Applied Failure Analysis

Service Training Meeting Guide 002 SESV8002

August 2000

TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

APPLIED FAILURE ANALYSIS

THREADED FASTENERS
THREADED FASTENERS FAILURE
ANALYSIS
MEETING GUIDE SLIDES AND SCRIPT
AUDIENCE
Service, service support and administrative staff personnel who understand the principles of engine and
machine operation, and who are or may be involved in determining root causes of failures of threaded
fasteners.

CONTENT
This presentation describes function, structure, manufacturing, installation, operation and and some root
causes of failures of threaded fasteners.

OBJECTIVES
After learning the information in this presentation, the student will be able to:

1. describe functions, structure and the manufacturing process used to produce fasteners;
2. identify road signs of fastener failure due to fatigue fracture, ductile fracture, impact shearing,
fretting, fretting corrosion and stress corrosion cracking and list possible root causes;
3. identify common fastener problems that may occur in the fastener material, or during forming,
hardening or threading;
4. identify the road signs of fastener failure due to a nut backing off and list possible root causes.

REFERENCES
Threaded Fasteners Applied Failure Analysis Reference Book SEBV0545
Threaded Fasteners Applied Failure Analysis Self-Paced Instruction CD-ROM SEGV8002

PREREQUISITES
AFA STMG 013 Failure Analysis Management
AFA STMG 017 Basic Metallurgy
AFA STMG 014 Principles of Fractures
AFA STMG 015 Principles of Wear

Estimated Time: 3 1/2 Hours

Visuals: 89 electronic images
Student Handout: 1 - Lab Worksheet
Form: SESV8002
Date: 8/2000
© 2000 Caterpillar Inc.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................5

FUNCTIONS ..........................................................................................................................7

STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................................10

MANUFACTURING............................................................................................................12

INSTALLATION ..................................................................................................................24

NORMAL OPERATION ......................................................................................................31

ABNORMAL OPERATION ................................................................................................35

Fatigue Fracture ..............................................................................................................36
Ductile Fracture ..............................................................................................................53
Impact Shearing ..............................................................................................................60
Fretting............................................................................................................................62
Fretting Corrosion...........................................................................................................64

FASTENER PROBLEMS ....................................................................................................66

Material/Forming ............................................................................................................67
Hardening........................................................................................................................73
Threading ........................................................................................................................82

NUT FAILURES ..................................................................................................................85

FASTENER FAILURE ANALYSIS PRACTICE ................................................................86

CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................92

LAB IRON REVIEW ...........................................................................................................93

SLIDE LIST..........................................................................................................................94

STUDENT HANDOUT........................................................................................................96
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INSTRUCTOR NOTES
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INTRODUCTION

The threaded fastener failure analysis module explains how to apply

failure analysis principles when examining worn and fractured threaded
fasteners.
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Topics that will be covered in the threaded fastener failure analysis

module include the function, structure and manufacture of bolts. This is
followed by a review of fastener installation, operation, and possible
fastener problems. The final section in this module covers threaded
fastener failure analysis using the eight step method along with the proper
visual examination procedure to discover road signs that lead to the root
cause of failure. The payoff steps (6, 7, and 8) need to be completed to
get the full benefit of finding the root cause of a failure and to ensure
customer satisfaction.
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FUNCTIONS

Threaded fasteners perform two major functions:

First, threaded fasteners provide the clamping force that holds a bolted
joint together. Second, threaded fasteners transfer load from one part to
another.
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If a bolt is properly tightened or torqued and joint loads are normal, there
should be no relative movement between the two joined parts. Therefore,
the only load on the bolt is tension.

Any shear or bending forces present in the joint should be carried by joint
face friction created by the clamping force that is due to bolt tension.

Note: There are certain bolted joints that are designed to slide. These are
exceptions to the above and are used in areas where thermal expansion
and contraction is necessary. Examples are exhaust manifold and
aftercooler to block joints.
AFA STMG 002 -9-
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Clamping force and joint friction work together to transfer load from one
part to the other.

