Failures in household appliances

• Main Author: Balachandran
• Other Authors: Zhou Wei
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/54106
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Failure analysis is defined as the detailed process of collecting and analyzing information to identify the reasons for failure. The failure analysis adopted in this project involves the collection of failed components for detailed inspection via spectroscopy and microscopy. Two household products, a robe hook and a suitcase lock assembly, were thoroughly studied to identify features of failures. In addition to determining their material composition, the fracture surfaces were studied under the scanning electron microscope. Microscopic observation of the robe hook revealed details such as corrosion pits, intergranular cracking and multiple crack branching, representing stress corrosion cracking. Also, based on the governing theories of stress corrosion cracking, a hypothesis was made with regards to the applied stresses and the environment. The suitcase lock assembly was found to have failed by virtue of fatigue. Crack initiation sites, areas of stress raisers and presence of intergranular cracking were observed. The two distinct ways in which the stresses could have acted on the specimen were also identified.