AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 1 -- This module is intended to be used
for review and update by students who have
been applying the basic fracture concepts
learned in the Principles of Fractures module.
It is an excellent refresher to use before
starting into new component module
instruction.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 2 -- Remember that components usually
break at "the weakest link in the chain". This
"weak link" may be one of the highly loaded
areas of the part, or it may be the location of
an unusual or unexpected stress raiser. When
parts fracture at high load areas, we should
acquire background facts on operation and
application to determine if a service overload
existed. If the part fails elsewhere, we should
obtain material, process, assembly,
maintenance, application or operation facts.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 3 -- We recall that parts can be loaded in
a variety of ways such as in tension, torsion,
or bending and over short or long periods of
time. Loads can be applied once or
repeatedly. A very sudden single load
application resulting in fracture is called an
impact load .A more gradual single load
application resulting in fracture is called an
overload. Repeated loads resulting in fracture
are cyclic loads and are usually well below
the loads that cause fracture. We need to be
careful to distinguish between overloads and
cyclic overloads.

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AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 4 -- Many steel parts that are cyclically
loaded exhibit an infinite life if the applied
loads are below a certain value known as the
endurance limit or fatigue limit. The further
below the endurance limit the more "safety
factor" is present. This means the part is more
likely to survive adverse field conditions or
material or process problems.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 5 -- When engineers design parts, they
have to know how much load is applied,
where it is applied, and the effect the part
geometry will have on the load. Parts carry
applied loads by setting up internal stress.
Any geometrical change in a part can affect
this internal stress in the vicinity of the shape
change and is called a stress raiser .The more
drastic the shape change, the higher the stress
raiser effect can be. For example, a gradual
radius has a lot less stress raising effect than
pits or sharp cracks.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 6 -- Stress raisers such as holes, keways,
threads, shoulders, etc .can be compensated
for by design, heat treatment or forming
techniques. Stress raisers due to material
problems, process problems or customer
abuse can become serious enough to cause
component failure since there may not be
enough safety factor to tolerate such stress
raisers.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Stress Raisers - Materia1 Problems

Slide 7 -- This 3500 crankshaft failure was

caused by an inclusion lying just under the
main journal fillet. This also happens to be an
area that experiences heavy bending loads.
This same inclusion at another location may
not have caused a failure, but the combination
of high stress and a stress raiser was too much
for the fillet. Let's take a closer look at the
inclusion and the fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 8 -- Here we see the cross section of the
inclusion that started the fracture. It is about
.010 inch in diameter and lies about .015
inches below the fillet. A fatigue crack
initiated at the inclusion and grew very slowly
until it reached the fillet surface. After the
fillet surface cracked open, the fatigue crack
grew faster causing the noticeable change in
fracture appearance. The bright smooth area
around the inclusion is called a bull’s eye and
is typical of subsurface fatigue cracks starting
at inclusions.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 9 -- Sometimes inclusions start fatigue
cracks along their length due to a combination
of loading direction and flow lines. This
piston pin illustrates what a fatigue crack
looks like when it initiates along an
inclusion's length. The pin is machined from
bar stock that has flow lines running from end
to end and it is a cylinder that flattens slightly
under combustion loads. This puts stress
along the length of any inclusions present.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 10 -- This close up shows the fatigue
crack growing from the length of the
inclusion near the inside diameter. The
subsurface stress raiser caused applied loads
to be increased above the endurance limit and
initiated the fracture. From these past two
examples we see that inclusions can produce
two distinct fracture appearances depending
on loading and flow line direction.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 11 -- Casting stress raisers have their
own unique appearance. Notice this cast steel
swivel has fractured at a fillet and the fracture
face was unprotected and allowed to rust.
However, there is one interesting area that has
not rusted. Let's take a closer look at this area.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 12 -- This closer view shows the
unrusted fracture contains what resembles
flow lines in wrought steel parts. But since
this is a cast part we know it does not have
flow lines. Also, the area having this
appearance is the only area that hasn't rusted.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 13 -- Under a microscope we see the
unrusted area consists of large steel grains
resembling rows of BB's. Metallurgists know
this cast structure as dendrites. Dendrites on a
fracture surface usually indicate a void was
present in the casting. For some reason
insufficient metal was poured into the mold
and the hole or void developed. When service
loads were applied, the void's stress raising
effect was enough to initiate a fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Stress Raisers - Precracks

