Overview of Brittle Fracture
Brittle Fracture is the sudden, very rapid cracking of equipment under stress where the material exhibited little or no evidence of ductility or plastic degradation before the fracture occurs. Unlike most other tensile failures, where the material plastically strains under overload conditions and becomes thinner until the point of rupture, when a piece of equipment suffers a brittle fracture, there is no thinning or necking down. Rather, this damage mechanism often causes cracking without warning, sometimes fracturing equipment into many pieces.
Brittle fracture is often caused by low temperatures. If the steel temperature is at or below its brittle-to-ductile transition temperature, then it will be susceptible to brittle fracture. Combine this with a critical sized flaw and high stress on that flaw (either applied or residual), and then you are likely to experience a brittle fracture.
Other factors that can increase the susceptibility to brittle fracture include:
Metallurgical Degradation
Metallurgical degradation can occur in some steels at higher temperatures and can include things like temper embrittlement, graphitization, sigma phase embrittlement, and 885 embrittlement.
Steel Cleanliness and Grain Structure
As for steel cleanliness and grain structure, large grain sizes and steel contaminants can reduce steel toughness, so it's important to be aware and mindful of this during material selection amd QA/QC.
High Material Thickness
When it comes to material thickness, thicker components have a higher degree of susceptibility to brittle fracture because they have higher tri-axial stresses. Also, thicker materials produce a state of higher constraint, and are therefore less likely to deform under stress as opposed to crack initiation and propagation.
There are two major types of brittle fractures: transgranular and intergranular. With transgranular fractures, the fracture travels through the grain of the material. It changes direction from grain to grain due to the different lattice orientation of atoms in each grain, following the path of least resistance. Intergranular fracture, on the other hand, occurs when the a crack travels along the grain boundaries, as opposed to through the grains themselves. Intergranular fracture usually occurs when the phase in the grain boundary is weak and brittle.
In order to reduce the risk of brittle fracture, one must be sure to keep materials operating at or above their brittle-to-ductile transition temperature during both service and testing. Likewise while conducting repairs, taking steps to establish and find flaws that might weaken the material while in-service or during pressure testing will reduce the chances of brittle fracture. This topic is covered in more detail in API RP 571 - Damage Mechanisms Affecting Fixed Equipment in the Refining Industry.
Is this definition incomplete? You can help by contributing to it.
Share this Topic
Related Topics
Amine Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) Ammonia Stress Corrosion Cracking Carburization Caustic Stress Corrosion Cracking (Caustic Embrittlement) Cavitation Chloride Stress Corrosion Cracking Cooling Water Corrosion Corrosion Fatigue Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) Cracking Decarburization Embrittlement Erosion Corrosion Fatigue (Material) Graphitization High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA) Hydrochloric (HCl) Acid Corrosion Hydrofluoric (HF) Acid Corrosion Hydrogen Blistering Hydrogen Embrittlement Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) Hydrogen Stress Cracking Liquid Metal Embrittlement (LME) Metal Dusting Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) Naphthenic Acid Corrosion (NAC) Phosphoric Acid Corrosion Polythionic Acid Stress Corrosion Cracking (PASCC) Spheroidization (Softening) Stress Assisted Corrosion Stress-Oriented Hydrogen Induced Cracking (SOHIC) Sulfidation Corrosion Sulfuric Acid Corrosion Thermal Fatigue Vibration-Induced Fatigue Wet H2S Damage-
May/June 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., Brian R. Macejko, P.E. at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., and Seetha Ramudu Kummari, Ph.D., P.E. at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
This article provides an overview of brittle fracture, details on several industry failures, and a summary of deficiencies and concerns with current published methods for screening susceptibility of equipment to potential brittle fracture failures.
-
May/June 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
There are many places where brittle fracture risk can sneak into your plant and many reasons why a new or revised brittle fracture assessment may be required when reviewing your pressure systems. Don’t overlook this dangerous failure mechanism.
