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Unit 3: Failure & phase diagrams

Table of contents
3.1 Failure
a) Fracture
b) Fatigue
c) Creep
3.2 Phase Diagrams
3.2.1 Iron-carbon diagram-the Iron–Iron Carbide (Fe–Fe3C) Phase Diagram
a) α-ferrite (BCC) Fe-C solution
δ-ferrite (BCC) Fe-C solution
b) γ-austenite (FCC) Fe-C solution
c) Fe3C (iron carbide) or cementite.
d) Pearlite
e) Martensite
f) Ledeburite
3.2.2 Phase compositions of the iron-carbon alloys at room temperature.
3.2.3 Development of Microstructures in Iron—Carbon Alloys
3.2.4 Transformation- Microstructure and Property Changes in Fe-C Alloys.

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3.1 Failure:
The failure of materials is an unwanted event, when human lives and economic losses are considered.
Since engineering materials do not reach theoretical strength when they are tested in the laboratory, it is
difficult to guarantee that failures will be avoided during the service. The usual reasons of failure are poor
materials selection, design defects and maintenance problems or misuse.

A. Fracture:
The separation of a solid body into two or more pieces due to applied stress is called as Fracture.
Types of fracture are:
I. Ductile fracture
II. Brittle fracture

I. Ductile Fructure
İt is the substantial plastic deformation and tearing of materials.İt is always preceeded by necking.
Due to ductlie fracture, cup and cone like fracture is formed.

Stages of ductile fracture

 Initial necking.
 Small cavity formation (micro voids).
 Void growth (ellipsoid) or cavities link up by coalescence into a crack.
 Fast crack propagation around neck. Shear strain at 45o.
 Final shear fracture (cup and cone).

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II. Brittle Fructure

 İt is the failure of metal which occurs through the cross section without any plastic deformation.
 İt is when there is no or little plastic deformation and crack propagation.
 The direction of brittle crack is perpendicular to the direction of applied stress.
Brittle fracture is increased due to
 Decreasing temperature
 Increasing strain rate
 Triaxial stress conditions

Steps in fracture (response to stress):

 Crack formation
 Crack propagation
There is no appreciable deformation, and crack propagation is very fast. In most brittle materials, crack
propagation (by bond breaking) is along specific crystallographic planes (cleavage planes).
This type of fracture is trans-granular (through grains) producing grainy texture (or faceted texture) when
cleavage direction changes from grain to grain. In some materials, fracture is inter-granular.

Comparison between ductile fracture and brittle fracture.

Parameters Ductile fracture Brittle fracture
Strain energy required High Lower
Stress during cracking Increasing Constant
Crack propagation Slow rate Fast or rapid rate
Warning sign Large plastic deformation None
Deformation Extensive Little
Fractured surface Rough and dull Smooth and bright
Necking Yes No
Region It occurs when the material is in plastic It occurs when the material is in
region. elastic region.
Type of materials Most of metals which are not too cold Ice, glasses & ceramics
and looks shining such as gold, brass,
lead and mild steel.

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Ductile brittle transition

 Ductile to brittle transition occurs in materials when the temperature is dropped below a transition
temperature. Alloying usually increases the ductile-brittle transition temperature, for ceramics, this
type of transition occurs at much higher temperatures than for metals.
 The notched-bar impact test can be used to determine whether or not a material experiences a
ductile-to-brittle transition as the temperature is decreased.
 In such a transition, at higher temperatures the impact energy is relatively large since the fracture
is ductile.
 As the temperature is lowered, the impact energy drops over a narrow temperature range as the
fracture becomes more brittle.
 The transition can also be observed from the fracture surfaces, which appear fibrous or dull for
totally ductile fracture, and granular and shiny for totally brittle fracture. Over the ductile-to brittle
transition features of both types will exist.
 While for pure materials the transition may occur very suddenly at a particular temperature, for
many materials the transition occurs over a range of temperatures. This causes difficulties when
trying to define a single transition temperature and no specific criterion has been established.
 The ductile-brittle transition is exhibited in bcc metals, such as low carbon steel, which become
brittle at low temperature or at very high strain rates. FCC metals, however, generally remain
ductile at temperatures.