Slide 14 -- Sometimes parts contain stress

raisers in. the form of cracks that exist before
the part is placed in service. When a part is
already cracked like this, the part is said to be
precracked or contain a precrack. Most
precracks are the result of processing
problems during forming, heat treating,
straightening or grinding. This failed 3208
connecting rod shows a fatigue crack starting
below the rod's surface. Ratchet marks and
beach marks are evidence that the crack
started subsurface. Since no bull’s eye is
present it doesn't appear to be caused by an
inclusion. In this case the precrack is a
forging lap caused by metal folding back on
itself in the forging die. Dark scale in the
precrack is the road sign identifying this as a
lap. When placed in service, the stress raising
effect of the precrack initiated a fatigue crack.

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AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 15 -- This con rod contains a different
type of precrack. The subsurface fatigue again
initiated along a line inside the part. Beach
marks and ratchet marks start at the bottom of
the stress raiser. The stress raiser has a blue-
black temper color that is about the color
produced by 700 - 800°F, the temperature at
which this rod is tempered during heat
treatment. The crack most likely occurred
during quenching and is a called a quench
crack.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 16 -- This 3208 crankshaft shows
ratchet marks and beach marks starting along
a distinct line below the fillet surface. From
the fillet surface down to the fatigue crack we
see a rough woody fracture. The woody
fracture is a ductile precrack existing prior to
the part being placed in service. Fatigue
cracking initiated due to the presence of this
precrack. Since the precrack is not temper
colored it probably occurred after heat
treatment. The only bending load the
crankshaft experiences after heat treatment
and before being placed in service occurs
during straightening. Therefore we can
conclude this precrack is most likely a
straightening crack.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 17 -- Sometimes identification marks
become stress raisers. This ripper tip has
fractured lengthwise through the Cat
identification marks. If we look at the fracture
face we should be able to tell if the fracture
just happened to pass through the markings or
if they provided a stress raiser that started the
fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 18 -- Looking at the fracture, we can
clearly see that the "T" in the word "CAT"
provided a stress raiser that initiated a fatigue
crack in the ripper tip. Beach marks started at
the long groove created by the vertical portion
of the "T" and grew to the top and bottom of
the tip. This tells us the tip can experience
conditions that cyclically overload the
identification stamping resulting in fatigue
fracture. Although this type of failure is rare,
it is likely that the identification markings will
be moved to a different location or replaced
by some other form of identification that is
not a stress raiser.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 19 -- This large threaded stud is part of
a Caterpillar tool designed to be used as a
puller. In this overall view of the fracture face
we can see an area at top center where rust is
present. We will want to examine this area up
close.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 20 -- A closer view shows a brittle
fracture (chevrons) started at the bottom of
what appears to be a precrack filled with rust.
In this case the precrack occurred during use
and rusted due to moisture in the air. We
should remember to look for black scale,
temper colors , paint, rust or other indications
on fractures that may indicate the existence of
a precrack.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Fracture Review and Update

Slide 21 -- Before looking at fractures in more

detail, let's take a minute to review the basics.
Three types of loads - 1) impact loads, 2)
overloads, and 3) cyclic loads usually produce
three types of fracture - 1) brittle, 2) ductile,
and 3) fatigue respectively. Impact and over
load fractures are rough indicating they
occurred very rapidly and are usually results.
Fatigue fractures usually start at a stress raiser
and grow much slower leaving a smoother
fracture face. In general, the faster cracks
grow, the rougher the fracture surface
becomes.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Brittle Fractures

