Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616

www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Analysis of a vehicle crankshaft failure

F.S. Silva*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minho, Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Received 11 December 2002; accepted 16 January 2003

Abstract
This paper reports an investigation that was carried out on two damaged crankshafts. They were diesel van crank-
shafts that were sent to be ground, after a life of about 300,000 km each. Some journals were damaged on each
crankshaft. After grinding, and assembling on the diesel van, the crankshafts lasted about 1000 km each, and the
journals were damaged again. The crankshafts were then sent to be investigated. Different laboratory tests were carried
out in order to discover what could have been the cause of the damage. Different typical crankshaft failures were
assessed, and will be discussed in this paper. The cause of the damaged journals was found to be a wrong grinding
process that originated small thermal fatigue cracks at the center of the journals, on both crankshafts. These almost
invisible cracks, with sharp edges, acted as knives originating a very quick damaging of the journal bearings, and as a
consequence damaged the journals themselves.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Grinding; Thermal fatigue; Bearing failures; Engine failures; Crankshafts

1. Introduction

Shaft failures in general, and crankshaft failures in particular, may be originated by several causes [1,2].
Mechanical fatigue failures are probably the most common cause of crankshaft failures [3,4]. Mechanical
fatigue failures may have some sources such as misalignment of the shaft, originating rotating-bending, or
vibration due to some problem with the main bearings, or even due to high stress concentrations caused by
an incorrect fillet size (lower radii at geometrical discontinuities). Nevertheless, when a crankshaft fails, due
to damage to one or more of its journals, the cause of the damage is generally attributed to any feature
related to the engine operation. It may be absence of oil, or defective lubrication of one or more journals,
or high operating oil temperature, etc.
In a particular case, when a crankshaft is sent to be ground and, after assembly, works for only a few
kilometers and one or more journals fail again, the causes are generally attributed to the assembly
department or to an incorrect use of the engine in the first few kilometers. In this case, the fault is either
attributed to an incorrect installation of the journal bearings, or to improper lubrication in use. Finally the

* Tel.: +351-253-510220; fax: +351-253-516007.

E-mail address: fsamuel@dem.uminho.pt (F.S. Silva).

1350-6307/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S1350-6307(03)00024-4
606 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616

cause may also be attributed to the crankshaft repair shop. Traditionally, causes attributed to the repairing
work are: misalignment of the crankshaft or of the journals due to incorrect grinding, no proper straigh-
tening of the crankshaft, when necessary, no proper surface finishing, or incorrect welding when it is
necessary to reconstruct the journals.
In the case described in this work, it was not necessary to reconstruct or weld the journals. Only a
grinding operation was demanded. Among all the possible explanations for the damaging of the crank-
shafts the question that always arises is: What was the cause of the damaging, and to whom may be
attributed the fault? Based on the analysis of the damaged components this paper will try to answer the
above questions.

2. Method

To determine the cause of the crankshaft failures, the following method was used:

 Presentation of the problem;

 Visual analysis;
 Analysis of possible explanations for the problem based on typical crankshaft failure causes;
 Definition of laboratory tests to be done.

After the analysis of each explanation for the failures was made, and based also on laboratory tests
considered necessary, a conclusion has been drawn.

3. Presentation of the problem

An automotive repair shop of a worldwide-accredited automotive brand received a diesel van with a
problem with its crankshaft. Two journals were damaged. The crankshaft was sent to be repaired on a
crankshaft repair shop. After being repaired the crankshaft was assembled at the automotive repair shop.
The van was working properly but after about 1000 km the journals were damaged again. A few months
later another diesel van, with a damaged crankshaft with jagged journals, was sent to be repaired at the
same crankshaft repair shop. The same thing happened to this second crankshaft, i.e. after being repaired,
it worked for only about 1000 km. Two crankshafts repaired at the same crankshaft repair shop that had
problems just after a few kilometers of use led the automotive repair shop to think that there was some
problem with the repairing process. On the other hand the crankshaft repairing shop said they had decades
of practice on repairing crankshafts and that the problem was probably on the assembly of the components
or on improper use (for example absence of oil). As a consequence, the automotive repairing shop asked
Minho University Mechanical Engineering Department to prepare a technical report to assess what were
the causes of the crankshaft damage.
The crankshafts are shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
On crankshaft 1, journal 4 is badly damaged, as shown in detail in Fig. 3. Cracks are painted with white
paint to make them obvious.
An analysis with a lens showed some cracks (Fig. 4), not easily visible with the naked eye, on journal 1 of
crankshaft 1 (not jagged). These cracks are on the surface of the journal and dispersed along the whole
circumference of the journal, but aligned with the axis of the crankshaft.
Journal 2 of crankshaft 2 is badly damaged (Fig. 5). Some small cracks can be observed at the center of
the journal, all aligned with the axis of the crankshaft. On journal 4 of the same crankshaft (Fig. 6) some
small cracks are also visible with a magnifying glass. These cracks are on the center band of the journal and
 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616 607

