4330 Casting Break
4330 Casting Break
(OP)
Hi all,
have a grumpy customer with a broken machine frame (4330 cast steel heat-treated to Rc 32-38) - any opinions / suggestions / sympathy greatly appreciated!
have a grumpy customer with a broken machine frame (4330 cast steel heat-treated to Rc 32-38) - any opinions / suggestions / sympathy greatly appreciated!





RE: 4330 Casting Break
Very interesting failure. Looks like a casting defect along the top section of the fracture surface that was significant enough in size to cause failure during a one-time load event.
Regarding repair, because of the section size involved the only weld repair method that I could think of would be narrow gap electroslag welding. This welding process is commonly used in bridge repairs and is also used in construction of heavy wall components. A wrought piece of 4330 HT plate could be full penetration welded and machined to match the piece that failed. I thought of metal stitching, which is a good repair method for machine frames. However, in this case looking at the geometry you need the full section size to carry load.
RE: 4330 Casting Break
Sympathy,always there. Good Luck
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"It's better to die standing than live your whole life on the knees" by Peter Mayle in his book A Good Year
RE: 4330 Casting Break
As far as the unhappy customer is concerned, those can be difficult to deal with. How to handle that depends on where you are in the chain. Do you supply the castings? A manufacturer that buys the castings from a vendor? If so, some NDE may be useful to make sure future castings are defect free. If you are just a distrubutor of factory parts, lean on the manufacturer for a replacement. How you deal with grumpy customers is often what differentiates good customer service from lousy customer service.
rp