{"title":"Failure analysis of a torsion spring: A microstructural and finite element assessment","authors":"Raj Shinde , Mahesh N Pradhan , Baidehish Sahoo , Reliance Jain","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the premature failure of a torsion spring manufactured from cold-drawn stainless-steel wire. A comprehensive analysis was conducted which included microstructural examination through Optical microscope, FE-SEM, and XRD. The analysis of the fractured surface through Optical microscope & FE-SEM revealed the inclusions, precipitates and porosity. The high dislocation density and residual stress were revealed by the XRD analysis. The mechanical characterization was evaluated through Vickers hardness testing where the fractured surface came up with higher values compared to that of the as-received one. Finite element assessment carried out to understand the stress distribution in the spring. The FEA simulation results corresponded well with the actual failure zones. In conclusion, the investigation indicated that the failure was due to material flaws and stress concentration folds in design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 109560"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiayao Chen , Zhongwen Yue , Wei Liu , Peng Wang , Kejun Xue , Qingyu Jin , Meng Ren , Huaqiang Liu
{"title":"Impact-induced failure and mechanical response of rapidly solidified sealing materials for blast holes","authors":"Jiayao Chen , Zhongwen Yue , Wei Liu , Peng Wang , Kejun Xue , Qingyu Jin , Meng Ren , Huaqiang Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study addresses the challenge of inadequate hole sealing in the drill-and-blast method, which often results in suboptimal blasting performance, by investigating the development and mechanical behavior of sealing materials through theoretical analysis and laboratory testing. First, the formation mechanism of caliche is analyzed, leading to the creation of a stable, fast-setting single-slurry sealing material suitable for pumping applications. Second, a dynamic friction strength model is developed to characterize the sealing performance of the material, based on principles of material and friction mechanics. Furthermore, key factors influencing sealing strength are systematically identified. Finally, the mechanical response of the materials is evaluated under various conditions using static compression tests and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) impact tests, offering a systematic framework for evaluating the material’s behavior under both quasi-static and high strain-rate conditions. The results indicate that sealing length has a more pronounced effect on sealing properties than the material’s age. Furthermore, as impact air pressure increases, the sealing material undergoes a failure transition from brittle fracture to plastic deformation, demonstrating enhanced damage resistance under high strain rate conditions. This study also reveals previously unquantified effects of sealing length and impact loading on failure behavior, providing new insights into the material’s dynamic failure resistance and sealing efficiency optimization. These findings not only enhance the sealing quality of blast holes but also provide valuable insights into mechanized sealing technology, offering significant implications for engineering applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 109552"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143705332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chao Bao , Huan Long , Xiaotong Ma , Ibrahim M.H. Alshaikh , Galal Al-Mekhlafi , Luyuan Peng , Huxiang Wang
{"title":"Experimental study on progressive collapse resistance of corroded RC continuous deep flexural members","authors":"Chao Bao , Huan Long , Xiaotong Ma , Ibrahim M.H. Alshaikh , Galal Al-Mekhlafi , Luyuan Peng , Huxiang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109543","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109543","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Abnormal loads can induce localized damage, potentially triggering the progressive collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) structures, leading to casualty and severe economic loss. In coastal or high-salinity environments, harsh conditions accelerate structural degradation, compromising resistance to progressive collapse, primarily due to reinforcing bar corrosion caused by chloride infiltration. To investigate the impact of corrosive environments on the progressive collapse resistance of RC continuous deep flexural members, quasi-static testing was conducted on four scaled-down RC substructure specimens. Besides one control group specimen, the remaining three specimens underwent electrochemically accelerated corrosion at 3%, 9%, and 12% across the entire specimen area, respectively. Failure modes and internal force were analyzed and compared. The results show that damage in both corroded and uncorroded specimens was concentrated in the plastic hinge regions near the beam ends. Reinforcing bar corrosion significantly affected the compression arch mechanism and the catenary mechanism, reducing the bearing capacities of these two mechanisms by up to 12.0% and 16.0%, respectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 109543"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A perspective on the structural integrity of notched components through the Effective Critical Plane approach","authors":"F. Frendo, A. Chiocca, M. Sgamma","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109517","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109517","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fatigue-induced damage is a significant concern for components in various industries, often leading to unexpected failures during service. Multiaxial fatigue assessment methods, particularly Critical Plane (CP) methodologies, have been widely used to identify critical regions and predict crack initiation sites. However, traditional CP approaches require computational intensive plane scanning techniques, which becomes impractical for components with complex geometries or unknown critical areas. This study builds upon recent developments in CP factor efficient evaluation and, in particular, on the Effective Critical Plane (ECP) approach recently proposed by the authors, which prescribes a stress averaging over a small control volume centred on the critical location, before evaluating the CP factor. The radius of the control volume is a material parameter and the stress averaging is intended to introduce the original idea of the microstructural support of Neuber. The influence of stress averaging on the critical plane orientation is analysed in this work in order to show that the ECP approach not only reduces computational complexity, but also preserves the critical plane orientation and, as a result, the CP theoretical foundation. The work was carried out by several FE simulations, considering a structural steel and different notched components under complex loading scenarios. The control radius for the selected material was determined by a preliminary experimental investigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 109517"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143681993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Johannes Rosenberger , Johannes Tlatlik , Nils Rump , Sebastian Münstermann
