Carburize
Materials
- Sep 23, 2002
- 702
This was posted on the ASM International Web Page under the general discussion topics of the Ask ASM section - like the author I am intrigued by the statement about being able to "smell" fatigue
Gunpowder-like Smell [Reply]
Yesterday (7/25/04), in my local newspaper there was an article on the deterioration of highway Interstate 5 on the West Coast. The article, titled "The book on I-5: old, tired and in need of repairs," by Dan Weikel of the Los Angeles Times, began with the following paragraph: "Examining the girders that hold up Fords Bridge on the Umpqua River in southwest Oregon, state inspectors noticed a gunpowder-like smell--a tell-tale sign of metal fatigue. Then they saw stress cracks that ran like veins through the main supports." I am a Metallurgical Engineer with some 34 years of professional experience, but I am totally ignorant as to the association of a "gunpowder-like smell" with metal fatigue. Can someone explain and give background for this statement?
Gunpowder-like Smell [Reply]
Yesterday (7/25/04), in my local newspaper there was an article on the deterioration of highway Interstate 5 on the West Coast. The article, titled "The book on I-5: old, tired and in need of repairs," by Dan Weikel of the Los Angeles Times, began with the following paragraph: "Examining the girders that hold up Fords Bridge on the Umpqua River in southwest Oregon, state inspectors noticed a gunpowder-like smell--a tell-tale sign of metal fatigue. Then they saw stress cracks that ran like veins through the main supports." I am a Metallurgical Engineer with some 34 years of professional experience, but I am totally ignorant as to the association of a "gunpowder-like smell" with metal fatigue. Can someone explain and give background for this statement?