are dispersed along the circumference of the journal, but are parallel to the crank axis. A rougher surface is
visible near these cracks, and the journal is beginning to become jagged.
A finer detail of the cracks is shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively of journal 1 of crankshaft 1 and of
journal 4 of crankshaft 2. It is clear that there are cracks, almost invisible with naked eye, but easily
detectable with some non-destructive testing methods such as magnetic particle testing.
After a visual and a microscopical analysis, some possible explanations for journal damage were admis-
sible. They will be analyzed consecutively.

Fig. 1. Crankshaft 1: four-piston diesel van crankshaft.

Fig. 2. Crankshaft 2: six-piston diesel van crankshaft.

Fig. 3. Detail of journal 4 of crankshaft 1.

608 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616

4. Possible explanations/typical failures in vehicle crankshafts

The analysis was separated into three kinds of possible sources for the journal damage:

 Operating sources;
 Mechanical sources;
 Repairing sources.

Fig. 4. Detail of journal 1 of crankshaft 1.

Fig. 5. Detail of journal 2 of crankshaft 2.

 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616 609

In the first item (Operating sources) were included:

1. oil absence;
2. defective lubrication on journals;
3. high operating oil temperature;
4. improper use of the engine (over-revving).

Fig. 6. Detail of journal 4 of crankshaft 2.

Fig. 7. Finer detail of journal 1 of crankshaft 1.

610 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616

Fig. 8. Finer detail of journal 4 of crankshaft 2.

On the second item (Mechanical sources) were included:

5. misalignments of the crankshaft on assembly;

6. improper journal bearings (wrong size);
7. no control on the clearance between journals and bearings;
8. crankshaft vibrations.

Finally, in the third item (Repairing sources) were included:

9. misalignments of the journals (due to improper grinding);

10. misalignments of the crankshaft (due to improper alignment of the crankshaft);
11. high stress concentrations (due to improper grinding at the radius on both sides of the journals);
12. high surface roughness (due to improper grinding, originating wearing);
13. improper welding or nitriding;
14. straightening operations;
15. defective grinding.

A brief discussion of each of the possible explanations for the damage, based on typical failures, will be
done successively.

4.1. Operating sources

Operating sources such as oil absence or defective lubrication of journals would be enough to damage
the journals. Nevertheless, the contact between the bearings and the journals would essentially promote a
rougher surface of the journals. The heat and stresses during the contact would also eventually promote the
propagation of existing cracks, such as those shown in Fig. 3, but would not nucleate cracks. There was no
contact between the bearing and journal 1 of crank 1 (Fig. 4) but there exist some small cracks. Thus,
cracks developed on the journals due to reasons other than contact between the bearing and the journal.
Another operating source is high oil temperature. If this were the case, the oil would be working below
its specifications, i.e. there could exist contact between journals and bearings. However, as previously
concluded, the small cracks were not a consequence of contact between surfaces.
 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616 611

The improper use of the engine (over-revving) could be included in the previous points because its con-
sequence would be contact between journals and bearings.

