Some Expensive Basic

Engineering Lessons
By
Neville W. Sachs, P.E.

Head bolted
to shell 60" diam, 180" long shell
Pillow block

roller bearing
Support beam

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 1
My plan is a review of some
engineering challenges

• The goal of this presentation is to have you

think twice before working on an engineering
project that you haven’t done before.
• We try to be problem solvers and we
sometimes tend to jump in and give an answer
that doesn’t quite fit the problem.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 2
Questions to be answered
• Why is a liquid necessary for wet corrosion?
• What is galvanic corrosion?
• What is a good rule of thumb describing when
steel welds require preheating?
• When steel is thermally hardened, what
happens to its volume?
• What are three requirements for stress
corrosion cracking?

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 3
 The leak – my first view at
60,000+ gpm

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 4
 This is a leak in a plant cooling water system and it’s draining
a 375,000 gallon water tower tank. At the time of this photo the flow
is down from a peak of 60,000+ gpm. (How can you estimate the flow?)
Ruptured 24” plant
Ruptured 15 psi steam line cooling water pipe

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 5
The turbine driven pump was being
manually shut down when the
pump began to rotate backwards.

Then the check valve slammed

shut!

Marks’ Handbook for Mechanical

Engineers has a formula for
calculating the forces, but it is
dependent on the “time to closure”

Somewhere in there
is a check valve

Steam turbine driven pump

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 6
 So, why is that leak an
engineering problem?
Engineers have many responsibilities. One of them is to be certain
their job is done correctly, and I was the engineer in the area of
that pump.
The plant had created a group to improve the reliability and economics
of the boiler house where those pumps were located.
As part of that group, we investigated whether the check valves had to
be PM’d every year. It was an expensive and difficult job and
Operations Management assured us that they never had had any
problems with the valves.
Inspections and interviews after the failure found that the operators had
adopted a practice of always bringing along a second person when
they shut down the pump. That person’s job was to hit the check valve
body with a sledge hammer to be sure it closed!

I relearned a very valuable engineering lesson,

like President Reagan said, “Trust but verify”
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 7
Cross-section view
of a 24” gate valve
In this case of water
hammer the cost was
minimal. Fortunately
there was another valve in
the line and two
alternating crews of four
men each on a hand
wheel shut
the leak off before
disaster struck.
In the next example, they
weren’t so lucky

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 8
This looks like a significant leak!!
Yes, when the water runs out the door of the
power plant, the leak is a significant!!
 We should have this fixed in no time!!
1. Except the water actually went over the roof and did internal damage.
2. Notice the rust line on the pipe that shows the previous ground level.
 What happened
This automated hydroelectric generating station was
shutting down one of the turbines when the pressure
pulse ruptured the line (penstock).
The leak turbulence eventually ripped out a six foot long
section of the 72” diameter penstock and attempted to
drain the holding pond.
The damage was that the station was off line for about a
year and the generators had to be essentially totally
rebuilt. As we understand it, the loss was well in excess
of $10,000,000.
Inspection of the other three 100-year-old penstocks
showed that they all had significant thinning on the
bottom where they were exposed to damp soil.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 12
 The engineering lesson –
Where there is moisture there
will be corrosion!
• In 1957 Melvin Romanoff published what is
generally recognized as the best long-term
detailed study of underground corrosion. Since
then there have been similar analyses and there
is lots of data available.
• The data essentially says that, if the soil is wet,
there will be corrosion. The rapidity of the
corrosion will vary with soil conditions, but we
engineers have to recognize that
old wet pipes are always weak pipes.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 13
 Water hammer calculation

• The formula effectively says F = ma

• But, in the case of that slammed check valve, when
a = - ꝏ the force is also close to infinite
• One place we’ve frequently seen water hammer is
with manually operated ¼ turn valves.

• The other place we’ve frequently seen water

hammer-like forces is with poorly trapped steam
lines when the phase change of flashing steam can
drive a slug of water at incredible speed. (We’ve
seen it literally explode a vented condensate sump!)