{"title":"Prediction of statistical force–displacement curves of Charpy-V impact tests based on unsupervised fracture surface machine learning","authors":"Johannes Rosenberger , Johannes Tlatlik , Nils Rump , Sebastian Münstermann","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109551","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109551","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While conventional pendulum impact tests only measure a material’s integral energy absorption, the instrumented version of the test provides valuable additional insights by extracting force–displacement behaviour of the loaded specimen. The latter, however, requires auxiliary testing equipment, calibration procedures and evaluation methods. Therefore, this study aims to predict force–displacement behaviour of instrumented Charpy impact tests solely on the basis of analyzing images of specimen fracture surfaces postmortem. This is explored and achieved by using unsupervised machine learning techniques for computer vision. By using unsupervised computer vision on fracture images from 4 steels, we assess the feasibility of classifying fracture surfaces and deriving statistical force–displacement curves and provide crucial interpretability of the model’s decision making. The results indicate the model’s ability to learn the necessary representations without the need of supervision. The unsupervised model can extract significant insights from fracture images alone, supporting efficient, accurate, and interpretable materials testing, where confidence intervals of 97 % can already be met for the upper shelf. This allows detailed information about the mechanical behaviour of the material to be obtained from non-instrumented tests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 109551"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143687829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nima Valizade , George Jarjoura , Georges J. Kipouros , Kevin Plucknett , Sajad Shakerin , Mohsen Mohammadi
{"title":"Microstructure, hardness, and tribological properties of AA2014 powder metallurgy alloys: A sizing mechanical surface treatment study","authors":"Nima Valizade , George Jarjoura , Georges J. Kipouros , Kevin Plucknett , Sajad Shakerin , Mohsen Mohammadi","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109550","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109550","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the influence of sizing mechanical surface treatment on the tribological response of AA2014 powder metallurgy (PM) alloy-steel tribosystem under reciprocating sliding wear. The impact of sizing pressure on wear mechanisms is analyzed using a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), surface topography, hardness testing, wear rate measurements, and microscopic analyses. The results show that sizing treatment can significantly alter wear mechanisms, shifting from abrasion and mild oxidative wear to delamination and cracking, especially at lower sizing pressures. Samples sized at 200 MPa and 300 MPa displayed pronounced delamination and cracking. In contrast, increasing the sizing pressure to 400 MPa enhanced mechanical properties, reduced the wear rate, and minimized delamination. This suggests that although sizing with relatively low sizing pressure can increase hardness, it may detrimentally affect the alloy’s wear performance by intensifying stress concentration effect. However, wear properties benefit from the superior mechanical properties gained through cold working of the alloy at a higher pressure of 400 MPa. This research highlights the critical role of sizing pressure in optimizing the tribological performance of sized aluminum PM alloys.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 109550"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143687661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dong Liu , Lintao Li , Guoxing Li , Nannan Sun , Guixiang Zhu , Tie Wang , Fengshou Gu
{"title":"Cavitation failure analysis and mechanism study of the wet cylinder liner in heavy-duty diesel engines","authors":"Dong Liu , Lintao Li , Guoxing Li , Nannan Sun , Guixiang Zhu , Tie Wang , Fengshou Gu","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109547","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109547","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cavitation failure of the cylinder liner is one of the main reliability problems in heavy-duty diesel engines. It can shorten engine lifespan, increase maintenance costs, and even lead to catastrophic failures. This paper conducts a systematic study of cylinder liner cavitation by integrating microstructure analysis, cavitation process observation, and numerical simulation. The morphology and chemical composition of the damaged regions are analysed at both macro and micro levels, providing comprehensive insights into the cavitation erosion behaviour and damage mechanisms. The vibration and pressure fluctuation characteristics of the cylinder liner-water jacket system are investigated by a structure-acoustic coupling model. The predicted cavitation risk regions of the cylinder liner are in good agreement with the actual cavitation erosion regions. Cavitation damage is primarily concentrated within a 26 mm vertical zone adjacent to the lower seal of the cylinder liner. The minimum pressure in the water jacket occurs at 373.3 °CA. When the engine speed exceeds 1400 rpm, the risk of cavitation arises and progressively intensifies with increasing speed and load. The results enrich the theoretical system of cavitation erosion in cylinder liners and provide a valuable reference for the cavitation prediction and mitigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 109547"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143687757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Failure mechanisms of prefabricated multi-family buildings under gas explosions","authors":"Piotr Knyziak","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109548","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109548","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large-panel buildings are multi-story structures made of prefabricated large-sized wall and floor panels, where the integrity of connections between elements plays crucial role in structural integrity. Under gas explosions, these structures exhibit specific failure mechanisms that differ from those of monolithic slab-column systems. The potential for preventing progressive collapse in large-panel buildings depends on the arrangement of load-bearing walls, the effectiveness of alternative load paths, and the resistance of structural ties. Despite adherence to modern safety standards, unexpected structural failures still occur, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of these mechanisms.