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Case St u dies in En gin eerin g Failu re An alysis 2 (2 014) 169 173

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Case St u dies in En gin eerin g Failu re An alysis


j o u r n al h o m ep ag e: w w w .el sev i er .co m /l o cat e/csef a

Case stu dy

Failu re analysis of a h elical com p ression sprin g for a h eavy


veh icles su sp en sion syst em
You li Zh u *, Yan li Wan g, Yu an lin Hu an g
Faculty of Remanufa cturing Engineering, Aca demy of Armored Force Engineering, No. 21 Dujia kan, Changxindian, 100072 Beijing,
PR China

A R T I C LE I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 5 Novem ber 2012
Received in revised form 23 Ju n e 2014
Accep t ed 1 Au gu st 2014
Available on lin e 15 Au gu st 2014

This paper an alyzed w hy a com pression coil sprin g fra ct ured at th e tran sit ion posit ion
from t h e bearing coil t o the first act ive coil in service, w hile t h e n om in al st ress here sh ould
alw ays be m uch less than t hat at th e inside coil position of a fully act ive coil. Visu al
observations indica ted t hat a w ear scar w as form ed on the first active coil an d t he fracture
surface show ed radiat ing ridges em an at ing from t he w ear scar. Scann in g electron
m icroscopy exam ination show ed crescen t sh aped region and bea ch m arks, typical of
fat igu e failu re. Zn Cap h ph osp hate layer an d pain tin g aroun d th e contact zon e w ere w orn
out du e to cont act an d friction an d resu lted in corrosion and corrosion p its indu ced local
stress con cen t ration . Stress an alysis in dicat ed severe stress singu larit ies at t he edges of the
cont a ct zone, w h ich facilit at ed cycle slip an d fat igue crack n uclea tion. Recom m en dat ion s
w e re also m ade for im p rovin g the fatigue p erform a nce of t he su spen sion sprin gs.
2014 Publishe d by Else vier Ltd. This is an open access article un der t he CC BY-NC-ND
license (h ttp ://creat ivecom m on s.org/licen ses/by-nc-n d/3.0/).

Keywords:
Con t act
Wear
Corrosion
Fat igu e failu re
Coil sp rin g

1. Ba ck gr o u n d
Helical com p ression sp rin gs, as on e of t h e p rim ary elast ic m em bers of t h e su sp en sion syst em of veh icles, are w id ely u sed
in au t o in d u st ry. Th ey con n ect t h e w h eel t o t h e b od y elast ically an d st ore t h e en ergy t o absorb an d sm oot h ou t sh ocks th at
are received by th e w h eel from road irregu larit ies an d t ran sm it t ed t o t h e body. Th is d yn am ic service load in g con d it ion oft en
resu lt s in fat igu e failu re of t h e su sp en sion sp rin g in a variet y of w ays. Raw m at erials d efect , su rface im p erfect ion s, im p rop er
h eat t reat m en t , corrosion an d d ecarbu rizat ion are gen erally recogn ized cau ses of fat igu e failu re of su sp en sion sp rin g [1 ]. In
service, t h e st ress on t h e in n er su rface of an act ive coil of t h e h elical sp rin g is t h e posit ion of m axim u m st ress an d t h e coil
su rface it self is vu ln erable t o im p erfect ion s in m at erials an d su rface in t egrit y t h at serve as st ress con cen t rat ion poin ts
brin gin g ab ou t fat igu e crack in it iat ion [2]. Ad dit ion ally, it is recogn ized th at com p ression sp rin gs often fract u red at t h e
tran sit ion p osit ion from t h e b earin g coil t o t h e first act ive coil [3]. Th e follow in g aspect s su ch as poor sh ot peen in g becau se of
n o gap or sm all gap b etw een t h e bearin g coil an d t h e first act ive coil [4 ], ben d in g st ress du e t o p ivot in g of th e first act ive coil
ab ou t t h e en d t ip [4 ], larger eccen t ricity of t h e load in g force in d u ced larger m axim u m n et -t en sile st ress [5], an d corrosion
du e to collect ion of corrosive flu id in t h e sm aller gap bet w een t h e b earin g coil an d th e first act ive coil. Th e ab ove su m m ary
sh ow s t h at a variet y of factors m ay cau se fat igu e failu re of h elical com p ression sp rin gs in en gin eerin g app licat ion s. In fact , it
is oft en t h e con cu rren t act s of several of t h e above cau ses t h at resu lt s in sp rin g fat igu e. Ou r recen t w orks abou t failu re

