CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FAILURE OCCURED IN AN

ANCHORING BOLT OF THE TOWER CRANE MODEL

MC205 2008, INSTALLED IN THE LOADING AREA OF THE
PACO POWER PLANT BLOCK, PORT SITE

Prepared by Approved by
Raúl Mora Salatiel Lima
 INDEX

Page
INTRODUCTION 3

1. EVALUATION PROCEDURE 5

2. RESULTS AND ANALISYS 5

2.1 Visual inspection of the failed zone 5

2.2 Metalographic evaluation 8

2.3 HRC Hardness test 9

3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 10

REFERENCES 12

ANNEX 13
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INTRODUCTION

In September of 2018 and after approximately two years of service, a failure was
detected in the form of a fracture of an anchoring bolt belonging to the base of the
crane tower located in the facilities of Jetty, Puerto . According to the information
provided by the operations personnel, a section of approximately 15 cm was
removed from the base of the crane tower accidentally during a tightening
operation, verifying that the section removed and that which still remained inside
the concrete foundation were separated by a fracture. In Figure 1, the concrete
slab and the location of the failed bolt are shown.

The certificate of materials supplied by TOOLBEAR MACHINERY CO,

manufacturer responsible for providing the bolts and with headquarter in China,
establishes the mechanical grade of the bolt as high strength type 10.9, with a
ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1010 Mpa. The material certificate stablishes the
alloy type as well, being as low alloy, medium carbon steel grade 35CrMo
(Chinese manufacturing classification), whose chemical composition is shown in
Table 1. According to the equivalence of standards shown in Table 2, this alloy
corresponds to an ASTM A29 Gr 4130, whose prescribed microstructure is that
from a quenched and tempering treatment (tempered martensite).

The tower crane installation, model MC205 2008 and loading specifications of 10
T with double reeving, was carried out by the Panamanian company CORPINSA
in 2016. As shown in Fig. 1, the tower crane installation consists of fixed bases at
right angles bolted directly onto a concrete foundation of 1.80 M high. However, it
is important to note that this configuration does not correspond to the original
installation design, established in drawing 5285-724-CD-001 supplied by the
engineering company CPC (Fig. 2), where it indicates that the metal frame in the
base of the tower must be embedded in the concrete foundation at a depth of 74
cm and therefore, no section of the bolts should be visible to the surface. At the
time of this report, it was not possible to find records of the sequence used in the
concrete casting and the use of reinforced concrete in the foundations.
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a) b)

Figure 1. Installation of the fixed base of the crane tower. a) Bolted to the concrete
foundation, b) location of the fractured bolt

Figure 2. Original design for the base crane installation in the concrete foundation

Table 1. Chemical composition of the 35CrMo grade steel according to the

material certification sheet supplied by the manufacturer, TOOLBEAR
MACHINERY CO.
C S P Si Mn Mo Cr Cu Ni Al
0.36 0.007 0.018 0.24 0.59 0.159 0.974 0.018 0.017 0.017
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Table 2. Main classification equivalences of materials according to the origin of the

standard and in relation to the degree of alloy of the material analyzed
China ISO USA DIN
35CrMo 34CrMo4 4130 34CrMo4

1. EVALUATION PROCEDURE

For the purpose of characterizing the bolt failure zone, the following procedures
were performed.

 Visual inspection of the failed zone.

 Metallographic evaluation on two longitudinal section away from the failed
zone.
 HRC Hardness test over a transverse section near to the failure and other
away from the failed section.

2. RESULTS AND ANALISYS

2.1 Visual inspection of the failed zone

The fracture surface shows different characteristics related to the way in which the
rupture process was developed. On the left of Figure 4-a, small crack-arrest marks
are observed that converge radially to the point indicated by the arrow, oriented to
the possible start of the failure. The step type formation of these marks could be
attributed to a progressive advance of the crack front during different load cycles.
Another feature related to a progressive advance in the fracture process is a
greater darkening in specifics regions, due to a longer period of time exposed to
oxidation from the environment. This condition can be seen over the area with
arrest mark in Figure 4-a.

