Figure 2 Figure 2 shows one of the most classical cleavage, or transgranular cracks, that I have ever found in a broken part. The red arrows highlight parallel sets of

Most of the failure analysis we have been talking about on this blog so far is about fractography and, specifically, about fractography that relates to the macro scale

Now, here is where the idea of case hardening comes in.

If, for now, we look at the “classical worst case,” or the outer fiber stress, y is 5.

“Everyone knows” that heat treating steels with a quench-and-temper process can make them stronger.

Before closing our discussion from last week, I will share some examples to illustrate the differences between normal ambient-temperature “corrosion-assisted fatigue” and “boiler-lingo corrosion fatigue.”

Last summer, I was asked to help determine why a relatively new heat exchange that was part of an industrial boiler system had started springing leaks left and right.

Sometimes it seems “pretty obvious” why a failure happened. If you look at a burst pipe, for example, maybe the edges of the split area seem pretty thin, maybe much

Going back to our potential fracture analysis, in addition to the crack itself, other locations on the component and mating components of the assembly often contain key features that allow the failure to be understood.

A thorough failure analysis will provide resources to address many issues in addition to determining whether the component met the requirements of the engineering print and whether there is evidence of “abuse” of the component.