| Case | A link from an elevator chain has broken. The link was manufactured from ferritic cast iron and operated under atmospheric conditions for several years. Failure however, caused production downtime and subsequent damage.
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Cause
| Investigation of the fracture surface revealed the failure mechanism "fatigue" as a result of a dynamic stress from one-sided bending load. Initiation had occurred at a location where a geometrical transition coincided with an imperfection caused by the finishing of the component.
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| Advice | Recommendations were given how to inspect the finishing quality of a surface particularly at crucial locations of dynamically loaded components. |
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