{"id":667,"date":"2017-05-15T11:50:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T10:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/?p=667"},"modified":"2017-07-25T13:10:22","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T12:10:22","slug":"a-multi-scale-correlative-investigation-of-ductile-fracture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/a-multi-scale-correlative-investigation-of-ductile-fracture\/","title":{"rendered":"A multi-scale correlative investigation of ductile fracture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zooming in on the cause of failure: understanding safety-critical parts<\/h4>\n

Understanding the failure of metals is critical to the performance and safety of many engineering structures. Researchers at The University of Manchester and the National Nuclear Laboratory have used a novel approach to understand the failure of the steel used to produce reactor pressure vessels for nuclear power plants. These are safety-critical parts, and with the lifetimes of nuclear power plants being considered for extension, and improvement being sought in new reactors, a better understanding of the possible failure mechanisms of such components is needed. Using a multiscale 3D approach combining state-of-the-art X-ray computed tomography imaging and plasma-focused ion-beam machining, it has been possible to quantify the damage accumulated in large, statistically meaningful, volumes of the material, and relate this to particular microstructural features at a much finer scale. This has enabled us to confirm a strong link between the macroscale properties and the micro- and nanoscale mechanisms of damage formation, allowing for greater understanding of the material failure processes. This work has identified some key relationships that will be used to improve the current models used to predict the performance of metallic materials in crucial engineering applications.<\/p>\n

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