Failure analysis of a hydraulic press clamp

Abstract

This paper describes the analysis and investigation of the causes of the failure of an hydraulic press jaw face grip. Analysis of the fractured surfaces indicated the creation of cracks due to stress concentrators as a result of defective design. On the other hand, metallographic examination revealed the presence of aligned clusters of primary carbides that along with the stress concentrators induced the premature failure of the grip.

Keywords

• Clamping
• grip
• design failure
• metallography
• fractography