* Corresp on din g au th or. Tel.: +86 10 66 7171 68; fax: +86 10 66 7188 74.
E-mail addresses: you lizh u @tom .com , zh u yl2011 @sin a.com (Y. Zh u ).
h t t p://dx.d oi.org/1 0.1 016/j.csefa.2 014.08.001
2213 -2 902/ 20 14 Pu blish ed b y Elsevier Lt d. Th is is an open access art icle u n d er th e CC BY-NC-ND licen se (h t tp ://creat ivecom m on s.org/licen ses/by-n c-n d /
3.0 /).

170

Y. Zhu et a l. / Case Studies in Engineering Failure An alysis 2 (2014) 169173

an alysis of a h elical com p ression sp rin gs of a h eavy veh icle revealed t h at st ress sin gu larit y d u e to n on -Hert zian con t act
b et w een t h e b earin g coil an d t h e first act ive coil p layed crit ical role in t h e fat igu e crack in it iat ion . Th is paper em p h asized
con t act st ress an alysis in ad d it ion to fract ograp h ic an alysis of t h e fract u re su rface, m icrost ru ct u re an d ch em ical an alysis of
t h e sp rin g m at erial.
A h eavy veh icles su sp en sion h elical com pression sp rin g fract u red in service ju st at t h e t ran sit ion p osit ion from t h e
b earin g coil t o th e first act ive coil. Th e sp rin g, h avin g closed en d s d esign , w it h t ot al len gt h of 53 2 m m , coil rad iu s of 82.5 m m ,
seven act ive coils an d tw o bearin g coils, w as cold -coiled from a w ire of36 m m in d iam et er. Th e sp rin g w as m ade
of 6 0Si2 CrVA [6], a h igh st ren gt h sp rin g steel w it h u lt im at e ten sile stren gt h of 18 6 0 MPa an d yield in g st ress of 1 66 5 MPa.
Th e sprin g w as qu en ch ed an d tem p ered w it h t yp ical m icrost ru ct u re of t em p ered t roost it e. Before p ain t in g, t h e sp rin g
w as grit blast ed an d ph osp h at ed.
2 . Exp e r im e n t a l p r o ce d u r e s
2.1. Visual observations
As Fig. 1 su ggest s, t h e ed ge of t h e fract u re su rface ext en d ed at an an gle of 45 8 w it h resp ect t o t h e w ires axis, e.g., cracks
grew as a spiral arou n d t h e su rface of t h e axis, t yp ical of t orsion al fat igu e of a rou n d axle u n d er cyclic t orsion . W ear scar cou ld
b e seen clearly on t h e u p per su rface of t h e first act ive coil du e t o con t act an d frict ion w it h t h e bearin g coil an d t h e w ear scar,
as in d icat ed b y t h e arrow in Fig. 1, w as flat an d sm oot h . Pain t in g close t o t h e w ear scar w as disb on d ed , resu lt ed in direct
exp osu re of m et al t o en viron m en t . In Fig. 1(b ), rad iat in g rid ges rad iatin g from t h e w ear scar cou ld be cau gh t easily on t h e
fract u re su rface, su ggest in g m et al fat igu e, an d t h e focu s of t h e rad iat in g rid ges w as su p p osed t o b e t h e sit e of fat igu e origin .
A p last ic extru sion as a resu lt of con t act an d im p act , n ear th e fat igu e origin , w as also visible, referrin g t o t h e arrow in Fig. 1 (b).
In ad dit ion , con t am in at ion an d corrosion p rod u ct d u e t o exp osu re t o t h e en viron m en t aft er t h e fract u re cou ld also
b e observed on t h e fract u re su rface.
2.2. Scan ning electron microscopy
A fract u re su rface sp ecim en w as cu t n ear t h e w ear scar of t h e failed sp rin g an d w as clean ed u lt rason ically in acet on e t o
rem ove t h e con t am in at ion an d corrosion , w h ereaft er, a QUANT-200 scan n in g elect ron m icroscop e (SEM) w as u sed t o
exam in e t h e det ailed feat u res of t h e fract u re su rface. Refer t o Fig. 2, a crescen t sh ap ed region an d beach m arks w ere visible,
w h ich are t ypical fat igu e feat u res. Corrosion pit s can b e ob served on t h e su rface of t h e sp rin g, especially, a corrosion p it w as
form ed at t h e cen t er of t h e fatigu e origin . Fig. 3(a) is a close view of t h e fat igu e origin in d icat ed b y th e arrow in Fig. 2 . Fig. 3(b)