In each bolted joint there is a cone of effective clamping force felt by the
two joined parts. The transfer of load takes place at the surface area of
the parting faces included in the cone (shown in red on this view). The
effect is as if the two parts are welded together in this area.
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STRUCTURE

The basic parts of a bolt are the head, washer face, under head fillet,
shank, and threads.
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The highest stressed areas on a bolt are:

1) The first exposed thread root on the joint side of the nut or tapped
hole,

2) The first thread root after the shank, and

3) The underhead fillet.

When bolts break due to overload, it is usually at one of these high stress
areas.
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MANUFACTURING

Bolts are manufactured from hot rolled steel rod that is first:

1) pulled through a die to give a specified diameter, and then

2) sheared to a specified length to form a blank.

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Smaller bolts are shaped by a "cold-forming" operation in which the

blank is hammered into successive dies at room temperature. Larger bolts
with diameters exceeding about 32 mm (1.25 inches) are sometimes
shaped by "hot forming". Hot forming differs from cold forming in that
the blanks are heated to a specified temperature before hammering them
into dies.
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10

In the first step of a hot or cold forming process, the blank is hammered
into a die that has a larger diameter section at the top which leaves
material for the head.
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11

During the next step, the head is hammered into a round and chamfered
shape and the diameter is reduced in the bottom portion of the blank that
will later be threaded.
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12

The round and chamfered head is then forced into a trimming die that cuts
it to final shape.
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13

During the head forming operation, grain flow is moved parallel to the
surface of the underhead fillet as shown in this view.

Though the fillet is usually finished by the hammering operation, it is

sometimes rolled to improve resistance to cracking by inducing surface
compressive stresses.
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14

The next step is the pointing operation. Here a chamfer is cut at the end
of the thread section.
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15

The shank of the bolt is usually left as formed. Grinding to final diameter
and shape however, is sometimes done for special applications (such as
connecting rod bolts) where tolerances, fit, and removal of mill scale to
reduce stress concentrations are necessary. Con-rod bolts are also often
knurled to obtain a tight fit at the parting faces of the joint.
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16

Next, the bolt is hardened to give high tensile strength. Hardening is done
either before or after the threads are formed, depending on design.

Nuts are generally slightly softer than bolts (approximately 5 Rockwell C

points) so the nut threads will "yield" or "flow" somewhat to better
conform to the threads on the bolt. This conforming feature causes more
uniform load transfer between the bolt and nut threads.
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17

Coarse or fine threads can be rolled using fixed and moving thread rolling
dies or they can be cut by a machining operation. Caterpillar bolt threads
are usually rolled rather that cut.
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18

The rolling process forms smooth threads and thread root fillets with
fewer stress raisers. Rolling also moves the grain flow parallel with
thread surfaces. Finally, rolling threads produces a compressive stress at
the thread roots which improves resistance to fatigue cracking when it is
performed after heat treatment.
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19

This view shows the actual appearance of a bolt as it progresses through

the forming operations, starting with the blank on the left and ending with
the finished bolt on the right.
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20

INSTALLATION

Each joint in Caterpillar equipment is designed to use a specific hardness

and tensile strength bolt depending on expected loads. It is therefore
important to use the bolt designed for a particular joint as identified in the
parts book. Not doing so could lead to bolt overload and sudden
unexpected failure.
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21

This chart lists general hardness and tensile strength specifications for
Caterpillar bolts. The standard Caterpillar bolt is equivalent to a Grade 8
bolt. Other CAT bolts have even higher hardness and tensile strength.
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22

These specifications and identification marks on Caterpillar threaded

fasteners are found in the Caterpillar "One Safe Source Catalog".
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23

To receive good service from new or used bolts, careful attention should
be given to bolt selection, handling, inspection and installation.
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24

Before installation, bolts, nuts and clamping surfaces of the parts to be

joined should be inspected and prepared for assembly. Critical areas are:

a) The underhead fillet. Inspect for smoothness, corrosion, cracks,

nicks, gouges, etc.

b) Nut and bolt washer faces. Inspect for fretting corrosion, flatness,
burrs, and any other condition that would cause stress raisers or poor
seating of the bolt or nut.

