Tutorial 3

Advanced Mechanical
Properties
Impact Fracture
Fracture Toughness
Fatigue
Creep
Impact Fracture of Material

 The notched-bar impact tests were designed to measure the

impact strength of a material.

 In practice, the standard specimen with its standard notch is

broken (or severely deformed) by an impact blow, the energy
required to propagate the crack from the bottom of the notch
across the specimen is measured in Joules (Impact energy).

 The size and shape of the notch is of the upmost importance.

Minor variations in the notch size and shape will cause large
variations in the test results.
Impact Fracture of Material
Two standardized tests, the Charpy and
Izod, were designed and are still used to
measure the impact energy, sometimes
also termed notch toughness.

Izod – test piece held vertically and the

standard notch is facing the striking edge
of the pendulum.

Charpy – test piece held horizontally and

the blow being delivered at a point
directly behind the notch.
Impact Fracture of Material

 When the striker impacts the specimen, the specimen will absorb
energy until it yields. At this point, the specimen will begin to
undergo plastic deformation at the notch. The test specimen
continues to absorb energy and work hardens at the plastic zone
at the notch. When the specimen can absorb no more energy,
fracture occurs.

 Fracture are usually said to be either brittle or ductile, depending

upon the amount of plastic deformation preceding failure. It
follows that brittle failures occur suddenly with little or no prior
deformation.
Impact Fracture of Material

 One primary functions of Charpy and Izod tests is to determine

whether or not a material experiences a ductile-to-brittle
transition with decreasing temperature, and, if so, the range of
temperatures over which it occurs.

 Many ductile metals can be cooled to a temperature at which the

mode of failure alters from ductile to brittle.
 Impact Fracture of Material
 If a number of standard Izod or Charpy test specimen are prepared
from the same metal and are then broken during testing at different
temperatures, the ductile-to-brittle behaviour of the metal can be
assessed for the test situation.

Temperature (-C) Impact Energy (J)

Impact Energy (J) Versus Temperature (°C) For Charpy
25 124 Impact Tests On Ductile Cast Iron
150
50 123
Impact Energy (J)

75 115
85 100 100
100 73
110 52 50
125 26
150 9 0
175 6 -200 -150 -100 -50 0

Temperature (°C)
Impact Fracture of Material
 At higher temperatures, the impact energy is relatively large, in
correlation with a ductile mode of fracture. As the temperature
is lowered, the impact energy drops suddenly over a relatively
narrow temperature range, below which the energy has a constant
but small value; that is, the mode of fracture is brittle.

Impact Energy (J) Versus Temperature (°C) For Charpy

Impact Tests On Ductile Cast Iron
150
Impact Energy (J)

100
Upper shelf

50 Lower shelf

0
-200 -150 -100 -50 0

Temperature (°C)
 Impact Fracture of Material
 To determine a ductile-to-brittle transition temperature, the
maximum and minimum impact energies are averaged. Using
this averaged energy value, the ductile-to-brittle transition
temperature can then be obtained by interpolation of the plotted
data.

Temperature Impact
(-C) Energy (J) Impact Energy (J) Versus Temperature (°C) For Charpy
25 124
Impact Tests On Ductile Cast Iron
50 123 150
Impact Energy (J)

75 115
85 100
100 73
100
110 52
125 26 65J
150 9
50
175 6

~105C
0

-200 -150 -100 -50 0

Temperature (°C)
Impact Fracture of Material

 The appearance of the failure surface is also an indication of the

nature of fracture, and may be used in transition temperature
determination:
 Ductile fracture - surfaces appear fibrous or dull.
 Brittle fracture - surfaces appear granular or shiny.

Fracture surfaces of A36 steel specimens Charpy tested at different temperatures

Fracture Toughness

 One of the most important properties of any material for virtually

all design applications is fracture toughness (Kc).

 Given the unusual units of MPam, fracture toughness is a

quantitative way of expressing “a material’s resistance to brittle
fracture when a crack is present.”

 If a material has a large value of fracture toughness it will

probably undergo ductile fracture. Brittle fracture is very
characteristic of materials with a low fracture toughness value.
Fracture Toughness

  In general, fracture toughness may be expressed in the form:

= Y
Where

= Fracture Toughness
Y = Dimensionless parameter
a = Crack length
 = Stress
Fracture Toughness

Example

A specimen of 4340 steel alloy with a plane strain fracture toughness

of 46.8MPam is exposed to a stress of 980 MPa. Will this specimen
experience fracture if it is known that the largest surface crack is
0.4mm long? Why or why not? Assume that the parameter Y has a
value of 1.0.
Fracture Toughness

Answer

There are 3 ways to approach this problem:

1. Critical crack length

2. Critical stress
3. Critical K value at crack tip
Fracture Toughness
Option
  1 - What crack length will cause fracture for the given
loading conditions?

Using 𝐾c = Y, solving for a

𝐾c = 46.8MPam
 = 980 MPa
Y=1

46.8 = (1)(980
a = 7.259 x 10-4 m = 0.73mm

Based on the calculation, a crack 0.73mm long will cause failure.

