Fundamentals of Material

Deformation and Failure

 Introduction

Engineers use materials for various purposes

All materials have structures that can be defined at various

length scales

Structure can have a large influence on properties,

performance and durability

Structure has most significant effect on mechanical properties

We will explore linkages between the structures of materials

and their mechanical properties
 Introduction

All mechanical structures must endure mechanical loads

Mechanical engineers are generally interested in rules for

dimensioning components properly or selecting materials for a
given application to satisfy specific performance criteria

Detailed understanding of the influences of microstructure on

properties is secondary

Material engineers focus on understanding and applying physical

processes that occur within a material during mechanical loading
to satisfy specific performance criteria

It is critical that engineers understand both approaches

 Mechanical Properties and
Length Scales
Macro Scale Meso Scale

100 x 100 x

Sheet
Engineered Structure Structural Member

100 x
Polycrystalline
Continuum

100 x 100 x

Atomic Structure Dislocations Grain Boundaries

Nano Scale Micro Scale Meso Scale
 Mechanical Properties and
Length Scales

Materials Structures Infrastructure

Systems
Nanolevel Microlevel Mesolevel Macrolevel
Integration
Molecular scale Microns Microns Meters Up to km scale
Nanomechanics Micromechanics Mesomechanics Beams Bridge systems
Self-assembly Microstructures Interfacial Columns Lifelines
Nanofabrication Smart materials structures Plates Airplanes
Etc. Etc. Composites Etc. Etc.
Etc.

Mechanical behaviour spans all length scales and thus we need to

understand how length scales link together
How materials respond under loading?
 Forces Acting on Engineering Structures

Surface Forces / Loads: forces arising from contact

Friction
Point load
etc.

Volume Forces / Loads: forces acting over entire body

Gravity
Magnetic Forces
etc.

Surface forces are generally more significant than volume forces

 Types of Surface Forces

Static: independent of time

Constant in magnitude
Constant in direction
Constant in location

Quasi Static: vary slowly with time

Dynamic: vary with time

Steady state: maintain the same character over time (frequency,
amplitude, etc.)
Transient: change character with time (e.g. decay in amplitude due to
damping)
 Material Response Under Loading

Deformation

Macroscopically

Microscopically

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya9ZgjYUNkI
 Material Response Under Loading

Fracture

Macroscopically

Microscopically

https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=qeLvzt2szMU
 Deformation

Deformation is the change in shape

Types of Deformation

Time Independent
Elastic
Plastic
 Time Independent Deformation

Elastic Deformation: reversible deformation

Recovered immediately upon unloading
Analogous to stretching of atomic bonds
Hookes law is applicable =

Plastic Deformation: permanent deformation

NOT recovered upon unloading
Begins at the proportional limit. At this point the material is said to yield
and is characterised by yield strength
Hookes law in no more applicable
Stress and strain relationship is defined by other available empirical
relationships
 Deformation

Deformation is the change in shape

Types of Deformation

Time Dependent
Viscoelastic
Viscoplastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q1VtAXeMn74
 Time Dependent Deformation

Viscoelastic: reversible deformation

Deformation is recovered over a period of time
Rubbery behaviour
Exhibited by all materials at some level

Viscoplastic / Creep: permanent deformation

Deformation occurs over a period of time
Occurs at high temperatures (often greater than 0.5 of melting
temperature)
In a material that is subjected to a constant load or stress that is
often far below the yield point
 Fracture

When something separates into pieces

Types of Fracture

Under Static
Loading
Brittle
Ductile
Creep rupture
Environmental
 Fracture

When something separates into pieces

Types of Fracture

Under Cyclic Loading

High cycle fatigue
Low cycle fatigue
Fatigue crack growth
Corrosion fatigue
 Types of Fracture

Ductile
Lots of plastic
deformation prior to
fracture

Brittle
Little
or no plastic
deformation before
fracture
 Fracture vs Failure

Failure
Anything that might cause a component to lose its
structural tolerances, preventing it from serving its intended
purpose

This means
Fracture
or plastic deformation
or excessive elastic deformation
Design is carried out to avoid failure
Stress Dependent Modes of Failure

Elastic
Stable
Plastic
Excessive deformation
Elastic (buckling)
(static loading)
Unstable Plastic (collapse, buckling)
Creep (collapse, buckling)

Excessive deformation
Incremental collapse
(cyclic loading)

Fracture Brittle fracture

(static loading) Low-stress brittle fracture
Creep rupture
Stress Dependent Modes of Failure

Fracture
Fatigue
(cyclic loading)

Not solely stress Fretting, pitting, corrosion fatigue

dependent Stress corrosion

Creep and fatigue (cyclic creep)

Combined modes Fatigue followed by low-stress brittle
fracture
 Engineering Approach for
Explaining Mechanical Behaviour

Strength of Materials / Continuum Mechanics

Stress
Strains
Elasticity
Plasticity
Micromechanics / Material Physics
Consider properties of constituents
Grain Orientation / Texture
Crystal / Atomic Structure
Defect Content
Etc.
 Engineering Approach for
Explaining Mechanical Behaviour

Strength of Materials Approach

Use principles of elasticity and plasticity to predict material

response (statics, dynamics, strength of materials, etc.)

