Intergranular fracture

Intergranular cracking is likely to occur if there is a hostile environmental influence and is favored by larger grain sizes and higher stresses.

This results in a fairly jagged looking fracture with straight edges of the grain and a shiny surface may be seen.

Though it is easy to identify intergranular cracking, pinpointing the cause is more complex as the mechanisms are more varied, compared to transgranular fracture.

[10] At high impurity levels, especially in the case of hydrogen embrittlement, the likelihood of intergranular fracture is greater.

[6] Solutes like hydrogen are hypothesized to stabilize and increase the density of strain-induced vacancies,[11] leading to microcracks and microvoids at grain boundaries.