Professional Documents
Culture Documents
David M. Christie
Senior Failure Analyst
IMR Test Labs
CAST METALS
Fractures tend to be more difficult to
interpret than in wrought material
Non-uniform microstructure and
chemistry
Section-size dependent properties
Fracture along second phase
particles
Generally rougher fracture surfaces
than wrought material
Ductile dimples
Pump Impeller
Observations of Fatigue
in cast metals
Due to rougher surfaces and poorly
developed fracture ridges, the locations of
fatigue surfaces and origins can be difficult.
The locations of fatigue origins can
sometimes be determined from striation
direction and curvature.
Frequently fatigue direction will change from
grain to grain in cast material, as the crack
follows the weakest crystallographic plane.
This complicates things!
Tip:
When cleaning fracture surfaces of
leaded material, avoid the use of
Alconox detergent, as it can remove
the lead!
TIP:
When the main fracture surface is
heavily corroded or damaged, look near
the edges of the fracture (at the crack
tip)
There is often less damage in this
location, and the fracture mode is
probably consistent with the rest of the
fracture surface
Tip:
Fractures produced in the laboratory
can aid in your interpretation of the field
fractures
To confirm fracture mode and compare to
Pump Impeller
Tip:
Fatigue fractures in cast material will
often change direction with each grain,
depending on crystallographic planes
Faceted fracture surfaces are often
fatigue fractures
SEM can aid in determining fracture
mode
Tip:
When fracture surfaces are corroded or
damaged, look for secondary cracks
Opening secondary cracks will reveal
fresher fractures, with more detail
Powder Metals
Green crack vs. Sinter Bond fracture
Ductile overload
Fatigue
Green Cracks
PM parts are pressed and ejected
Green at this point
The stresses of pressing and/or ejection
can result in cracks at this stage
Sintering to produce diffusion bonding
between particles will not bridge the gap
created by a crack
The result: a green crack
Powder metal
Powder metal
Ferrite core fracture by thermal shock
WROUGHT METALS
OVERLOAD
Ductile
Brittle
FATIGUE
CORROSION CRACKING
OVERLOAD - SHEAR
Hydrogen Embrittlement
Hydrogen embrittlement
Hydrogen Embrittlement
ductile ornamentation of grain boundaries
Hydrogen Embrittlement
patches of ductile fracture
SEM optimized:
15 mm WD, 10 Kev, 100 picoamps
Secondary mode
SUMMARY
Examples of cast, wrought, and powder
metals were reviewed
Overload ductile and brittle
Fatigue
Stress corrosion cracking
Hydrogen embrittlement
Liquid metal embrittlement
Cleaning techniques were presented