Brittle to Ductile Transition:

The notched-bar impact test can be used to determine whether or not a material experiences a
ductile-to-brittle transition as the temperature is decreased. In such a transition, at higher
temperatures the impact energy is relatively large since the fracture is ductile. As the temperature
is lowered, the impact energy drops over a narrow temperature range as the fracture becomes
more brittle.
The transition can also be observed from the fracture surfaces, which appear fibrous or dull for
totally ductile fracture, and granular and shiny for totally brittle fracture. Over the ductile-tobrittle transition features of both types will exist.
While for pure materials the transition may occur very suddenly at a particular temperature, for
many materials the transition occurs over a range of temperatures. This causes difficulties when
trying to define a single transition temperature, and no specific criterion has been established.
If a material experiences a ductile-to-brittle transition, the temperature at which it occurs can be
affected by the variables mentioned earlier, namely the strain rate, the size and shape of the
specimen and the relative dimensions of the notch.

The ductile-brittle transition is exhibited in bcc metals, such as low carbon steel, which become
brittle at low temperature or at very high strain rates. Fcc metals, however, generally remain
ductile at low temperatures.
In metals, plastic deformation at room temperature occurs by dislocation motion. The stress
required to move a dislocation depends on the atomic bonding, crystal structure, and obstacles
such as solute atoms, grain boundaries, precipitate particles and other dislocations. If the stress

required to move the dislocation is too high, the metal will fail instead by the propagation of
cracks and the failure will be brittle.
Thus, either plastic flow (ductile failure) or crack propagation (brittle failure) will occur,
depending on which process requires the smaller applied stress.
In fcc metals, the flow stress, i.e. the force required to move dislocations, is not strongly
temperature dependent. Therefore, dislocation movement remains high even at low temperatures
and the material remains relatively ductile.
In contrast to fcc metal crystals, the yield stress or critical resolved shear stress of bcc single
crystals is markedly temperature dependent, in particular at low temperatures. The temperature
sensitivity of the yield stress of bcc crystals has been attributed to the presence of interstitial
impurities on the one hand, and to a temperature dependent Peierls-Nabarro force on the other.
However, the crack propagation stress is relatively independent of temperature. Thus the mode of
failure changes from plastic flow at high temperature to brittle fracture at low temperature.
It should now be clear why an energy is required to cause a material to fracture, and how the
magnitude of this energy can vary for different materials. The amount of energy used in plastic
deformation influences whether a material is ductile or brittle.
The energy is easily calculated using a notched-bar impact test, such as the one demonstrated in
this package, or using a recognised standard such as the Charpy test or the Izod test.
The energy required for fracture is effected by the material, but also by the test parameters such
as the notch size and the strain rate. The temperature also has an effect, as can be seen by the
ductile-brittle transition.

Kinetics of high temperature oxidation

The structure of an oxide scale determines the low, according to which the scale weight
increases:

Non-protective (porous) scales are formed in the process, rate of which is independent on the
scale thickness due to fast transfer of oxygen to the metal surface. The process rate is controlled
by the reaction of oxidation. In this case the process rate is constant:

dW/dt = kL
The weight-time dependence is linear:
W = kL*t
Where:
W - weight of the scale per unit area;
t - time;
kL - constant dependent on the metal and the temperature.

Protective (adherent and non-porous) scales are formed in the process, rate of which is
controlled by diffusion of oxygen through the oxide scale. The weight-time dependence obtained
from the First Fick's law follows the parabolic law:

W2 = kP*t
Where:
kP - constant dependent on the metal and the temperature.

Thin protective films formed at lower temperatures are described by asymptotic logarithmic
law providing more rapid decrease of rate with time:

dW/dt = ke/t
W = kelog(at+1)
Where:
ke, a - constants dependent on the metal and the temperature.

ANNA UNIVERSITY : CHENNAI 600 025

B.E/B.Tech. DEGREE EXAMINATIONS, APRIL/MAY 2015
Regulation-2008
Sixth Semester
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
AE2357 - AIRFRAME LABORATORY

TIME : 3Hours

Maximum Marks:100

Marks Allotment
Aim/Procedure

Diagrams

Experimental
Models

Results

15

25

30

10

Viva
20

Total
100