Rikkouttaen

Rikkouttaen is a term that refers to the phenomenon of brittle fracture in materials. It describes a type of fracture that occurs with little or no prior plastic deformation. Unlike ductile fracture, which is characterized by significant stretching and yielding before failure, brittle fracture happens suddenly and often catastrophically. The fracture surfaces in brittle materials are typically flat and exhibit little evidence of macroscopic plastic flow.

This type of fracture is often associated with low temperatures, high strain rates, and the presence of sharp notches or flaws within the material. Materials that exhibit brittle fracture include many ceramics, cast irons, and some steels, particularly at low temperatures. The underlying mechanism often involves the rapid propagation of cracks through the material, driven by the applied stress and the material's resistance to fracture.

Understanding and predicting rikkouttaen is crucial in engineering design to prevent premature failure of structures and components. Material selection, design considerations to avoid stress concentrations, and proper processing techniques are employed to mitigate the risk of brittle fracture. Fracture mechanics is a field of study that provides the theoretical framework for analyzing and quantifying the behavior of brittle fracture.