c) The shank. Inspect for straightness, wear, corrosion, pitting,

cracks, or any other condition that may cause a stress raiser.

d) Nut and bolt threads. Check for corrosion, cracking, deformation,

stripping, or any other physical damage.

e) Clamping surfaces of the parts to be joined. These should be

clean, free from damage, and prepared according to service manual and
special instructions.

f) Blind threaded holes should be clean and free of liquids that could
cause hydraulic lock as bolts are installed.
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25

Bolts must be properly torqued to keep joints tight under working

conditions.
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26

When properly torqued, most bolts are stretched near the end of the
elastic range (elastic limit) which is the maximum tension and elongation
possible before the bolt is plastically deformed.

Under torquing can result in loose bolts. Over torquing can cause bolts to
be permanently stretched.

It is therefore important to follow service manual and special instructions

for specific torquing requirements.
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27

NORMAL OPERATION

Like many parts, bolts acquire a typical appearance from normal

operation. If nuts, bolts, and clamping surfaces are properly inspected,
prepared and torqued, there should be no relative movement and little if
any wear between the bolt and the joined parts, assuming loads and
environmental temperatures are normal.
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28

The washer face on either the nut or under the bolt head (depending on
whether the bolt or the nut is turned during installation) can show some
polishing and light scoring as shown in this view. This surface, however,
should not be fretted or severely gouged.
AFA STMG 002 - 33 -
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29

The shank of the bolt may have some polishing from the joined parts,
particularly at the parting face, as shown on this connecting rod bolt
(arrow). This surface however, should not be severely worn, fretted,
dented, pitted, or corroded.
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30

A normal used bolt will show some polishing on the threads that were
engaged in the nut or tapped hole. The threads however, should not be
deeply scored or "rolled over" which could indicate an overloading or
overtorquing situation.
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31

ABNORMAL OPERATION

There should be little wear and no evidence of joint movement in a

properly prepared, torqued, and operated bolted joint.

There are, however, times when abnormal environments result in fastener

damage or failure. Here are some common types of bolt failures. Failure
analysts need to learn to "think with the facts" about the possible root
cause for these failures. The most common fastener failures caused by
abnormal environments are:

1) Fatigue fractures

2) Ductile fractures

3) Impact shearing (secondary impact damage)

4) Fretting

5) Fretting corrosion
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FATIGUE FRACTURE

The Basic Fractures module showed that common fatigue fracture road
signs are beach marks, smooth fracture surfaces, lack of plastic
deformation, and ductile or brittle final fracture areas.
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33

Fatigue fractures in bolts can be caused by three general conditions:

1. Abnormal stress raisers, with normal cyclic load,

2. Cyclic load greater than the fatigue strength of the fastener,

3. Both abnormal stress raiser and cyclic overload at the same time.
AFA STMG 002 - 38 -
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34

Abnormal stress raisers such as corrosion pits, nicks, gouges, cracks, etc.
on a bolt, particularly in the highly loaded thread, shank, underhead fillet
and washer face areas can cause fatigue failures under normal cyclic
loads. The challenge facing the analyst with this type of failure is to
determine exactly what condition produced the stress raiser.
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2
1

35

This bolt failed during normal cyclic loading and shows the typical road
signs of a fatigue fracture. Beach marks begin at one side of the bolt and
end at the other side at a small area of ductile final fracture. The shear lip
is a road sign of the final fracture area.

At this point in the examination, the analyst should follow the beach
marks to the crack initiation site to study that area more closely.
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Magnification reveals a gouge mark (arrow) at the fracture initiation site

from which the beach marks start. This indicates that the gouge mark was
present when the bolt was installed and acted as a stress raiser. Where did
the gouge mark come from and who is responsible for the failure?

The source of the gouge mark depends on who installed the bolt --
factory, dealer, customer, or someone else.
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37

Bolts can also fail in fatigue without abnormal stress concentrators.

These failures result from:

1) Cyclic overloading of a properly tightened joint,

2) Normal loading on a loose joint, or,

3) Normal loading of a weakened or wrong grade bolt (strength too

low).

