A 25 mm (1 in.) diam carrier shaft failed suddenly during operation. The shaft failed near the toe of the 4.8 mm (316 in.) frame-to-shaft 60 deg and 120 deg submerged metal arc (SMA) tack welds after an unknown time in service. Material specifications called for the shaft to be made from SAE 1018 cold-rolled carbon steel. Carrier assembly components were made from type 300 stainless steel, and all nuts, spacers, and washers were to be SMA tack welded to the stainless steel frame. Chemical analyses (OES, SEM/EDS) showed the shaft to actually be made from SAE 1050 high-carbon steel and that a low-carbon steel welding procedure had been used. This resulted in incipient cracks in the stainless steel weld metal near the toes of the component-to-shaft welds. The hardnesses of the heat-affected zones were as high as 58 HRC, and they were grain coarsened. The parting of the shaft was determined to have been caused by an impact failure mechanism, with the origin at the incipient cracks in the weld metal. Additionally, the coarsened heat-affected zones were found to be hydrogen embrittled. The primary cause of the failure was the use of an unspecified material.

The exhaust valve of a truck engine failed after 488 h of a 1000 h laboratory endurance test. The valve was made of 21-2 valve steel in the solution treated and aged condition and was faced with Stellite 12 alloy. The failure occurred by fracture of the underhead portion of the valve. Analysis (visual inspection, electron probe x-ray microanalysis, hardness testing, 4.5x fractograph) supported the conclusions that failure of the valve stem occurred by fatigue as a result of a combination of a nonuniform bending load, which caused a mild stress-concentration condition, and a high operating temperature in a corrosive environment. When the microstructure near the stem surface was examined, it was apparent that carbide spheroidization had occurred. Also, there was a coarsening of the carbide network within the austenite grains. The microstructure indicated that the underhead region of the valve was heated to about 930 deg C (1700 deg F) during operation. The cause of fatigue fracture, therefore, was a combination of non-uniform bending loads and overheating. No recommendations were made.

A welded ferritic stainless steel heat exchanger cracked prior to service. The welding filler metal was identified as an austenitic stainless steel and the joining method as gas tungsten arc welding. Investigation (visual inspection, SEM images, 5.9x images, and 8.9x/119x images etched with Vilella's reagent followed by electrolytic etching in 10% oxalic acid) supported the conclusion that the heat exchanger cracked due to weld cold cracking or postwelding brittle overload that occurred via flexure during fabrication. The brittle nature of the weld was likely due to a combination of high residual stresses, a mixed microstructure, inclusions, and gross grain coarsening. These synergistic factors resulted from extreme heat input during fillet welding. Recommendations included altering the welding variables such as current, voltage, and travel speed to substantially reduce the heat input.

After about a year of uninterrupted service, one of the blow pipes on a blast furnace developed a bulge measuring 300 x 150 x 12 mm. The conical shaped section was removed from the furnace and examined to determine why it failed. The investigation consisted of visual inspection, chemical analysis, microstructural characterization, and mechanical property testing. The pipe was made from nonresulfurized carbon steel as specified and was lined with an alumina refractory. Visual inspection revealed cracks in the refractory lining, which corresponded with the location of the bulge. Microstructural and EDS analysis yielded evidence of overheating, revealing voids, scale, grain boundary oxidation, decarburization, and grain coarsening on the inner surface of the pipe, which also suggest the initiation of creep. Based on the information gathered during the investigation, the blow pipe was exposed to high temperatures when the liner cracked and subsequently bulged out due to creep.

A CrN coated restrike punch was made of WR-95 (similar to H-11), which was fluidized bed nitrided. The coated punch was used on hot Inconel at about 1040 deg C (1900 deg F). However, a water-soluble graphite coolant was used to maintain the punch temperature at 230 deg C (450 deg F). Visual and binocular inspection at 64+ revealed presence of cracks and complete washout of coating in the working area of the failed punch. Comparison of metallographic cross sections of used and unused punches revealed a significant microstructural transformation in case of the used punch. Presence of a yellow porous layer was clearly evident between the nitrided layer and the coating, in case of the used punch. Cracks were observed to propagate from the outer surface into the bulk. Oxidation was evident along the cracks. The microstructural transformation observed in the case of the used punch was a clear indication of high temperature exposure (due to insufficient cooling) during application. The most probable cause of failure was thermal fatigue.

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.

Recurring, premature failures occurred in TiN-coated M2 gear hobs used to produce carbon steel ring gears. Fractographic and metallographic examination, microhardness testing, and chemical analysis by means of EDS revealed that the primary cause of failure was a coarse cellular carbide network, which created a brittle path for fracture to occur longitudinally. As the cellular carbide network must be dispersed and refined during hot working of the original bar of material, the hobs were not salvageable. Minor factors contributing to the hob failures were premature wear resulting from lower matrix hardness and high sulfur content of the material, which contributed to lower ductility through increased nucleation sites. It was recommended that the hob manufacturer specify a minimum amount of required reduction for the original bar of tool steel material, to provide for sufficient homogenization of the carbides in the resultant hob, and lower sulfur content.