4.2. Mechanical sources

Misalignments of the crankshaft on assembly, improperly straightened cranks due to improper repairing,
or worn bearings would create a bending moment and higher stresses at the crankshaft. This would also be
the effect of vibrations. However these higher stresses would originate mechanical fatigue cracks at the
weakest points of the crank, namely at the stress concentrations. Cracks would develop at those weaker
points, and the crank would fail by fracture. Fig. 9 shows an example of a train crankshaft that failed due
to mechanical fatigue. As can be seen the crack developed at the radius at the geometrical discontinuity.
Cracks observed on the crankshafts of Figs. 1 and 2 developed at the surface of the journals, e.g. at
surfaces that are not critical in terms of stresses. Thus, a second conclusion that can be drawn is that the
cracks observed on crankshafts 1 and 2 are not this kind of mechanical fatigue crack.
Another consequence of a misaligned crankshaft could be the contact of bearing and journals. However,
in the previous operating sources discussion it was concluded that the cracks were not originated by contact
between surfaces. This conclusion also eliminates the possibility of the incorrect or even non-existent con-
trol of the clearance between journals and bearings to be the cause of the cracks.
Notwithstanding the previous conclusions, a measurement of the straightness of crank 1 was made. The
crank was placed on v-blocks, and with a dial of resolution 1 mm placed at the center journal, measure-
ments were made during one revolution (Fig. 10). The result was 135 mm. This result, according to the
engine assembly manual [6] is acceptable. The limit is 150 mm. Thus, it can be concluded that crankshaft 1
is straight.

Fig. 9. Train crankshaft failure: (a) part of the crankshaft; (b) detail of the mechanical fatigue crack which developed at a stress
concentration.
612 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616

4.3. Repairing sources

The repairing sources 9, 10, and 11 are considered by the previous explanations. Item 13 is not con-
sidered since it was not necessary to weld the cranks or to nitride them.
High surface roughness would also originate a contact between surfaces (journal-bearing), and neither
can be the reason of the cracks, as explained before.
Some crankshaft repair shops, in order to straighten the cranks, use a hammer or a press to bend the
cranks [5]. Both of these methods could fracture the crank by bending it. If cracks appear due to the
bending, they would also appear at the stress concentrations. That is not the case for the cracks at the
surface of the journals (as explained in the mechanical sources item).
Another possible explanation for the damaging of the journals could be the absence of a nitrided layer.
Measurement of the diameter of the journals showed that 0.25 mm in diameter was the removed material
in the grinding operation. The limit is, according to the engine assembly manual [6], 1 mm in diameter.
Rockwell hardness measurements showed that there exists a nitrided layer. Measurements gave 60 HRC on
the journals, and the minimum is, according to the manual [6], 52 HRC.
Finally, item 15 points to the grinding process. Would this be able to originate such cracks? As the
author of this work believes that the cracks were created due to thermal fatigue, some further considera-
tions on this item will be done consecutively.

4.4. The grinding process

The grinding process is basically explained in Fig. 11.

The journal rotates with a low rotation speed and the grinding wheel rotates with a high rotation speed.
Some features can occur during the grinding process that may cause some small cracks, as observed in this
work. Those features are as follows.

Fig. 10. Straightness measurement: 1 dial; 2 journals.

Fig. 11. Grinding operation scheme.

 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616 613

 Excessive depth of cut

If during the first few revolutions there is an excessive depth of cut the material may ‘burn’. There are
cases where the surface of the material even changes color, becoming blue [7]. It is common that, when the
grinding process is finished, the journals seem normal because on the last revolutions, the operator works
with a normal depth of cut, and the blue color (burnt surface) disappears. This happens very often in
crankshaft repair shops. This ‘burning’ may cause small cracks [7] which do not disappear with the last
revolutions. An important feature that also occurs when heat is developed at the contact surface between
the grinder wheel and the journal is that heat expands diamond dressing tools. Thus, the excessive depth of
cut becomes even bigger and consequently more detrimental.

 Defective lubrication

This is another source of heat at the journal surface. The type and quantity of the coolant [7,8] are very
important in the grinding process, in order to prevent the surface of the journal burning. Defective lubri-
cation may cause small cracks.

