Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

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Engineering Failure Analysis

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

Brittle fracture of a crane hook

Y. Torres a,*, J.M. Gallardo a, J. Domnguez a, F.J. Jimnez E b
a
b

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Seville, Avda. Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n, 41092 Seville, Spain
Department of Energy Engineering, University of Seville, Avda. Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n, 41092 Seville, Spain

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Available online 30 December 2008

Keywords:
Brittle fracture
Strain-aging
Accident investigation
Metallurgical failure analysis
Finite element analysis

a b s t r a c t
The objective of this work is to identify the causes that led to a failure of the crane hook in
service. The study of the accident includes: (1) a summary and analysis of the peculiarities
inherent to the standards that determine the manufacture and use of this type of device, (2)
metallographic, chemical and fractographic analyses, (3) assessment of the steel mechanical behaviour in terms of Vickers hardness prole, its tensile strength and fracture energy,
and (4) simulation of the thermal history of the hook. The visual and microstructural
inspections reveal some evidences that a weld bed was deposited on the hook surface. Several cracks grew from that area into the material. Fracture surface shows features typical of
brittle failures (transgranular cleavage fracture). The unalloyed, low-carbon steel contains
a relatively low aluminium (<0.025%) and high non-combined nitrogen (>0.0075%) content.
All the gathered evidences are in agreement with a strain-aging process triggering the
embrittlement of the material, with the fracture starting from a crack generated at the heat
affected zone of an uncontrolled welding of the hook.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In the frame of the social policy, Article 118 of the EEC treaty established that member states shall endeavour to promote
the improvement of working environment to protect the safety and health of workers.
The laws, standards and techniques designed to prevent occupational risks, ensuring safe and healthy working conditions
vary [1,2]. Particularly, the standards UNE 58-509-79 [3], UNE-EN 1677-1 [4] and UNE-EN 1677-5 [5] summarize and describe the terms and conditions that are to be considered in the design, manufacture, use, and control of lifting hooks. Their
observance will prevent the fall of the load during service and minimize the risk to which people are exposed in the danger
zone. Within this framework, the objective of this work is to identify the causes that originated the fracture of a lifting hook
in service which caused the death of a worker.
2. Details of the standards governing the manufacturing and use of lifting hooks
The steel must be manufactured using electrical melting furnaces and oxygen converters. The austenitic grain size should
remain ner than 5 (according to UNE-EN-ISO 643:2004 standard [6]). Al content should be higher than 0.025%, but N cannot
exceed 0.0075%.1 Maximum allowable contents of S and P are 0.03%.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 95 448 73 04.

E-mail address: ytorres@us.es (Y. Torres).
1
The steels with low aluminium (<0.025%) and high nitrogen contents (>0.0075%), which, moreover, under service conditions suffered plastic or permanent
deformation are prone to embrittlement during low temperature heating (100300 C).
1350-6307/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2008.11.011

Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

39

Generally, the hook has to be forged or hot pressed as one piece. All kinds of protruding, sharp edges, detrimental surface
defects including possible cracks have to be eliminated to obtain a smooth surface. Moreover, the dimensions as received as
well as during the service life have to be controlled. If additional machining is needed, any stress concentrators (radii of small
dimensions) should be avoided. On designing hooks, no welding are to be specied, unless it is guaranteed that the weld and
heat affected zone will not be subjected to loads, and the surface nish is smooth (rounded) enough.
The lifting hooks should be, alternatively, heat treated in any of the following ways: (1) hardened (from above A3) and
tempered to at least 475 C for 1 h, (2) normalized (from above A3). No surface hardening in parts of load bearing accessories
is allowed. After heat treatment, hot produced oxides have to be removed.
3. Experimental procedure, results and discussion
3.1. Visual and macroscopic observation, evaluation of dimensions
Initial examination of the hook (Figs. 1 and 2) reveals the presence of general surface damage: burrs, beatings and remnants of rust and a welding band on one of the fracture surface edges.
The fracture origin (bright zone in Fig. 2b) is located on the original surface of the hook, adjacent to the welding band, as
can be traced from propagation lines emanating from that point. Also, splashing of molten material is visible (Fig. 2c).
The received part (weight and size) was compared to the theoretical ones, as stated in DIN 15401 standard. It was proved
that the failed hook dimensions did not meet tolerances allowed by the standard, due to: (1) there had been an important
wear caused by friction with lifting equipment such as slings or others, and (2) a plastic deformation had been generated by
lifting loads heavier than those permitted under normal working conditions. Fig. 1 shows how the theoretical circular shape
(red strokes line) becomes an ellipse (blue strokes line) in the as received hook.
3.2. Chemical composition analysis
Chemical analysis of the steel was carried out by optical emission spectroscopy and Leco gas analyzer, particularly for the
N content. Table 1 shows the composition of the sample provided. Those elements providing any information about possible
causes of the rupture of the hook have been shadowed.
It resulted to be an unalloyed, low carbon, aluminium-killed or semi-killed steel. Sulphur content is at the limit set by the
standard, 0.03%. It must be highlighted that both the content of aluminium and nitrogen did not meet the values required by
the standard (minimum 0.025% and not more than 0.0075%, respectively). This is a clear indication that the steel was susceptible to embrittlement due to aging after deformation (as that shown in Fig. 1).
There was no evidence remaining of any possible initial zinc coating or painting. No hot formed oxides were identied in
the current state of the hook.
3.3. Metallographic analysis
A metallographic section was prepared in a plane perpendicular to both the fracture surface and the original lateral surface of the hook. Sectioning was done at the edge of the bright defect previously cited in Section 3.1. Some cracks are revealed in the as polished surface (Fig. 3), growing from the surface to the core of the hook, following an intergranular
path. According to these results, and those reported in the next paragraph, it can be suggested that those cracks were produced during the thermal cycle of an uncontrolled weld, by means of a liquation cracking mechanism.

Fig. 1. Image of the supplied part of the fractured hook.

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Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

Fig. 2. Details of the surface and the remnants of the weld.

Table 1
Composition of steel used to manufacture the lifting hook.
Elements

Mn

Si

Cr

Ni

Mo

Al

Cu

Sn

Fe

Composition (%)

0.18

0.76

0.16

0.03

0.01

0.016

0.12

0.02

0.017

0.21

0.04

0.011

98.2

Fig. 3. Micrograph of the cross-section perpendicular to the fracture surface and at the vicinity of the crack origin.

Microstructure was revealed after Nital 5% etch of the sample (Fig. 4). Particularly, Fig. 4c shows the typical ferriticperlitic normalized low-carbon steel structure. Measured grain size is 6, according to UNE-EN-ISO 643:2004 standard [6]. Closer
to the fracture origin, the structure changes (Fig. 4a). At higher magnication it can be identied a globalized structure (bottom right corner, Fig. 4b) and, in the cracked area, a rened structure (top left corner, Fig. 4b), both typical of the heat affected zone (HAZ) of a weld. It should be noted that a ne-grained area (grain size 8) is limited by the fracture surface.
Peak temperature during the weld thermal cycle in this rened zone is supposed to be about 800 C. Some other typical
microstructures in the HAZ of plain carbon steels are not present in the provided sample. In fact, as one get closer to the weld
bead (on the counterpart of the broken hook, which, however, had not been supplied), i.e. in areas where higher temperatures were reached, other characteristic HAZ structures of this type of steels will appear.

Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

41

Fig. 4. Microstructure of the cross-section perpendicular to the fracture surface and at the vicinity of the fracture origin.

This suggests that the rupture did not start at a defect in the interface between the molten and base metal, but in the HAZ
which reached a temperature between 850 C and 1000 C. In this part of the HAZ, typical defects [7] are cracking due to: (1)
quenching in the presence of a high hydrogen content environment, and (2) liquefaction. The cracking by quenching would
had been revealed by the presence of a martensitic microstructure, which has not been observed in the sample.2 Without
martensitic structures of high hardness, hydrogen is usually harmless. On the other hand, the susceptibility to cracking due
to liquefaction can be analysed by relating the carbon, sulphur and manganese content in the steel. Given the actual manganese/sulphur ratio (25), hot cracking could only be avoided by limiting the carbon amount below 0.15%. With 0.18%C, it is postulated that the crack from which the failure started was one of those created due to liquefaction.
3.4. Mechanical properties
In this work the mechanical behaviour is evaluated in terms of: (1) prole of Vickers hardness (in transversal and longitudinal sections of the hook), (2) tensile strength, and (3) fracture energy.
3.4.1. Prole of Vickers hardness
Vickers hardness was measured with a load of 49 N to show whether the inner surface of the hook showed strain hardening due to ropes or chain sliding and lifting loads heavier than those permitted under normal working conditions. Series of
hardness measurements were measured on a transversal cross-section of the hook, at two different depths from hook surface
(approximately 1 and 6 mm). Results show a slight hardening of the material from 212 11 kg/mm2, at 6 mm, to
220 13 kg/mm2, at 1 mm.
A second study was to measure the hardness in the weld HAZ. Base metal hardness was 191 13 kg/mm2, and within the
rened grain HAZ it was 259 5 kg/mm2. A clear hardening has also taken place due to the thermal welding cycle.
3.4.2. Mechanical strength
Mechanical strength was evaluated in terms of tensile strength [8]. The testing was carried out on an Instron servohydraulic testing machine, in a load control mode, at a loading rate of 400 N/s until fracture. A cylindrical section probe,
2
Given the relatively low carbon content, the absence of alloying elements and the amount of heat introduced to the weld (given the welding length that can
be seen in Fig. 2a), it is plausible that the mentioned quenching by cooling after welding did not occur.