Fig. 1. Fract u re p h ot ograp h s of t h e failed sprin g. (a) Fract u red sp rin g a n d (b) close-u p of t h e fract u re su rface.

Y. Zhu et al. / Case Studies in Engineering Fa ilure Ana lysis 2 (2014) 169 173

171

Fig. 2. SEM p h ot ograph of th e fract u re su rface a ft er u ltrason ic clean in g.

Fig. 3. SEM p h ot ograph s of t h e fat igu e origin aft er u lt rason ic clean in g. (a) Close view of th e fat igu e origin an d (b) m a gn ified view of t h e corrosion pit, see t h e
righ t arrow in (a).

is a SEM im age sh ow in g a m agn ified view of t h e corrosion p it w it h d ept h of abou t 100 m m . It is believed t h at it w as t h e
corrosion p it w h ich in d u ced stress con cen t rat ion an d con t ribu ted t o fat igu e n u cleat ion . Corrosion w as form ed as a resu lt of
disb on din g of th e prot ect in g p ain t an d ru p t u re of t h e Zn Caph ph osp h at e layer du e t o im pact an d w ear of t h e closed en d .
Not ew ort h y is t h at t h e fat igu e origin (focu s of th e radiat in g rid ges or cen t er of t h e crescen t ), as in dicat ed b y t h e w h it e arrow ,
w as locat ed at t h e righ t h an d sid e of t h e w ear scar. Th e reason for t h is p h en om en on w ill b e discu ssed lat t er in Sect ion 3 .
3. St r ess a n alysis
As p reviou sly in d icat ed t h at t h e fat igu e origin w as locat ed at t h e righ t h an d side of t h e w ear scar, t h is w as su pp osed t o
be correlated t o t h e con t act an d frict ion b eh avior of t h e closed en d s. In fact , du rin g service t h e dyn am ic load an d sh ocks
received by t h e w h eels from road irregu larit ies resu lt ed in con t act an d im p act b et w een t h e b earin g coil an d t h e first act ive
coil du e t o t h e closed en ds design . As a resu lt of rep eat ed con t act an d im pact , t h e con t act su rfaces w ere gradu ally w orn
ou t an d n on -Hert zian con t act t ook p lace accord in gly. In w h at follow ed , a fin ite elem en t m od el w as b u ilt t o sim u lat e t h e
con t act b eh avior of t h e closed en d s so as t o u n derst an d w h at roles t h e con t act st ress h as p layed in t h e fatigu e failu re.
In con siderat ion of t h e fact t h at th e len gt h of th e w ire in t h e circu m feren t ial d irect ion of t h e sp rin g coil is m u ch larger t h an
th e d iam et er of t h e w ire, a p lan e strain m odel rep resen tin g t h e con t act bet w een t h e b earin g coil an d t h e first act ive coil w as
bu ilt , w h ere t h e w id t h of t h e con t act zon e (5 .5 m m ) w as evalu at ed accord in g t o t h e SEM p h ot ograp h of t h e fract u re su rface,
referrin g t o Fig. 2. A pressu re load of 2 00 MPa w as app lied on t op of t h e bearin g coil an d n od es on bot t om of t h e w orkin g coil
w ere rest rain ed from m ot ion . Fig. 4 (a) an d (b) sh ow ed t h e con t act p ressu re an d t h e sh ear st ress p rofiles, resp ectively. It w as
ob viou s t h at bot h t h e con t act p ressu re an d t h e sh ear st ress exh ib it ed severe sin gu larit ies at t h e ed ges of t h e con t act zon e.
Wh ile t h e h igh er con t act p ressu re im plied severer w ear, it w as t h e sin gu larit ies in sh ear st ress t h at facilit at ed cycle slip
an d con t rib u t ed t o crack n u cleat ion . As a con seq u en ce, fatigu e origin w as n ot in itiat ed at t h e m id d le of th e con t act zon e.
Takin g in t o con sid erat ion t h at w ear w as a grad u al p rocess in service, so t h at t h e w idt h of t h e con t act zon e in creased w it h