 Dressing of the grinding wheel

The grinding wheels must be dressed from time to time. If this operation is not observed the wheels may
become ‘pasted’, and this effect will produce poorer cutting characteristics and a higher generation of heat
at the contact surface [8,9]. Again the heat may produce small cracks.
There were exposed three aspects responsible for heat generation at the contact surface between the
journal and the grinding wheel. The question that arises is how does this heat create small cracks, and what
would the cracks look like?
A thermal gradient in a body creates thermal stresses due to expansion in warmer areas. If this tem-
perature gradient is repeated for several times, e.g. an area is heated and then cooled, and heated and then
cooled, and so on, these stressed areas will suffer thermal fatigue. After tens or hundreds of cycles small
thermal fatigue cracks appear at these stressed areas. This is exactly what may be occurring during the
grinding process. Each time an area of the journal comes into contact with the grinding wheel that area is
heated. During the rest of the rotation the area undergoes cooling. This means that each portion of the
journal surface (as Fig. 12 shows) will be under a thermal gradient, or under a stress gradient, which will be

Fig. 12. Grinding operation heat production scheme. (a) During the contact between the journal and the grinding wheel the journal
surface warms and compression stresses develop; (b) during the rest of the rotation the same surface cools and tension stresses
develop.
614 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616

repeated. When the surface warms, compressive thermal stresses occur at that surface [position A on
Fig. 12(b)], and when that same surface cools, tension stresses occur at the same surface [position B
on Fig. 12(a)]. As a consequence, small fatigue cracks, as shown in Fig. 13, will develop at the journal
surface.
This also explains the orientation of the cracks. Thermal fatigue cracks develop parallel to the thermal
gradient. As is observed in Figs. 4–8 cracks are parallel to the thermal gradient. Another important feature
is that thermal fatigue cracks may be long but with a small depth.
Mechanical fatigue cracks that develop at stress concentrations in crankshafts are approximately semi-
circular, as can be seen in Fig. 9(b). Thus, if those cracks in journals of Figs. 4–8 were mechanical fatigue
cracks, their depth would have caused the crankshafts to fracture. As they are thermal fatigue cracks
(superficial cracks) they can be long and the crankshaft is not fractured yet.
An example of this phenomenon of thermal fatigue cracks is that which occurs on disk brakes. Fig. 14
shows a damaged disk brake. Fatigue cracks are long, with small depth, and the position is parallel to the
heat front (caused by the brake pads).
Escobar [10], in his MSc thesis, found some cracks at the lobes of two camshafts. After an extensive
examination he concluded that those cracks were thermal fatigue cracks due to an improper grinding
process. Observation of those cracks showed that they are small cracks, with small depth, and all in the
direction parallel to the grinding wheel.

Fig. 13. Thermal fatigue cracks aspect.

Fig. 14. (a) Brake disk; (b) example of thermal fatigue cracks developed on a brake disk.
 F.S. Silva / Engineering Failure Analysis 10 (2003) 605–616 615

From these considerations about the grinding process it seems clear that those cracks developed at the
journals; surfaces (Figs. 4–8) are thermal fatigue cracks. Only cracks shown in Fig. 3 seem to have been
developed during the contact of the surfaces (bearing with journal). It seems that these cracks developed
during the surface contact, but from small existing thermal fatigue cracks. These cracks nucleated due to
thermal fatigue from the grinding process, and propagated due to heat and stresses.
In a similar way, Escobar [10] found some other cracks at the lobes of the camshafts [10] that were not
attributed to the grinding process. He concluded that those cracks were initiated by the grinding process,
but propagated due to contact stresses generated by the roller follower, on the camshaft lobes.
There is no doubt that the damaging of the bearings and of the journals of the crankshafts was origi-
nated by those small thermal fatigue cracks and should not be attributed to operating sources or mechan-
ical sources.
A last aspect that must be explained is that these crankshafts are forged. One could ask if those cracks
could be developed during the casting process. On one hand these cranks were not obtained by the foun-
dry, and on the other hand cracks due to residual stresses after casting do not have the shape and location
of cracks on these crankshafts.
As a final comment it should be said that if crankshaft repair shops would have non destructive testing
methods such as magnetic particle testing, improper use of the grinding process would have been already
overcome.

5. Conclusions

The main conclusions of this work can be drawn as follows:

 The damage of the journals weas originated by the small cracks at the surface of the journals;
 The small cracks originated by thermal fatigue due to overheating during the grinding operation.
This overheating could be caused by excessive depth of cut, or by absence of dressing of the grinding
wheels, or by defective lubrication of the grinding operation.

6. Uncited Figure

Figure 10 is not cited in the text

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the automotive repairing shop for allowing the publication of this
information.

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