Material

assignment 3

Figure 1

Josh Ayres

Contents page

Task 1 Failure modes

A- Creep
A creep occurs when a material is put under mechanical stress that it cant handle.
A creep is when materials grow longer overtime because there is a constant tensile
stress applied to it. The stress permanently deforms the material after the yield
point. A creep is a time dependent which deforms at elevated temperatures and
constant stress. There are three stages of a creep which are primary secondary and
tertiary. The primary stage is fast to happen but is not always present. The second
stage is constant as the material extends and is slower than the primary stage. At
the tertiary stage the extension quickens again and leads to a failure. Most
materials will not creep until a certain amount of force is applied and this is called
as creep limiting. When a material is at a high temperature the creep limit will lower
and result in a failure with less stress applied to it. When the materials experience
creeps the grains will also become stretched which affects the mechanical
properties of the material at the creep point.

Figure 2

B - Fatigue
Fatigue is the weakening of a material that is repeatedly put under applied loads.
Cyclic stress is a force that is being repeatedly applied and the force changes
throughout the process. Fatigue failure happens because microscopic cracks start to
form and makes the stress concentrate at that point. Eventually it will crack
because of the stress that is being applied to a weak point. Material surfaces will
have cracks, valleys or imperfections that can be seen under a microscope. By
having smooth surfaces with no cracks fatigue failure is less likely. The materials
can have different surface finishes depending on the application. After a material
has failed from fatigue the surface will be very rough and the cracks will be visible
to the eye. By looking at the surface you can usually see where the crack started.
Things that can have an impact on fatigue life are;

Temperature

Corrosion

Surface finish

Residual surface finish

Size of the component

The way that the stress fluctuates

How the stress is concentrated

Figure 3

C- Ductile and brittle fracture

When a brittle material fractures it will do so without warning unlike a ductile
material which will plastically deform before the fracture. Brittle materials can fail
suddenly and do not show a neck before fracturing. When a brittle material
fractures a crack will rapidly spread. The crack can spread further without any
additional forces being applied to the material. Gradually loading will cause a brittle
fracture to rapidly crack or shatter. Impact loading a brittle material will cause it to
shatter. There are two types of brittle fractures which are transgranular and
intergranular. In transgranular the fracture will travel through the grain of the
material. The fracture will change direction because of the orientation of atoms in
each grain. The cracks will basically choose a path with the least resistance. You can
see that the fracture changed direction because in the surface you can see that the
crack is slightly bumpy on the surface. An intergranular crack is when the fracture
travels along the grain boundaries. Polymer materials have a low yield point but
can withstand a lot of stretching before breaking. Grain size has an impact on
brittle fractures. Larger grain sizes will result in loss of the materials strength. Grain
size will also determine the control of cracks spreading. At higher temperatures the
yield point of a material is lowered which can cause the fracture to become more
ductile. Temperature can determine the amount of ductile or brittle fracture in a
material. When a materials temperature increases the atoms vibrate which causes
the properties of the material to change slightly. Brittle materials can become more
ductile as they become hotter. A bittle fracture will have a clean and grainy surface
which can also be flat. A ductile fracture will become more fibrous and sort of
elongated because its tearing (pulling the material apart).

Figure 4

Task 2.1 Percentage of elongation

Carbon steel = (10.7mm/25mm) x 100 = 42%
Brass = (8.4mm/25mm) x 100 = 33.6%
Copper = (15.15mm/25mm) x 100 = 60.6%

Task 2.2 Non-destructive test

We tested the hardness of 4 different materials by using a Rockwell hardness test.
We used a colonial indenter.

This is the indenter

This is where the

material is placed

Figure 5

Hardness results
Aluminium - 36.0 HRA
Mild Steel 50.6 HRA
Nylon 2.7 HRA
Acrylic 15.1 HRA

Figure 6

Task 4 - Degradation
Metals - corrosion.
Corrosion of metals is a natural process and is a gradual destruction. Metals are
corroded through a chemical reaction associated with the environment. Corrosion is
commonly used to explain an electrochemical oxidation of metal which has reacted
to an oxidant such as oxygen. Corrosion degrades the properties of the metals
which include strength, appearance and permeability to liquids and gasses. Most
metal alloys can corrode by having exposure to moisture in the atmosphere but can
be amplified depending on the environment. Corrosion does not happen to all
metals and some alloys are created specifically to have corrosion resisting
properties such as stainless steel. Corrosion which starts to form on a metal can
extend across a wide area and cause cracks and lead to the material failing.
Polymer UV light
Most of the natural and synthetic polymers are affected by UV radiation. If the
polymer is not UV stable it can crack or disintegrate. Polymers can wear over time
by simply being left in sunlight. Prolonged exposure is a more serious problem
because it all depends on the extent and degree of exposure
Ceramics - heat
Ceramics that are exposed to high temperatures can suddenly fail or have cracks
gradually form on the surface. When the material is heated it tried to expand which
will cause microscopic cracks to form which will increase over time. If it is exposed
to ridiculously high temperatures it will fail immediately because it is trying to
expand more than what it would be doing at a lower temperature. If it is exposed to
the same temperatures that are making the small cracks form continuously it will
eventually fail even though it has been able to function at that temperature for a
while. The cracks will basically get bigger over time and can greatly impact the
properties of the ceramics.

Bibliography
http://www.legend-group.com/sites/default/files/legend/images/MIC%20photo.jpg
Figure 1
http://www.msed.nist.gov/solder/clech/Report_Images/Figure_1.png
Figure 2
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Pedalarm_Bruch.jpg
Figure 3
http://www.tpub.com/doematerialsci/material%20science_files/image130.jpg
Figure 4