Fracture and Fatigue of Materials

ME5513 2007/08 Semester I

Zeng Kaiyang Department of Mechanical Engineering Blk EA 07-36 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: x 6627
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COURSE CONTENTS
Fracture of materials: lectured by Dr. Zeng Kaiyang, 6 lectures, 3hr/lecture, on Wed., from Aug. 15 to Sept 19 . Fatigue of materials: lectured by A/Prof. Lai Man On, 6 lectures, 3hr/lecture, from Oct.3 to Nov.7 . Contents of Fracture part: Chapter 1 A General Introduction. Chapter 2 An Introduction to fracture mechanics. Chapter 3 Stress intensity factor. Chapter 4 Crack tip plastic zone. Chapter 5 Energy principle Chapter 6 Beyond linear elasticity Chapter 7 Fracture toughness measurement Chapter 8 Fractography: fracture surface analysis
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EXAMINATION

Continuous Assessment (CA): 30% (15% on Fracture and 15% on Fatigue) Final exam: 70% (35% on Fracture and 35% on Fatigue) Understanding of fundamental concepts of fracture and fatigue Applications of fundamental concepts of fracture and fatigue Example and Case studies

MAIN REFERENCE BOOKS

N.E.Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 3rd Edition, Pearson International Edition, 2007. D. Broek, The Practical Use of Fracture Mechanics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1988. D. Broek: Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 4th revised edition, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, 1986. R. W. Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, 4th Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996. T.L.Anderson, Fracture Mechanics Fundamentals and Applications, 2nd Editon, CRS Press, Boca Raton, 1994.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To investigate the service conditions (such as time, temperature, stress level, static or dynamic loading, and environment, etc) associated with a material failure or fracture To understand what is fracture toughness and what does it mean to material selection or design To use the principle of fracture mechanics to help the design and selection of a material for an intended engineering application To calculate and predict the stress distribution near a crack tip and the stress required to promote a crack propagation

CHAPTER 1 A GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Fracture of a material

Over-load fracture

Fracture due to cracking

Fracture Mechanics: Theory Experiments Material Properties (Fracture toughness)

Failure Criteria: Criteria Max. Normal Stress Criteria; Max. Shear Stress Criteria; von Mises Criteria (Yield strength)

OVERLOAD

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #1
Fracture has been studied for centuries. Many things can fracture, everything from baseball bar to window glasses to bones

Many structures are made of steel and/or concrete, and both of these materials can fracture. Civil engineers use both steel and concrete, so they must be concerned with fracture.
Source: Internet 9

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #2
In steel, fracture is often ductile and may be due to fatigue. A fatigue crack is caused when a cyclic load is applied. You are applying a cyclic load to a softdrink-can tab when you push it back and forth to break the tab off of the soda can. Concrete fracture is brittle. Brittle fracture means there is no deformation around the crack; the very grains of the material are separating, or cracking themselves.
Source: Internet 10

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #3
The Koror-Babeldaob Bridge (Palau) collapsed suddenly in 1996 after it had stood for 20 years. This occurred shortly after a replacement of its pavement. Brittle fracture of the 584ft-long Tank Barge I.O.S. 3301 in 1972, in which the 1-yr-old vessel suddenly broken almost completely in half while in port with calm seas.
11 Source: Internet

Hartford Civic Center Arena roof collapses (Connecticut) in Jan. 1978 due to some design errors and construction errors reduced the load that the roof could safely carry.

Before the bridge collapses

After the bridge collapses

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #4
Fracture surface of a KSC 42 ship's anchor that failed due to hydrogen embrittlement at a repair weld. This kind of fracture is associated with environments.

Source: Internet

The two SEM micrographs on the left are copyright photos of SPI SUPPLIES of West Chester, PA. Upper-left: before etching, original device with glass passivation layer. Lower-right: after etching (anisotropic) with SPI Plasma Prep X 12 etcher for 90 minutes.

