Technical brief: Fatigue dimples

Abstract

This technical brief is intended to warn failure analysts against assuming that dimples indicate overload fracture. Dimples simply mean that microvoid processes were active; these processes can occur in cyclic as well as monotonic fractures. The failure analyst must examine the entire fracture, the macroscopic as well as the microscopic features, to be confident of the cracking mode. © 2009 ASM International.