ENGR7891: Fatigue and Fracture Analysis

Lecture 1:
Introduction

Youhong Tang

Matthew Flinders Professor of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing

Engineering

College of Science and Engineering

Flinders University
 Objectives

• Gain an overview of the types of material failure that affect mechanical and
structural design.

• Understand how the limitations on strength and ductility of materials are

dealt with in engineering design.

• Learn of the large costs of fracture to the economy.

• Review selected topics from Mechanics of Materials.

 Introduction

- To design machines, vehicles and structures, we need to:

• achieve acceptable levels of performance, economy, safety and durability.
• avoid excess deformation and cracking in components (Fracture).

- The study of deformation and fracture in materials is called “mechanical behavior of

materials”.

- Knowledge of this area provides the basis for avoiding these types of failure in
engineering applications.

- One aspect of the subject is the physical testing of samples of materials by applying
forces and deformations.

- Once the behaviour of a given material is quantitatively known from testing, or from
published test data, we can evaluate its success in a particular engineering design.
 Introduction

- The most basic concern in design to avoid structural failure is that the stress in a
component must not exceed the strength of the materials.

Strength is simply the stress that causes

a deformation or fracture failure.

• Stresses often act in more than one direction (biaxial, triaxial, multi-axial).
• Real components may contain flaws or cracks that must be considered.
• Stresses may be applied for long periods of time. What failure type may occur in such situations?

• Stresses may be applied and removed repeatedly. What failure type may occur in such situations?
 Types of Material Failure

- A deformation failure is a change in the physical dimensions of a component which

impairs its functionality.
Deformation failure
(necking) in a bolt.

- Cracking to the extent that a component is separated into two or more pieces
(Fracture).

Cracking in an
engine case.
 Types of Material Failure

- Corrosion is the loss of material due to chemical

action.

- Wear is surface removal due to abrasion or sticking

between solid surfaces that are in contact.

- If wear is caused by a fluid, it is called erosion

(normally when fluid contains hard particles).
 Basic Types of Deformation and Fracture

Since several different causes of failure exist, it is important to correctly identify the
ones that may apply to a given design, so that the appropriate analysis method can be
chosen to predict the behaviour.
 Elastic and Plastic Deformation

• The cumulative effect of strains in a component is a deformation, such as a bend,

twist, or stretch.
• Elastic deformation is recovered immediately upon unloading.
• Stress and strain are proportional (linear relationship).
• For axial loading, the constant of proportionality is the modulus of elasticity, E.
• Elastic deformations are analysed by the methods of mechanics of materials.
 Elastic and Plastic Deformation

• Plastic deformation is NOT recovered immediately upon unloading (permanent).

• Once plastic deformation begins, a small increase in stress causes a large
additional deformation.
• This process of easy further deformation is called yielding.
• The value of stress where this behaviour begins for a material is called yield
strength, σ0.
 Elastic and Plastic Deformation

- Large plastic deformations virtually always constitute failure. For example, collapse
of a steel bridge or building during an earthquake could occur due to plastic
deformation.

- However, plastic deformation can be relatively small, but still cause malfunction of
a component. For example, in a rotating shaft, a slight permanent bend results in
unbalanced rotation, which in turn may cause vibration and early failure of the
bearings supporting the shaft.

[Link]
 Elastic and Plastic Deformation

- Buckling is also a deformation failure.

 Elastic and Plastic Deformation

- Materials capable of sustaining large amounts of plastic deformation are said to

behave in a ductile manner.
• Metals such as low-strength steels, copper and lead.
• Plastics such as polyethylene.

- Ultimate tensile strength, σu is the highest stress reached before fracture.

- Strain at fracture, ϵf is a measure of ductility, usually expressed as a percentage

(percent elongation).
 Elastic and Plastic Deformation

- Materials that fracture without very much plastic deformation behave in a brittle
manner:

• Glass, stone, concrete, acrylic plastic

• Metals such as high-strength steels, cast irons
 Creep Deformation

- Creep is deformation that accumulates with time.

- Depending on the magnitude of the applied stress and its duration, the
deformation may become so large that a component can no longer perform its
function.

A tungsten lightbulb filament sagging under its own weight.

The deflection increases with time due to creep and can
lead to touching of adjacent coils, which causes bulb failure.
 Creep Deformation

- Plastics and low-melting-temperature metals may creep at

room temperature.
- Any material will creep upon approaching its melting
temperature.
- Creep is thus an important problem where high temperature
is encountered (e.g. gas-turbine aircraft engines).

• The blades can be exposed to hot

gases at about 1400°C.
• They are also under stress, as a result
of the high centrifugal forces.

