Question

With reference to steels used in shipbuilding and marine engineering:

(a) describe EACH of the following types of failure.

(i) Brittle failure

(ii) Ductile failure.

(b) Explain the term ductile to brittle transition stating the factor that determines ductile to brittle transition.

(c) Describe a test to determine the value of brittle fracture of a specimen test piece

Answer 1

Part (a)

(i) Brittle failure

refers to the breakage of a material due to a sudden fracture. When a brittle failure occurs, the material breaks suddenly instead of deforming or straining under load. The fracturing or breaking can occur with only a small amount of load, impact force or shock

(ii) Ductile failure is also known as plastic collapse, general yielding or ductile overload, and is the failure mode that occurs when a material is simply loaded to beyond its ultimate tensile strength.

✓ Verified Model Answer (Text Solution)

(i) Brittle failure