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Failure Analysis of a Pinion Shaft of Tail Breaker Unit in Rebar Mill

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Abstract

Detailed metallographic analysis was carried out to ascertain cause of failure in a pinion shaft of a tail breaker unit installed in a TMT rebar mill. Visual examination showed the failure to occur in a plane perpendicular to its length at a point of a sudden change in cross-sectional area in the shaft. Fractography-revealed fatigue as the primary mode of failure and examination under optical and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) showed the failure to be facilitated by the non-uniform thickness and inhomogeneous microstructure of the repair-welded surface (outer) layer of the shaft. Furthermore, the presence of undesirable MnS and Ca–Si inclusions detrimental to the service life of the shaft under dynamic loading conditions was detected at the interface of the reworked outer and the inner surface of the shaft by means of SEM–EDS. The following two primary inferences drawn from observations made in the present study are suggested as the root cause of failure of the pinion shaft: (i) improper repair welding of the surface, i.e. weld surfacing and (ii) inferior quality of the shaft material as evidenced by presence of undesirable inclusions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research & Development, JSW Steel Limited, Dolvi, Raigad, 402107, India

    Neel Kant, Aditya Sarkar, Bhushan Rakshe, Sukanta Sarkar & Sujoy S. Hazra

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  1. Neel Kant
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  2. Aditya Sarkar
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Kant, N., Sarkar, A., Rakshe, B. et al. Failure Analysis of a Pinion Shaft of Tail Breaker Unit in Rebar Mill. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23, 1114–1126 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01653-4

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