Applied regularly in engineering design. Very useful and easy

(e.g. Finite Element Analysis)

Advantage is that relatively few constants are needed to predict

mechanical behaviour

Some assumptions are made

 General Assumptions

The member is in static equilibrium

= 0; = 0 (external forces = internal resisting forces)
The body is continuous
Contains no voids, holes or spaces
The body is homogenous
Properties are identical at any point
The body is isotropic
Properties dont vary with direction or orientation

Allows for simple mathematical treatment in design

 Assumptions vs Reality

The body is continuous

Contains no voids, holes or spaces
All materials contain flaws at some level
The body is homogenous
Properties are identical at any point
All materials have local inhomogeneities
The body is isotropic
Properties dont vary with direction or orientation
Crystalline materials are inherently anisotropic
 Assumptions vs Reality

General theories break down when atomic nature of materials (i.e.

materials structure) is introduced

Examples
Generation and accumulation of dislocations leads to hardening
Creep (a form of high temperature deformation). Microstructure changes
with time
Stress concentrations at crack tips. Local stress may be higher than global
stress
Ductile to brittle transition temperature. Fundamental changes in material
behaviour cause a brittle solid to function like a plastic material
 Assumptions vs Reality

In spite of these deficiencies, strength of materials

approaches are used in engineering design
However, to effectively design or properly select a material
for long term application, the structure of the material must
be considered at some level

Macrostructre (x1)

Microstructure (x106)

Nanostructure (x109)
Fundamental Behaviours of
Materials for Study

Elasticity

Plasticity

Fracture

Creep

Fatigue
Examples
 Example 1

You are a process engineer at a metal stamping plant that produces

cans from 304L stainless steel. You produce 20 cans/minute. First 1000
cans form perfectly. Ten of the next 200 cans fail during stamping.
Then, 25 of the next 200 fail. After that, 100 of the next 200 fail.
Production is summarized in the table below.

No of Cans Total No of Cans No of Failures

1,000 1,000 0
200 1,200 10
200 1,400 25
200 1,600 100

What is the cause of these failures? What is the solution?

 Whats Going On?

Deformation characteristics change with time

Dislocation generation and motion

Work hardening

Heating / Cooling during process

Phase transformation

Change in deformation behaviour

Transformation induced plasticity

 Whats Going On?

Die temperature rises during processing

Work hardening rate increases

Increases the amount of uniform plastic elongation; but

makes it more difficult to deform the material uniformly

Solution involves physical metallurgy, intrinsic

material properties, mechanics and processing
methods
 Example 2

Tungsten Wire Light Bulb Filament

Produced via powder metallurgy

Fails after a few thousand hours

Why / how they fail?

Can service lifetime be increased?

 Whats Happening?

Creep: Filament can creep under its own

weight leading to sagging
Causes overheating in sag
Shortening due to touching of adjacent
coils
Excessive vibrations during service can
cause shortening
Microstructure changes due to
recrystallisation during service and can
lead to failure
Whats Happening? (Sagging)

Sagging of an undoped
W filament

Non-Interlock grain
structure sag
 Whats Happening?

Gravity

Offsets in an undoped W filament caused by prolonged operation at

high temperatures. Grain growth followed by grain boundary sliding
leads to premature burnout of the filament.
 Whats Happening?

When light bulb is turned on, filament undergoes

thermal expansion along its length. This expansion is
transient and non-uniform

Leads to tensile force along wire length

After long enough period of operation, the force

will become large enough to cause intergranular
fracture of the filament
 Solution

Inhibit creep and recrystallisation

Non-sag tungsten is produced by doping with potassium

Potassium is insoluble in W and forms bubbles

Bubbles inhibit normal recrystallization of W wires

Leads to development of interlocked grain structure

Inhibits boundary sliding and increases creep resistance

 Whats Happening? (Sagging)

No sagging in a Sagging of an
doped W filament undoped W
filament

Non-Interlock grain
Interlocking grain structure sag
structure prevents
sag
 Whats Happening? (Creep)

Micrographs of undoped tungsten. TEM micrographs of (a) as-drawn

wire and (b) following annealing at 300C. Note that annealing has
resulted in abnormal grain growth. (c) Optical micrograph of hot
pressed and recrystallised W laminate revealing the formation of
bamboo-like grains
 Whats Happening? (Creep)

Drawn wire has fine grained microstructure with

grains elongated in the drawing direction
After high temperature exposure, the tungsten
wire recrystallise producing bamboo structure.
Bamboo structure
Grains with diameter = wire diameter
Grain lengths >> wire diameter
Grain boundaries essentially perpendicular to wire
axis
Under stress due to gravity, boundaries can slip
past each other due to creep, leading to rapid
failure
 What Does this Means?

Must take into account more than the continuum

considerations

Must consider structure of materials

Sometimes structure changes in service, thus properties can

change. Must be accounted for in design

Particularly important where long term mechanical

performance is concerned
Engineering Materials
and their Properties
Families of Engineering Materials
Material Information for Design
 Commonly Used Mechanical
Properties of Engineering Materials

Modulus
Density
Strength
Fracture toughness
Thermal conductivity
Thermal expansion
Maximum service temperature
Electrical resistivity
etc.
 Summary

Deformation and fracture may be caused by various types of

stress conditions

Understanding and consideration of material structure is

fundamental to design and failure analysis

Material selection must be based on a systematic approach