FAILURE ANALYSIS OF A GLASS FILLED PHENOLIC RESIN POWER STEERING PUMP PULLEY

摘要

A root cause failure analysis was performed on a glass filled phenolic resin power steering pump pulley that was implicated in an automobile accident. A thorough investigation including vehicle inspection, macroscopic and microscopic examination, stress analysis, and exemplar testing was performed to test two competing hypotheses postulated to explain the failure. The first hypothesized cause of failure was the impact of the pulley with other under-the-hood components during a rear end impact. The second hypothesized cause was fracture due to fatigue, which was the result of various defects. This paper details the various investigative steps and identifies the ultimate root cause.