Chp 7 BRITTLE FRACTURE AND

IMPACT PROPERTIES
Based on the nature of the proceses
involved there are 5 different kinds of
fracture which occur in metals
Ductile
Brittle
Adiabatic shear
Creep
Fatigue fracture

There are circumstances under which certain

ductile materials behave in brittle fashion .
Two important cases of this type of failure (brittle
failure of ductile materials) are
Fatigue failure (which was studies previously) and
Brittle fracture (which is going to be treated here)

Common examples of catastrophic failures of

structures caused by brittle fracture are;
welded ships & tankers(world war 2) made of mild steel
and
rails of railways durings cold winter months

Brittle fractures in steel structures usually

occur without visible or audible warning at
stresses less than the nominal Sy value
such fractures usually initiate at:
Sharp notches and
Crack like defects

and may subsequently propagate trurough

a complete structure,
The crack fronts may travel at several times
the speed of sound in air.

Three conditions are necessary before a

brittle fracture can occur.
A defect (usually a crack)
A tensile stress transverse to the defect
A microstructure which is susceptible at the
temperature of interest

A triaxial state of stress (x y, z) such as

exists at the tip of a crack, and low
temperature are responsible for most brittle
failures.

A particularly striking feature

of the brittle fracture is
shown in figure here.

Origin of fracture

The pattern of markings which radiate from

the surface of the cracklike defect is seen
clearly.
These patterns or markings are particularly
important since they point back towards
the origin of fracture thus allowing the
point of initiation to be traced.

The figure here also shows the direction of

crank initiation with herringbone type surface
markings
Opposite to the direection of crack initration is
the direction of crack propagation.

IMPACT PROPERTIES
Many engineering components are
subjected to suddenly applied loads and
they are expected to transmit or absorb
this impact load.
The energy of the impact load can be
absorbed by the component as
Elastic deformation or
Plastic deformation or
Both types of deformation

In the design stage, it is so aimed that the

energy of an impact load is absorbed as
elastic deformation.
Once the impact load is passed this elastic
strain is released or transmitted and
structure does not suffer any permanent
deformation.
If this condition is to be met, then the
resilience data obtained from static tensile
tests would be adequate basis to be relied
upon in selecting a material.

Sometimes, however, due to unexpected service

conditions or faulty design the elastic range may be
exceeded.
In such cases most ductile metals show some plastic
deformation which can help in two ways;
it can redistribute the stress thus reducing its harmful effects
the visible appearance of the plastic deformation itself can
act as a warning, pointing at the need to take further
precautions

On the other hand, when the elastic range is exceeded in

a structure made of a brittle metal, no noticeable
deformation is observed and fracture comes without
warning.
Because of this fact necessary precautions must be taken
when using brittle metals eg. large safety factors should
be used.

However, serious problems can arise when,

contrary to expected pattern, a normally
ductile metal fractures in a brittle manner
without any prior plastic deformation.
Many metals which show a ductile
behaviour in static tensile tests exhibit a
brittle behaviour under impact loading at
low temperatures.
The Information gained from tensile tests is
not enough to predict the behaviour in this
(impact loading) case.

When forces are applied suddenly for very short

periods of time stress-waves are produce in the
material.
These stress waves travel in the material and
modifies the stress-strain distribution in comparison
with those produced under static conditions.
For example, impact on the front of the plate starts
off a compression wave, which is reflected from the
back face as a tensile wave if the reflected wave is
intense enough,
Fracture occurs just behind the back face and a
piece drops off. This is called scabbing.

All materials do not respond in the same way to

variations in strain rate.
Some materials display what is termed strain-rate
sensitivity to a greater extent than others.
Two most examples of materials that display
radically different behaviour under low and highstrain rates are ordinary glass and sealing wax.
A point load which is slowly applied shatters the
glass, whereas a high-speed bullet punctures a
fairly clean hole.
Similarly, at low strain rates the sealing wax
behaves very much in a ductile manner but snaps
into two under a sharp blow (impact).

As it has been studied in tension test of

materials toughness is related to the work
required to rupture the material.
It depends fundamentally on the ultimate
srength (Sut) and ductility (fx100) of the
material (To=Sutx f)
With a given material, the toughness does not
vary greatly over a considerable range in
striking velocity, but above some critical speed
(which varies from one material to another),
the energy required to rupture a material
appears to decrease rapidly with increase in
speed -a point which is cleverly used by the
Karate experts.

