What is fractography?

Fractography is the interpretation of features observed on materials fracture surfaces using special analytical techniques.  The term fractography was introduced by Carl A. Zapffe in 1944 after discovering a way of positioning the lens of a microscope close enough to a fracture surface in order to determine its features.

Why is it important?

The aim of fractography is to analyse the fracture surface in order to gain some useful information about the material and its failure.  It is important so that the fracture mechanism can be determined.  This is useful in forensic engineering and establishing the cause of fracture.  It is possible to use this information to prevent potential future failures and advance materials technology.  For example fracture tests are performed and analysed for research purposes in order to determine the materials properties.  However service failures can be analysed for insurance and accountability purposes to determine the cause of failure. 

How do we perform fractography? 

Fractography is performed on a variety of levels depending on the specific purpose.  Optical fractographic techniques include macrofractography which is used to describe visual fractal analysis whereas microfractography describes low magnification (<= x25) analysis.  Electron fractography uses an electron microscope for very high magnification and high resolution fractographs. 

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