Common Causes of Shaft Failure

Andrew Ouwejan
METLAB LIMITED

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Material – Proven material, new, defective,
heat treatment, correct material?
Operation – Overloaded, History,
maintenance
Design – Sharp corners, small cross-section?
Environment – Corrosive, abrasive?
Somewhere, someone knows something…….

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Failure mechanisms of Shafts
Tension
Compression (eg buckling)
Torsion (twisting)
Bending
Fatigue
- Bending fatigue (reverse bending, rotating)
- Torsional fatigue
- Contact fatigue (wear)
- Corrosion

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Examples of shaft failures
Overload
Sharp keyways
Damaged keyways/keys
Poor material/heat treatment
Sharp corners
Straightening shafts

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 OVERLOAD

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Torsional shear – caused by jamming of driven gear

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Sharp Keyway and the result of overload

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Milled keyway – very common manufacturing
method
Risk area - Sharp corners in keyway causing stress
raiser
Pump received a shock load and no one thought to
check the shaft.
8 months later shaft fracture

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Damaged key / keyway

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Cause of fatigue
Old key not dressed upon installation. When tapped
into place caused a stress-raiser / notch in the shaft.

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Poor Heat treatment

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Induction hardening did not
surround circlip groove

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Result – Tensile overload through stress-raiser. Unhardened circlip
groove unable to sustain load

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Gearbox shaft – fracture after 3 months

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Ratchet marks
show multiple
fatigue initiation
sites and reverse
torque – i.e. shaft
rotating both
directions

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Shaft drawing

Location of fracture

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Cause of failure:
Sharp corner in shaft caused stress raiser which
resulted in reverse torque fatigue failure.

Cost of failure:
Instant stoppage in the production line
Back-log of product
Damaged gearbox
Lost productivity
Down time to replace
Claim on manufacturer
$ estimated to be 300-400K
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Stress raisers in shafts
1) SHAPE
Step changes, Holes, Corners and keyways

2) SURFACE DISCONTINUITIES
Damage, nicks, notches, machining marks, ID Stamps

3) INTERNAL DISCONTINUITIES
Porosity, inclusions, cracks

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Shaft Repairs

Its cheaper…….

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Straightening shafts

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Bent Duplex Stainless steel shaft
Shaft was bent in an accident
Shaft heated and straightened
Crack tested – no cracks present
Put back into service

The result 1 year later….

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 WHY?
Austenite phase in stainless steel locally work
hardening during straightening operation.
During service this harder zone gradually got harder
until a crack developed.

Questions: Should you straighten a shaft?

Should the shaft be regularly crack tested after the
straightening operation?

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
 Weld Repair

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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
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13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Sometimes we cant tell why a shaft failed…

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ
Material – Proven material, age, defective, heat treatment,
correct material?

Operation – Overloaded, History, maintenance – Repaired?

Design – Sharp corners, small cross-sections?
Environment – Corrosive, abrasive?
Consider crack testing your shafts!!!

Remember that somewhere, someone knows something…….

Principal Sponsor
13-15 November 2018
Rotorua, NZ