Conditions 1) and 3) can produce fatigue cracks due to cyclic

overloading.
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38

When a bolt is overloaded, the cracks will normally start at the highest
stressed areas of a bolt that were mentioned earlier, i.e.:

1) The root of the first exposed thread on the joint side of the nut or
tapped hole,

2) The underhead fillet, or

3) The first thread root after the shank.

The fracture face will have no obvious abnormal stress raiser at the
initiation site.
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39

This bolt failed due to cyclic overload. Note there is no obvious abnormal
stress raiser at the initiation site (on the right of the view) and there are
several ratchet marks at the thread root indicating that high stresses were
applied. The overload condition started a fatigue fracture at the thread
root which progressed across the bolt until a ductile final fracture (note
the shear lip) occurred.
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40

Understanding how condition Number 2) (Which was "Normal loading on

a loose joint") can cause fatigue cracks requires more knowledge of how
external loads are carried by a bolted joint and what happens if the joint
becomes loose.

As mentioned earlier, torquing produces a certain amount of tension in the

bolt that is present at all times, even when the joint is not loaded. This
torque-induced tension is called "pre-load".

When an external load is applied, which tries to separate the joint, the
tension in the bolt increases slightly beyond the preload, but not by as
much as the applied load.

In other words, the tension in a properly torqued bolt increases by only a

fraction of any external load that is trying to separate the joint.

For most joints, the bolt portion is no more than 1/7th of the external load
applied. In highly loaded joints, such as connecting rod caps, this
increase can be as much as 1/4th the external load.

In a tight joint, all shear and bending forces are carried by the clamping
force surfaces mentioned earlier.
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41

If a bolted joint becomes loose the "preload" and clamping force are lost
and the bolt must take the entire external load. Some reasons that bolted
joints become loose include: under torquing, joint relaxation due to debris
between parting faces, wrong gasket material, improperly hardened
washers, rough or warped mating surfaces, etc.

Therefore, fatigue fracture of a good (but loose) bolt can occur because it
carries cyclic loads 4 to 7 times higher than normal. Also, if a bolt
becomes loose, the shear and bending forces normally carried by the
clamping force surfaces are also transferred to the bolt.
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42

The bolts that fastened the flywheel to this crankshaft were loose.
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Closer inspection of the crankshaft flange surface shows fretting caused

by movement between it and the flywheel.
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The bolt holes in the flywheel are elongated also indicating relative
movement between it and crankshaft flange.
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45

The other side of the flywheel has depressions around the bolt holes
where the bolt head washer faces were fretting into it.
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This is a magnified view of one of the bolt holes in the flywheel showing
the fretting of the bolt head washer face into the flywheel surface.
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1
2

47

These are typical bolts from the failure. The bolt in the upper left of the
view (1) is damaged too badly to recognize its failure mode. The bolt in
the upper right (2) failed in fatigue (note the beach marks). The bolt in
the lower left (3) is fractured in two places -- at the flywheel to crankshaft
parting face and at the underhead fillet area. The head in the lower right
is from the bolt on the lower left. It also shows road signs of fatigue
(beach marks from left to right).
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48

The fracture faces of most of the bolt fragments broken off in the
crankshaft flange looked like this one.

Note there are two sets of beach marks (one starting from the left and the
other from the right) which progress to a ductile final fracture in the
center (road signs of reverse bending fatigue).

Also note the fracture is from the first exposed thread root on the joint
side of the threaded hole in the crankshaft.

The facts presented in this case all point to loose bolts (possibly due to
under torquing) as the root cause of the failure. The loose bolts caused
unusual cyclic shear and bending stresses in the bolts, plus the bolts were
cyclically overloaded in tension by the forces trying to separate the
flywheel from the crankshaft (approximately 7 times normal).

At this point the analyst should ask the question: "Who torqued the bolts
and how did the bolts become loose?"
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DUCTILE FRACTURE

Bolts may also experience ductile fractures caused by sudden overload

during one load cycle.

