Engineering Failure Analysis 18 (2011) 11341139

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Short communication

Wear failure of truck diesel engine tappets

Xiaolei Xu , Zhiwei Yu, Xiaoyan Guo
College of Electromechanics and Material Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 28 August 2010
Received in revised form 22 December 2010
Accepted 29 December 2010
Available online 12 January 2011

2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Tappet
Wear failure
Chilled cast-iron
Failure analysis

1. Introduction
Three tappets assembled in a truck diesel engine were received to analyse failure causes. Wear with various degrees occurred at the ends of the tappets, which serviced only for 347 km. The tappets are made of CrMoCu alloy cast-iron. The end
of tappet is chilled to secure a harden face structured of white iron with a small amount of micro-spherical graphite [1,2].
The depth of chilled layer is specied as 24 mm and the hardness of the hardened face as HRC58-63. The amount of carbide
(M3C) is demanded more than 40% within the chilled depth. Tempered martensite of matrix microstructure should be obtained after quenching and tempering process.
2. Investigation methods
The chemical composition of the failed tappets was determined by spectrographic chemical analysis method. The axialsection microstructure was observed by OPM and SEM. Wear morphology on the end of tappets was observed by visual and
SEM. The hardness proles on the chilled end were made by Rockwell meter.
3. Observation results
3.1. Visual observation
Three serviced tappets and a new tappet are shown in Fig. 1 (labeled as Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4). Very severe wear occurred at
the end of tappet 1, whose end had been worn out to form a hole of 10 mm  8 mm in the centre and oxidation color presents on the end (Fig. 1a). The end of tappet 2 became a concave by intensely wear (Fig. 1a). The axial wear thickness at the
external edge on the end for tappets 1 and 2 is respectively about 5.0 mm and 2.5 mm, while, only 0.2 mm for tappet 3
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 0411 84729613; fax: +86 0411 84728670.
E-mail address: xxiaolei@dlmu.edu.cn (X. Xu).
1350-6307/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2010.12.022

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X. Xu et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 18 (2011) 11341139

(a)
10mm
8mm

No.2

No.1

No.4

No.3

(b)

39.53mm

No.1

42.03mm

44.28mm

No.2

44.48mm

No.4

No.3

Fig. 1. Failed tappets: (a) overlook view; (b) front view.

The end
1.5mm

No.1

The end
1.0mm

No.2

No.3

Fig. 2. Longitudinal-section morphology of the tappets.

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X. Xu et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 18 (2011) 11341139

(Fig. 1b). The longitudinal-sections of tappets (Fig. 2) show that the height difference between the concave point at the centre
and the external edge of the end for tappets 1 and 2 is respectively about 1.5 mm and 1.0 mm, but the end of tappet 3 is
relatively even.
3.2. SEM observation on the ends of tappets
SEM observation shows that rough wear tracks appeared on the end of tappet 1, on which extensive plough and plastic
ow [1,2] were exhibited (Fig. 3a). It may be deduced that the end hardness of tappet 1 is lower than that of its friction couple the camshaft (PHRC48 as the specied). Localized peel pits [3] were found on the end of tappet 2 and a few bulk-like
carbides (showing dark grey color) were found (Fig. 3b). The end of tappet 3 is relatively smooth and lots of strip-like carbides were observed (Fig. 3c). The end of tappet 3 reveals good wear-resistance, which is related to the presence of numerous
strip-like carbides.
3.3. Microstructure examination
The microstructure at different positions from the original end was comparatively observed by OPM (Fig. 4). It can be seen
that at about corresponding position, the amount of carbide for tappets 1 and 2 is much less than that of tappet 3. Within
chilled depth, the amount of carbide for tappets 1 and 2 is about 1015%, much less than that of the specied (P40%). Whilst,
the amount of carbide for tappet 3 is about 5070%, corresponding to the specied.