A steel socket pipe conduit NW 150 cracked open during pressure testing next to the weld seam almost along the entire circumference. The crack occurred in part in the penetration notch and in part immediately adjacent to it. While the uncracked pipe showed the light etch shading of a low-carbon steel in which the zone heated during welding was delineated only slightly next to the seam, the other pipe was etched much darker, i.e., higher in carbon, and the heated zone appeared to stand out darkly against the basic material. The overlapping weld was defect-free and dense. The uncracked pipe consisted of soft steel that obviously was made for this purpose, while the cracked pipe consisted of a strongly-hardenable steel which contained not only more carbon and manganese than customary but also a considerable amount of chromium. Therefore, the damage was caused by a mix-up of materials that allowed an unsuitable steel to be used for the weldment.

One of 14 vertical radiant tubes (RA 333 alloy) in a heat-treating furnace failed when a hole about 5 x 12.5 cm (2 x 5 in.) corroded completely through the tube wall. The tube measured 183 cm (72 in.) in length and 8.9 cm (3 in.) in OD and had a wall thickness of about 3 mm (0.120 in.). Failure occurred where the tube passed through the refractory hearth (floor) of the furnace. Although the furnace atmosphere was neutral with respect to the work, it had a carburizing potential relative to the radiant tubes. Analysis (visual inspection, 250x spectroscopic examination of specimens etched with mixed acids, metallographic examination, and chemical analysis) supported the conclusions that the premature failure of the tube by perforation at the hearth level resulted from (1) corrosion caused by sulfur contamination from the refractory cement in contact with the tube and (2) severe local overheating at the same location. Recommendations included replacing all tubes using a low sulfur refractory cement in installation and controlling burner positioning and regulation more closely to avoid excessive heat input at the hearth level.

Milling machine arbors were inserted with satellite spindles having a maximum speed of 1500 rpm, and broke out between the groove and the flange. The appearance of the fracture surface was the same on both arbors. The pronounced scan lines characterized the fractures as fatigue fractures. The appearance of the fracture in the arbors indicated ductile fatigue fracture which had its origin in the radii between groove and flange. These radii of 0.15 and 0.2 mm were too small for the load on the milling machine. In addition there were grooves at the base of the radii which had an unfavorable effect on the life of the component by acting as notches with their resulting stress concentration. Considering the great hardness of the case, the small radii would have been critical even without grooves. Measures were taken so that the critical radius of the milling machine was increased and the surface roughness measured more precisely.

Several ruptures took place in the front wall tubes of a water tube boiler. Some rupture samples showed ductile failure while others showed brittle failure. Specimens taken from the rupture where a thick edge had been produced, i.e., with little evidence of prior plastic deformation, showed a coarse microstructure indicative of gross overheating. The examination indicated that failure in the main resulted from gross overheating arising from water starvation as could have been due to a number of causes. The ruptures in some tubes were of the type commonly found in overheated tubes, the material being drawn out to a feather edge at the time of rupture. Other ruptures in the same and other tubes were of a more brittle type, this being associated with penetration of material by molten copper derived from scale.

A sleeve-shaped fire shield that operates inside one of two burner trains in an oil and gas processing unit ruptured after 15 y of service. A detailed analysis was conducted to determine how and why the sleeve failed. The investigation included visual inspection, chemical and gas analysis, mechanical property testing, stereomicroscopy, and metallographic examination. The fire sleeves are fabricated from 3-mm thick plate made of Incoloy 800 rolled into 540-mm diam sections welded along the seam. Three such sections are joined together by circumferential welds to form a single 2.8 m sleeve. The findings from the investigation indicated that internal oxidation corrosion, driven by high temperatures, was the primary cause of failure. Prolonged exposure to temperatures up to 760 °C resulted in sensitization of the material, making it vulnerable to grain boundary attack. This led to significant deterioration of the grain boundaries, causing extensive grain loss (grain dropping) and the subsequent thinning of sleeve walls. Prior to failure, some portions of the sleeve were only 1.6 mm thick, nearly half their original thickness.

Thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) refers to the process of fatigue damage under simultaneous changes in temperature and mechanical strain. This article reviews the process of TMF with a practical example of life assessment. It describes TMF damages caused due to two possible types of loading: in-phase and out-of-phase cycling. The article illustrates the ways in which damage can interact at high and low temperatures and the development of microstructurally based models in parametric form. It presents a case study of the prediction of residual life in a turbine casing of a ship through stress analysis and fracture mechanics analyses of the casing.

During installation, a clamp-strap assembly, specified to be type 410 stainless steel-austenitized at 955 to 1010 deg C (1750 to 1850 deg F), oil quenched, and tempered at 565 deg C (1050 deg F) for 2 h to achieve a hardness of 30 to 35 HRC, and used for securing the caging mechanism on a star-tracking telescope, fractured transversely across two rivet holes closest to one edge of the pin retainer in a completely brittle manner. Comparison with a non-failed strap using microscopic examination, spectrographic analysis, and slow-bend tests showed that both fit the 410 stainless steel specs, but hardness and grain size were different. Reheat treatment of full-width specimens showed that coarse grain size (ASTM 2 to 3) was responsible for the brittle fracture, and excessively high temperature during austenitizing caused the large grain size in the failed strap. The fact that the hardness of the strap that failed was lower than the specified hardness of 30 to 35 HRC had no effect on the failure because that of the non-failed strap was even lower. Recommendation was that the strap should be heat treated as specified to maintain the required ductility and grain size.

The failure of HP turbine blades in a low bypass turbofan engine was analyzed to determine the root cause. Forensic and metallurgical investigations were conducted on all failed blades as well as failed downstream components. It was found that one of the blades fractured in the dovetail region, causing extensive damage throughout the turbine. Remedial measures were suggested to prevent such failures in the future.