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b. Fatigue:
Fatigue is the catastrophic failure due to dynamic (fluctuating) stresses. Or it is the capacity of the material
to withstand repeatedly applied stresses. It can happen in bridges, airplanes, machine components, etc.
When we load or unload the material thousands of times, small crack may develop and material fails.
Fatigue test is used to determine how long the material may survive or maximum allowable loads that can
be applied to prevent failure.
Fatigue stress: the stress at which a metal fails by fatigue.
Fatigue limit or endurance limit: the value of stress below which the material will not fail even when it
is loaded for infinite number of cycles or times.
Fatigue life: The total number of cycles of stress required to bring about final fracture.

The characteristics are:

 Long period of cyclic strain
 The most usual (90%) of metallic failures (happens also in ceramics and polymers)
 Is brittle-like even in ductile metals, with little plastic deformation
 It occurs in stages involving the initiation and propagation of cracks.

Cyclic Stresses
These are characterized by maximum, minimum and mean stress, the stress amplitude, and the stress ratio.
Stages in fatigue failure:
I. crack initiation at high stress points (stress raisers)
II. Crack Propagation (incremental in each cycle)

Stage I – initiation
 slow
 along crystallographic planes of high shear stress
 flat and featureless fatigue surface
Stage II - propagation
Crack propagates by repetitive plastic blunting and sharpening of the crack tip.

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c. Creep
 Creep is the time-varying plastic deformation of a material stressed at high temperatures or slow
and progressive deformation of a material with time, under constant stress at a temperature above
0.4 absolute melting temperature (T m).
 Creep is plastic deformation that occurs below the yield point. The material is considered as failed
even if it has not actually fractured.
 Creep can take place and break the specimen when loaded quickly.
 Generally, creep occurs at high temperature and at room temperature to some materials.
 As a result, materials that are time-independent increase in length which could be dangerous while
in service. Examples: turbine blades, steam generators.
 Creep resistance: it is the material’s ability to resist any kind of distortion when under a load over
an extended period of time.
 Creep life: the time required for occurrence of creep fracture under the given static load.
 Creep limit: The maximum stress that will result in creep.
 Creep strength: The constant stress that will cause a specified creep extension in a given time at
a constant temperature.

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The Creep Curve

The curve drawn between the strain (Y-axis) and time (x-axis) is known as the creep curve. The form of a
𝑑𝜀
typical creep curve of strain versus time is in figure below. The slope of this curve is the creep rate, . The
𝑑𝑡

curve also indicate the instantaneous elongation, elastic strain which occurs as the load is applied, and
followed by the plastic strain which occurs over time. The creep curve consists of three stages as follows:

a) Primary creep: One in which the creep resistance increases with strain leading to a decreasing
creep strain rate. Or the primary creep is a decreasing of creep rate because of work hardening
process resulting from deformation.
b) Secondary creep: it is one in which there is a balance between work hardening and recovery
processes, leading to a minimum constant creep rate. It is longest duration.
c) Tertiary creep: There is an accelerating creep rate due to the accumulating damage, which leads
to creep rupture, and which may only be seen at high temperatures and stresses and in constant load
machines. The time required for failure to occur is called rupture time.

Stress and Temperature Effects:

 Both temperature and the level of the applied stress influence the creep characteristics.
 The results of creep rupture tests are most commonly presented as the logarithm of stress versus
the logarithm of rupture lifetime.
 Creep becomes more pronounced at higher temperatures.
 There is essentially no creep at temperatures below 40% of the melting point Creep increases at
higher applied stresses.
 The behavior can be characterized by the following expression, where K, n and QC are constants
for a given material: dε/dt = K σn exp (-Qc/RT)

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Characteristics of Creep:
 Creep in service is usually affected by changing conditions of loading and temperature
 The number of possible stress-temperature time combinations is infinite.
 The creep mechanisms is often different between metals, plastics, rubber, and concrete.

