The fracture of the two forks of an heavy duty lift truck in operation at an harbour is described and discussed. The failure analysis included: a) mechanical tests for characterisation of the material, including tensile and Charpy tests; b) the study of a previous repair by welding carried out in one of the forks and the identification of consequential weld defects; c) the detection of fatigue cracks in the other fork; d) detailed metalographical analysis; e) stress analysis using the finite element method; f) fracture mechanics and plastic collapse analyses. This case study illustrates the methodology for failure analysis, through systematic and sequential consideration of the evidence, generation of data, and use of models of behaviour.
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