Fracture Failure Analysis

Fractures of metallic materials used in the fields such as automobiles, airplanes, ships, railroad cars, and manned spaceships may put human lives at risk, so strict material selection and safety design based on strength calculation are required. Fracture analysis is a mechanical test method, where a component or material is intentionally broken, and the fractured areas are then examined and assessed through macroscopy or microscopy. These examinations help to investigate the condition and structure of the metallic material which could affect future applications in real-service conditions.

STEMart provides fractography, mechanical testing, and composition analysis to assist in determining failure mechanism and identifying root cause of the failure and any material defects and imperfections within the material structure.

Fracture Patterns

• Ductile fracture: A ductile fracture is a fracture pattern observed in many metallic materials and shows large deformation, such as stretching and necking, up to the occurrence of the fracture.
• Brittle fracture: A brittle fracture is a fracture pattern in which cracking has rapidly spread while no plastic deformation occurs around the fractured surface.
• Fatigue fracture: A fatigue fracture is a fracture pattern in which cracking has gradually proceeded under repeated load.

Test Capabilities

• Fractography analysis: Fractography is used to analyze the features or characteristics such as intergranular cracking, dimples, scratches or grooves from fatigue, or cleavage of the fracture surface to identify the root cause of the failure.
  • Macroscopic observation: Observe physical appearance of the fracture with naked eye, low-magnification loupes, and stereoscopic microscopes to reveal any defects, fractures or corrosion
  • Microscopic observation: Observe the structure of a fractured surface with optical microscopes and Scanning Electron Microscopy associated with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) to establish fracture mechanisms
• Mechanical testing
  • Tensile testing
  • Hardness and microhardness testing
  • Impact testing
  • Bend testing
• Chemical composition analysis

For more information about our fracture failure analysis service, please contact us.