Failure analysis of stainless steel lanyard wire rope

Abstract

Present work describes the failure analysis of AISI 304 stainless steel consisting of 7x19 construction lanyard wire rope which has failed during service. The microstructures and properties of failed wire rope have been investigated and compared with unused wire rope. Both the periphery and fracture surface of the wire rope display the presence of corrosion debris enriched with O and Cl. The fracture surfaces of the failed and unused wire ropes display intergranular and dimples, respectively. The lanyard wire rope has been exposed in corrosive atmosphere and failed in intergranular mode due to enrichment of O and Cl along the grain boundaries.