Slide 22 -- Let' s review what we know about

brittle fractures. These fractures are usually
caused by very rapidly applied severe loads.
The metal grains have no opportunity to carry
these loads and separate along layers of unit
cells through each grain. This process of
breaking through the grains is called
cleavage. If the two halves of a brittle fracture
are placed back together (in practice this
should never be done) the part looks much
like the original.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 23 -- If a metal grain is represented by a
deck of cards and each card represents a layer
of unit-cells
within the grain, brittle fracture can be
illustrated by cutting the deck. The cards do
not move in relation to each other but are only
separated. This leaves very flat surfaces that
reflect light like a mirror producing a sparkle.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 24 -- What can we look for on a fracture
that will tell us a brittle fracture has occurred?
In softer steels chevrons are likely to be seen.
Chevrons act as a road map to lead us to the
point at which the impact load was applied.
Chevrons are ridges or steps in the metal that
converge on the fracture initiation site and
produce the rough appearance of the fast
brittle fracture. There is usually little or no
plastic deformation along the edges of a
brittle fracture.

In harder steels we can look for a sparkly

condition as we move the fracture under a
bright light. The cleaved grains act like
mirrors and reflect light like many little
diamonds. As metals are heat treated to higher
hardness levels, the tendency to produce
sparkly fractures increases since the material
is becoming more “brittle”. Remember that
gray cast iron is a brittle material by nature
and gray iron fractures will usually look
brittle regardless of how they formed.

Some brittle fractures occur around the grains

in the grain boundaries and will not sparkle
like cleavage. We will learn more about these
a little later.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 25 -- Aluminum castings such as this
piston skirt develop characteristics of brittle
fracture when impact loaded. Note the
chevrons converging at the lower center of the
fracture. Examination of the piston skirt at
this location shows no stress raisers present
but should show the impression of a con rod
or crankshaft counterweight that struck the
skirt. We would want to examine other parts
to determine what failed first.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 26 -- This gear tooth fracture is oriented
with the top of the tooth facing straight away
from us in this view. The tooth fractured off
the gear at the root and we can see some of
the load carrying face along the top edge.
Chevrons are present indicating a brittle
fracture occurred and the impact was applied
to the load carrying face. If nothing else is
failed, we should ask questions about
operating conditions to determine how the
gear was impact loaded.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 27 -- Chevrons in this 3306 timing gear
indicate a brittle fracture started in the root of
one of the teeth and cracked very rapidly
across the web. Knowing this we should look
for evidence of foreign material in the gear
train or some other source of an impact load.

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AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 28 -- This valve head shows a sparkly
condition indicating a brittle fracture occurred
probably as a result of hitting the piston. Each
cleaved grain can act as a mirror to produce
the sparkle when oriented properly to the
light. The absence of chevrons indicates the
valve head material must be fairly hard since
chevrons only form in softer metals.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 29 -- With the higher magnification
obtainable on scanning electron microscopes
(SEM), we see the individual metal grains and
the very flat mirror like faces that are
produced when the grains fracture along
layers of unit cells. Since fracture occurs
through the grains on certain crystal planes, it
is referred to as crystalline or cleavage
fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 30 -- Sometimes metals fracture around
grains. This is called intergranular fracture
and differs in appearance from cleavage. This
SEM photograph shows the difference in the
fracture appearance. Note the curved grain
boundary faces. Since grain boundaries are
not as flat and smooth as a layer of unit cells,
the fracture surface is not mirror flat and does
not sparkle like a cleavage fracture. The
difference between cleavage and intergranular
fracture can also be seen with a wide field
microscope.
Cleavage fractures have a lot of sparkle while
intergranular fractures show very little
sparkle. There is usually a mixture of both on
any brittle fracture and the fracture should be
classified depending on whether it is mostly

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sparkly or has very little sparkle. Intergranular

fractures usually indicate a material, process
or operating environment problem exists. This
is one exception to the rule of thumb that
brittle fractures are usually results.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Ductile Fractures