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Y. Zhu et a l. / Case Studies in Engineering Failure An alysis 2 (2014) 169173

Fig. 4. FEM resu lt s of stress dist ribu tion s in th e con t act zon e. (a) Con t act p ressu re an d (b) sh ear st ress.

t im e. At earlier st age of t h e con t act , st ress sin gu larit y at t h e ed ge of t h e con t act cau sed fat igu e crack in it iat ion , w h ereaft er,
t h e fat igu e crack d evelop ed con t in u ou sly w h ile t h e con t act zon e in creased grad u ally. As a resu lt , t h e fat igu e origin w as
n ot p recisely at t h e ed ge of t h e fin al con t act zon e.
4 . Ch em ica l a n a lysis a n d m icr o st r u ct u r e o b se r va t io n
4.1. Chem ical analysis
An exam in at ion of m at erial com position w as an alyzed by Direct Read in g Sp ect rom et er, an d sh ow ed t h at t h e
com p ositions of failed sp rin g w ere w it h in t h e sp ecificat ion lim it s of 6 0Si2 CrVA sp rin g st eel grad e [6] (refer t o Table 1 ).
4.2. Microstructure observation
A sp ecim en w as cu t from t h e failed sp rin g (n ear t h e fract u re su rface), p olish ed an d et ch ed u sin g 4 % n it al as st an d ard
m et allograp h y t ech n iq u es t o reveal m icrost ru ct u res. Opt ical m icroscop y of t h e sp rin g sam p le sh ow ed a fin e tem pered
t roost it e m icrostru ct u re [6 ].
4.3. Hardness m easurem ent
A h ardn ess su rvey w as m ade across t h e cross sect ion of t h e m et allograph ically p rep ared sam p le of t h e failed sprin g.
Th e sam p le sh ow ed h ard n ess valu e of 52.3 HRC, m et t h e crit erion of t h e sp rin g st eel [6].
5 . Resu lt s a n d d iscu ssio n
Microst ru ct u re an d h ard n ess m et sp ecificat ion s, an d t h e ch em ical com p osit ion of sp rin g st eel con form ed t o t h e sp rin g
m an u fact u res sp ecificat ion .
Crescen t sh a p ed re gion , be ach m arks an d r ad iat in g rid ges on t h e fract u re su rface a scer t ain e d t h at t h e fr act u re of
t h e sp rin g w as ca u se d b y m et al fat igu e an d t h e cra ck origin w as loca t ed at t h e righ t h an d sid e of t h e w ea r scar b et w een
t h e b earin g co il an d t h e first act ive coil.
Visu al an d SEM an alyses revealed t h at d yn am ic service load in g resu lt ed in d isbon d of su rface p ain t in g an d w orn ou t
of t h e p h osph at e layer d u e t o t h e closed en ds d esign .