In addition to the velocity effect just mentined, the

shape of a part or specimen may have a marked
effect upon its capacity to resist impact Ioads.
At ordinary temperatures a plain bar of ductile
metal will not usually fracture under an impact load.
However, if the test specimens of ductile material
are notched, fracture can take place under a single
blow
Crack initiation and propagation are both induced
by tensile stress rather than shear or compressive
stress, while slip (which is necessary for plastic
flow) relies on shear stress

As a result, any loading system which

reduces the ratio of shear stress to tensile
stress will increase the tendeney to brittle
fracture.
This is just what happens when triaxial
tension predominates.
The simplest way of inducing a triaxial
tension is by cutting a notch in a loaded
specimen.

Various types of notched-bar impact tests are used

to determine the tendency of a material to behave
in a brittle manner.
Many different notch configurations of V type,
keyhole type, U type, semi-circular type, etc. have
been suggested by various research workers and
bodies (see ASTM E23, VSM10925, DIN 50115,
51222).
However, two classes of specimens have been
standardized for notched-impact testing, these are

Charpy specimens
Izod specimens

There is also a type called impact tension

specimens although used occasionally

The impact load in conventional impact test

machines is usually produced by swinging of an
impact weight W from a height (ho).
The release of the weight from the height ho
swings the weight W through the arc of a circle,
thereby striking and fracturing the notched
specimen (Fig. 7.11).
After fracturing the specimen, the weight reaches
a maximum height (h).
Neglecting frictional losses, the energy used in
fracturing the specimen is then approximately
equal to
U= W (ho-h1)
which is indicated on the scale of the tester

The units of the energy U required to fracture

the specimen is usually expressed in Joule,
Nm, and kgm in metric syslem
This energy value is sometimes called "impact
toughness".
The charpy impact specimen is supported at
the ends and struck in the middle to create a
tensile stress at the notch
whereas Izod impact specimen is a cantilever
beam with notch on the tension side to ensure
fracture when the impact load is applied

Impact toughness values (U) are influenced

to a great extent by the testing conditions.
1) The most pronounced is the effect of
temperature on the notched behaviour of steel.
2) the striking velocity of the pendulum will
naturally modify the test results. (Recommendation for
velocity is between 3-6 m/sec)

3)The rigidity of the testing machine and its

parts are extremely important since there is
some energy absorbed by the machine itself.
The testing machine used will therefore modify
the result.

While Charpy and Izod tests are very useful to

display the notched behaviour of the ferritic
steels they do not provide sufficient
information on the notch behavour of certain
metals such as austenistic steels fcc (face
centered cubic) metals and alloys and a large
group of non-ferrous materials.

In brief, "the Charpy and Izod type tests bring out

notch behaviour (brittleness versus ductility) by
applying a single overload of stress.
The energy values determined are quantitative
comparisons on a selected specimen but cannot be
converted into energy values that would serve for
engineering design calculations
The notch behaviour indicated in an individual test
applies to the specific

Specimen size
Notch geometry
Testing conditions involved
and it can not be generalized to other sizes of specimens
and conditions

THE FACTORS AFFECTING IMPACT PROPERTIES

of materials are usually the:

Temperature
Composition
Grain size
Microstructure
Orientation

Temperature;
The notched-bar impact test has the greatest
practical importance in determining the
"ductile-to-brittle" transition of a metal (under
controlled temperature)
The term ductile-to-brittle transition describes a
low-temperature brittleness exhibited by
certain metal which otherwise are ductile
metals.
Thus we have the concept of a ductile-to-brittle
transition temperature below which the
material is brittle, and fractures with a low
energy absorption and low ductility, and
above which it is ductile.

The transition actually covers a range of

temperatures in which the degree of brittleness
increases gradually as the temperature falls
It is clear from the figure
(next) that it is indeed difficult
to make a unique and
universal definition of the
transition temperature.
Though both materials might
have the same transition
temperature, B would be
more likely to result in a
catastrophic failure.

There are many definitions of transition temperature

currently in use.
Some of these are: FTP, FATT, NDT, DTT etc
FTP (fracture transition plastic): the lowest
temperature above which the specimen exhibit 100%
(ductile fracture)
FATT (fracture appearence transition temperature): the
temperature at which 50% at the fracture is ductile
NDT (nill ductility temperature): the highest
temperature below which none at the area of the
fracture is ductile (0% ductile or 100% brittle fracture)
DTT (Ductility Transition Temperature ): the
temperature corresponding to a specified energy
(impact strength U=W(h0-h1))

Therefore:
If the brittle failure is to be prevented during the
service of a component, a material (steel) with
lower transition temperature than any service
temperature which is likely to be met can be
used.
As an engineer, in impact like or low temperature
applications make sure that FTP (or at least
FATT) of your material is below the lowest service
temperature of the application for which your are
selecting a material

Composition:
Considering the composition in steels, carbon will obviously
play an important role as shown in Figure.
Increasing the carbon content increases the transition
temperature & also reduces the energy required for impact
fracture.

