Tension—some of its origins

Abstract

A review 01 various types 01 cracking, primarily in metals, revea/s that tension is developed by a variety of mechanisms. Fundamentally, tension, leading to cracking (with or without applied tension), originates in volume changes, particularly in the surface layers. The volume changes in turn originate in temperature change, in phase change, or by loss of mobile constituents. The tension theory of cracking includes the thought that exploration of the source of tension is likely to provide clues as to the detailed mechanism.