Creep Mechanisms: There are three mechanisms which are operative in creep. The creep fracture is due
to any one of the following.
i. Dislocation related
a) Dislocation climb
b) Dislocation glide
ii. Diffusion controlled
a) Grain boundary diffusion controlled
b) Lattice diffusion controlled
iii. Grain boundary sliding

i. Dislocation related
 At low stress level, the applied stress is insufficient to cross the obstacle.
 At high temperature, dislocation may climb and proceeds along the new slip plane until it
find another obstacle.
 The dislocation motion depends on dislocation glide and climb. So glide-climb is used to
describe this form of creep.

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ii. Diffusion controlled

It is the deformation of crystalline solids by means of diffusion.
There are two types of diffusion controlled
a) Grain boundary diffusion controlled (Coble Creep) which occurs due to the movement of
vacancies a long grain boundaries.
b) Lattice diffusion controlled or Nabarro-Herring Creep which occurs due to the movement
of vacancies through the crystal or lattice space
iii. Diffusion sliding
 At low temperatures, the grain boundaries are stronger than the crystal interior and resist
the motion of dislocations.
 Creep fracture take places due to sliding of grain boundaries.

Factor affecting creep are:

 Grain size
 Thermal stability of microstructure
 Chemical reactions
 Prior strain

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3.2 Phase Diagrams:

3.2.1 The Iron–Carbon Diagram

The Iron–Iron Carbide (Fe–Fe3C) Phase Diagram
A map of the temperature at which different phase changes occur on very slow heating and cooling in
relation to Carbon, is called Iron- Carbon Diagram. This is one of the most important alloys for structural
applications. The diagram Fe-C is simplified at low carbon concentrations by assuming it is the Fe-Fe3C
diagram. Iron-Carbon diagram shows the type of alloys formed under very slow cooling, proper heat
treatment temperature and how the properties of steels and cast irons work. The concentrations are usually
given in weight percent. The possible phases are:
g) α-ferrite (BCC) Fe-C solution
δ-ferrite (BCC) Fe-C solution
h) γ-austenite (FCC) Fe-C solution
i) Fe3C (iron carbide) or cementite. An intermetallic compound.
j) Pearlite
k) Martensite
l) Ledeburite

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Features definition:
a) α-ferrite: It is solid solution of carbon in δ-iron.
 α-ferrite has BCC crystal structure and low solubility of carbon that is up to 0.025% at 1333 ºF
(723ºC). α-ferrite exists at room temperature.
 The maximum solubility of C in α- ferrite is 0.022 wt. %.
 It is an interstitial solid solution of a small amount of carbon dissolved in α (BCC) iron.
 Stable form of iron below 910 deg.C.
 It is the softest structure that appears on the diagram.

Average properties are:

 Tensile strength = 40,000 psi;
 Elongation = 40 % in 2 inches;
 Hardness > Rockwell C 0 or > Rockwell B 90

δ-ferrite: It is solid solution of carbon in δ-iron.

 Maximum concentration of carbon in δ- ferrite is 0.09% at 2719 ºF (1493 ºC) which is the
temperature of the peritectic transformation.
 The crystal structure of δ-ferrite is BCC (cubic body centered cubic).
 δ−ferrite is only stable at high temperatures between 1400-1539 oC.

b) Austenite: Is an interstitial solid solution of carbon dissolved in γ-iron.

 Austenite has FCC (face centered cubic) crystal structure, permitting maximum solubility of carbon
i.e. up to 2.06% at 2097 ºF (1147 ºC).
 Austenite does not exist below 1333 ºF (723 ºC) and maximum carbon concentration at this
temperature decreases up to 0.83%.
 It is not stable below the eutectic temperature (723 oC) unless cooled rapidly.
 High formability, most of heat treatments begin with this single phase.
 It is normally not stable at room temperature. But, stable between 912-1400 oC (2554 oF)
 It is soft and ductile.
 Not ferromagnetic at any temperature.
Average properties are:
 Tensile strength = 150,000 psi;
 Elongation = 10 percent in 2 inches;
 Hardness = Rockwell C 40, approx.; and Toughness = high

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c) Cementite (Fe3C) or iron carbide: Cementite is also called as iron carbide, is very hard & brittle
intermetallic compound of iron & carbon, as Fe3C, and contains 6.67 % C and 93.3% Fe.

