Fractal Analysis of Fracture Surfaces of Steel Charpy Specimens

The article focuses on the technical measurements which could be applied to the fracture surfaces of the steel Charpy specimens in order to apply the Fractal Analysis. One could calculate the fractal dimension not directly for a fracture, but for a profile of the fracture. Most common methods for generation of fracture profile are cross-cut techniques and profile measurements techniques [1-2]. We apply three principal methods: Profilometer, Interferometer Light Microscope and the Vertical Section for a specimen made of XC65 after the Charpy test. We compare the advantages and the limits for each technique. We use the Box Counting algorithm applied in the Image J program for determining the fractal dimension of the fracture surface in all three experimental techniques. Then we could characterize the roughness of the fracture profile at different magnifying power by the estimated fractal dimension.