ABSTRACT
The occurrence of fracture in any type of material leaves behind a wealth of infor-
mation in the form of fracture surface features. Fractography is the science of
studying the fracture surface in order to determine the source of fracture and
relationship between the mode of crack propagation and the microstructure of
the material. Fracture surface appearances and features were used to assess the
quality of iron and steel as early as the 17th century. With the advent of micro-
scopes, observation of the fracture surface is possible in greater detail, and this
has enabled better understanding of the microlevel mechanisms involved in the
fracture process. Apart from this, fractography is extensively used in failure
analysis, wherein the features of the fracture surface are effectively used to ident-
ify the reasons that led to the failure. Thus, design engineers can learn a lot from
fractured components and can use this information in understanding why fracture
occurred and how to design the component so that such failures do not occur in
the future.