[Link]
 Fracture under Static and Impact Loading

- Rapid fracture can occur under loading that does not vary with time (changes
slowly), called static loading.

- If the loading is applied very rapidly, called impact loading, brittle fracture is more
likely to occur.

- Brittle fracture: when a fracture is accompanied by little plastic deformation.

- Ductile fracture: when a fracture is accompanied by significant plastic deformation
and is sometimes a gradual tearing process.

- If a crack or other sharp flaw is present, brittle fracture can occur even in ductile
materials.

- Such situations are analysed by an approach called “Fracture Mechanics” which

is the study of cracks in solids.
 Fracture under Static and Impact Loading

- Resistance to brittle fracture in the presence of a crack is measured by a material

property called the fracture toughness, KIc.

- Fracture toughness test:

K is a measure of the severity of the combination of crack size, geometry, and

load. KIc is the particular value, called the fracture toughness, where the material
fails.
 Fracture under Static and Impact Loading

- Materials with high strength have low fracture toughness, and vice versa.
Decreased fracture toughness,
TRIP stands for "Transformation induced as yield strength is increased
plasticity," which implies a phase transformation
in the material, typically when a stress is applied. by heat treatment, for various
These alloys are known to possess an
outstanding combination of strength and ductility. classes of high-strength steel.
Maraging steels (a portmanteau of "martensitic"
and "aging") are steels that are known for
possessing superior strength and toughness
without losing ductility.

Quenched and tempered steel is mainly used for

dynamically stressed parts in mechanical
engineering and toolmaking. It is characterized
by higher strength, wear resistance and
toughness, which are adjusted by suitable heat
treatments. Quenched and tempered steels are
either unalloyed or low-alloy steels.

Precipitation hardening stainless steels combine

nickel and chromium during the alloying process
which creates high strength, corrosion-resistant
alloys.
 Fracture under Static and Impact Loading

- Fracture may occur as a result of a combination of stress and chemical effects,

called environmental cracking.
- For example, some low-strength steels are susceptible to cracking in chemicals
such as NaOH.

Stainless steel wires

broken as a result of
environmental attack.
These were employed
in a filter exposed
at 300°C to a complex
organic environment that
included molten nylon.
Cracking occurred along
the boundaries of the
crystal grains of the
material.
 Fracture under Static and Impact Loading

- Ductile fracture is accompanied by significant plastic deformation and is

sometimes a gradual tearing process.

Steel rod, ductile fracture

known as “cup-and-cone”
fracture forming shear lips due
to large shear stresses on 45°
planes.

Aluminium alloy 7075-T6 plate,

ductile fracture forming shear
lips.
 Fracture under Static and Impact Loading

- Ductile dimples and the growth of fracture by ductile dimple rupture in a ductile
fracture surface:

Aluminium alloy 7075-T6

When a ductile-fracture surface is examined, the appearance is of 'dimples', with each dimple
corresponding to a void. It is frequently possible to observe the inclusion responsible for nucleating the
void within the depth of the dimple.
 Fatigue under Cyclic Loading

- A common cause of fracture is fatigue, that is failure due to repeated loading.

- In general, one or more tiny cracks start in the material, and these grow until
complete failure occurs.

- Simple example: breaking a piece of wire by bending it back and forth a number of times.

Fatigue failure in a
crankshaft,
due to cyclic bending stress.
 Fatigue under Cyclic Loading

- Crack growth during fatigue:

Development of a fatigue crack

during rotating bending of an
aluminium alloy. Photographs at
various numbers of cycles are
shown for a test requiring
400,000 cycles for failure. The
sequence in the bottom row of
photographs shows more detail of
the middle portion of the
sequence in the top row.
 Fatigue under Cyclic Loading

- Prevention of fatigue fracture is a vital aspect of design for machines, vehicles and
structures subjected to repeated loading or vibration.

Examples of fatigue:
- Trucks passing over bridges
- Bicycle pedals
- Structural members and joints

in vehicles (aircraft, helicopter, etc)

- Springs

Fuselage fatigue failure in a passenger jet

[Link] that occurred in 1988.
 Fatigue under Cyclic Loading

- High-cycle fatigue: when the number of repetitions (cycles) of the load is large.
Low level loads, small deformations mainly in elastic region.

- Low-cycle fatigue: is caused by a relatively small number of cycles.

High level loads, significant plastic deformations

- Repeated heating and cooling can cause a cyclic stress due to differential thermal
expansion and contraction, resulting in thermal fatigue.
 Combined Effects

- Two or more types of failure may act together to cause effects greater than would
be expected by their separate action (synergistic effect).

- Creep and fatigue may produce an enhanced effect where there is cyclic loading
at high temperature (steam turbines, gas-turbine aircraft engines, etc).

