Tools and

techniques in
failure analysis
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
 SEM – Very important tool
for fractography
Large depth of focus
Possibility of changing magnification
over a wide range
Very simple nondestructive specimen
preparation with direct inspection
Three-dimensional appearance of SEM
fractographs
 Basic features on fractographs
indicating
Dimpled fracture, typicalmode offailures
of overstress failure
of ductile metals and alloys
Cleavage facets, typical of transgranular brittle fracture of bcc and hcp metals
and alloys
Brittle intergranular fracture typical of temper-embrittled steel, in which
fracture is due to segregation of embrittling species to grain boundaries, to
intergranular stress-corrosion cracking, or to hydrogen embrittlement
Stage II striations, typical of fatigue failure
Typical fracture surface exhibiting ductile
failure in a mild carbon steel
Brittle fractures. (a) Fracture of mild carbon steel below
the ductile/brittle transition temperature. Note the
appearance of river lines on the faces of the cleavage
surfaces. (b) Fracture of a soda-lime glass. Note
similarity of river lines to those of (a). (c) Intergranular
SCC in brass. The grain structure is clearly revealed as
the material fails along the grain boundaries
Mixed mode fracture in a mild carbon steel
cooled just to the ductile/brittle transition
Ductile fatigue striations in aluminum alloy 2024-T3. (a) The uniformity of the
crack-propagation process is well illustrated. There was little or no interaction of
the fracture process with the inclusion within the rectangle. The long ridges are
believed to be high-angle steps at subgrain boundaries. 650×. (b) Higher-
magnification view of the region outlined by the rectangle in (a), showing the
continuity of the fracture path through and around the inclusion. Fracture “wake
lines” are visible and indicate that the direction of crack propagation was toward
the lower right corner of the fractograph. These wake lines originate at the
inclusion and run normal to the crack front in the direction of crack propagation.
2600×
Fatigue fracture in type 304 stainless steel
tested at room temperature. The vertical
secondary cracks in (a) are grain-boundary
separations. 39×. (b) The well-defined
striations resulted from the planar slip
characteristic of stainless steels. 810×
Fatigue fracture in 18% Ni, grade 250, maraging steel
tested at room temperature. (a) Extensive secondary
cracking can be seen in a lower-magnification fractograph.
126×. (b) The cracking is clearly evident in a higher 1440×
magnification fractograph. Secondary cracks formed at the
roots of many fatigue striations. The range of stress
intensity (ΔK) at the crack tip was 76.9 MPam ·
Fatigue failures. (a) Fatigue (upper right)
changing to ductile failure (lower left). (b) Fatigue
fracture of class 30 gray iron. (c) Single overload
fracture of class 30 gray iron