Slide 31 -- Let's review what we know about

ductile fractures. Severe overloading usually
causes these fractures. In this case the metal
grains try to adjust to the overload and change
shape in an effort to carry the additional load.
Since the load is applied slower than an
impact load, the grains have time to do this.
Each grain changes shape by a process known
as slip. Layers of unit cells slide past each
other but do not immediately break apart.
This is called plastic deformation or plastic
flow. Eventually the load over powers the
metal and the grains pull apart.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 32 -- Again, we can illustrate what
happens to a single grain using the card deck.
As excessive loading occurs, the layers of unit
cells represented by the cards slide over each
other changing the shape of the grain.
Eventually the loading exceeds the strength of
the metal and the grains pull apart. What
characteristics do all this changing of grain
shape produce on a ductile fracture surface?

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 33 -- Ductile fractures usually appear
distorted, bent, twisted, necked down or other
wise changed in shape so that the part does
not look like the original. This plastic
deformation produces a fracture surface that
is rough and woody, trapping the light and
producing a darker appearance with no
sparkle. Around the outer edge of the fracture
a shear lip, metal sticking up on about a 45
degree angle, is usually present.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 34 -- When metals are pulled apart
under tension, the part stretches uniformly at
first and then begins to neck down more
rapidly at some point. The central core area
then begins to separate and small cracks
called microvoids open up. As internal stress
increases, the microvoids grow larger and join
up with each other, a process called
microvoid coalescence. The only metal
remaining to carry the ever increasing load is
the thin perimeter in the necked down region
and this shears off producing the shear lip.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 35 -- Sometimes ductile fractures
produce a fracture surface that contains very
regular markings that are mistaken for fatigue
beach marks. Notice this bolt has been
stretched and is on the "hinge" side of a con
rod failure. Other road signs of ductile
fracture are a dark, rough surface surrounded
by shear lips.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 36 -- This closer view shows concentric
ridges on the fracture that could be mistaken
for beach marks. Quite often ductile fractures
produce these concentric ridges due to the
combination of grain flow and direction of the
applied load. They closely resemble a finger
print and are called tear ridges. They are
alternating peaks and valleys produced by the
grains stretching and pulling apart. Under
higher magnification they are not as uniform
and continuous as a beach mark. This type of
fracture is also called fibrous tearing since it
creates the appearance of metal fibers pulling
apart.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 37 -- Another appearance that
sometimes occurs in ductile fractures can be
seen on these bolts. Notice both bolts are
stretched and necked down, road signs of
ductile fracture.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 38 -- Looking at the fracture faces of the
failed bolt, we see large ridges running from
the center of the bolt to the o.d. There are no
obvious tear ridges or shear lips such as we
saw on the previous bolt failure.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 39 -- A closer look reveals that the
ridges are very ductile in appearance
indicating the metal pulled apart after
stretching. This is called radial tearing and is
a form of ductile fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 40 -- Another form of ductile fracture
frequently seen on failed parts is called shear
fracture. A shear fracture is a ductile fracture
that has the fracture faces sliding against each
other as they fracture. The fracture faces are
usually silky and smooth in appearance and
do not resemble other types of fracture. Often
there will be some localized areas with temper
colors present indicating high temperatures
were created by the shearing force. This con
rod was caught between two objects moving
in different directions and was sheared off just
like it had been cut with scissors. This
produced the featureless fracture with the
smooth silky appearance.