- Wear due to small motions between fitted parts may combine with cyclic loading to
produce surface damage followed by cracking; called fretting fatigue (joints, etc).

- Corrosion fatigue is the combination of cyclic loading and corrosion (steel parts in
seawater, etc).
 Design and Materials Selection

- Design is the process of choosing

the geometric shape, materials,

manufacturing method, and other

details needed to describe a machine,
vehicle and structure.

- Design process involves a wide range

of activities and objectives.

- Designs should be functional, economical,

safe, possible to manufacture, etc.

Design process is iterative in nature
 Design and Materials Selection

- Safety Factor is used to make design decisions that involve safety and durability.

- The safety factor in stress is the ratio of the stress that causes failure to the stress
expected to occur in the actual service of the component.

X1 = Stress causing failure / stress in service Common safety factors: 1.5 < X1 < 3

- For the basic requirement of avoiding excessive deformation due to yielding, the failure
stress is the yield strength of the material, σ0, and the service stress is the largest stress
in the component.
 Design and Materials Selection

- Safety Factors in life: the ratio of the expected life to failure to the desired service
life.
- Life is measured by time or by events such as the number of flights of an aircraft.

X2 = Failure life / desired service life Common safety factors in life: 5 < X 2 < 20

- For example, if a helicopter part is expected to fail after 10 years of service, and if it is to
be replaced after 2 years, there is a safety factor of 5 on life.

- Safety factors in life are used where deformation or cracking progresses gradually with
time, as for creep or fatigue.
 Prototype and Component Testing

- Testing is often necessary to verify safety and durability of machines and

structures.

- This arises because of the assumptions and imperfect knowledge reflected in

many engineering estimates of strength or life.

- A prototype, or trial model, is often made

and subjected to simulated service testing
to demonstrate whether or not a machine

functions properly.

Road simulation test of an automobile,

with loads applied at all four wheels
and the bumper mounts.
 Prototype and Component Testing

- A prototype may also be subjected to simulated service testing until either a

mechanical failure occurs (perhaps by fatigue, creep, wear or corrosion), or the
design is proven to be reliable.

- This is called durability testing and is commonly done for new models of cars and
other vehicles.

- For very large items, it may be impractical or uneconomical to test a prototype of the
entire item. Then, a part of the item may be tested (called a component testing).

- Example: wings, tail sections, and fuselages of large aircraft are separately tested to
destruction under repeated loads that cause fatigue cracking in a manner similar to
actual service.
[Link]
 Economic Importance of Fracture

- Deformation and fracture are issues of major economic importance, especially in the
motor vehicle and aircraft sectors.

- Results of a study on the economic effects of fracture of materials in the US in 1983:

$119 billion, as the total cost per year!

- The costs were considered to include the extra costs of designing machines, vehicles and structures
beyond the requirements of resisting simple yielding failure of the material (use of more raw materials
or expensive materials/processing, additional analysis and testing).

- Noting that two-thirds of these costs could be eliminated by improved use of currently available
technology, there is a definite economic incentive for learning about deformation and fracture.

- Engineers with knowledge in this area can help the companies they work for avoid costs due to
structural failures and help make the design process more efficient hence more economical and faster
by early attention to such potential problems.
 Basic Formulas for Stresses and Deflections

centric axial loading

symmetric bending

Symmetric beam bending

[Link]
Basic Formulas for Stresses and Deflections

torsion of circular shafts

and tubes

transverse shear
Properties of Areas
 Properties of Areas

Centroids for (a) half-circular and quarter-circular areas

and (b) half-circular and quarter-circular sections of tubes.
 Shears, Moments and Deflections in Beams

Simply supported and cantilever beams with concentrated and distributed forces.
Shear V, and moment M, diagrams are shown, along with maximum deflection, v.
Understanding Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams [Link]
[Link]
 Shears, Moments and Deflections in Beams

Shear and moment diagrams and maximum deflection for a four-point bend test
with total applied force P.
 Stresses in Pressure Vessels, Tubes and Discs

Approximate stresses in thin-walled pressure vessels, (a) tubular and (b) spherical.
Pressure vessels [Link]
[Link]
 Elastic Stress Concentration Factors for Notches

Component with a stress raiser (a) and stress distributions for various cases: (b)
linear-elastic deformation, (c) local yielding for a ductile material, (d) full yielding for
a ductile material, and (e) brittle material at fracture.
Elastic Stress Concentration Factors for Notches

Elastic stress concentration factors for various cases of notched plates.

 Elastic Stress Concentration Factors for Notches

Elastic stress concentration factors for various cases of notched circular shafts.
 General State of Stress

General state of stress at a point is characterised by 6 independent components:

(3 normal stresses and 3 shear stresses).