Understanding the Failure of Materials and Structures

Understanding the Failure of Materials and Structures introduces practical aspects of mechanical characterisation of materials and structures. It gives those with little or no prior experience insight into the process of developing everyday products, issues behind some high-profile failures, and tools to begin planning a programme of research. Written in an easily accessible manner, the work discusses fundamentals of the physical world, highlighting the range of materials used and varied applications, and offers a brief history of materials development. It covers the role of materials structure in controlling materials properties and describes mechanical properties, such as stress, strain, stiffness, fracture, and fatigue. The book also features information on various modes of testing and strain measurement. It provides some discussion on topics that go beyond well-behaved test coupons, with thoughts on biomechanics, megastructures, and testing for applications in extreme environments. Finally, it covers how materials fail and the future of physical testing. With minimal theory and mathematics, this work presents the fundamentals of mechanical characterisation of materials and structures in a manner accessible to the novice materials investigator and the layperson interested in the science behind materials engineered for use in common and advanced products.

David Jesson is a Materials Scientist by profession, training, and inclination: he is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, and is both a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Scientist. Following an undergraduate degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Surrey, he undertook research leading to a PhD on the effects of nanoscale phases for the toughening of composite materials. On completion of his doctorate, he took a post as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow investigating the impact of in-service degradation on the performance of cast iron assets in the water industry, eventually leading into fifteen years of research and laboratory management. In 2021 he left academia to join the Materials Performance Group at Frazer-Nash Consultancy.

1. Learning from Failure 2. Why Break Things? 3. Materials Science 101 4. Defects and Degradation 5. Mechanical Properties I: Strain, Stress, Stiffness 6. Mechanical Properties II: Toughness and Fracture Toughness 7. Fatigue, Wear, Creep, and Note on Corrosion 8. Testing Modes and Application of Load 9. How to Measure Strain 10. Strain Rate Dependence: Why It Matters How Fast You Test 11. The Use of Statistics 12. Models vs. Reality 13. Biomechanics 14. Non-destructive Evaluation 15. Questions for the Future