Because, increasing carbon content makes the

steel harder and brittle for heat treated steels
it is advisable to use the lowest carbon
content which will give the necesary tensile
strenght level while keeping the transition
temperature as low as possible with higher
impact toughness (energy).
In this respect, the optimum combination of
properties in quenced and tempered low alloy
steels occur between 0.3 and 0.4% carbon

Among many methods available for lowering

the transition temperature, one of the
cheapest methods is that of killing the steel
with aluminum or silicon since any non-metalic
inclusions in the steel are likely to impair its
impact properties, only a small amount of
silicon in combination with aluminum must be
used
nfluences of many other elements are
uncertain and results are contlicting. However,
in general, increasing most elements
increases the transition temperature.
Manganese and nickel are the exceptions.

A high manganese/carbon ratio gives the

best properties even with higher carbon
content.
Nickel is the most beneficial element added
to steel .It lowers the T.T. (transition
temperature) progresively provided that the
martensite formation is closely controled on
normalizing.
Some applications (including nickel) goes
down as low as -200 C in liquified gas
storage industry.

Grain Size:
As the grain size increases (coarser grain) the
T.T. increases and fracture stress decreases.
In fact it has been possible to improve ductility
and tougness of a steel markedly through the
techniquen which yield ultrafine grain size.

Microstructure:
The shape of the carbide precipitates in steel often
has a great effect on impact toughness (see fig
7.16).
Although similar strengths and microstructural
elements are obtained via different heat treatment
methods, the TT and impact or fracture toughnesses
can be quite different.

Orientation:
The orientation of the test bar in a formed
product also influences both the impact
energy and the value of TT, as well as the
tensile ductility.
Large differences can be expected for different
specimens orientations at relatively high
energy levels.

EMBRITTLEMENT OF METALS
Metals can easily be made brittle
unintentionally due to different reasons.
Followings are some particular cases of
unintentional embrittlement:
Hydrojen Embrittlement
Temper Embrittlement
Blue Brittleness

Hydrogen Embrittlement :
Hydrogen can produce severe embrittlement in many
metals.
Very small amounts of hydrogen (for example 0.0001
percent by weight ) can cause cracking in steel.
Titanium also exhibits hydrogen embrittlement , and is
also very susceptible this behaviour.
This can happen even when the total hydrogen content
is less than 200 parts per million by weight.
Hydrogen may be introduced during melting and
entrapped during solidification, or it may be picked
up during heat-treatment, electroplating, acid
pickling, or welding.(gas welding, electrode cover
material etc to remove hydrogen)

Hydrogen can cause a decrease in ductility without

effecting the impact properties because it is a
peculiar phenomenon in the sence that it is
enhanced by slow-rate of straining.
If a metal is hydrogen embrittled, there will be
decrease in its tensile ductility (area reduction)
but no change in its impact toughness
Hydrogen diffused into the metal controls the
propogation rate of the crack in the material,
thus effect the tensile or mechanical properties
under static loads more than the properties
under dynamic (impact) loads.

Temper Embrittlement:
Tempering some steels in general range of 450C to
590C results in temper embrittlement, which
shows itself as an increase in impact transition
temperature.
The exact cause of temper brittleness is not known.
It is believed to be due to segregation of (or alloying
some) elements such as phosphorus, arsenic, tin,
antimony and silicon to grain boundaries, giving
Iocal hardening to fracture
Molybdenum is useful in retarding this form of
embrittlement

Nickel-chromium steels are highly

suspectiple to this form of embrittlement and
molybdenum is used in these steels to
prevent this behavour
The presence of temper embrittlement is
usually determined by measuring the
reduction in FATT value of the metal with
the notched impact test.

Blue Brittleness (Aging):

Low carbon steels can exhibit two types of aging
phenomena which produce an increase in transition
temperature;
1- quench aging
2- strain aging

Blue brittleness is attributed to strain aging caused by

heating cold worked steel to around 205C.
Strain aging is the slow increase in hardness of the
steels fnished by cold work-mainly cold rolling.
It may cause local cracks and brittle failure of surface
of cold worked metals.

There are two alternative tests which are

more suitable to practical applications with
specimen size larger than Izod and
Charpy specimen size
Drop weight test
Dynamic tear test

Drop weight test is

employed to determine
the NDT of ferritic steels
(16mm or thicker, see
fig 7.18)
Dynamic tear test is
employed in a 3-point
bending test with a
falling weight (or a
swinging pendulum)
applying an impact load
to tear the notched
specimen as seen in
figure with the resulting
fracture surfaces for two
fracture types

There are also impact tests for plastic

materials similar to metals and usually
swinging pendulum or a free falling weight
imparts the energy to plastic material.
Izod and charpy specimens of plastics are
seen in related figures.