Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022 - 31

Method Pinpoints Microscale Damage in Metal
The process predicts when and where microscopic cracks will occur before they
become catastrophic.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
W
hen metallic components in airplanes,
bridges, and other structures
crack, the results are often catastrophic.
Now, researchers have developed a new
method for testing metals at a microscopic
scale that allows them to rapidly inflict repetitive
loads on materials while recording
how ensuing damage evolves into cracks.
The process has proven a connection between
early, micron-scale damage to the
eventual location of the fracture, predicting
locations of cracks from early features.
Whether it is the pounding of vehicles on
bridges or shifts in air pressure on airplanes,
such continuous change, called cyclic loading,
gradually induces slips in the internal
molecular structure of the most durable
metals until cracks occur that could have
been anticipated long before their perilous
appearance. Fatigue failure plagues all
metals and is the leading cause of cracks in
metallic components of aircraft.
That is why it is common practice in the
airline industry to adhere to regular -
and expensive - replacement schedules
for many parts. But the life of those parts
could be more accurately determined by
better understanding the origins of crack
initiation. With the lack of understanding
of the mechanisms that lead to crack initiation,
it has been difficult to predict with
any reasonable accuracy the remaining life
of a cyclically loaded material.
Most current tests to understand the origins
of crack initiation have focused on the
moments just prior to or after cracking to
assess what happened in the makeup of the
metal. Many of those tests use far larger
samples that preclude tracking the initiation
of damage, which is a sub-micrometer-scale
feature. The new method narrows
the lens as small as feasible and begins when
metals are first exposed to loads that lead to
localized damage that could become cracks.
For more information, contact Doug
Dono van at dougdonovan@jhu.edu;
443-462-2947.
A cracked metal disk from an airline engine.
(Image: NTSB)
Tech Briefs, August 2022
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31
7/13/22 10:05 AM

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Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022

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Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022 - Intro
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