Failure Mechanisms

Ductile Fracture

· The stages in the ductile fracture of a tensile test specimen are illustrated; (c) and (d) represent alternate modes of final failure.

From: Courtney,
"Mechanical Behavior of Materials," McGraw Hill (1990)

· Failure initiates from voids nucleated in the center of the neck region that link-up to form internal cracks. At the edge of the sample, the shear stresses or the local tensile stress control the final failure.