Visual Examination of Failures

Macroscopic visual examination is the most important step in most failure analyses. Information from visual examination provides insight into the failure mechanism, contributing factors, fracture origin, direction of crack propagation, type of loading, and much more. The presenter will provide a tutorial on visual examination of failures including a methodical “decision tree” approach, ductile versus brittle fractures, crack path analysis, and important macroscale fractographic features. Brief case histories, images, and figures will be used to highlight key points and concepts.