There are three general conditions that produce ductile bolt fractures:

1) Severe stress raiser,

2) Heavy overload,

3) Weakened or wrong grade bolt.

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50

A stress raiser (crack or notch) so deep that the cross sectional area of the
bolt is significantly reduced can cause the remaining portion of the bolt to
be overloaded and result in a ductile fracture.

This can happen under normal joint load conditions or as the bolt is
torqued. Again, the analyst should look for the reason for the stress raiser
to determine the root cause of the failure.
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51

Perhaps the most common reason for ductile fractures in bolts is

overloading with no abnormal stress raiser. This condition can happen as
a result of:

1) An unusually heavy external load being applied to the component the

bolt is installed in, or

2) Another part failing causing a massive overload of an adjacent or

remaining bolt.

This bolt was overloaded, is plastically deformed and was on its way to a
ductile failure.
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52

This connecting rod bolt is an example of overload that resulted in a

ductile fracture.

Note the necking down, rough and woody texture, shear lips, and the dark
color of the fracture face -- all road signs of a ductile fracture.

The important thing to remember about ductile fractures is that they are
almost always the result of some condition other than bolt quality.
Therefore, the analyst will have to look further for facts that lead to the
root cause of the failure.
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53

Another way of heavily overloading a bolt is by over torquing. Note the

plastic deformation (necking down) in the threaded section adjacent to the
fracture on this bolt.

Most such fractures occur in the first few exposed threads on the joint
side of the nut or tapped thread.
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54

Closer inspection of the thread section reveals a small fatigue area and a
large ductile fracture. Overloading and plastic stretching weakened the
bolt. Cyclic loading then produced a small fatigue crack that further
weakened the bolt so that normal loading caused the ductile final fracture.

Looking down the threads reveals an area where they are brighter. This is
where the nut was installed. These threads are deeply scored and have
been "rolled over"; indicating unusually high stresses were present
between the nut and bolt threads as overtorquing occurred.
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55

If a weakened or wrong grade bolt is used, normal loads can overload it.
This bolt exhibits several interesting road signs of weakening. Notice the
extensive necking down and the dark color of the oxide deposits. These
are indications that the bolt has been above 816 °C (1500 °F) which
greatly reduced its strength causing it to fail under normal loading. The
high temperature was generated due to a rod bearing failure.

Note: It is easy to jump to a preconceived idea that bolts have failed from
extreme heat because they are black. Remember that many bolts are
normally black due to heat treatment. The analyst should always examine
the fracture faces before stating an opinion about the cause of failure.
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IMPACT SHEARING

Sometimes bolts are sheared or smashed by some high energy, moving

object during a failure. These bolt failures are resultant damage and
should not be confused with fatigue fractures.

While they may have a relatively smooth and shiny (silky) appearance,
they will not have beach marks, plus there will usually be some impact
damage where the part was hit. Often there is localized heat discoloration
due to high temperature generated by heat of friction during the impact
damage.

This is a typical example of a sheared or smashed bolt. Note the road

signs -- a smooth, silky appearance of the sheared surface with no beach
marks and the thread indentations in the bolt hole indicating high shear
forces.
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57

Consider the three broken bolts in this view. Look at each of the broken
bolts and discuss the road signs on each that indicates what type of
fracture or damage each has experienced. What type fracture or damage
does each have?

Bolt Road sign Fracture/ damage type

------ ------------- ----------------------------
left silky impact sheared

center beachmarks fatigue

right necking ductile

What possible root causes might account for each of the above fractures?
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58

FRETTING

Fretting damage indicates that the joint has been moving when loads were
applied. Joint movement can result from undertorquing, overtorquing,
excessive bolt temperature, cyclic overload or any other reason for the
bolt to have insufficient tension to keep the joint tight.
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59

This bolt shows fretting damage (arrow) on its underhead washer face.
When fretting such as this is observed it indicates that the joint was either
loose or it was cyclically overloaded for a significant period of time prior
to disassembly.
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60

FRETTING CORROSION

Fretting corrosion can also occur on bolts as a result of loose joints.