In the upper left corner of Figure 4-b, a region of smooth and flat-appearing can be
seen, which could be indicative of an abrupt fracture. The differences in surface
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roughness are related to the manner in which the crack propagates through
different planes of fracture, and the intensity and type of stress involved. In the
regions with greater roughness, the stresses are greater and developed under
overload conditions, because the component retains most of its integrity in the
cross section at the beginning of the failure process. In the other hand, a cone is
evidenced at the center of the fracture surface (enclosed in the circle in Figure 4-b)
that indicates the final tear zone, possibly due to the torsion generated during the
tightening attempt by the maintenance personnel.

It can be seen from the image of Figure 4-c, that the advance of the fracture mode
was carried out through at a plane of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the
horizontal, which could be indicative that in the cross section of the bolt, shear
stresses are present due to load cycles during tower crane operations.

Under the condition of installation of the crane tower, in which the fixed base is
bolted to the concrete foundation, the dynamic loads generated by the lifting
cycles are transmitted from the metal structure to the concrete through the bolts,
converting bolts into load transfer components and consequently the area of the
junction where the shear efforts become greater (weaker element). On the other
hand, the proximity to the sea (coastal environment) turns out to be a favorable
environment for the appearance of environmental corrosion phenomena, where a
high concentration of chlorides and humidity could lead small pitting to appear on
the exposed surface of the bolt, acting as stress riser.

It is important to note that the failure mode was not confirmed by means of a
Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis or calculating the useful life under a range
of stress. However, the original installation design, where the metal frame of the
base is embedded in the concrete foundation, could allow a better distribution of
the dynamic loads, by directly transmitting most of the resulting cyclical stresses to
the concrete. Likewise, under this design the bolts would be provided protection
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against the marine environment, avoiding the generation of corrosion phenomena

on its surface.

a) b)
Possible area of
final tear by
Flat surface torsion

Arrest Marks

c) d)

Figure 4. Macro characteristics of the fracture surface. a) Radial crack-arrest

marks to possible failure start point, b) Flat and smooth appearance in one fracture
region, c) and d) progress of the fracture mode in a plane of approximately 45
degrees with respect to the horizontal
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2.2. Metalographic evaluation

The microstructural evaluation was carried out in two longitudinal sections

extracted by cutting the area away from the failure in two halves. The
metallographic preparation procedure was carried out according to what is
established in the ASTM E3 standard and includes roughing of the samples in
sandpapers 180, 240, 320, 400 and 600 mesh. Subsequently, a fine polishing with
alumina of 3, 2 and 0.5 µm was performed. The attack reagent used was Vilella's.

Figure 4 shows the metallographic evidences of the sample analyzed in its

longitudinal section, which correspond to a microstructure of tempered martensite,
typical of low alloy-medium carbon steels with thermal treatment of quenching and
tempering. The microstructure corresponds to a steel specified according to
Chinese standard as 35CrMo (equivalent ASTM 29 Gr 4130), which is established
as the grade of alloy supplied by the manufacturer TOOLBEAR MACHINERY CO
in the material certification sheet. No variations or any other characteristic in the
microstructural integrity that could be related to the failure were observed.
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a) b)

c) d)

Figure 4. Microstructural evaluation of the failed bolt. a) longitudinal cut made to

the bolt, b and c) 200 X, d) 500 X. A structure characterized by a tempered
martensite was observed. Etchant: Villeya’s

2.3. HRC Hardness test

The hardness property was evaluated in the material on the Rockwell C (HRC)
scale, using the technique of ultrasonic contact impedance and meet the
requirements of ASTM A1038. It was carried out random measurements on the
cross section of the bolt near the failure and on the longitudinal half away of the
failure.
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The average values of hardness in the cross section near the failure was 40, 8
HRC, while in the longitudinal section it was 44, 9 HRC. This variation in the
average of the hardness values can be attributed to the fluctuation that usually
occurs in the measurements of this property, when applying portable manual
methods in the obtaining of hardness values, in this case ultrasonic contact
impedance. Likewise, the longitudinal section frequently tends to have higher
values of hardness because it is the main forming axis, where the hardening by
deformation is greater.