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Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

6 mm in diameter, machined from the hook, was used. Yield stress was dened to a 0.2% permanent strain. Fig. 5 shows the
tensile test plot, where the strength and elongation at rupture are shown. The area reduction was 57.6%. These results are in
agreement with the expected tensile behaviour of a ductile, low-carbon steel, producing consistent and appropriate values of
yield stress, fracture strength and ductility.
3.4.3. Fracture toughness
The critical stress intensity factor under plane strain conditions (fracture toughness, KIc) was evaluated using a CompactTension according to the Standard ASTM E-399 [9]. Having machined a notched sample, 20,000 stress cycles were applied in
the servo-hydraulic Instron testing machine, to produce a sharp crack at notch tip. Finally, the pre-cracked specimen was
loaded in tension until failure with a load rate of 4000 N/s, with load vs. crack opening (measured by an extensometer at
the notch mouth, COD) recorded in situ. Fig. 6 shows the relation P-COD for the tested sample, along with a view of the specimen tested. It is to be noted that the procedure did not full the plane strain conditions, due to an insufcient sample size
and the front of the crack is not completely at. Moreover, the ratio between Pmax/PQ is greater than 1.1. Therefore the calculation of the fracture toughness from PQ is not justied, because failure occurred at values very much higher than PQ. In
these cases of materials with elastoplastic behaviour, it is recommended to evaluate the energy of fracture, J, as a product
of CTOD (area below the P-COD curve), yield stress and a constant (it depends on stress state at the crack tip). The plastic
deformation around the crack and the shape of the P-COD curve indicate that the material, similarly as in plain tensile tests,
experiences ductile deformation, which is typical for low-carbon unalloyed steel.
3.5. Fractographic analysis
Analysis of the fracture surface of the hook was carried out in detail by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fig. 7 presents images of the fracture surface, where clear and characteristic features of the brittle fracture can be observed cleavage,
transgranular fracture, and secondary cracks.
Ultimated tensile strength = 497 MPa

15000

9000
6000

10 mm
Lmite
277MPa
MPa
Yieldelstico
stress ==277

3000

Elongation atmximo
rupture == 21,4
Alargamiento
21,4%
%

0
0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

20.00

Strain, %
Fig. 5. Loadstrain curve of the investigated material.

10

Pmax = 9.36 kN
PQ = 6.35 kN

Load, kN

Load, N

12000

10 mm

6
4

CTOD (rea bajo la curva)

Energy of fracture, J

Energa disponible para la

fractura, J

0
0.00

5 mm
0.50

1.00

1.50

COD, mm
Fig. 6. LoadCOD curve of the investigated steel.

2.00

22

Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

43

Fig. 7. Brittle fracture: presence of cleavage, transgranular fracture, and secondary cracks.

