The rear outside wheel of an over-the-road 18-wheel tractor-trailer failed at its bolt holes, permitting the tire and wheel to separate from the hub. Failure analysis was conducted using photographic examination of actual fracture surfaces and SEM examination of fracture replicas. The examinations indicated that fatigue cracks had originated at the rim backside and propagated to the rim midsection. Catastrophic failure occurred at a final overland. Fatigue fracture of the wheel rim was attributed to cyclic loading created by improper wheel mounting of a spare tire.

Several crankshaft failures occurred in equipment that was being used in logging operations in subzero temperatures. Failure usually initiated at a cracked pin oil hole, and the failure origin was approximately 7.6 mm (0.3 in.) from the shaft surface. The holes were produced by gun drilling, giving rise to surface defects. The fracture surface was characteristic of fatigue in that it was flat, relatively shiny, and exhibited beach marks. The crack surface was at a 45 deg angle to the axis of the shaft, indicating dominant tensile stresses. The material was the French designation AFNOR 38CD4 (similar to AISI type 4140H) and was in the quenched-and-tempered condition, with a yield strength of about 760 MPa (110 ksi). It was treated to have compressive surface stresses, and the prior-austenite grain size was ASTM 8. Analysis (visual inspection, stress analyses, and macrographs) supported the conclusion that failure was caused by fatigue stress caused by surface defects in the oil holes. Recommendation includes drilling the oil holes by a technique that essentially eliminates surface defects.

An open electrical circuit was found between plated through-holes in a six-layer printed circuit board after thermal cycling. The copper plating was very thin in the failure area but did make an electrical contact during initial testing. During thermal cycling, differential z-expansion between the epoxy board and copper caused the thin plating to crack. During electrical testing of a four-layer circuit board, an open electrical circuit was found between the plated through-holes. Plating discontinuity was caused by poor drilling using a dull drill with improper speed (rpm) and/or feed rate as was observed by nonuniform plating and nodule formation in the plated layer. In a third example, an open electrical circuit was found in a six-layer board between two adjacent plated through-holes. A plating void was on one side of the conductor joining the two holes. Continuity was found when tested from one side of the board but lost when tested from the other. In a fourth case, an open circuit found between a plated through-hole and contact pad on a six-layer printed circuit board was caused by an etching defect.

The gear of a spiral bevel gear set broke into three pieces after about two years of service. The gear (made of 4817 steel) broke along the root of a tooth intersected by three of the six 22-mm diam holes used to mount the gear to a hub. Fatigue progression for about 6.4 mm at the acute-angle intersections of three mounting holes with the root fillets of three teeth was revealed by examination of gear. Cracks at the intersections of the remaining three mounting holes and the adjacent tooth-root fillets were revealed by magnetic-particle inspection. Through hardening at the acute-angle intersections of the mounting holes and tooth-root fillets was revealed by metallographic examination. Design of the gear and placement of the mounting holes, which resulted in through hardening, were concluded to be the contributing factors to the fatigue failure of the gear.

A water tube boiler with two headers and 15.5 atm working pressure became leaky in the lower part due to the formation of cracks in the rivet-hole edges. The boiler plate of 20 mm thickness was a rimming steel with 0.05% C, traces of Si, 0.38% Mn, 0.027% P, 0.035% S, and 0.08% Cu. The mean value of the yield point was 24 (24) kg/sq mm, the tensile strength 39 (38) kg/sq mm, the elongation at fracture, d10, 26 (24)%, the necking at fracture 71 (66)% and notch impact value 11.5 (9.4) kgm/sq cm (the values in brackets are for the transverse direction). The specimen from inside surface of the boiler was polished and etched with Fry-solution, which revealed parallel striations formed due to the cold bending of the plate. The zones of slip were concentrated around the rivet holes. The cracks were formed here. The structure examination proved that the cracks had taken an exactly intercrystalline path, which is characteristic for caustic corrosion cracks. It was recommended that the internal stresses be removed through annealing or alternatively lye-resistant steel should be used.