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 14
Going back to that hydro plant failure …

Analysis of the removed section showed long term

corrosion along the lower center of the pipe.
 That was uniform corrosion. This was
another corrosion problem - but in this
example it was galvanic
In uniform corrosion the anode and
cathode sites uniformly swap Product Evaporator
positions. In galvanic corrosion they
are always the same.

In this galvanic example the bottom

cone was 0.43” thick Monel 400 and
for many years the corrosion rate
averaged about 0.004”/yr. Monel Cone

The material loss was concentrated

at the top of the cone and they
decided to replace the top portion
with Inconel.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 16
 Galvanic Corrosion

The remaining Monel

measured 0.38” thick when Product Evaporator
they replaced the upper
section with Inconel. Inconel 625 Replacement Section

Ten months later the cone

Monel 400 Cone
sprang a leak here. (The
bottom of the cone was expected to
last at least another 40 years and it
was the top that had always failed.)

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 17
 Nine months and 3/8” gone!
Inconel 625
CONE Product Evaporator

SECTION Inconel 625 Replacement Section

Monel 400 Cone

Monel
Black material
400
is the external
support steel Scale Inconel 625 is
the cathode
while the Monel
400 is the anode

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 18
Galvanic Corrosion
– Where the anode is always attacked.
This “Galvanic Series” is the
Active (corrodes) result of using sea water at 200C.
Metal Voltage Other conditions may change the
Magnesium - 1.75 way the metals interact
Zinc - 1.10
Aluminum-Zinc Alloy - 1.05
Aluminum (pure) - 0.8
Mild Steel (clean) - 0.5 to 0.8
Mild Steel (rusted) - 0.2 to 0.5
Gray Cast Iron - 0.5
Copper, Brass - 0.2
High Silicon Cast Iron - 0.2
Steel Mill Scale - 0.2
Graphite + 0.4
Platinum + 0.4

Noble (gets protected)

Galvanic Corrosion
– Where the anode is always attacked.
Active (corrodes)
Metal Voltage
Magnesium - 1.75
Zinc - 1.10
Aluminum-Zinc Alloy - 1.05 When you replace
Aluminum (pure) - 0.8
Mild Steel (clean) - 0.5 to 0.8 pipe sections in
Mild Steel (rusted) - 0.2 to 0.5 kind, the new piece
Gray Cast Iron - 0.5 is ALWAYS the
Copper, Brass - 0.2
High Silicon Cast Iron - 0.2
anode.
Steel Mill Scale - 0.2
Graphite + 0.4
Platinum + 0.4

Noble (gets protected)

 What do you think about the
chance of galvanic corrosion
on an aluminum subway car ?
If it was held together with aluminum rivets that
were anodic to the sheet structural aluminum,
what do you think happened?

They had to replace EVERY RIVET!

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 21
 If there is a conductive liquid,
there will be corrosion!
Important points:
• Different materials have different galvanic
potentials.
• Those potentials can change with the solution
and the temperature.
• Be very careful of the cathode anode ratio.
(If there is a large cathode and a small anode, all of the
corrosion current will be concentrated on the small area.)
• More conductive solutions are more efficient in
conducting corrosion currents.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 22
 Speaking of expensive leaks
This plant had a gigantic press with eight 30” OD, 3000 psi,
≈ 150” stroke hydraulic cylinders. Each of these huge
cylinders had four 3¾” diameter, 193” long tie rods. Below is
a plan view of the press with the cylinders and tie rods

Cylinder and Cylinder Tie Rod Locations Tie rods

B C B C B C B C
Cylinders
5 6 7 8
A D A D A D A D

B C B C B C B C

1 2 3 4
A D A D A D A D

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 23
The plant had a fatigue failure of one of
the tie rods on Cylinder #1 and we were
told the repair cost was $1,000,000.