 It is the hardest structure that appears on the diagram, exact melting point unknown.
 Cementite is a hard and brittle substance, influencing the properties of steels and cast irons.
 Its crystal structure is orthorhombic.
 It is has low tensile strength (approx. 5,000 psi), but with high compressive strength.
 Cementite is in reality metastable, decomposing into α-Fe and Carbon when heated for several
years between 650 and 770 C.
 It is magnetic in nature below 210 oc
 It has density of 7.6 gm/cm3

d) Pearlite is the eutectoid mixture containing 0.80 % C and is formed at 723°C on very slow cooling.
 It is a very fine plate like or lamellar mixture of ferrite and cementite.
 The white ferrite background or matrix contains thin plates of cementite (dark).

Average properties are:

 Tensile strength = 120,000 psi;
 Elongation = 20 % in 2 inches;
 Hardness = Rockwell C20, BHN-300

e) Martensite: Is a super-saturated solid solution of carbon in ferrite.

 It is formed when steel is cooled so rapidly that the change from austenite to pearlite is suppressed.
 The interstitial carbon atoms distort the BCC ferrite into a BC-tetragonal structure (BCT);
responsible for the hardness of quenched steel.
f) Ledeburite is the eutectic mixture of Austenite and Cementite.
It contains 4.3 wt. % C and is formed at 1147 °C.

There are three Phase or invariant reactions which includes:

 Peritectic, at 1493 degree Celsius, with low 0.1 wt. % C alloys.
 Eutectic, at 1147 degree Celsius, with 4.3 wt. % C, alloys called cast irons.
 Eutectoid, at 723 degree Celsius, with eutectoid composition of 0.76 to 0.83 wt. % C, two-phase
mixture (ferrite & cementite).

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Peritectic: liquid and one solid phase transform to a 2nd solid phase.
Solid1 + Liquid ↔ Solid2
+L↔ß
Eutectic: liquid transforms to two solid phases.
L↔+
Eutectoid: one solid phase transforms to two other solid phases.
Solid1 ↔ Solid2 + Solid3
 ↔  + Fe3C

Critical temperatures:
 Upper critical temperature (point) A3 is the temperature below which ferrite starts to form as a
result of ejection from austenite in the hypo-eutectoid alloys.
 Upper critical temperature (point) ACM is the temperature below which cementite starts to form
as a result of ejection from austenite in the hyper-eutectoid alloys.
 Lower critical temperature (point) A1 is the temperature of the austenite-to-Pearlite eutectoid
transformation. Below this temperature austenite does not exist.
 Magnetic transformation temperature A2: This is the temperature below which α-ferrite is
ferromagnetic.

3.2.2 Phase compositions of the iron-carbon alloys at room temperature:

 Hypo-eutectoid steels (carbon content from 0 to 0.83%) consist of primary (pro-eutectoid) ferrite
(according to the curve A3) and Pearlite.
 Eutectoid steel (carbon content 0.83%) entirely consists of Pearlite.
 Hyper-eutectoid steels (carbon content from 0.83 to 2.06%) consist of primary (pro-eutectoid)
cementite (according to the curve ACM) and Pearlite.
 Cast irons (carbon content from 2.06% to 4.3%) consist of cementite ejected from austenite
according to the curve ACM, Pearlite and transformed ledeburite (ledeburite in which austenite
transformed to pearlite).
 When the liquid of eutectic composition is cooled, at or below eutectic temperature this liquid
transforms simultaneously into two solid phases (two terminal solid solutions, represented by αand
β). This transformation is known as eutectic reaction and is written symbolically as:
Liquid (L) ↔solid solution-1 (α) + solid solution-2 (β)
 In the solid state analog of a eutectic reaction, called a eutectoid reaction, one solid phase having
eutectoid composition transforms into two different solid phases. Another set of invariant reactions

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that occur often in binary systems are - peritectic reaction where a solid phase reacts with a liquid
phase to produce a new solid phase.
 For their role in mechanical properties of the alloy, it is important to note that: Ferrite is soft and
ductile Cementite is hard and brittle. Thus, combining these two phases in solution an alloy can be
obtained with intermediate properties.