-
Fitness-for-Service Forum: Minimum Pressurization Temperature (MPT) Curves: Why and How they are Going to ChangeMarch/April 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
Brittle fracture and material toughness issues are important concerns in equipment design and FFS. These issues increase when temporary start-up and shutdown conditions require more detailed assessments than provided for in vessel and piping codes.
-
Developing a Fitness for Service Approach for Reduced Toughness Carbon Steel Piping, Flanges & FittingsMay/June 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc., John Norris, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services, Dr. Kannan Subramanian, Ph. D., P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc., and Daniel Ayewah, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
There is concern in the industry over recent findings of reduced toughness fittings and flanges at risk of brittle fracture. This article provides an overview; possible contributors; measures taken to address; and a proposed FFS approach to address...
-
January/February 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
Given the concern throughout industry regarding the potential for brittle fracture failures, PWHT guidance to address potential issues arising from the recent changes in PWHT code requirements for carbon steel is examined in this article, and...
-
November/December 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy James R. Widrig at Quest Integrity
In-service equipment failures present a considerable challenge to reliability engineers. This article presents a case study of a convection tube failure in a furnace and the analyses that were performed to understand the root cause and determine the...
-
January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Hugo Julien, P.E. at GCM Consultants, Serge Bisson at GCM Consultants, and Guy St-Arneault, P.E. at GCM Consultants
Inspections, repairs, modifications, or Fitness-For-Service (FFS) assessments on an old, unfired ASME Section VIII (Div. 1) pressure vessel - Which ASME Section VIII (Div. 1) Code Edition should you use?
-
November/December 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Fernando Vicente at ABB
Service failures and safety incidents of machines, structures, and pressure equipment have been experienced in the oil and gas industry for many years without warning, with varying degrees of consequential damages to health, safety,...
-
November/December 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
Auto-refrigeration is a process where an unintentional and/or uncontrolled phase change of a hydrocarbon from a liquid state to a vapor occurs, resulting in a very rapid chilling (refrigeration) of the liquid containing local equipment and/or...
-
January/February 2007 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
In previous parts of this series, I have covered many corrosion and degradation issues, some environmental cracking diseases, metallurgical degradation mechanisms, issues associated with welding and some external corrosion problems. In part 14,...
-
September/October 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Strain-aging problems are another form of metallurgical degradation and thankfully are not very common and becoming less so; but since strain-aging does still occasionally occur, it still makes the list of one of the “99 diseases of pressure...
-
September/October 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Another form of metallurgical degradation at higher temperatures is called sigma phase embrittlement. As the name implies, a metallurgical phase change occurs in some stainless steels when they are heated above about 1000F (540C).
-
September/October 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Titanium (Ti) hydriding is another somewhat unusual metallurgical degradation phenomena that can result in brittle fracture. Unlike many other steel embrittlement phenomena, this one most often occurs in thin wall Ti tubes that have been selected...
-
November/December 2003 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Hydrogen Embrittlement (HE) is an insidious form of degradation that can strike during equipment fabrication, cleaning, repairs or while in-service. It stems from the infusion of atomic hydrogen into some higher strength steels that then leads to...
-
101 Essential Elements in a Pressure Equipment Integrity Management Program for the Hydrocarbon Process IndustryMay/June 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
This is the first of a series of articles that outlines the 101 essential elements that need to be in place, and functioning well, to preserve and protect the reliability and integrity of pressure equipment (vessels, exchangers, furnaces, boilers,...
Inspectioneering Journal
Explore over 20 years of articles written by our team of subject matter experts.
Company Directory
Find relevant products, services, and technologies.
Talent Solutions
Discover job opportunities that match your skillset.
Case Studies
Learn from the experience of others in the industry.
Event Calendar
Find upcoming conferences, training sessions, online events, and more.
Industry News
Stay up-to-date with the latest inspection and asset integrity management news.
Blog
Read short articles and insights authored by industry experts.
Acronyms
Commonly used asset integrity management and inspection acronyms.
Downloads
Downloadable eBooks, Asset Intelligence Reports, checklists, white papers, and more.
Videos
Watch educational and informative videos directly related to your profession.