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AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 41 -- This con rod has also been sheared
off by what appears to be bending and some
twisting loads. Note the smooth silky fracture
and the temper colors.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 42 -- When a part experiences ductile
fracture under a twisting or torsional load,
quite often a torsional shear fracture results.
This fastener has a smooth silky featureless
fracture indicating shear. Let's take a closer
look at the center area.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 43 -- This is the last part of the surface
to fracture under the torsional loads and by
this time the fracture faces were separating
enough that the ductile fracture was not
smeared over. Under torsional loads, the
outside of the part receives the highest stress
and the center of the part is the lowest
stressed.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 44 -- This is another example of a
torsional fracture in a bolt only this time the
final fracture is located towards one side. The
fracture is smooth, silky and featureless. In
this case some bending loads were present as
well as torsional loads. The bending loads
moved the final fracture to one side.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 45 -- Another type of ductile fracture
occurs along flow lines in materials leaving a
very rough woody texture with the grain flow
clearly exposed. We call this a woody
fracture. This gear tooth is an excellent
example of this fracture type. The tooth was
over loaded in bending generating high tensile
stresses in the tooth root. The gear fractured
along flow lines since parts can break easier
with the flow lines than across them.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 46 -- Fatigue fractures are often
associated with the root cause of failure. We
can trace fatigue fractures back to their
initiation sites by looking for ratchet marks
and the point from which the beach marks
radiate. When we find this site, we carefully
examine it for the presence of precracks,
inclusions or other forms of stress raisers.
Once the stress raiser is identified, we
generally know where to place responsibility
for the failure. Fatigue grows slowly leaving a
smooth fracture surface that is usually lighter
than ductile or brittle fractures. Beach marks
are usually, but not always present.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 47 -- Beach marks are the most common
road sign of fatigue fractures and are caused
by major changes in the externally applied
cyclic load. Beach marks are also called crack
arrest marks. When observed at high
magnifications on an SEM, fatigue fractures
show tiny ripples between the beach marks
that are the distance the crack grows during
each load cycle. These microscopic ripples
are called fatigue striations.

Ratchet marks are another road sign of fatigue

fractures indicating several fatigue cracks
started at nearly the same time. As each one
grows into the metal at different levels a wall
is created between them. Sometime before
final fracture occurs, this wall shears
producing the step called a ratchet mark.
Ratchet marks imply cyclic overloads or the
presence of an abnormal stress raiser.

We should remember as fatigue cracks grow,

less material is carrying the load. This can
cause beach marks to become farther apart
and more distinct as they approach final
fracture. If we have any doubts as to where
the fracture initiated, we should look for the
area where the beach marks are the most
difficult to see. Also, since beach marks are
due to changes in the externally applied load,
some fatigue fractures will not produce beach
marks since some parts do not see a variation
in the externally applied load.

By comparing the amount of final fracture to

the amount of fatigue fracture, we can get a
pretty good indication of the severity of the
applied load. If a part fractures nearly through
in fatigue with only a small amount of final
fracture, the applied loads were very light. If
the final fracture is very large with only a
small amount of fatigue, the applied loads
were very heavy.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Bending Fatigue

Slide 48 -- This 988B front wheel spindle

shows characteristics of a fatigue fracture.
There is a flat, smooth fracture surface at the
bottom indicating slow crack growth. This is
followed by much rougher brittle final
fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 49 -- This closer view shows the beach
marks and ratchet marks on the fatigue
portion, and chevrons on the brittle final
fracture. We can easily see the difference in
roughness between the slow growing bending
fatigue fracture and the rapid brittle final
fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 50 -- This close up of the ratchet marks
clearly shows the individual fatigue cracks
growing between them. Beach marks are
growing in from the surface on different
levels producing the ratchet marks between
them. As the cracks continue growing, they
join up and form a single crack. Notice that
there are no material flaws such as a bull’s
eye or inclusion, and there are no precracks at
the surface. The fatigue appears to have
started right on the spindle fillet surface. We
should remember to examine both fracture
surfaces since details may be damaged on one
face but well preserved on the other. In this
case, looking at the other fracture only
confirms what we saw on the first face. The
fatigue appears to have initiated at the fillet

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AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

surface.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Reverse Bending Fatigue

Slide 51 -- Another type of fatigue crack that

is fairly common is called reverse bending
fatigue. Notice the very slow growing fatigue
crack that started in the main journal fillet at
the lower left. After the fracture reduced the
cross sectional area significantly, a second
fatigue crack started at the rod journal fillet at
the upper right where the ratchet marks are
present. The two fatigue cracks grew towards
each other with final fracture occurring
between the oil hole and rod journal fillet.
This is called reverse bending fatigue.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 52 -- This flywheel bolt is another
example of reverse bending fatigue. Note two
different fatigue cracks were growing towards
each other from the left and the right. There is
a wide area of final fracture in the center.
When we see this condition, we should
investigate loading facts to determine why the
bolt experienced these unusual reverse
bending loads.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Rotating Bending Fatigue