According to the obtained results, it is considered that the hardness values are
consistent with the microstructural observations and correspond to the expected
values in quenched and tempered grade 4130 steels, at approximate tempered
temperatures of 900 ◦C.

For the purpose of making an effort to verify the grade of alloy supplied by the
manufacturer, the operations personnel performed a Positive Material
Identification (PMI) analysis on the bolt, obtaining a search match according to the
library of the test device similar to a 4130 grade steel (ANNEX B). However, it is
important to note that due to limitations inherent in the application of the PMI by
portable X-ray fluorescence, some elements of the Non-Metals group such as C,
Si and S, are excluded from the scope of this technique applications, therefore,
any identification procedure in low and medium alloy steels should be considered
as a qualitative approximation to the grade of the alloy.

3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 Arrest marks are evinced on the fracture surface that may correspond to the
possible start point of the failure. The stepped pattern of these marks
suggest a progressive advance of the crack front. The presence of a region
with greater darkening, reveals a longer exposure period of that part to the
oxidant action of the medium and is often associated with progressive
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fracture modes. The inclination of the surface of failure in a plane

approximately 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal, can be a
consequence of the generation of intense shear stress in the cross section
of the bolt.
 Original design in drawing 5285-724-CD-001 establishes an installation
procedure embedding the metallic base 74 cm deep in the concrete
foundation. However, on site it was evidenced that the installation was
carried out bolting down the tower crane base over the concrete foundation,
exposing part of the bolt to the aggressive action of the marine
environment.
 According to the material certification sheet supplied by the manufacturer,
the mechanical grade of the bolt corresponds to a 10.9 with a UTS of 1010
Mpa. The grade of the alloy supplied is 35CrMo according to Chinese
manufacturing classification, whose equivalent is ASTM A-29 AISI 4130.
The chemical composition presented in the material certification sheet meet
the compositional range established in the ASTM A-29 standard for a 4130
steel.
 The metallographic evaluation showed a homogenous microstructure
composed of tempered martensite. The average of the hardness values
obtained in the analyzed sections correspond with the microstructure. Both
the microstructure and the hardness values are concordant with those
expected in AISI grade 4130 steel, tempered at approximate temperatures
of 900 ◦C.
 It is recommended to enclose the fixed base of the crane tower in the
concrete according to the original design. An alternative to be evaluated is a
new foundation be poured over the current foundation to encase the crane
fixed base.
 If there is a suspicion that this pattern of failure could affect other bolts
adjacent to the fixed base, in addition to not complying with the
specifications of the concrete foundation in the original design, the option of
dismantling the crane may be considered.
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REFERENCE

1. ASTM A-29/A 29M “Standard Specification for Steel Bar, Carbon and
Alloy, Hot Wrought, General Requirement for”, USA, 2014.
2. ASTM E3 “Standard Guide for Preparation of Metallographic
Specimen”, USA, 2011.
3. ASTM A-1038 “Standard Test Method for Portable Hardness Testing
by the Ultrasonic Contact Impedance (UCI) Method
4. ASM METAL HANDBOOK “Metallography and Microstructure” Vol, 9,
USA, 2004
5. ASM METAL HANDBOOK “Fractography” Vol 12, USA, 2004
6. ASM METAL HANDBOOK “Fatigue and Fracture” Vol 19, USA, 2004
7. M. Montero, L. Flores “Bolt Metallography and Hardness Test”
Panama, 2018
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ANNEXX A
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ANNEX B