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61

During a repair, this bolt was found to have fretting corrosion near the
parting faces of the joint. The fretting corrosion had created pitting (a
stress raiser) on the surface. The pitting could have caused a fatigue
fracture if the bolt had been reused.
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62

FASTENER PROBLEMS

The quality of Caterpillar bolts is closely controlled by stringent

specifications. As a result, bolt defects are rarely the root cause of
problems. Occasionally however, material and workmanship problems do
occur which cause bolt failures. The most common are in the following
areas:

1) Material

2) Forming

3) Hardening

4) Threading
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63

Material/Forming

As with all rolled steel, bolts can contain seams, pipe, inclusions, etc. As
discussed in the metallurgy module these flaws are seldom seen in parts
and do not usually cause problems unless they are large and/or in high
stress areas.
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64

This bolt has a seam that was formed during hot rolling of the steel rod
from which the bolt was made. Seams such as this, (along the length of
the bolt) are not usually detrimental unless they are deep or opened up.
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65

During forming operations, it is also possible to cause unwanted stress

raisers such as laps, folds and tears.

Tears were found in this bolt by ultrasonic inspection. The steel was too
cold during the hot forming process. When forced into the thread section
forming die, the steel near the outside flowed faster than the steel on the
inside. This caused the interior metal to be over stressed in tension and to
tear or pull apart at 5 places in the portion of the bolt where the threads
were to be made. Problems such as this are very rare, but do occasionally
occur.
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66

Another stress raiser sometimes formed when the head is shaped is known
as a "burst". This burst resulted from a rolling seam that opened up under
the high tensile stresses and metal flow present during the head forming
operation.
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67

This magnified view shows the rough, woody, ductile inner surfaces of
the burst.
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68

The underhead fillet area, washer face, and shank of the bolt also show
the seam that was the root cause of this burst.
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69

Hardening

Occasionally a bolt may be too hard (either improperly hardened or too

much carbon content).
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70

Fasteners with excessive hardness that are exposed to a combination of

high stress and a corrosive moist environment can fail by stress corrosion
cracking (SCC). SCC starts with the formation of corrosion pits on the
surface of the part. After the pits form, the combination of high stress and
the corrosive environment causes a break down of the grain boundaries of
the steel. As the process continues, a brittle appearing stress corrosion
crack forms over several hours.

This type of crack is an exception to the general rule that "brittle cracks
form in only a portion of one load cycle". In this case, the mechanism
that opens the crack is corrosion combined with tensile stress that breaks
down the grain boundaries instead of a sudden impact load.

Stress corrosion cracking is also an example of a brittle fracture that is the

"cause of failure" rather than a "result".
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71

This track bolt experienced stress corrosion cracking that began in the
thread root. The corrosion progressed in a semi-circular path (arrow)
across the bolt until the remaining cross section was overloaded by the
normal tension in the bolt caused by its specified torque. The bolt then
suffered a ductile final fracture.

In this case, the root cause of the problem was not an operational
condition, but was wrong metallurgy of the bolt (too hard and too much
carbon). When carbon and hardness levels were decreased, the failures
stopped.
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72

This differential housing bolt also failed by stress corrosion cracking.

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Notice in this magnified view, the initiation site of the crack (lower right)
and the brittle appearing fracture face with chevrons (roads signs)
pointing back to the initiation site.
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74

This higher power magnified view of the thread root shows the actual pit
(arrow) and the small, darker area at the initiation site where the corrosion
entered the grain boundaries of the steel (lower center of the view).

Also, note the bright and crystalline appearance of the fracture face, road
signs of a brittle fracture.
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75

This is an even higher magnified view of the pit (arrow). Again, this
failure was the result of a heat treat and material problem with the bolt
(too hard/too much carbon).
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76

Hardening problems can also cause other types of failures. This bolt
failed at the underhead fillet. What type of fracture is this? (Discussion)
Road signs on the fracture face -- rough, woody, dark surface - indicate a
ductile fracture. What caused the failure? (Discussion) A closer view is
needed to answer that question.
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77

This magnified view provides the answer. Are there any road signs here
that lead to the root cause of the failure? (Discussion)

Note the difference in the appearance of various areas on the fracture face.

