Browse Hierarchy NXC6029: Fracture, Fatigue and Creep

This module provides the student with a basic understanding of the failure of materials including the physics and mechanics of fracture, fatigue and creep behaviours. The mechanisms of failure are studied together with the theoretical background to fracture, fatigue and creep parameters and their use in engineering applications. The module includes: Fracture mechanics concepts of crack extension force, strain energy release rate, stresses at crack tip, stress intensity factor, solutions for engineering problems, toughening mechanisms in materials and concept of crack resistance curves, materials design for fracture resistance; Failure of materials under cyclic loading, theories of fatigue, practical aspects of fatigue in engineering materials, high temperature deformation by dislocation movement and by diffusion, and the practical aspects of creep deformation. Conditions that lead to failure, design strategies to avoid them and prediction of design lifetimes.