Fig. 3. Wear morphology on the ends of tappets: (a) tappet 1; (b) tappet 2; (c) tappet 3.

X. Xu et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 18 (2011) 11341139

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For tappets 1, graphite morphology within the chilled depth could not be obtained because the wear amount had exceeded the chilled depth. But for tappet 3, the graphite within the chilled depth is in the form of micro-spheroid as the specication. At about identical positions (2.5 from the end), the graphite in tappet 2 is present in the form of dendrite-like akes
(Fig. 5c and d) different from micro-spheroid graphite appearing in tappet 3 (Fig. 5e and f). The microstructure of matrix for
tappets 1, 2, and 3 is tempered martensite (Fig. 5b, d and f), which is suggested that normal quenching and tempering process was conducted on the tappets.

Fig. 4. Microstructure at different positions from the original end of tappet.

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X. Xu et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 18 (2011) 11341139

Fig. 5. SEM observation on the microstructure showing graphite morphology and matrix structure: (a) and (b) tappet 1 (5 mm from the original end); (c)
and (d) tappet 2 (2.5 mm from the original end); (e) and (f) tappet 3 (2.5 mm from the original end).

Table 1
Chemical composition of the failed tappets material (wt.%).

Tappet 1
Tappet 2
Tappet 3
Specied

Si

Mn

Cr

Cu

Mo

Fe

3.48
3.46
3.54
3.303.60

1.88
1.99
2.05
1.702.20

0.68
0.61
0.85
0.600.90

0.040
0.046
0.036
60.25

0.027
0.024
0.028
60.05

0.65
0.68
0.75
0.601.00

0.60
0.64
0.81
0.601.00

0.31
0.33
0.36
0.300.60

Bal.
Bal.
Bal.
Bal.

3.4. Chemical composition

Table 1 gives the chemical composition of three tappets, along with the specied chemical composition. It can be seen the
composition of the tappets corresponds to the specied.
3.5. Hardness examination
The hardness at different positions from the original end is shown in Fig. 6. Comparative analysis indicates that the chilled
depth on the end of tappet 3 is satised with the specication. Hardness of tappet 2 is much lower than that of tappet 3 at

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Fig. 6. Hardness prole of chilled end.

corresponding positions from the end. It is suggested that the chilled depth on the end of tappets 1, 2 is low than that of the
specication.
4. Analysis of failure causes
According to the technical specication of tappet, the amount of carbide within the chilled depth must be more than 40%.
Enough amount of carbide would result in high end hardness to perform good wear-resistance when rubbing with the camshaft with high hardness in service [3]. The amount of the carbide in the chilled depth for tappets 1 and 2 is only 1015%,
much less than the specication, which leads to low hardness of the chilled end and poor wear resistance. Additionally, the
presence of dendritic-like graphite akes may result in stress concentration around the edge of graphite ake [4] to induce
micro-peel, consequently, accelerating wear. Insufcient cooling rate of the chilled face led to the shallow chilled depth and
poor microstructure in the chilled end, which is responsible for the premature wear failure of tappets 1 and 2 when rubbing
with the camshaft during service.
5. Conclusions
The premature wear failure occurred on the two tappets used in a truck diesel engine. Shallow chilled depth and no enough carbide in the chilled end led to the low hardness and poor wear-resistance of tappet ends. Insufcient cooling rate of
the chilled face is responsible for the appearance of the metallurgical defects.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

Sear KH, Hemanth J, Sharma SC. Wear characteristics of sub-zero chilled iron. Wear 1996(192):13440.
Hemanth J. Wear characteristics of austempered chilled ductile iron. Materials and Design 2000;21:13948.
Kumruoglu Levent Cenk. Mechanical and microstructure propertied of chilled cast iron camshaft. Materials and Design 2009;30:92738.
Ferreira JC. A study of cast chilled iron processing technology and wear evaluation of hardened gray iron for automotive application. Journal of Materials
Processing Technology 2002;121:94101.