Unlike the brittle behaviour observed in extensed part of the fracture surface, Fig. 8 shows the microfractography corresponding to the fracture surface of the HAZ. Here, in this entire zone, a failure with clear features of ductile fracture, such as
microcavities or dimples, is observed. This observation is consistent with the fact that the steel in this globalized zone is
harder and tougher. Within this zone, the cracks due to liquefaction originated during welding (Fig. 4b), grew in a stable
(low cycle fatigue) way when the hook was exposed to the mechanical stresses inherent to the service conditions (lifting
of loads) and, nally run into a brittle zone where the crack propagated in a unstable condition.
Fig. 9 shows the fracture surface of the CT sample. Starting from the notch tip, the rst zone associated with the process of
pre-cracking by cyclic loading (fatigue striation) can be identied. Then, one would expect a subcritical crack growth until
reaching the critical conditions, in addition to the presence of microcavities throughout the fracture. However, in this gure
it can be seen that the stable growth occurred forming marked and interspersed steps, ones with more rugged appearance
and features of ductile fracture (dimples) and others shiny with features of cleavage and transgranular fracture (brittle fracture). With the help of image analysis, the corresponding portions of the area were evaluated, resulting in 47% and 53% of
brittle and ductile failure, respectively.
3.6. Simulation of the thermal cycle of the welding process
In order to analyze more in deep the causes of the fracture of the hook, a three-dimensional (3D), nite element, transient
simulation model of the welding process was developed. The mathematical model for heat transfer by conduction, known as
the heat equation, applied to the hook is:

qC

@T
r  krT Q
@t

where T is the temperature in any point of the hook (K), q is the steel density, which has been considered constant (kg/m3), C
is the heat capacity of the steel which varies with T (J/kg K), k is the isotropic thermal conductivity of the steel which varies
with T (W/m K), and Q is a heat source or heat sink, that in this case is null.
The energy applied to the hook has been introduced as an inward transitory heat ux normal to the welding surface. The
energy lost interchanged with the ambient as radiation and natural convection has been extended to the whole hook surface.
Both the inward heat ux and the energy lost have been accounted as boundary conditions having the following expression:

Fig. 8. Ductile fracture (microcavities and dimples) in the heat affected zone.

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Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

Fig. 9. Fracture surface obtained from the fracture toughness test. Area fractions of the brittle (bright) and ductile (dark) fracture.

nkrT q0 hT inf  T erT 4amb  T 4

where q0 is the transitory inward heat ux applied only in the welding surface (W/m2), h is the heat transfer coefcient (W/
m2 K), Tinf is the reference temperature for convection (K), e is the emissivity of the surface of the hook which varies with T, r
is the StefanBoltzmann constant, 5.6697  108 W/m2 K4), Tamb is the ambient surroundings temperature for radiation (K),
and n is the normal vector of the boundary.
The transitory inward ux to the hook has been simulated as a constant heat ux (1,9 kJ per cm of weld bead) applied on a
20 mm2 spot that moves along the welding surface at 1.5 mm/s. According to visual inspection, weld bead length has been
estimated to be 35 mm. The Tinf and Tamb temperature have been xed respectively to 300 K and 280 K according with the
expertise in similar experiments. The heat transfer coefcient for natural convection has been estimated in 10 W/m2 K and
it has been tested that relevant perturbances for natural convection in this coefcient in the range from 5 to 15 W/m2 K has
insignicant effects on the temperature eld.
The 3D mesh for the subdomain is unstructured and is formed by tetrahedral, hexahedral and prism elements. The maximum element size allowed has been 1/20th of the maximum distance in the geometry. The boundaries in the hook are partitioned into triangular and quadrilateral boundary elements. Several mesh sizes have been tested being nally adopted the
best compromise between resolution and computational time execution. The total number of 3D elements is 47,848 with
8176 boundary elements and the resolution time is approximately 500 s in a Windows XP based PC.
Fig. 10 denes the position of several lines, parallel to the welding line, where thermal simulation results are to be plotted. Given the microstructures previously revealed beside the fracture surface, it has been postulated that this breakage surface is 56 mm from the weld bead centreline. Fracture surface is therefore dened by B11B12B13B14 lines. CT sample
was machined from the hook, far from the fracture surface. It can be seen what thermal changes happen when distance from
the weld is increased considering a new plane, parallel to the fracture surface, dened by B21B22B23B24 lines.
Several simulation runs have been performed to know the temperature at any of the previously dened points, at different times from the beginning of the welding process. Finally, only the peak or maximum temperature, at any given point, has
been plotted in Figs. 11 and 12. Obviously, these peak temperatures will have been reached at different times during the
welding process for any two given points.
Figs. 11 and 12 show peak temperatures reached in the previously dened BXX lines, at different distances from the weld
bead end closer to the hook inner arch. Simulation reported in Fig. 11 considers that the weld was done from the right to the
left, the other way round for Fig. 12.
It can be seen that, in the fracture plane B11B14, temperatures in excess of 150 C are easily reached. In a heavily deformed steel of the hook composition this treatment shall trigger strain-aging embrittlement [1016]. Only very near the

Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

Fig. 10. Sketch positioning the lines where peak temperatures simulation have been carried out.

