{"id":8055,"date":"2026-02-25T16:04:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teceudemo.com\/failure-analysis-pallet-truck-arm\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:20:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:20:50","slug":"failure-analysis-pallet-truck-arm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/failure-analysis-pallet-truck-arm\/","title":{"rendered":"Failure Analysis | pallet truck arm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Failure Analysis on pallet truck arm<\/h2>\n

The object<\/h2>\n

A pallet truck is a handling tool used for lifting and transporting goods on pallets. It consists of a base with wheels and two metal arms that fit under the pallet to lift it.
\nPossible failure modes of a pallet truck arm include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Breakage due to overload<\/strong> | A if the arm is subjected to a load beyond its strength capacity, it may break.<\/li>\n
  2. Plastic deformation <\/strong>| Repeated use or excessive load can cause permanent deformation of the arm, reducing its lifting and carrying capacity.<\/li>\n
  3. Wear and corrosion<\/strong> | friction and exposure to corrosive agents can cause wear and tear on the arm or the formation of cracks that can lead to its breakage.<\/li>\n
  4. Manufacturing defects or poor quality materials<\/strong> | defects in the design or manufacture of the arm, or the use of poor quality materials, can affect its strength and durability.<\/li>\n
  5. Lack of maintenance<\/strong> | a lack of lubrication, cleaning, or regular inspections can promote the accumulation of dirt, corrosion, or invisible damage that can lead to unexpected arm failures.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Purpose of the survey<\/h2>\n

    The purpose of the investigation is to analyze the damage that occurred to the component.<\/strong> No information was provided regarding the material or delivery condition of the part. The damage consists ofthe breakage of the component at the weld with the tubular.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The analyses<\/h2>\n

    Observation of the fracture zones shows theabsence of plastic deformation and the presence of bright and jagged fracture surfaces.<\/strong> These macroscopic aspects indicate a brittle fracture mode<\/strong>. The fracture surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscope to evaluate their morphological fracture characteristics.<\/p>\n

    Fractographic observation of the failure surfaces revealed the presence of integrity defects<\/strong>, such as interdendritic shrinkage, in the melt zone. The damage morphology is characterized by cleavage, indicating a crash failure with brittle mode. In addition, the fracture surface in the weld zone shows columnar detachments<\/strong>, also typical of brittle fractures.<\/p>\n

    Chemical analysis shows the composition of the material, which corresponds to a spheroidal cast iron of type EN-GJS-500-7 according to UNI EN 1563:2018.<\/p>\n

    Tensile strength values are in accordance with what is expected for a material of this type, confirming the classification as spheroidal cast iron EN-GJS-500-7.<\/p>\n

    Metallographic examination reveals the presence of large interdendritic shrinkage and a crack in the weld melt zone.<\/strong> The microstructure consists of a ferritic-perlitic matrix in the cast iron and acicular martensite in the fused zone.<\/p>\n

    Brinell hardness at the core is 187 HBW, while Vickers hardness varies from 693 HV to 716 HV in the different zones analyzed.<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Fig. 1 – Visual examination<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"\"
    Fig. 2 – Morphology<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"\"
    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"\"
    Fig. 3 and 4 – Microstructure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The results<\/h2>\n

    As shown in the analytical phase, the material of the fractured component is a spheroidal cast iron of type EN-GJS-500-7 according to UNI EN 1563:2018.<\/strong> The fracture occurred in a brittle and crash mode, as confirmed byvisual and fractographic examination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The origin of the failure can be attributed to two issues. First, the welding was performed without preheating and postheating<\/strong>, causing a hard and brittle structure in the welded zone. This made the zone susceptible to failure under normal loads.<\/strong> In addition, integrity defects were found due to interdendritic shrinkage during solidification, reducing the resistant section of the component and promoting failure even under sub-standard loads.<\/p>\n

    Conclusions<\/h2>\n

    Component failure can be attributed to two separate issues:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • integrity defects in the cast iron casting<\/strong>, which caused a significant reduction in the resistant section;<\/li>\n
    • welding<\/strong>, carried out without considering the hardenability of the materials, resulting in an extremely hard and brittle joint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Therefore, it is recommended to check the internal fusion quality and to adopt appropriate filler material and pre-heating and post-heating procedures during the welding process.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Is your component damaged? Let’s find out together why<\/h2>\n

      Request information<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Failure Analysis on pallet truck arm The object A pallet truck is a handling tool used for lifting and transporting goods on pallets. It consists of a base with wheels and two metal arms that fit under the pallet to lift it. Possible failure modes of a pallet truck arm include: Breakage due to overload […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-did-it-break"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8055"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14029,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8055\/revisions\/14029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tec-eurolab.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}