There is a narrow band of darker and more crystalline surface at the top
(around the circumference) of the fracture face when compared to the
surfaces more toward the inside of the fracture face. This dark, narrow
band goes all around the circumference of the bolt. It is a quench crack
which was formed during the cooling process after heat treat.

This quench crack formed an extremely severe stress raiser in one of the
highest loaded areas on the bolt and caused a ductile fracture the first time
sufficient load was applied.
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78

Threading

Flaws can also be produced during thread forming operations. Care must
be used in rolling or cutting bolt threads to prevent any condition which
would leave abnormally sharp corners, cracks, burrs, laps, or other
abnormal stress raisers in the threads (and particularly at the thread roots)
as these stress raisers could lead to fatigue fractures.

In rare cases, deep or severe irregularities can reduce bolt strength to the
point that normal loads can cause overload and ductile fractures. More
often, however, these irregularities cause fatigue cracks.
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79

This bolt failed due to a pre-crack at the sharp corner of a cut thread root.
The pre-crack created a stress raiser which started a fatigue fracture along
approximately 120° of the thread circumference and worked its way
inward until half the bolt was cracked. At this point the remaining bolt
material was overloaded and a ductile final fracture occurred.
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80

This magnified view shows pre-cracking at the thread roots (arrows) of

some of the adjacent unfailed threads. The severe notch effect of the
precracks concentrated the applied stresses in the thread root, magnifying
them to a level that was up to eight times greater than normal.
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81

NUT FAILURES

Nuts and threaded holes are very rarely the root cause of failures. This is
because, although they are usually slightly softer than their mating bolts,
nuts are loaded differently. Heat treated nuts are normally designed with
a thread engagement such that the bolt will fail in tension before the
threads will strip.

If threads are stripped, it is usually due to the use of improper, low grade
fasteners, insufficient thread engagement, cross threading during
installation, dirt in the threads, or an error in heat treat.

The last few threads in this nut stripped due to insufficient thread
engagement after the nut backed off during operation.
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82

FASTENER FAILURE ANALYSIS PRACTICE

Look at the failed bolts in the view. Try to identify fracture types and
whether they are causes or results.

Which of these fractures are causes and which are results of a failure?
What type of fracture is on each bolt?

It is not possible to tell from this view of the bolts. Closer examination of
the fractures is required.
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83

Here is a closer view of the bolts. Now, which are causes and which are
results and what type of fracture do they exhibit? Answers:

a. The four bolts on the left show flat fracture faces. They are fatigue
fractures, associated with the root cause of failure.

b. The three bolts on the right show dark, rough, woody, necked down
fracture faces. They are ductile fractures which are usually a result.

c. The bolt on the bottom is not necked down and the fracture face is not
straight across the bolt diameter. The fracture face cannot be seen here,
but it is silky. This bolt failed by impact shear, also a result.
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84

What type of fracture is this? It is a ductile fracture. In this case the

Caterpillar Met lab put a 6° wedge under the bolt head and applied a
tensile load until the bolt broke. The off center load produced a large off
center shear lip. The nut was installed just below the fracture during the
test. As mentioned earlier bolts that are subjected to overload will usually
fail through the first exposed thread root on the joint side of the nut.
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85

This is a closer look at the fracture face. Note the road signs -- rough
texture and shear lips. Was the bolt the cause of this failure? No. The
root cause of ductile bolt fractures is usually overload, which happened to
this bolt during testing at a Caterpillar Met Lab.
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86

What type of fracture is this? It is not possible to tell from this view.
Closer examination of the fracture face is required.
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87

Closer examination shows that this is a fatigue fracture. Note the road
signs: initiation site, beach marks and ductile final fracture.

What is the root cause of this failure? Notice the fretting corrosion visible
on the shank of the bolt just below the fracture face. This same condition
existed at the initiation site and caused a pit (stress raiser) that resulted in
the fatigue fracture.
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88

CONCLUSION

This concludes the threaded fastener module. This module demonstrated

that fasteners provide clamping force and transfer load. They are very
carefully made, but can be abused by adverse installation or environment.