Fig. 11. Peak temperatures during the welding of the hook. Electrode movement from right to left.

45

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Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

Fig. 12. Peak temperatures during the welding of the hook. Electrode movement from left to right.

hook surface (line B11) temperatures are in excess of 550 C, enough to produce recrystallization, or even higher temperature microstructural transformations, as spheroidization or grain renement.
Only 3 mm farther from the weld bead (plane B21B24), peak temperatures are clearly lower than in the fracture plane
(B11B14). No recrystallization would have take place in this plane, even near the weld (line B21). This decrease in peak temperatures as farther-from-the-weld-bead planes are considered, accounts for a really low temperature reached at the plane
where the CT fracture plane was machined. Simulations give a relatively uniform peak temperature of 60 C, which is hardly
enough to produce strain-aging embrittlement.
4. Discussion and conclusions
The main results of the tests and studies carried out can be summarized as follows:
 The lifting hook did not meet the requirements of the UNE-EN standards governing the use of such devices, including:
insufcient content of aluminium (less than 0.025%) and, at the same time, a high proportion of nitrogen (greater than
0.0075%), a situation that marks this steel as a candidate for weakening by strain-aging,
extensive general surface damage (burrs, beatings, remnants of rust and the presence of a welding band), and
extensive wear and deformation, with subsequent failure to comply with the standard dimensions of the hook (outside
the tolerance range).
 There are cracks in the weld heat affected zone (HAZ), with a morphology consistent to the so-called cracking due to liquefaction. The relative contents of carbon, sulphur and manganese of this steel are outside the limits that prevent the
appearance of such a cracking.
 On the fracture surface there is evidence suggesting that the fracture originated in the HAZ of weld. In this area, which
during the welding would have reached temperatures above 500 C and would have been recrystallized, the fracture
has ductile character observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Y. Torres et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 3847

47

 The fracture surface generally exhibited a brittle nature with cleavage as the main crack propagation mechanism. This is
attributed to strain-aging embrittlement, induced by the deformation of the hook and the thermal cycle of the weld, which
heated the fracture plane to the 150550 C range.
 The surface of the hook has hardness greater than the core of the hook, which would be the result of intense deformation
of this area by friction by auxiliary lifting equipment.
 The mechanical properties evaluated away from the area of rupture (ultimate tensile strength = 497 MPa; yield
strength = 277 MPa; maximum strain = 21.4% and critical stress intensity factor estimated (or apparent toughness) of
44.3 MPa m1/2) show values that are typical for a steel with the composition herein determined, in a normalized state.
According to the previous observations, the sequence of events leading to the rupture was as follows:
 The hook was manufactured from a steel whose composition derives the part prone to both cracking due to liquefaction
and strain-aging.
 The use of the hook produced intense surface deterioration, and plastic or permanent deformation higher than is allowed
by the standards. This deformation caused a hardening of the material.
 A weldment laid in the area where the hook is subjected to maximum tensile stresses, induced several effects:
Generated cracks due to liquefaction in the HAZ of the weld,
Permitted regeneration of the strain hardened microstructure in areas close to the weld, which reached temperatures
above 500 C, and
Introduced strain-aging of those parts of the hook, which during welding reached temperatures around 200 C but did
not affect more distant parts.
 The cracks present in the weld heat affected zone experienced, under external mechanical stress (lifting of loads), a stable
growth (low cycle fatigue) deep into the zone, where the expected phenomenon of embrittlement becomes important.
 When the combination of the size of one of the mentioned cracks and externally applied stress reached a critical value of
the stress intensity factor, the hook suffered a sudden catastrophic fracture (unstable fracture).
Summarizing, the results strongly suggests that the accident was caused by the strain-aging embrittlement of the used
steel and that the brittle fracture originated from a crack in the material, generated during the welding performed on the
lifting hook.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank to the laboratory technicians Jess Pinto (Y. Torres and J.M. Gallardo) and Jos Guareo (J.
Domnguez) for carrying out the microstructure characterization and mechanical testing.
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