A traffic accident caused by fatigue failure of axle.
An investigation of a traffic accident involving a tractor-trailer and a passenger car that were traveling at high speed is presented. The cause was the fracture of a trailer axle. The investigation showed that the fracture was because of the fatigue failure. In addition, cracks were found in the remaining three trailer wheels. Hardness measurements showed that, because of inadequate heat treatment of the metal, they were prone to failure.
Park
Chan-Seong
CS
Department of Physical Engineering, Central District Office of National Institute of Scientific Investigation, Daejeon 305-348, Korea. color@nisi.go.kr
Lee
Sang-Hoon
SH
Lee
Kyu-Jung
KJ
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D013314:Stress, Mechanical