Failure analysis in sugar cane cutter base blades

Abstract For the first time in the literature, the failure analysis of a sugar cane cutting blade is performed. This mechanical component is of vital importance in the sugar cane industry. However, despite this component failing frequently, very little is known about the causes of failure of these blades and their relationship with the field conditions where they are used. In this work, we performed a detailed failure analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mossbauer absorption spectroscopy (MAS) and hardness measurements. We also performed a series of thermal treatments aiming to elucidate and validate the hypothetical cause as well as propose a plan to reduce the occurrence of these failures. Lastly, it was determined that the failure occurs due to intergranular cleavage due to two main reasons: the tempering temperature is very close to the tempering martensite embrittlement (TME), and an anisotropic mechanical response along the cross-section due to the lack of control in the thermal treatment and the high degree of orientation of the grains.