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Failure Analysis of an Automobile Coil Spring in High-Stress State

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Abstract

The present work details a study for the determination of causes of a prematurely failed automobile spring. Several tools consisting of visual observation, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis, etc., were used on the failed product to investigate the underlying causes. Photographs of the failed spring showed large wear marks and machinery indentations on the surface. These wear marks indicated an improper installation which could cause additional stresses under service loads. SEM images of one of the indentations showed radiating ridges emanating from the indentation tip which indicated that it served as the fatigue initiation. EDS results showed foreign elements in the fatigue origin implying the existence of microcracks. Under the effect of service and additional load, a stress concentration point was formed and fatigue crack originated from the indentation tip resulting in the final rupture.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51601156 and U1537201) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grant No. 2682016CX067).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Shuaijiang Yan, Xing Chen, Chengsong Zhang & Guodong Cui

  2. Sino-Euro Materials Technologies of Xi’an Co., Ltd., Xi’an, 710018, China

    Qingxiang Wang

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  1. Shuaijiang Yan
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  2. Qingxiang Wang
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  5. Guodong Cui
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Correspondence to Qingxiang Wang or Guodong Cui.

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Yan, S., Wang, Q., Chen, X. et al. Failure Analysis of an Automobile Coil Spring in High-Stress State. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 19, 361–368 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-019-00607-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-019-00607-z

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