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #5
Left Image: In April 1966, US Army gun tube No. 733 failed catastrophically after a crack, located near the breech end of the tube, reached critical proportions. Brittle fracture was suspected since little evidence could be found for plastic deformation. The gun barrel, made of a high strength steel alloy, broken into 29 pieces which were hurled over distanced up to 1.25 km from firing site. The image at right illustrates one particular failure mechanism. When operating speeds increase, seal lip temperatures may soar. One indication of high heat is a dry, brittle lip. Flexing the lip may reveal fine axial cracks around the entire circumference.
Source: Internet 13

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #6
Right image is a Scanning Acoustic Microscopy (SCA) image showing delamination (red regions) in a micro-electronics package. Shown on the left is a Fire Department aerial ladder failure. Structural failure of a ladder is not at all an uncommon event. Failure can result, for example, from poor design, use of inferior material or fabrication methods, or from a phenomenon called fatigue. Fatigue is a failure mode which occurs in structural materials and is driven by repeat loading.
14 Source: Internet

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURE #7
Shown of the left are the common cases of the bone fracture, it is said that almost everyone will have at least once bone fracture in his/her life

Right image is an X-ray image of fractured bone when the patient is examined in hospital
Source: Internet 15

CRACK AND STRENGTH

It is now understood that flaws and stress concentrations (and to a certain extent internal stresses) were responsible for the failure of materials or structures.

16 D.Broek: Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 4th Edition, Page 6, Figure 1.1

FRACTURE MECHANICS
After World War II the use of high strength materials has increased considerably. These materials are often selected to realize weight savings. The high strength materials have a low crack resistance (fracture toughness): the residual strength under the presence of cracks is low. When only small cracks exist, structures designed in high strength materials may fail at stresses below the highest service stress they were designed for. The occurrence of low stress fracture in high strength materials induced the development of Fracture Mechanics.
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FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture Mechanics can deliver the methodology to compensate the inadequacies of conventional design concepts. The conventional design criteria are based on tensile strength, yielding strength and buckling stress. These criteria are adequate for many engineering structures, but they are insufficient when there is the likelihood of cracks. After approximately three decades of development, Fracture Mechanics have become a useful tool in design with high strength materials.
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FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture Mechanics should be able to answer the following questions:
What is the residual strength as a function of crack size? What size of crack can be tolerated at the expected service load; i.e. what is the critical crack size? How long does it take for a crack to grow from a certain initial size to the critical size? What size of pre-existing flaw can be permitted at the moment the structure starts its service life? How often should the structure be inspected for cracks?

Fracture Mechanics provides satisfactory answers to some of these questions and useful answers to the others.
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SOME BASIC CONCEPTS OF FRACTURE MECHANICS

FRACTURE Separation or failure of a material component into two or more parts as a result of stress; DUCTILE FRACTURE Plastic deformation precedes fracture and thus there is enough indication about the imminent failure. BRITTLE FRACTURE A sudden fracture may occur in some materials without any warning. FRACTURE PROCESS ZONE A small region surrounding the crack where fracture develops through the successive stages of inhomogeneous slip, void growth and coalescence, and bond breaking on the atomic scale. CRACK FRONT A line connecting all adjacent sites where separation may occur subsequently. FRACTURE SURFACE Crack front move along a geometric surface during continued separation 20

DEFINITION OF FRACTURE
Fracture is the propagation of a crack across a loaded section. The material property that characterizes fracture resistance is its toughness. Note that strength is not a material property. Toughness is related to the energy per unit crack advance. From linear elastic fracture mechanics, the units of toughness are MPam. Just as for yield strength, toughness scales with elastic modulus.
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THE BROAD FIELD OF FRACTURE MECHANICS

Applied mechanics provide the crack tip stress fields as well as the elastic and plastic deformations of the material in the vicinity of the crack. The predictions made about fracture strength can be checked experimentally. Materials science concerns itself with the fracture processes on the scale of atoms and dislocations to that of impurities and grains. From a comprehension of these 22 processes the criteria which govern growth and fracture should be obtainable.

CASE STUDY #1
Problems with wind loading The Tay Bridge Disaster

The disaster is one of the most famous bridge failures and to date it is still the worst structural engineering failure in the British Isles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Rail_Bridge http://taybridgedisaster.co.uk/
Source: Internet 23

 The bridge was significantly under- designed for the wind loading

The train is also contribute to the loading to the bridge in additional to the wind
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Source: Internet

CASE STUDY #2
Problems with wind loading Tacoma Narrows Bridge Failure The design of the bridge resulted in low torsional stiffness and so much flexibility in the wind.

