Quantitative Analysis of a Fracture Surface by Atomic Force Microscopy

The fracture surface of a Ti3Al-based alloy is studied using both an atomic force microscope and a standard scanning electron microscope. Results are shown to be quantitatively comparable. Two fracture regimes are observed. It is shown in particular that the roughness index characterizing the small lengthscales regime is equal to 0.5. Furthermore, the large lengthscales fractal domain is found to spread over nearly six decades of lengthscales.