Therefore, a 0.4mm crack is not long enough to cause immediate
failure
Fracture Toughness
Option
  2 – What is the stress required to cause fracture with the
given fracture toughness and crack length

Using 𝐾c = Y, solving for 

𝐾c = 46.8MPam
Y=1
a = 0.4mm = 4 x 10-4 m

46.8 = (1)
 = 1320.2 MPa

A stress of 980 MPa would be safe as stress necessary to cause failure

of is 1320 MPa
Fracture Toughness
Option
  3 – What Kc will cause fracture for the given loading
conditions?

Using 𝐾c= Y, solving for 𝐾c

 = 980 MPa
Y=1
a = 0.4mm = 4 x 10-4 m

𝐾c = (1)(980)
= 34.7MPam

which is well below the critical 𝐾c value of 46.8MPam

Fatigue
 Fatigue is a form of failure that occurs in structures subjected to
dynamic and fluctuating stresses, and normally occurs after a
lengthy period of repeated stress or strain cycling.

 Fatigue failure is brittle-like in nature even in normally ductile

metals, in that there is very little, if any, gross plastic deformation
associated with failure.

 The process occurs by the initiation and propagation of cracks,

and ordinarily the fracture surface is perpendicular to the
direction of an applied tensile stress.
Fatigue
 The only really reliable fatigue test is to take the actual structure
or component and subject it to stress conditions approximating
those encountered in service.

 The results of such tests are plotted as graphs of applied stress

against cycles to failure (S-N curves).

 Two different types of S-N curves occur, one showing a definite

levelling off of the curve, which indicates that the material has a
definite fatigue limit.
 Fatigue

 For some ferrous (iron based) and titanium alloys, the S-N curves
becomes horizontal at higher N values. This is referred to as
fatigue limit (or endurance limit) and it is the stress below
which fatigue failure will not occur irrespective of the number of
cyclic stress applications.
Fatigue
 On the other hand, for most nonferrous alloys (i.e. aluminium)
do not have a fatigue limit, in that the S-N curve continues its
downward trend at increasingly greater N values.

 For these materials, the fatigue response is specified as fatigue

strength, which is defined as the stress level at which failure will
occur for some specified number of cycles.

 Another important parameter that characterizes a material’s

fatigue behaviour is fatigue life (Nf). It is the number of cycles to
cause failure at a specified stress level as taken from the S-N
curve.
 Fatigue
Example

What is the fatigue life for the aluminium at 150 MPa stress
amplitude?
 Fatigue
Answer

The fatigue life for the aluminium at

150 MPa stress amplitude is about
104.5 = ~316,000 cycles.
Creep
 Materials are often placed in service at elevated temperatures and
exposed to static mechanical stresses. Deformation under such
circumstances is referred to as creep.

 For metals, creep only becomes important for temperatures

greater than about 0.4Tm (Tm = absolute melting temperature).
Creep
 A typical creep test consists of
subjecting a specimen to a
constant load or stress while
maintaining the temperature
constant; deformation or strain is
measured and plotted as a
function of elapsed time.

 Upon application of the load there

is an instantaneous deformation
which is mostly elastic.
 Creep
 The resulting curve consists of three regions, each of which has
its own distinctive strain-time features:
 Primary Creep – creep begins and proceeds at a
decelerating rate until it becomes constant.
 Secondary Creep – the rate of deformation by creep remains
approximately constant.
 Tertiary Creep – the creep rate rapidly increases and failure
becomes inevitable.
Creep
 Both temperature and the level of applied
stress influence the creep characteristics.

 With either increasing stress or temperature:

 The instantaneous strain at the time of
stress application increases
 The steady-state creep rate is increased
 The rupture lifetime is decreased.
Creep  Possibly the most
important parameter from
a creep test is the slope of
the secondary portion of
the creep curve; this is
often called the minimum
or steady-state creep
rate.

 The minimum or steady-

state creep rate (0) is
defined as the slope of the
“linear” secondary
portion of the Creep
curve, Δε / Δt.
Creep
Empirical relationships have been developed in which the steady-
state creep rate as a function of stress and temperature is
expressed. Its dependence on stress can be written as:
0 = n
Where 0 is the steady-state creep rate,  and n are material
constants. A plot of the log 0 vs. log  yields a straight line with
the slope of n.
Creep
From
  the creep curve, total creep at any given
time (t) can be calculated using the following
equation:

Where
0 = instantaneous deformation
0 = the steady-state or minimum creep rate
 Example
  
Creep
For the 62 MPa stress level what
would be the total creep at 300
hours?

First we have to determine what

0 is?

0 = Δε / Δt
= (1.2 – 1.0) / (120 – 90)
= 6.67 x10-3 hr-1
 Example
  
Creep
For the 62 MPa stress level what
would be the total creep at 300
hours?

0 = 0.38
0 = 6.67 x10-3 hr-1
t = 300 hr

= 0.38 + (6.67 x10-3)300

= 2.381 strain units