Ta b le 1
Ch em ical com posit ion of 60Si2CrVA/w t %.
Com posit ion

GB/T1222-1 984
Failed sp rin g

Si

Mn

Cr

0.56 0.64
0.56

1.40 1.80
1.57

0.400.70
0.54

0.90 1.20
0.95

0.10 0.20
0.16

Ni
0.35
0.12

S
0 .03 0
0 .008

Cu
0.03 0
0.005

0.2 5
0.07

Y. Zhu et al. / Case Studies in Engineering Fa ilure Ana lysis 2 (2014) 169 173

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Corrosion p its w ere form ed as a resu lt of m et al exposu re t o t h e en viron m en t at m osp h ere an d collect ion of flu id at t h e
sm all gap b et w een bearin g coil an d t h e first act ive coil. Corrosion pit s act ed as local st ress raiser t h at accelerat ed fat igu e
crack in it iat ion an d p rop agat ion .
Con t act stress an alysis sh ow ed t h at st ress sin gu larit ies p resen t ed at t h e ed ges of t h e con t act zon e, an d it w as t h e severer
sh ear st ress at t h ese locat ion s t h at facilit at ed cycle slip an d resu lt ed in crack n u cleat ion . Th is resu lt in t erp ret ed t h e
ob servat ion t h at fatigu e in it iat ed at t h e righ t h an d side of th e w ear scar.
In view of t h e above an alyses, it can be con clu d ed t h at it w as t h e closed en d s design t h at resu lt ed in w orn of t h e coil
su rface an d corrosion d u e t o collect ion of flu id at t h e con t act region . Th e corrosion p it s, in t u rn , act ed as local st ress raiser
th at p rom ot ed fat igu e in it iat ion an d t h e st ress sin gu larit ies exh ib it ed at t h e ed ges of t h e n on -Hert zian con t act facilit at ed
cycle slip an d d et erm in ed crack in it iat ion sit e. On ce t h e in it ial crack w as form ed , it p rop agat ed by t h e act of t h e m axim u m
prin cip al t en sile st ress, w h ose direct ion su b t en ded an an gle of ap p roxim at ely 458 w it h t h e sp rin g w ire axis [5]. At last ,
th e su sp en sion sp rin g failed d u e t o over loadin g of th e rem ain ed sect ion of th e w ire.
6. Co n clu sio n s a n d r e co m m en d a t ion s
(1) It w as t h e con cu rren t act s of t h e w ear, corrosion t oget h er w it h st ress sin gu larit ies at t h e con t act zon e of th e closed en ds
t h at resu lted in fat igu e crack in it iat ion of t h e su sp en sion sp rin g.
(2) On ce t h e in it ial crack w as form ed , it w as t h e m axim u m prin cipal t en sile st ress t h at forced t h e crack t o p rop agat e alon g
t h e direct ion of 45 8 w it h t h e sp rin g w ire axis.
(3) It is st ron gly recom m en d ed t o ad op t a n on -closed en d s d esign in ord er t o avoid w ear an d corrosion of t h e su spen sion
sp rin g.
(4) Solid lu b ricat ion film , if possib le, can b e u sed in t h e closed en d s t o great ly redu ce t h e fret t in g an d corrosion .
(5) Local h ard facin g t o en h an ce t h e w ear resist an ce of t h e en d coils can be d on e if n ecessary.

Ack n o w le d ge m e n t
Th e au t h ors are grat efu l t o t h e fin an cial su p p ort of t h is w ork from Beijin g Mu n icipal Nat u ral Scien ce Fou n d at ion ,
u n der gran t n u m ber 309 3 02 7.
Re fer e n ces
[1 ] Praw oto Y, Iked a M, Man ville SK, Nish ikaw a A. Design an d failu re m od es of au tom ot ive su sp en sion sp rin gs. En g Fail An al 2 008;15:11 5574 .
[2 ] Wah l AM. Mech an ical sprin gs. McGraw -Hill Book Com p an y; 19 84.
[3 ] Todin ov MT. In te rn al reports on t h e project h igh -st ren gt h st eels for au tom otive su sp en sion sp rin g, 1 993 1996 (fu n d ed by DTI a n d EPSRC, UK).
Th e Un iversit y of Birm in gh am , Sch ool of Metallu rgy an d Materials, Novem ber 1994 , Ju n e 1995 an d Ju ly 199 6.
[4 ] Hayes M. Te ch -sprin g rep ort 15 en d coil fa ilu res. In st it u t e of Sprin g Tech n ology. h t t p ://w w w .sprin g-t ech .eu /Rep ort s/Rep ort%2015 .pd f.
[5 ] Todin ov MT. Maxim u m p rin cip al t en sile stress an d fat igu e crack for com p ression sp rin gs. In t J Mech Sci 19 99;41:35 770.
[6 ] GB/T12 22-200 7, Sprin g st eels, Ch in a Stan d ard Express, Beijin g; 2007 [in Ch in ese].

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