This is wind-induced oscillation leading to destruction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge

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CASE STUDY #3
Brittle fracture small cracks or defects can lead to catastrophic failure of large structural systems: T2 tanker failed in 1941 The brittle fracture in structures could be caused by a sudden overload, maybe due to human factors, even the materials may have adequate toughness measured from some testing methods. This ship with a welded steel hull failed by brittle propagation of a crack while moored in dock! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Sulphur_Queen
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CASE STUDY #4
Problems with load and design - Hyatt Kansas City Walkways Collapse

Hyatt Kansas City walkways (1981) The 2nd-level and 4th-level walkways in the hotel atrium collapsed killing 114 people
27 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse

roof

Each support bar bears only the weight of its own walkway

level 4 level 3 level 2

The walkway support bar design (3rd and 4th levels)

What happened

28 Source: Internet

 The implementation differed from design, invalidating the design calculations Original design required threaded rods with narrow stretches between threaded portions

This was considered too difficult or expensive ...

Support bar as built

Support bar as designed

A.J.McEvily, Metal Failures, Page 11, Figure 1-3

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CASE STUDY #5 NASAs Space Shuttle Challenger 1986 accident

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_accident

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NASAs Space Shuttle Challenger 1986 accident

Space Shuttle 51-L on Pad 39-B of Kennedy Space Center's launch complex

31 0.678s after solid rocket motor ignition

58.788 s

0.836 s after ignition

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~ 73 s

~ 76 s

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 In part, the accident was due to embrittlement of rubber O-rings at low temperature. Many polymer (thermoplastic) become brittle at low temperatures. The lower temperature that existed during the launch time caused the embrittlement of the rubber O-rings used for the booster rockets. The temperature at launch was 36 Fahrenheit measured at ground level approximately 100 ft from the launch pad, was 15 degree colder than that of any previous launch. The Investigation Commission concluded that the cause of the Challenger accident was the failure of the pressure seal in the aft field joint of the right Solid Rocket Motor. The failure was due to a faulty design unacceptably sensitive to a number of factors. These factors were the effects of temperature, physical dimensions, the character of materials, the effects of reusability, processing, and the reaction of the joint to dynamic loading.
Ref: http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/genindex.htm
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Material Embrittlement
The term embrittlement is used to describe a variety of phenomena causing mechanical performance degradation as a result of a stressed materials exposure to a hostile environment. There are many types of embrittlement: such as stress-corrosion cracking; hydrogen embrittlement; impurity-atom embrittlement; radiation damage etc; metals, ceramics, glasses, and polymers are all shown embrittlement one way or another.

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CASE STUDY #6
Problems with loads and design Comet Aircraft Crashes Not long after coming into service, two planes underwent explosive decompressions of then fuselage on climbing to cruise altitude, which resulted in the loss of the planes as well as the lives of all aboard. Intensive investigation revealed that these crashes were due to In the early 1950s, the Comet fatigue cracking of the fuselage aircraft was the first jet transport at regions of high stress adjacent introduced into commercial to corners of more-or-less square passenger service. (rather than round windows). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet
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 The fatigue loading was due to the pressurization and depressurization of the cabin, which occurred in each takeoff and landing cycle. The presence of fatigue cracking was confirmed through study of the fracture surfaces of critical parts of the wreckages. As understanding by the Comet crashes, fatigue must be an important consideration in the design of aircraft.
A.J.McEvily: Metal Failures, Page 7, Figure 1-2. D.R.H.Jones, Engineering Materials 3, Page 131-142. 37

RELEVANCE OF STUDY FRACTURE

Fracture is more important than strength from an engineering point of view! When we build something, we want it to resist the loads that we put on it and not break. Of course, objects can come apart in way that is not necessarily disastrous just through regular wear and tear. By fracture, we generally mean unanticipated (worse, unpredictable) breakage. Metallurgists are fond of quoting the Liberty ship experience because of its historical significance. As an example of a ceramic system, think of the inconvenience and pain of cracking or breaking a tooth (never mind a bone).
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RELEVANCE TO MATERIAL SCIENCE

Processing Performance

Microstructure

Properties
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CONCEPTS OF FRACTURE MECHANICS