In order to do the repair, the press had to be partially

disassembled and the floor of the pit below it modified.
Their engineering staff hired an “experienced maintenance
company” to do the repairs and that involved some massive
work. To make moving the cylinders easier, the maintenance
company welded lifting eyes to the sides of the cylinders.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 24
 A side view of one of the
cylinders with a lifting eye
Lifting eye
with fluffy Side view
debris of cylinder
on top wall

3¾” diam
tie rods

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 25
 The bad part is the leak

Lifting eye
with debris
on top

This is a leakage
pattern where
hydraulic fluid is
running down
the cylinder
sidewall

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 26
 A wet fluorescent
magnetic particle test
of the lifting eye weld
that shows an
extensive crack.

The “experienced
maintenance
company” didn’t do
any material testing
and didn’t use a formal
welding procedure
when they added the
lifting eyes.

Two eyes/cylinder,
eight cylinders,
16 sets of cracks and
16 leaks!
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 27
 Two eyes/cylinder,
eight cylinders,
16 sets of cracks and
16 leaks because of a
lack of welding
knowledge!

What would it cost to

replace twelve 30”OD
hydraulic cylinders?

They closed and sold

the plant – because
their engineering
people and their
contractor didn’t
understand basic
welding procedures.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 28
Welding preheat requirements
ASM and AWS handbooks (and others) have
detailed instructions about how you can
determine needed preheat temperatures. (I use a
Lincoln Welding Preheat Calculator and there are numerous apps.)

To avoid cracking, you have to specify low

hydrogen welding techniques and if the
metal is thicker than ½” (12mm) and has
more than 0.27% carbon, you have to
consider preheating.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 29
 Some shaft welding preheat
guidelines*
Shaft Preheat Temperatures for LH Welds
Material 1” diam 2” diam 3” diam 4” diam
AISI 1025 700F 1000F 1500F 2000F
AISI 1030 1000F 1500F 2000F 2500F
AISI 1035 1000F 2000F 2500F 3000F
AISI 1040 2000F 3000F 3000F 3500F
AISI 1045 3000F 3500F 3750F 4000F
AISI 4140 4000F 4500F 4500F 5000F
AISI 4340 5000F 5500F 5500F 5500F

LH = low hydrogen processes

* From Practical Maintenance Page #1 - Repair Welding of Motor and Machine Shafts

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 30
 Engineered Chain Fractures
and a similar welding lesson
• The photo shows a section of engineered chain
from a bucket elevator out of a cement plant.
(Photo courtesy of Reynold Jeffrey Plc)
• The plant had repeated problems with the side
links coming off the chain.
• So they welded “tie pieces”
between the side links.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 31
 A broken link and “tie piece” – and a
repeated welding metallurgy lesson

The link is 5/8” thick and SAE 1045 steel, i.e., 0.45% carbon
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 32
 A classic brittle fracture

The chevrons show the cracking started at the toe of the weld.
Welding heated the metal and the molten weld nugget solidified at
about 27000F, and then, because it hadn’t been preheated, the mass of
the part was enough to quench and harden the area around the weld.
When you harden steel you change the molecular structure and
increase the volume by up to about 3%, creating an internal stress.
Then the added operating and misalignment stresses cracked the links.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 33
 Why is carbon content
important?
• It largely governs the heat treatability of the metal and harder
metals are almost always stronger. (This is one reason why
hardness testing is important.)

• Below about 0.27% carbon, some thermal hardening can take

place but ideal microstructures can’t be formed.

• The carbon allows higher hardness to be reached, while other

alloying elements, such as chrome, nickel, and molybdenum,
allow the hardness to penetrate deeper into a part.

