Mechanism of corrosion fatigue cracking of automotive coil spring steel

摘要

The AISI 300M ultra-high strength steel was applied for the automotive suspension coil spring. Recently, some premature failures were reported, which caused by synergistic effect of cyclic mechanical stress and corrosion, namely corrosion fatigue cracking. In this study, the accurate mechanism of corrosion fatigue cracking for coil spring steel was studied for the proper prevention method against the catastrophic failure. Fatigue life was evaluated in 5 wt% NaCl solution under the anodic dissolution and hydrogen embrittlement conditions, which is simulated by applying constant potentials. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis indicated that the corrosion fatigue cracking was initiated at the MnS inclusion of the pit initiation site. The calculation of hydrogen production corresponding to each corrosion fatigue test condition revealed the two operating mechanisms of the cracking process. The corrosion fatigue cracking failure of coil spring steel was mainly caused by the anodic dissolution combined with hydrogen embrittlement.