From investigating fallen structures, engineers found that most failure began with cracks. Which may be caused by: material defects (dislocation, impurities...); discontinuities in assembly and/or design (sharp corners, grooves, nicks, voids...); harsh environments (thermal stress, corrosion...); and damages in service (impact, fatigue, unexpected loads...). Most microscopic cracks are arrested inside the material but it takes one run-away crack to destroy the whole structure. To analyze the relationship among stresses, cracks, and fracture toughness, Fracture Mechanics was introduced.
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THE FRACTURE MECHANICS APPROACH TO DESIGN

The strength of materials approach traditional approach to structural design and material selection
Applied Stress Yield or tensile strength

The fracture mechanical approach has three important variables

Applied Stress

Crack Size

Fracture Toughness

Fracture mechanics quantifies the critical combinations of these three variables. 41

CONCEPTS OF FRACTURE MECHANICS

The objective of a Fracture Mechanics analysis is to determine if these small flaws will grow into large enough cracks to cause the component to fail catastrophically. Learning from the past failure experience, we can use Fracture Mechanics to guide the design of the structures, choice of the materials, determine the maximum allowable stress or critical crack size for failure. It is better to use Fracture Mechanics to prevent the fracture rather than use Fracture Mechanics to analyze the failure.
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FRACTURE MODE

Mode I denotes a symmetric opening, the relative displacements between corresponding pairs being normal to the fracture surface. Mode II denotes antisymmetric separation through relative tangential displacement, normal to the crack front. Mode III denotes antisymmetric separation through relative tangential displacement, parallel to the crack front. Crack growth usually takes place in Model I or close to it.
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Mode I

Mode II

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MECHANISMS OF FRACTURE AND CRACK GROWTH

By itself, crack seldom leads to fracture. When a crack due to fatigue or stress corrosion has developed to a certain size, final fracture will take place by cleavage or by ductile fracture. Two principle fracture mechanisms are cleavage fracture and ductile fracture Main cracking mechanisms are fatigue, stress corrosion, creep, hydrogen induced cracking, liquid metal induced cracking
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CRACK AND STRENGTH

It is now understood that flaws and stress concentrations (and to a certain extent internal stresses) were responsible for the failure of materials or structures.

46 D.Broek: Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 4th Edition, Page 6, Figure 1.1

SHEAR STRENGTH OF PERFECT AND REAL CRYSTALS

47 R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 44, Table 2.1

STRENGTH OF PERFECT AND REAL CRYSTALS

It is therefore necessary to explain not the great strength of solids, but their weakness. Materials possess low fracture strength relative to their theoretical capacity because most materials deform plastically at much lower stress levels and eventually fail by an accumulation of this irreversible damage. Components and structures are not perfect. They contain many material defects (such as pores, slag particles, inclusions, and brittle particles), manufacturing flaws (such as scratches, gouges, weld torch arc strikes, weld undercutting, and machining marks), and design defects (such as excessive stress concentrations resulting from inadequate fillet radii and discontinuous changes in section size). 48

GRIFFITH & GLASS FIBRES

A.A. Griffith is considered to have made the first substantial scientific contribution to the understanding of brittle fracture (1920). He measured the breaking strength of glass fibres of varying thicknesses and found that their strength varied in inverse proportion to their diameter, see Fig. from Greens book (next slide). He then showed that Ingliss equation for the stress (concentration) at the root of an elliptical crack could be applied to the problem to rationalize the results. That is, by assuming that the largest flaw was of order of the fibre diameter, he could demonstrate that his results were consistent with Ingliss theory.
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GLASS FIBRES STRENGTH

Strength of glass fibers, as determined by Griffith. Note the inverse relationship between size and strength.
D. Green, Mechanical Behavior of Ceramic Materials, Figure 8.2 50

MICROSTRUCTURE EFFECT ON FRACTURE

Whether or not a material fractures on loading depends on a competition between flow and fracture. If flow is easy then fracture will only occur when necking (localization) happens. If flow is difficult then fracture will relieve the loading instead. Microstructure: weakly bonded second phase particles tend to promote fracture by acting as initiation sites for cracks. Fine grain size tends to inhibit fracture by providing a high density of crack arrest/deflection points. Also, even if a grain cracks, then the stress concentration at the end of the crack decreases with decreasing crack size (= grain size).
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TEMPERATURE EFFECT
Temperature: temperature affects plasticity in many materials. Higher temperatures promote deformation whereas low temperatures promote fracture. In many materials, a ductileto-brittle transition can be detected as you lower the temperature.