© 2018 by Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Materials and Mechanical Engineering and Failure Analysis 34
Calculating the carbon equivalent (CE)
is the best approach to prevent cracks

• CE = %C + (%Mn + %S)/5 + (%Cr + %Mn + %V)/6 + (%Cu + %Ni)/15

• If the carbon equivalent is more than 0.40 then preheating may be
needed.
• If the equivalent is above 0.60 then preheating is generally necessary.
• There are lots of minor variations on this formula

• Some theoretical examples:

• SAE 1030 0.28 to 0.34 C + 0.60 to 0.90 Mn CE could be between
0.40 and 0.52
• SAE 1045 0.43 to 0.50 C + 0.60 to 0.90 Mn CE could be between
0.55 and 0.68
• But that assumes there are no trace alloys in the scrap!
© 2016 by Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Materials and Mechanical Engineering and Failure Analysis 35
Effect of alloying elements
on steel hardening
Jominy specimen distance (mm) from quenched end
0 10 20 30 40 50
60

from ASTM A 370 (psi x 1000)

Approximate tensile strength
4340– added 0.25% moly, 301
Rockwell C hardness

50 1% chrome, 1.8% Nickel 255

215
40 182
4140– added 0.2% moly,1% chrome
156
30 138
4042 – added 0.25% moly
123
20 1040- added carbon 110
1020
10
0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00
Jominy specimens distance (in) from quenched end
In reality, the Rockwell C scale does not exist below HRC 20.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 36
A little more on metallurgy
and heat treatment
• The paper mill management was under economic
pressure from corporate and trying to make every
ton possible.
• Predictive monitoring had said one of the dryer
bearings was failing badly. But production was
important and they had been pumping grease
into it, trying to keep it running for another week
until the scheduled shutdown day.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 37
 What happened
Head bolted Drive gear
to shell
60" diam, 180" long shell
Pillow block
roller bearing
Support beam

Overgreasing allowed
grease to collect here
… And then the fire started
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 38
 The fire was impressive!
Head bolted Drive gear
to shell
60" diam, 180" long shell
Pillow block
roller bearing
Support beam

They took about 10 minutes to get there, but the plant fire
department rapidly hosed it down and put it out.

The decision was to pull the remains of the bearing off

the shaft and replace it, and about 12 hours later they
restarted the machine.

… And the fun began 24 hours later

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 39
 … when the shaft broke – and
the dryer dropped!

Horseshoe-shaped hardened area

from being quenched by the fire hose
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 40
 Details on why it happened
Head bolted Drive gear
to shell
60" diam, 180" long shell
Pillow block
roller bearing
Support beam

The bearing was failing and grinding itself apart, and

the resultant heat caught the grease on fire. The fire
was burning for several minutes before they could get a
hose on it and the shaft was red hot. Then the blast of
water from fire hose quenched and hardened the shaft.
That horseshoe-shaped section was about HRC50
while the remainder was HRC22.
(In this example, the lesson is that the management
should have listened to their Reliability Engineer who had
argued that the dryer head should be changed.)
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 41
 It doesn’t have to be heat
treated to have thermal stress
Process vessel demolition

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 42
 304 stainless steel reactor with
carbon steel structural supports

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 43
Thermal expansion
• Carbon steel – 6.3 x 10-6 in/in/F0
• Type 304 stainless steel – 9.6 x 10-6 in/in/F0
• The vessel runs at a constant temperature of
about 1400F but the external steel holddown
ring and roof members fluctuate with the
ambient
– and the sun!

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 44
The major stress was the residual weld stress
but the thermal expansion stresses added to it

These 304 stainless vessels were downwind from a series

of large cooling towers whose mist is high in chlorides.

The result was a series of stress corrosion cracks,

eventually almost 1000, that continually grew deeper as
time passed. (But interestingly, the length of the cracks
didn’t grow past the immediate stress field from the welds.)

