FRACTURE ANALYSIS OF REVERSE SHAFT OF DUNE BUGGY

The failure of reverse shaft of dune buggy is analyzed in this paper. The results showed that the reverse shaft failure belongs to multi-source circumgyrate bending fatigue fracture. Since the machining process of the shaft was not controlled precisely, there would exist stress concentration at the edges. When the shaft was operation, the concentrational stress caused to the shaft fatigue fracture. Through the metallographical examination of the material, the microstructure of the material treated by carburizing and quenching was tempered martensite on the surface, conditioning heat treatment which left more ferrite in the center of the shaft, so the improper heat treatment operation became another reason of the failure.