“What Hit It?” – Strategies for Examining Impact Damage

This presentation will explore tools and techniques for analyzing the shape, chemistry, and fracture morphology of impact damage to determine its source. The failure of multiple component systems, such as engines, can generate significant secondary damage. For these cases, strategies for identifying primary impact damage, including foreign object damage (FOD), will be covered. The presentation will also discuss specimen preparation advice to help preserve impact evidence. Examples will be taken from investigations of gas turbine engines, and some of the laboratory equipment covered will include high magnification microscopy, laser scanning, scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and metallography.