As engineers, we should realize that residual weld stresses

are yield strength stresses and are enough to cause
significant SCC when chlorides are present.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 45
 Notice the black
product leakage
(actually that is
oxidized product)

And the multiple stress

corrosion cracks along
a weld

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 46
 In this case the cost was
astronomical
1. Two forty foot diameter and a sixty foot diameter
reactor were replaced.
2. The plant went through several slowdowns.
3. Comment – The decision to replace the vessels was
made because the projected number and size of the
leaks was growing at a rate that would make them
have to formally list the reactors as leakage sites,
and the product was recognized as being
spontaneously exothermic.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 47
Stainless steel is also prone to pitting
corrosion in stagnant locations
A primary metals producer installed a 304 stainless steel
fire water line over an operating area where there was
molten metal. They then filled the water line with “lake
water”.
The lake water contained some solids and some minute
organisms, including the type of anaerobic bacteria that
can eat through steel and stainless steel pipes.
The microbes secreted acids that pitted through the pipe
wall. The leaks then oozed down a vertical run,
eventually evaporating, but as the water evaporated, the
chloride concentration increased.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 48
 Stress corrosion cracking in a
section of fire water line wall

When they ran a test of the main fire pump the line ruptured
and this photo shows an incredible network of SCC cracks.

Later NDT of the line found several other SCC cracked areas.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 49
Guidelines for understanding SCC
in austenitic stainless steel
1. SCC needs a combination of stress, a material that can be
affected by the environment, and that environment.
2. As temperatures increase, the likelihood of SCC increases,
but stagnant conditions greatly increase the probability.
3. Most SCC occurs in the range of 1000 to 3000F.
4. Usually, if the temperature is well below 1000F, 1000 ppm of
chlorides is needed for cracking. But at temperatures above
1000F, 100 ppm is often enough to do damage. (One text
says above 500C, 50 ppm can cause SCC in Type 304.)
5. Any time there are evaporating solutions the chance is
extremely high.
6. Every know metal has an environment where SCC can
occur. For example, steel with nitrates, copper with
ammonia, etc.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 50
 Back to the first challenge

“Trust, but verify”

This failure happened because the engineering
staff responsible for quality control checking
didn’t do their job.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 51
 This is the stack
before it fell and
absolutely crushed
the electrician’s
truck

The driver was

killed 30 years to
the day that his
dad was killed in
an industrial
accident.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 52
The crushed stack after
it was lifted off the truck

The collection of bolts

found around the base
of the stack. They failed
from fatigue, i.e., they
weren’t properly
tightened.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 53
Why were the stack bolts – and
many of the structural bolts –
not properly tightened?

Why did the electrician die?

- because the engineering staff responsible for
quality control checking didn’t do their job.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 54
Questions to be answered
• Why is a liquid necessary for wet corrosion?
• What is galvanic corrosion?
• What is a good rule of thumb describing when
steel welds require preheating?
• When steel is thermally hardened, what
happens to its volume?
• What are three requirements for stress
corrosion cracking?

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 55
 Answers
Why is a liquid necessary for wet corrosion?
What is galvanic corrosion?
What is a good rule of thumb describing when weld preheating is needed?

• Why is a liquid necessary for wet corrosion?

Electrons flow through the metal from the
cathode to the anode and the liquid enables
the circuit to be completed.
• What is galvanic corrosion? Where the anode
and cathode don’t change positions and the
one, the anode, is always attacked.
• What is a good rule of thumb describing when
steel welds require preheating? When the steel
is thicker than ½” and greater than 0.27%
carbon.
(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 56
 Answers
Why is a liquid necessary for wet corrosion?
What is galvanic corrosion?
What is a good rule of thumb describing when steel welds require preheating?
When steel is thermally hardened, what happens to its volume?
What are three requirements for stress corrosion cracking?

• When steel is thermally hardened, what happens

to its volume? It increases by about 3%.
• What are three requirements for stress corrosion
cracking? Needed are a material that is sensitive
to an environment, the environment, and
sufficient stress.

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 57
 Thank you for listening

Any questions or comments?

If you think of questions later, please don’t hesitate to

call or email me.
Phone - 315-436-1257
Email – nevsachseng@gmail.com

(c) 2018 Neville W. Sachs, P.E., PLLC Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Failure Analysis 58