A pilot-valve bushing fractured after only a few hours of service. In operation, the bushing was subjected to torsional stresses with possible slight bending stresses. A slight misalignment occurred in the assembly before fracture. The bushing was made of 8617 steel and was case hardened to a depth of 0.13 to 0.4 mm (0.005 to 0.015 in.) by carbonitriding. Specifications required that the part be carbonitrided, cooled, rehardened by quenching from 790 deg C (1450 deg F), then tempered at about 175 deg C (350 deg F). Visual examination, hardness testing, and metallographic and microstructural investigation supported the conclusion that the bushing fractured in fatigue because of a highly stressed case-hardened surface of unsatisfactory microstructure and subsurface nonmetallic inclusions. Cracks initiated at the highly stressed surface and propagated across the section as a result of cyclic loading. The precise cause of the unsatisfactory microstructure of the carbonitrided case could not be determined, but it was apparent that heat-treating specifications had not been closely followed. Recommendations included that inspection procedures be modified to avoid the use of steel containing nonmetallic stringer inclusions and that specifications for carbonitriding, hardening, and tempering be rigorously observed.

This article introduces some of the general sources of heat treating problems with particular emphasis on problems caused by the actual heat treating process and the significant thermal and transformation stresses within a heat treated part. It addresses the design and material factors that cause a part to fail during heat treatment. The article discusses the problems associated with heating and furnaces, quenching media, quenching stresses, hardenability, tempering, carburizing, carbonitriding, and nitriding as well as potential stainless steel problems and problems associated with nonferrous heat treatments. The processes involved in cold working of certain ferrous and nonferrous alloys are also covered.

A bearing cup in a drive shaft assembly on an automobile was found to have failed. A detailed analysis was conducted using the QC story approach, which begins by proposing several possible failure scenarios then following them to determine the main root cause. A number of alternative solutions were identified and then validated based on chemical analysis, endurance and hardness tests, and microstructural examination. The investigation revealed that carbonitriding can effectively eliminate the type of failure encountered because it prevents through hardening of the bearing cup assembly.

A transition duct was part of a 100-MW power-generation gas turbine. The duct was fabricated from several panels of a modified nickel alloy, IN-617. After six years of operation, two such ducts failed during the next two years, causing outages. Failure was in the form of a total collapse of the duct. Carbides and carbonitrides were found in all of the transitions examined. Investigation supported the conclusion that failure was caused by oxidation, oxide penetration, and oxide spallation which caused thinning of the duct wall. It was felt that the high oxygen and nitrogen partial pressures of the gases within the duct, combined with the high temperatures, facilitated nitrogen pickup. No recommendations were made.

High-temperature corrosion can occur in numerous environments and is affected by various parameters such as temperature, alloy and protective coating compositions, stress, time, and gas composition. This article discusses the primary mechanisms of high-temperature corrosion, namely oxidation, carburization, metal dusting, nitridation, carbonitridation, sulfidation, and chloridation. Several other potential degradation processes, namely hot corrosion, hydrogen interactions, molten salts, aging, molten sand, erosion-corrosion, and environmental cracking, are discussed under boiler tube failures, molten salts for energy storage, and degradation and failures in gas turbines. The article describes the effects of environment on aero gas turbine engines and provides an overview of aging, diffusion, and interdiffusion phenomena. It also discusses the processes involved in high-temperature coatings that improve performance of superalloy.

A failure analysis was conducted in late 1996 on two rolls that had been used in the production of iron and steel powder. The rolls had elongated over their length such that the roll trunnions had impacted with the furnace wall refractory. The result was distortion and bowing of the roll bodies which necessitated their removal from service. The initial analysis found large quantities of nitrogen had been absorbed by the roll shell. Further research indicated nitrogen pickup accounted for 3% volumetric growth for every 1% by weight nitrogen absorption. This expansion was sufficient to account for the dimensional change observed in the failed rolls. This paper details the failure analysis and resulting research it inspired. It also provides recommendations for cast material choice in highly nitriding atmospheres.

A masonry type drill bit, designed for impact drilling in rock, fractured after a short time in service. Samples of the failed bit were analyzed using optical and scanning electron microscopy, quantitative metallography, and chemical analysis. The composition was found to be that of 18CrNi3Mo steel. Investigators also found evidence of inclusions and prior austenite grain size, although it was determined that neither played a role in the failure. Rather, according to test data, the failure occurred because of stress concentration (due to geometric discontinuities along the tooth profiles) and the cumulative effect of torque and force loading (the byproduct of continuous twisting and axial impact). Cracks readily initiate under these conditions then propagate quickly through what was found to be networks of tempered martensite, thus resulting in premature failure.

This paper describes the superplastic characteristics of shipbuilding steel deformed at 800 °C and a strain rate less than 0.001/s. After the superplastic deformation, the steel presents mixed fractures: by decohesion of the hard (pearlite and carbides) and ductile (ferrite) phases and by intergranular sliding of ferrite/ferrite and ferrite/pearlite, just as it occurs in stage III creep behavior. The behavior is confirmed through the Ashby-Verrall model, according to which the dislocation creep (power-law creep) and diffusion creep (linear-viscous creep) occur simultaneously.