3.2.3 Development of Microstructures in Iron—Carbon Alloys

The eutectoid composition of austenite is 0.8 wt. %. When it cools slowly it forms perlite, a lamellar or
layered structure of two phases: α-ferrite and cementite (Fe3C). Hypo-eutectoid alloys contain pro-eutectoid
ferrite plus the eutectoid pearlite. Hypereutectoid alloys contain pro-eutectoid cementite plus pearlite. Since
reactions below the eutectoid temperature are in the solid phase, the equilibrium is not achieved by usual
cooling from austenite.

The Influence of Other Alloying Elements

Alloying strengthens metals by hindering the motion of dislocations. Thus, the strength of Fe–C alloys
increase with C content and also with the addition of other elements.
Time-temperature transformation (TTT) diagrams measure the rate of transformation at a constant
temperature.
In other words a sample is austenitised and then cooled rapidly to a lower temperature and held at that
temperature whilst the rate of transformation is measured, for example by dilatometry. Obviously a large
number of experiments is required to build up a complete TTT diagram.
 An increase in carbon content shifts the TTT curve to the right (this corresponds to an increase in
hardenability as it increases the ease of forming martensite - i.e. the cooling rate required to attain
martensite is less severe).
 An increase in carbon content decreases the martensite start temperature.

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3.2.4 Transformation- Microstructure and Property Changes in Fe-C Alloys.

Isothermal Transformation Diagrams

We use as an example the cooling of a eutectoid alloy (0.83 % C) from the austenite (γ- phase) to pearlite,
that contains ferrite (α) plus cementite (Fe3C or iron carbide). When cooling proceeds below the eutectoid
temperature (723 oC) nucleation of pearlite starts.
The S-shaped curves (fraction of pearlite vs. log. time, are displaced to longer times at higher temperatures
showing that the transformation is dominated by nucleation (the nucleation period is longer at higher
temperatures) and not by diffusion (which occurs faster at higher temperatures).
The family of S-shaped curves at different temperatures can be used to construct the TTT (Time-
Temperature-Transformation) diagrams for these diagrams to apply, one needs to cool the material quickly
to a given temperature to before the transformation occurs, and keep it at that temperature over time. The
horizontal line that indicates constant temperature to intercepts the TTT curves on the left (beginning of the
transformation) and the right (end of the transformation); thus one can read from the diagrams when the
transformation occurs. The formation of pearlite indicates that the transformation occurs sooner at low
temperatures, which is an indication that it is controlled by the rate of nucleation. At low temperatures,
nucleation occurs fast and grain growth is reduced (since it occurs by diffusion, which is hindered at low
temperatures). This reduced grain growth leads to fine-grained microstructure (fine pearlite).
At higher temperatures, diffusion allows for larger grain growth, thus leading to coarse pearlite. At lower
temperatures nucleation starts to become slower, and a new phase is formed, bainite. Since diffusion is low
at low temperatures, this phase has a very fine (microscopic) microstructure. Spheroidite is a coarse phase
that forms at temperatures close to the eutectoid temperature. The relatively high temperatures caused a
slow nucleation but enhances the growth of the nuclei leading to large grains. A very important structure is
martensite, which forms when cooling austenite very fast (quenching) to below a maximum temperature
that is required for the transformation. It forms nearly instantaneously when the required low temperature
is reached; since no thermal activation is needed, this is called a thermal transformation. Martensite is a
different phase, body centered tetragonal (BCT) structure with interstitial C atoms. Martensite is metastable
and decomposes into ferrite and pearlite but this is extremely slow at room temperature.
Microstructure and Property Changes in Fe-C Alloys Isothermal Transformation diagrams is shown below.

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