Slide 53 -- Any component that rotates with a

bending load applied can experience a unique
type of fatigue fracture called rotating
bending fatigue. Since bending loads put the
highest tensile stress at the surface, the fatigue
crack grows faster around the surface than it
does through the middle of the part. This
produces beach marks that make the final
fracture look like the initiation site. As the
crack progresses it may crack all the way
around the part's perimeter before it grows
very far through the middle. When the crack
meets itself on the o.d., it turns and grows
back towards the initiation site producing a
final fracture somewhere below the surface.
The final fracture is usually surrounded with
very distinct beach marks and looks like a
large material flaw.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 54 -- Many shafts experience rotating
bending loads. This hydraulic pump shaft
fractured under the roller bearing due to
rotating bending loads.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 55 -- The fracture face shows typical
rotating bending fatigue. The fracture started
at the bottom and grew very slowly towards
the top. The beach marks show the crack grew
faster around the perimeter and cur led in
around the final fracture. The final fracture at
the top is a torsional shear fracture. Notice
how clear the beach marks are near the final
fracture and how difficult they are to see at
the initiation site. It is easy to be fooled into
thinking the final fracture is actually a
subsurface material flaw with beach marks
growing away from it. But if this were the
case, there is no other area that could be the
final fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update High Cycle – Low Cycle Fatigue

Slide 56 -- Fatigue fractures that grow slowly

are called high cycle fatigue and leave very
smooth fractures with beach marks that may
be difficult to see especially at the initiation
site. Fatigue fractures caused by severe cyclic
over load grow more rapidly and are called
low cycle fatigue fractures or "coarse
fatigue". They produce much rougher fracture
surfaces with distinct beach marks. This 3400
con rod shows both high cycle and low cycle
fatigue characteristics. At the initiation site at
the lower right, the fracture is very smooth
and beach marks are not very apparent. As the
crack approaches final fracture near the upper
left, beach marks become very distinct and
the surface becomes much rougher indicating
low cycle or coarse fatigue is occurring.

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Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 57 -- Returning to the failed 988B
spindle, we notice the fatigue portion of this
fracture looks very rough right from the
beginning and has very distinct beach marks,
road signs of low cycle or coarse fatigue. This
indicates the axle experienced a severe cyclic
overload. This may also explain why final
fracture occurred with about 2/3 of the cross
section still intact. Whenever we see rough
fatigue fractures with distinct beach marks we
should investigate loading conditions.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Summary

Slide 58 -- Let's summarize what we have

learned during this fracture review and
update.
Brittle fractures can be cleavage or
intergranular and are usually results. Most
brittle fractures are crystalline cleavage
fractures that sparkle and are caused by
impact loads. Intergranular fractures don't
sparkle and are sometimes an indicator of
material or process problems.

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 59 -- Ductile fractures are rougher and
darker with plastic deformation and shear lips.
Ductile fractures may exhibit tear ridges,
radial tears, or woody fracture. Shear
fractures are a type of ductile fracture where
the fracture faces smear together leaving a
smooth silky appearance. Torsional shear
fractures often have a ductile final fracture
near the center. Ductile fractures, like brittle
fractures, are usually results.

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AFA - 5A Fracture Review and Update 5/5/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Fracture Review and Update Slide 60 -- Fatigue fractures are of two kinds,
high cycle and low cycle. High cycle fatigue
is smooth and flat, may have beach marks that
are difficult to see, and are usually caused by
an abnormal stress raiser under normal cyclic
loads. Low cycle fatigue fractures are
rougher, have distinct beach marks, and are
usually caused by a severe cyclic overload.
Fatigue fractures usually occur at stress
raisers and are associated with root causes.

This concludes our review and update of the

three fracture types, brittle, ductile and
fatigue. We hope this information will be
useful in helping identify more root causes of
fractures.

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