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Failure Analysis of a Fractured Steel Track-type Chain Caused by High-cycle Fatigue of the Clamp Holder

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Abstract

The potential root causes of the premature fracture of an in-service caterpillar-type chain component (shoe block and the respective clamp holder) were investigated. The clamp holder’s fracture surface and a cross section of the microstructure were examined by means of stereo- and optical microscopy. Hardness measurements were also taken. The clamp holder microstructure consisted of lower bainite. Fractographic examination revealed that fatigue (reversed bending mode under low applied stress) was the dominant mechanism resulting in the failure of the clamp holder. Crack initiation occurred at the outer surface of the holder which possessed deep surface defects. The final holder fracture subsequently caused unbalanced stress conditions overloading the shoe block (which is a secondary fracture phenomenon).

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to express their gratitude to ELKEME Management for the encouragement and continuous support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ELKEME Hellenic Research Centre for Metals S.A., 61st km Athens – Lamia National Road, 32011, Oinofyta, Viotias, Greece

    Marianna Katsivarda, Sofia Papadopoulou, Athanasios Vazdirvanidis & George Pantazopoulos

Authors
  1. Marianna Katsivarda
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  2. Sofia Papadopoulou
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  3. Athanasios Vazdirvanidis
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  4. George Pantazopoulos
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Correspondence to George Pantazopoulos.

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Declaration

The original abstract was submitted to the IMAT 2020—International Materials Applications & Technologies Conference and Exposition (Sept. 14–17, 2020, Cleveland Ohio) and was scheduled to be presented to Techniques in Failure Analysis: FAS/IMS Joint Session with Program Title: Failure Analysis. Due to the acute and unprecedented conditions of the pandemic wave, the Conference was canceled and the paper was decided to be enriched and submitted as a full original technical article to the Journal.

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Katsivarda, M., Papadopoulou, S., Vazdirvanidis, A. et al. Failure Analysis of a Fractured Steel Track-type Chain Caused by High-cycle Fatigue of the Clamp Holder. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 21, 83–88 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-020-01033-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-020-01033-2

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