This also illustrates the essential aspect of competition between fracture and plastic flow. If dislocation slip is easy, then even a artificially made crack will blunt by plastic flow at its tip.
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TOUGHNESS-TEMPERATURE TRANSITIONS

A.H.Cottrell: The Mechanical Properties of Matter, Page 358 53

DUCTILE-BRITTLE TRANSITION TEMPERATURE (DBTT)

The DBTT is the temperature at which a material changes from ductile to brittle fracture. The fracture toughness of ferritic steels can change drastically over a small temperature. The brittleness of the steel at low temperature has been identified as one of the factors contributing to the sink of Titanic 54

ENVIRONMENT AND LOADING

Environments will affect the fracture behavior of the materials, such as hydrogen embrittlement in steels or welding, stresscorrosion cracking etc. Ammonia is notorious as a promoter of corrosion fatigue, e.g. cracking in brass, similarly chloride ions (salt) in iron alloys (even stainless steel!). Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrosion_fatigue Type of loading: multiaxial stresses involving tension promote fracture whereas stresses involving compression promote deformation, especially if deviatoric stresses are maximized. Monotonic loading is generally less severe than cyclic loading. Specimen design is also critical notches promote fracture over 55 deformation.

STRESS CONCENTRATION
Now we need to take stress concentration into account at the tip of a crack. We employ a formula by Inglis for an elliptical crack of length a and thickness b:

maximum/applied = 1 + 2a/b
The sharper the crack, the greater the stress concentration at the crack tip, maximum.
R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 240, Figure 7.5

2a 2b

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STRESS CONCENTRATION FACTORS

(a) Axial loading of notched bar (b) Axial loading of bar with fillet
57 R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 241, Figure 7.6

ENGINEERING SERVICE FAILURE

Engineering service failures can generate large areas of fracture surface.
Below-Chevron markings curve in from the two surfaces and point back to the crack origin.

Above-Fracture surfaces of aluminum test specimens revealing flat and slant-type failure. Toughness level increases with increasing relative amount of slant fracture
R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 248, Figure 7.11, and 58 Page 249, Figure 7.12

MICROSCOPIC FRACTURE MECHANISMS - METALS

Using light optical microscope, it is possible to obtain important information about the fracture path, for example, to determine whether the failure was of transcrystalline or intercrystalline.

Above-Metallographic section revealing transcrystalline crack propagation at (A) and intercrystalline crack growth at (B)
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R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 251, Figure 7.15

 An important fracture mechanisms, common to most materials regardless of fundamental differences in crystal structure and alloy composition, is microviod coalescence. Amorphous polymers also experience failure by this mechanism. It is believed that stress-induced fracture of brittle particles, particle-matrix interface failure, and perhaps, complex dislocation interactions lead to the formation of microcracks or pores within the stressed component.

MICROSCOPIC FRACTURE MECHANISMS - METALS

Left- Microvoid coalescence under tensile loading, which leads to equiaxed dimple morphology; (a) TEM iamge and (b) SEM image
R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 253, Figure 7.16 60

MICROSCOPIC FRACTURE MECHANISMS - METALS

At increasing stress levels, the voids grow and finally coalesce into a broad crack front. When this growing flaw reaches critical dimensions, total failure of the component results. When failure is influenced by shear stresses, the voids that nucleate in the manner cited before grow and subsequently coalesce alone planes of maximum shear stress.

Above-Microvoid coalescence under shear loading, which leads to elongated dimple morphology; (a) TEM image; and (b) SEM iamge

Consequently, these voids tends to be elongated and result in the formation of parabolic depressions on the fracture surface
61 R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 254, Figure 7.17

MICROSCOPIC FRACTURE MECHANISMS - METALS

These diagrams illustrate the effect of three stress states on microvoid morphology:

(a) tensile stresses produce equiaxed microvoids; (b) pure shear stresses generate microviods elongated in the shearing direction (voids point in opposite directions on the two fracture surfaces); (c) tearing associated with nonuniform stress (combined tension and bending) , which produces elongated dimples on both fracture surfaces that point back to R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of crack origin. Engineering Materials, Page 254, Figure 7.18.
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CRACK AND MICROSTRUCTURE

