.
– Diffusion of vacancies to GB’s to create
microscale porosity (round cracks, R cracks,
cavitation, creep cracking).
• Elevated-temperature corrosion may
accompany creep failures.
Typical creep deformation with IG cracking in a jet-engine turbine
blade.
Stress rupture of a Type 321 SST superheater tube – Note the
thick-lip fracture and the IG cracking
 Elevated-Temperature Failures
• Stress relaxation of threaded fasteners:
– If clamping load is replaced, quickly use up
ductility and fracture
– If the clamping load is not replaced, fatigue
failure or leakage
• Stress relaxation causes unattractive
wrinkles in Al auto body panels
• SCC/Elevated-Temperature Failures
– Synergistic interaction of corrosion and creep
 Chemical Analysis
• Incorrect alloy - relatively uncommon
• Deviation from specification (element)
– more common
– Often, deviations are not significant
• Incomplete ladle deoxidation with Al
(steels) - strain aging embrittlement
• Excess of aluminum - intergranular
fracture
 Chemical Analysis
• SCC - corrosion product is often key
• S and P content in steel - must control
– However, S & P above the typical 0.035 or
0.04% is seldom the root cause
• Microstructural distribution of trace
elements is more important.
• Drilling chips represent bulk chemistry.
 Chemical Analysis
• Gaseous or interstitial elements (H, O and
N) may influence behavior
– O and N - strain aging and quench aging
– Hydrogen embrittlement (welding,
electroplating, pickling, service)
– Fisheye (halo) fractures in steels
 Specific Analytical
Techniques
• Analytical procedures exist for:
– Bulk chemical composition
– Local alloy chemical composition
– Phase identification
– Environmental solid debris, liquids, etc.
• Semiquantitative spectrography,
spectrophotometry, and atomic absorption
spectroscopy can be used for alloy
composition.
 Specific Analytical
Techniques
• Wet chemical methods
– greater accuracy
– Cl– and (NO3)–1
• Combustion methods - H, O, N, C and S
• XRF - crystalline and amorphous solids,
liquids and gases
• IR and UV spectroscopy - organics
• Gas chromatography separates complex
organic mixtures
 Specific Analytical
Techniques
• Analysis of surface deposits:
– Energy (EDS) and wavelength-dispersive
(WDS) x-ray - SEM
– Auger electron spectrometer
• Very thin surface layers
• Atomic numbers as low as 3
• Spot size ranges from 1 to 50 µm
 Specific Analytical
Techniques
• Electron microprobe analyzer
– Areas as small as 1 µm
– Detection limit of less than 0.1% (higher for
atomic number > 6)
• Secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS)
– few microns in diameter larger than electron
microprobe analyzer
 Specific Analytical
Techniques
• Spot testing
• uses chemicals
• identify alloy, deposits, corrosion products, soil
• field or laboratory
• little training required
• material must be dissolved (HCl or aqua regia)
• drop of solution + drop of a specific reagent
• Color identifies specific element
• Details of spot testing procedures are described in
ASTM STP 550.
 Fracture Mechanics
• Quantitative stress analysis may be key
issue for root cause
• State and magnitude of stresses are
affected by crack-like imperfections.
• Toughness and fatigue strength are
affected by crack-like imperfections.
• Use fracture-mechanics analysis
 Simulated-Service Testing
• Sometimes needed for root cause
– To replicate fracture appearance
– To determine the failure load
– To test prototypes
• Some cautions
– May be expensive
– May not know all service conditions
– May be overly aggressive
 Consult Other Disciplines
• Complex failure analysis may involve
numerous technical areas:
– stress analysis, microstructural interpretation,
fracture surface interpretation, chemistry,
nondestructive testing, etc.
• Requires a team of experts.
• Professional credibility and ethics require
that an analyst not speculate on causes
for failure outside his or her area of
expertise.
 Report Writing
• See the hardcopy lesson (L1, P38-39):
– Checklist on formulating conclusions
– Sections of a failure analysis report
 Follow-up Recommendations
• Warning labels
• Change in design
• Change in material and/or material processing
• Change in manufacture/assembly
• Change in quality control
• Change in maintenance and repair practices
• Change in permissible usage of the product
 On-Site Failure Analysis
• Laboratory testing is not always possible.
• On-site metallography
• (Portable) hardness testing
• Replicas (cellulose acetate and RTV)
Portable metallographic laboratory kit
 Portable Laboratory
• Grinding and polishing equipment
• Portable microscope with camera
• Camera with macro lenses
• Pocket-size magnifier (typically 5–10X)
• Ruler and tape measure
• Hacksaw and blades for cutting
• Acetate tape, acetone, and containers
• RTV rubber