</div><div>This study examines real cases of gas explosions in large-panel buildings, identifying three primary failure mechanisms. Type 1 – local damage limited to a one room (usually the kitchen), with limited structural impact on adjacent elements. Type 2 – damage to the entire apartment, potentially leading to progressive collapse depending on tie resistance. Type 3 – High-energy explosions in basements or extensive areas of gas saturation, often causing progressive collapse and significant structural damage. Analysis reveals that spatially appropriately shaped cross-wall construction systems significantly improve structural resilience by enhancing alternative load paths and reducing progressive collapse probability. Additionally, structural damage severity correlates with energy and extent of the explosion, which is consistent with modern technical standards.</div><div>The findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how large-panel buildings behave under gas explosion overpressure, emphasizing the importance of proper reinforcement detailing, high-quality workmanship, and periodic inspections to detect corrosion or weakened connections. The study provides practical recommendations for improving design strategies, maintenance practices, and safety measures to prevent or mitigate progressive collapse. These insights are critical for enhancing the long-term safety and resilience of large-panel residential buildings, ensuring their continued usability under both normal and extreme conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 109548"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143687800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring failure mechanisms in reinforced concrete slab-column joints: Machine learning and causal analysis","authors":"A. Ӧzyüksel Çiftçioğlu","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109549","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109549","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reinforced concrete slab-column construction comprises interconnected slabs and columns that constitute the structural system of a building. While providing architectural flexibility and ease of construction, these types of structures are prone to failure because the structural arrangement beneath the slabs is not always considered thoroughly. This research uses machine learning models to conduct an in-depth study and categorizes failure modes into three main types: flexure, punching, and combined flexure-punching modes. These failure modes are classified with appreciable accuracy by eight machine learning approaches: RAGN-L, Random Forest, Extra Trees, K-Nearest Neighbors, Adaptive Boosting, Support Vector Machine, Logistic Regression, and Gaussian Naive Bayes classifiers, optimized using hyperparameter tuning. The results indicate that the RAGN-L achieves the highest accuracy at 0.99, followed by the Random Forest model with an accuracy of 0.98. The study extends the machine learning analysis by investigating the deep causes that rule the complex interactions among key structural parameters. SHAP analysis revealed the influence of features like slab thickness, reinforcement ratio, and punching shear strength on failure modes. Counterfactual analyses further revealed how changes in these parameters can change failure modes and indicate their sensitivity and robustness. The results imply that reducing or optimizing certain parameter values will change the sample types and thus make them change between failure modes. By combining machine learning, SHAP analysis, causal analysis, and counterfactual methods, this study offers valuable insights into the failure mechanisms of slab-column joints and provides actionable recommendations to enhance structural safety and reliability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 109549"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143687756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dynamic reliability analysis of the bushings’ base fracture of a 220 kV transformer-bushing system subjected to fully nonstationary earthquake loads","authors":"Mingjun Wang , Yinghao Duan , Jun He","doi":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109539","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109539","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The high-voltage (HV) transformers, primarily composed of the oil tank and porcelain bushings, are vulnerable to earthquake damage and prone to fracture at the base of the porcelain bushings. The dynamic reliability analysis of HV transformer bushing base fracture involves calculating the small first passage probabilities for nonstationary wide-banded random seismic responses exceeding the high threshold levels. Existing methods for addressing this issue are either inefficient or impractical. To efficiently estimate the small first passage probabilities, this paper proposes a tail decay rate and multiple support points-based shifted generalized lognormal distribution (SGLD) model method. The method formulates the parameter estimation for the SGLD as an optimization problem with a constraint, enabling rapid parameter estimation. To implement, the objective function is formulated to minimize the mean absolute percentage error of failure probabilities, incorporating multiple support points to enhance the comprehensive utilization of simulation samples. Furthermore, the constraint is introduced concerning the hypothesis of near-linear behavior in the tail region corresponding to small failure probabilities, wherein the slope of the asymptotically correct first passage probabilities calculated by the crossing approach approximates the actual slope. The dynamic reliabilities of the porcelain bushings’ base fracture of a 220 kV auto-transformer subjected to the fully nonstationary El-Centro-like earthquake load are analyzed utilizing the proposed method. The analysis demonstrates the application process and efficiency of the proposed method and provides seismic design recommendations for this kind of transformers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11677,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Failure Analysis","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 109539"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143687755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}