Examples of Steel Fractography

Professor M Neil James

mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Department of Mechanical & Marine Engineering University of Plymouth

Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA

ENGLAND

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Contents Use the hyperlinks to navigate around this resource

Fatigue crack growth in moist air Fatigue crack growth in vacuum Crack growth by hydrogen embrittlement Low carbon interstitial-free steels

Charpy impact fracture

Fatigue in a high tensile bolt

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m vestigial striations present
Linear growth rate regime ~ 10-4 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m vestigial striations present
Linear growth rate regime ~ 10-4 mm/cycle

Original magnification 5kx

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m ductile transgranular with some evidence of underlying structure
Threshold growth rate regime ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m ductile transgranular with some evidence of underlying structure
Threshold growth rate regime ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 5kx

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m ductile transgranular
Threshold growth rate regime ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m ductile transgranular with some environment (moisture) induced IG facets
'Knee' of growth rate regime ~ 10-6 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m ductile transgranular with some moisture-induced oxide build-up by fretting
'Knee' of growth rate regime ~ 10-6 mm/cycle

Original magnification 1.15kx Mechanism of oxideinduced fatigue crack closure

Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Quenched & Tempered - YS = 653 MPa Grain size 10m ductile transgranular with some moisture-induced oxide build-up by fretting
'Knee' of growth rate regime ~ 10-6 mm/cycle

Original magnification 7.6kx Mechanism of oxideinduced fatigue crack closure

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m microstructure has bigger influence (e.g. bainite packets) clear IG facets
Threshold growth rate regime < 10-6 mm/cycle

Original magnification 500x

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m microstructure has bigger influence (e.g. bainite packets) clear IG facets
Threshold growth rate regime < 10-6 mm/cycle

Original magnification 500x

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Air
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m microstructure has bigger influence (e.g. bainite packets) ductile transgranular
Threshold growth rate regime < 10-6 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Vacuum
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m no 'knee' in da/dN curve, implying no mechanism change over range of growth rate 10-4 to 10-7 mm/cycle. No IG facets in absence of moist air
Growth rate ~ 10-4 mm/cycle

Original magnification 500x

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Vacuum
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m no 'knee' in da/dN curve, implying no mechanism change over range of growth rate 10-4 to 10-7 mm/cycle. No IG facets in absence of moist air
Growth rate ~ 10-4 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Vacuum
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m no 'knee' in da/dN curve, implying no mechanism change over range of growth rate 10-4 to 10-7 mm/cycle. No IG facets in absence of moist air
Growth rate ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 500x

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Vacuum
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T CGHAZ simulation Grain size 58m no 'knee' in da/dN curve, implying no mechanism change over range of growth rate 10-4 to 10-7 mm/cycle. No IG facets in absence of moist air
Growth rate ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Vacuum
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T - Grain size 10m no 'knee' in da/dN curve, implying no mechanism change over range of growth rate 10-4 to 10-7 mm/cycle. No IG facets in absence of moist air
Growth rate ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 2kx

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in Vacuum
Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T - Grain size 10m no 'knee' in da/dN curve, implying no mechanism change over range of growth rate 10-4 to 10-7 mm/cycle. No IG facets in absence of moist air
Growth rate ~ 10-7 mm/cycle

Original magnification 5kx

Back to Contents

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Crack Growth by Hydrogen Embrittlement

Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T - Grain size 10m Hydrogen can cause cleavage, quasi-cleavage, MVC or IG fracture, depending on crack tip stress, H2 concentration and its effect on plasticity
Quasi-cleavage at initiation site changes to IG as crack tip stress decreases Bend loading + H2 charging

Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Crack Growth by Hydrogen Embrittlement

Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T - Grain size 10m Hydrogen can cause cleavage, quasi-cleavage, MVC or IG fracture, depending on crack tip stress, H2 concentration and its effect on plasticity
Quasi-cleavage at initiation site shown at higher magnification Bend loading + H2 charging

Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Crack Growth by Hydrogen Embrittlement

Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T - Grain size 10m Hydrogen can cause cleavage, quasi-cleavage, MVC or IG fracture, depending on crack tip stress, H2 concentration and its effect on plasticity
Quasi-cleavage at initiation site changes to IG as crack tip stress decreases Bend loading + H2 charging

Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Crack Growth by Hydrogen Embrittlement

Q1N Steel (HY 80) 0.2C 2.5Ni 1.5Cr 0.5 Mo Q&T - Grain size 10m Comparison between IG and cleavage (induced by fracture at cryogenic temperatures)

IG region is on the left, and cleavage is on the right. Line demarcates the boundary.

Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 1 196 172 cycles Fatigue performance is no worse than grades that do not show IG fatigue

Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 1 196 172 cycles Fatigue striations on an IG facet Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 1 196 172 cycles Fatigue striations on IG facets Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 1 196 172 cycles IG facets at crack initiation site Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 24 371 cycles IG facets at crack initiation site (although damaged by surface contact) Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 24 371 cycles Striation growth once crack is established and plasticity levels are higher at crack tip

Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa Some of these steels show IG fatigue at low levels of plasticity (e.g. during crack initiation, and at long lives)

Nf = 24 371 cycles Fatigue striations at higher magnification Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa An extra-low carbon grade does not show IG fatigue

Nf = 37 782 cycles No IG facets near crack initiation site Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Low Carbon Interstitial-Free Steel

Typically 0.002C 0.15Mn + Ti, Nb or B additions - YS = 160-200 MPa An extra-low carbon grade does not show IG fatigue

Nf = 37 782 cycles Higher magnification view of crack initiation site Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Low temperature fracture showing cleavage Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Low temperature fracture showing cleavage twist and tilt grain boundaries evident Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Ductile fracture at room temperature showing MVC Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Room temperature fracture showing MVC and regions of brittle inter-pearlitic fracture Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Room temperature fracture showing MVC at high magnification with inclusion in hole Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Shear micro-voids can occur where plastic constraint is lower, towards the specimen edges Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Charpy Impact Fracture

Plain medium carbon steel (0.4%C) with a normalised microstructure

Smooth featureless shear can also occur at specimen edges Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in a High Tensile Bolt

High tensile bolt with Q&T microstructure

Fatigue in bend with a slightly reversed component Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in a High Tensile Bolt

High tensile bolt with Q&T microstructure

Clear striations are present in this low cycle fatigue situation; this is the reversed bend area. Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Fatigue in a High Tensile Bolt

High tensile bolt with Q&T microstructure

High magnification view of fatigue striations in the main fatigue region. Original magnification given by micron bar

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Fractography Resource - mjames@plymouth.ac.uk