Directed measurements and heterogeneous structures in quantitative fractography
Abstract
Modern advances in the old problems of quantitative fractography have utilized the powerful relationships of stereology, including the special equations for directed measurements and the methods tailored to heterogeneous structures. The procedure that has evolved has broad, general application, and yet is amenable to simple, direct and efficient experimental methods. It is based on profilometry, using vertical sections, and requires directed measurements. Roughness parameters provide correction factors for measurements made on the flat SEM fractograph. These corrected values yield true magnitudes of features in the fracture surface. Quantitative descriptions of the fracture surface and its characteristics permit better correlations of fractographic features with mechanical properties and the formulation of better fracture mechanisms.