An aircraft crashed following the loss of yaw control in full airborne flight. The subsequent discovery of broken shutter bolts in the rear pitch reaction control valve led to an inspection campaign that found bolt failures of a similar nature in valves on several other aircraft. The bolts were removed and analyzed to determine the mode and cause of failure. Based on the results of macroscopy, scanning electron fractography, metallographic examination, and chemical analysis, the failures were caused by stress corrosion cracking, and in one case, overtightening.

This chapter discusses the design and operation of hydraulic presses. It begins by describing the role of each major component in a hydraulic system. It then explains the difference between pump-driven and accumulator-driven presses and the types of applications for which are suited. The chapter goes on to describe the load, energy, and time-dependent characteristics of hydraulic presses and the factors that determine accuracy. It also explains how hydraulic presses are used for deep drawing, fine blanking, and hydroforming as well as warm forming and hot stamping operations.

This chapter describes the various types of cushion systems used in forming presses and their effect on part quality. It begins with a review of the deep drawing process, explaining that wrinkling, tearing, and fracture are the result of excess or insufficient material flow, which can be prevented by maintaining the correct amount of holding force on the periphery of the blank. It then describes how blank holding force is generated in double-action presses and the extent to which displacement profiles can be adjusted on both the inner and outer slides. The discussion then turns to single-action presses that incorporate some type of cushion system. The chapters describes the many ways that cushion systems are implemented in forming presses and the force and displacement characteristics achievable with each method. It also explains how multipoint cushion systems are designed and how they facilitate uniform metal flow into the die cavity of large deep-drawn parts.

This appendix discusses the sizing, scaling, and configuration requirements of the basic components in a quench cooling system, including tanks, pumps, hoses, and inlet and outlet fixtures and the materials from which they are made.

This chapter describes two types of auxiliary equipment required in most induction heating installations: cooling systems and device timers. Water- and vapor-based systems used for cooling the power supply and the induction coil are described. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of timers, with emphasis on open-loop timing systems.

The die casting process is a widely applied technique used by a variety of industries. This chapter reviews the casting design and engineering requirements for optimizing the characteristics of die castings.

Leaks can occur as the result of several failure causes. This chapter reviews the causes, features, and impact of various types of leaks, namely gasket leaks, O-ring leaks, bond-joint leaks, weld leaks, polyvinyl chloride leaks, valve leaks, and structural leaks.

Casting is one of the most economical manufacturing processes for providing shape to components of machinery and is used in a wide range of industries. This chapter is a brief account of the advantages, applications, limitations, and market growth of aluminum casting. It also provides information on the process of conversion of steel and iron parts to aluminum.

The temperature and atmosphere conditions must be precisely controlled in order to achieve the desired metallurgical results during heat treating operations. In order to ensure the repeatability of operation, a heat treating system must have the necessary sensors, timers, and variable (temperature, atmosphere, etc.) controllers to hold the process within prescribed or specified limits. This chapter discusses temperature and atmosphere sensors used in a heat treating system. The temperature sensors covered are contact and noncontact types. The atmosphere sensors covered are oxygen probe, dew point, and infrared. The chapter concludes with an overview of the development of integrated control systems.

This chapter discusses the growing use of sintered stainless steels in automotive applications and various types of filters and filtering media. It also describes how these materials are produced in the form of metal foams and cellular structures and how they serve as flake pigments in corrosion-resistant coatings.

This chapter provides a discussion of nitriding furnace equipment and control systems. The discussion covers the essential design criteria of the furnace, types of nitriding furnaces, insulation for the reduction of furnace heat losses, and factors influencing furnace configuration and design. It also covers the processes involved in the construction and maintenance of retorts, methods for sealing a retort to prevent ammonia leaks, and safety precautions to be taken while using ammonia. Further, the chapter provides information on the factors for choosing a heating medium and discusses the processes involved in controlling temperature, gas dissociation, oxygen probes, and nitriding sensors.

The machinery and equipment required for rod and tube extrusion is determined by the specific extrusion process. This chapter provides a detailed description of the design requirements and principles of machinery and equipment for direct and indirect hot extrusion. It then covers the presses and auxiliary equipment for tube extrusion, induction furnaces for billet processing, handling systems for copper and aluminum alloy products, extrusion cooling systems, and age-hardening ovens. Next, the chapter describes the principles and applications of equipment for the production of aluminum and copper billets. Then, it focuses on process control in both direct and indirect hot extrusion of aluminum alloys without lubrication. The chapter describes the technology of electrical and electronic controls in the extrusion process. It ends with a discussion on the factors that influence the productivity and quality of the products in the extrusion process and methods for process optimization.

This chapter discusses the maintenance needs of major components in induction heat-treating systems, including power supplies, heat stations, capacitors, high-frequency output stages, induction coils, water systems, quench systems, and fixturing.

Titanium is a lightweight metal with a density approximately 60% that of steel and, through alloying and deformation processing, it can be just as strong. It is readily available in many grades and forms and can be further processed using standard methods and techniques. This chapter provides a concise review of the capabilities of titanium and its design advantages over other materials. It includes information on properties and selection factors as well as applications.

This chapter reviews failure aspects of structural ferrous powder metallurgy (PM) parts, which form the bulk of the PM industry. The focus is on conventional PM technology of parts in the density range of 6 to 7.2 g/cc. The chapter briefly introduces the processing steps that are essential to understanding failure analysis of PM parts. This is followed by a section on case hardening of PM parts. The methods used for analyzing the failures are then discussed. Some case studies are given that illustrate different failures and the methods of prevention of these failures.