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Why is fracture toughness important?
Catastrophic failures are caused by interrelationships between material properties, design, fabrication, loading, and preexisting flaws. Stress corrosion cracking triggered a 1962 Pennsylvania bridge collapse, and similar corrosion damage caused an Aloha Airlines passenger plane to lose almost 30% of its roof in mid-air. About a fifth of merchant ships built during World War II developed significant cracks by the end of the war, with at least 16 ships lost as a result of catastrophic fracture. These failures are explained by fracture mechanics and material fracture toughness.
What is fracture toughness?
A fracture toughness test characterizes the resistance of a material to fracture in a neutral environment and in the presence of a sharp crack. In contrast with Charpy Impact Toughness, which can only be used to compare the notch toughness of materials or to determine a metal’s compliance with a specification, the Plane Strain Fracture Toughness (KIc) value can be used directly in design, life calculations and crack growth or remaining life calculations.
What can be tested for fracture toughness?
Stork is fully qualified to conduct machining, fatigue pre-cracking, and fracture toughness testing of bend or compact-tension samples from every type of product, including large and complex structures—such as buildings, bridges, ships, aircraft, windmill towers, nuclear reactors, pressure vessels, and press bodies. Stork’s Engineered Mechanics and Metallurgical Engineering experts can help solve fracture toughness problems specific to many industries—from ground vehicle, aerospace, and defense suppliers to the power generation sector and nuclear and wind power industries.
Using fracture mechanics, Stork engineers quantitatively establish allowable stress levels for new structures and inspection requirements for structures used beyond their initial design life. Stork tests both high-strength ferrous and nonferrous materials in the company’s computer-controlled servo-hydraulic test frames.
Stork’s Applied Mechanics and Metallurgical Engineering experts can help you solve fracture toughness problems in your industry—from ground vehicle, aerospace, and defense suppliers to the power generation sector and nuclear and wind power industries. Stork has the mechanical and metallurgical engineering expertise and experience to recommend and conduct various tests, analyze the complex test data, and consult on fracture toughness issues.
Meeting Standards
Stork Materials Technology’s quality program meets the ISO/IEC Guide 17025 standards (equivalent to the relevant laboratory requirements of the ISO 9002 series of standards).
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Stork Locations offering Fracture Toughness and Fracture Mechanics services:
Stork Technimet, Inc. - New Berlin, WI
Stork Climax Research Services - Wixom, MI
Stork Testing & Metallurgical Consulting, Inc. - Houston, TX
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