Caterpillar bolt quality is very seldom the root cause of a failure. The
analyst must therefore be very careful in analyzing fastener failures to
arrive at the correct root cause.

After gathering facts and arriving at the root cause, remember to complete
steps 6, 7, and 8 (of the Eight Steps of Applied Failure Analysis). These
steps help the analyst to "get the payoff" by communicating with the
responsible party, taking appropriate corrective action and performing
follow-up visits to assure customer satisfaction.
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89

LAB IRON REVIEW

Now, take a look at some actual examples of bolt failures. Try to

determine the type of fracture or condition that exists and the most
probable root cause of failure.

INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Students should next participate in a

practical exercise. The instructor should select six (6) to twelve (12)
failed parts representing the abnormal wear and fractures discussed
in this lesson. Using the worksheet (Handout No. 1) in this guide,
students should record road signs they observe, what the road signs
mean, and where the analyst should next seek additional facts for
each failed part.
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SLIDE LIST
1. Threaded fasteners failure analysis 42. Fractured bolts in crankshaft
2. Threaded fasteners module overview 43. Fractured bolts in crankshaft - close up 1
3. Functions of threaded fasteners 44. Flywheel boltholes
4. Joint illustration 45. Flywheel boltholes - reverse side
5. Clamping force 46. Flywheel boltholes - close up
6. Bolt parts 47. Fractured bolts from crankshaft
7. Fastener high stress areas 48. Fractured bolt in crankshaft
8. Bolt manufacturing - shearing 49. Ductile fracture conditions
9. Forming methods 50. Severe stress raisers
10. Hammering in die 51. Stretched bolt
11. Head forming 52. Ductile fractured bolt
12. Chamfering head 53. Ductile fractured bolt
13. Grain flow illustration 54. Ductile fractured bolt - close up
14. Pointing operation 55. Ductile fractured bolt - bullet bolt
15. Shank 56. Impact shearing
16. Hardening 57. Three bolt fractures
17. Thread rolling 58. Abnormal operation results
18. Rolled threads grain flow 59. Underhead fretting
19. Bolt forming operations 60. Abnormal operation results
20. Use the proper bolt 61. Shank fretting
21. Caterpillar bolts 62. Fastener problems
22. One safe source catalog 63. Rolling problems
23. Bolt selection, etc. 64. Seam in shank & threads
24. Critical areas 65. Internal fractures from forming
25. Torquing - wrench 66. Head burst
26. Torquing - elastic/plastic curve 67. Head burst - close up
27. Bolt appearance 68. Seam that initiated head burst
28. Nut appearance 69. Fastener problems
29. Shank appearance 70. Stress corrosion cracking
30. Engaged thread appearance 71. SCC bolt fracture
31. Abnormal operation results 72. Another SCC bolt fracture
32. Fatigue crack growth illustration 73. Fracture face close up - 1
33. Fatigue fracture conditions 74. Fracture face close up - 2
34. Abnormal stress raisers 75. Fracture face close up - 3
35. Fatigue fractured bolt 76. Quench cracked bolt
36. Fatigue fractured bolt - close up 77. Quench cracked bolt - close up
37. Cyclic overload 78. Thread forming problems
38. Typical fatigue fracture initiation sites 79. Cut thread root fracture
39. Fatigue fractured bolt 80. Cut thread root fracture - close up
40. Tight joint 81. Stripped nuts
41. Loose joint - no preload 82. Analyze multiple bolt fractures
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SLIDE LIST
83. Analyze multiple bolt fractures - 2
84. Identify ductile fracture - 1
85. Identify ductile fracture - 2
86. Identify fatigue fracture - 1
87. Identify fatigue fracture - 2
88. Threaded fasteners overview/conclusion
89. Iron review
AFA STMG 002 - 96 - Student Handout
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Applied Failure Analysis Laboratory Worksheet

What do you see? What does it mean? Where do you go next?

10
SESV8002 Printed in U.S.A.
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