Cleavage fracture is usually associated with little plastic deformation, it is called brittle fracture

Intergranular fracture requires operation of some form of either one

Ductile fracture is usually associated with plastic deformation

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INTERGRANULAR AND TRANSGRANULAR FRACTURES

Intergranular fracture in Al2O3 ceramics

Transgranular dominated fracture in Al2O3 ceramics

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K.Zeng and D.J.Rowcliffe, J. Mater. Res., Vol. 9, No. 7, 1994, Page 1693-1700

MICROSCOPIC FRACTURE MECHANISMS - METALS

Left-Cleavage fracture in a low carbon steel. Note parallel plateau and ledge morphology and river patterns reflecting crack propagation along many parallel cleavage planes; (a) TEM, (b) SEM

Right-Cleavage facets reveal fine-scale height elevations caused by localized deflection of the cleavage crack along twin matrix interfaces; (a) TEM (b) SEM.
R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 255, Figure 7.19 and 65 Page 256, Figure 7.20.

MICROSCOPIC FRACTURE MECHANISMS - METALS

The process of cleavage involves transcrystalline fracture along specific crystallographic planes and is usually associated with low-energy fracture. This mechanism is observed in BCC, HCP, and ionic and covalently bonded crystals, but occurs in FCC metals only when they are subjected to severe environmental conditions. Cleavage facets are typically flat, although they may reflect a paralleled plateau and ledge morphology. Often these cleavage steps appear as river patterns wherein fine steps are seen to merge progressively into larger ones. It is generally believed that the flow of the river pattern is in the direction of microscopic crack propagation. The sudden appearance of the river pattern was probably brought on by the movement of a cleavage crack across a high-angle grain boundary, where the splintering of the crack plane represents an accommodation process as the advancing crack reoriented in search of cleavage planes in the new grain. 66

FRACTURE MECHANISMS POLYMERS

Deformation in many amorphous polymers involves the formation of thin crazes that contain interconnected microvoids and polymer fibrils extended in the craze thickness direction. Subsequent fracture then occurs usually in two stages, typified by either mirrorlike (smooth and highly reflective) or misty macroscopic fracture surface appearance.

Crazes in polyphenylene oxide revealing interconnected microvoids and aligned fibrils

Above-Model of crack advance in association with craze matter. Region A: crack advance by void formation through craze mid-plane. Region B: crack advance along alternate craze-matrix interfaces to form patch or mackerel patterns. Region C: crack advance through craze bundles to form hackle bands
R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics 67 of Engineering Materials, Page 257, Figure 7.22,

 The fracture surface appearance of the semicrystalline polymers depends on the crack path with respect to underlying microstructural features. For example, a crack may choose an interspherulitic crack path or pass through the spherulite along a tangential or radial direction. It should be noted that fractographic evidence for transspherulitic or interspherulitic failure may be obscured by extensive prior deformation of the polymer, which distorts beyond recognition characteristic details of the underlying microstructure. Left-Fracture associated with spherulites in crystalline polymers (c) Fast running crack fracture surface in polypropylene revealing the four crack paths. (d) Interspherulitic fracture in polypropylene associated with slow crack velocity.
68 R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Page 262, Figure 7.27.

FRACTURE MECHANISMS CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

FRACTURE SURFACES OF CERAMICS

Left-Fracture surface appearance in glassy ceramic revealing mirror, mist, and hackle regions. (a) Plate glass fracture surface, Tensile fracture stress = 28.3 MPa, Crack origin is at upper-right. (b) Schematic diagram showing different fracture regions and approximate textural detail (source of failure, smooth mirror region, Mist region, and Hackle region).

The fracture surfaces of brittle solids often reveal several characteristic regions as shown in the left. Surrounding the crack origin is a mirror region associated with a highly reflective fracture surface. This smooth area is bordered by a misty region that contains small radial ridges R.W.Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering associated with numerous microcracks.
Materials, Page 263, Figure 7.28.

The mist region in turn is surrounded by an area that is rougher in appearance and contains larger secondary cracks. Depending on the size of the sample, this 69 hackle region may be bounded by macroscopic crack branching.

End of Chapter 1: Introduction to Fracture of Materials

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