ABSTRACT
Discussion of the micro-mechanisms of fracture is not offered in this book, but a simple account is given here of the special problems that relate to certain metals where failure may occur by more than one micro-mode. More extensive treatment is given in a number of books, such as Refs. 1-3. Tensile failure in metals is usually transcrystalline and occurs with local regions of large plastic deformation. Separation starts where inclusions or inhomogeneities allow small voids to open up and these grow and then coalesce (micro-void coalescence, mvc) either by a process akin to tensile neck formation (as seen in a round bar tension test) of the ligaments between the voids or by a shearing between the growing voids.
