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Article history:
Available online 7 June 2013
Keywords:
Engine failures
Valve failures
Erosion
Corrosion
a b s t r a c t
Several components of a diesel generator failed dramatically after only nine months in service. Operators noticed the generator, a two-stroke Detroit Diesel model 16V149TIB, producing abnormal noises and smoke. Upon inspection the piston crown, cylinder head,
fuel injector, and exhaust valves from the No. 1 cylinder were found to be extremely damaged, as was the exhaust turbine from the turbocharger assembly. Examinations of the
recovered parts were conducted through visual and chemical analysis, fractography, and
metallography. Various fracture mechanisms, such as thermal cracking, intergranular fracture, and high-cycle fatigue, were observed for the different materials and parts involved. It
was determined that the damage sustained by the engine could be explained as the result
of severe and undetected erosioncorrosion (guttering) of one of the No. 1 cylinder
exhaust valves, which caused the valve head to fracture and enter the combustion chamber. Possible causes of this valve guttering are discussed, and recommendations are offered
to help avoid similar catastrophic failures in the future.
Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
A Detroit Diesel series 149 (DD149) generator failed after only nine months in service. Defence Research and Development Canada Atlantic was requested by the equipment owner to conduct an analysis of the engine components and a survey of the operational logs in order to determine the root cause of the failure. The ensuing failure investigation was
noteworthy due to the extent of the damage to the engine components, and the variety of fracture mechanisms encountered.
In this paper, the observations and conclusions of the failure analysis are provided as a case study, and recommendations are
offered to help avoid similar failures in the future.
2. Background
The DD149s are two-stroke diesel engines commonly used in mining, marine, construction, and other industries. These
engines can have up to 20 cylinders, and are so named because of their 149 in.3 of cylinder volume. DD149 engines employ
the pot head design, in which the cylinder heads t inside the cylinders. A schematic of one of the DD149 cylinder heads is
shown in Fig. 1.
Since the DD149 is a two-stroke engine, all four of the valves that pass through each cylinder head are exhaust valves.
These valves are actuated in pairs by the camshaft and the exhaust from pairs of valves passes through cavities in the cylinder head before exiting through separate exhaust ports. In other words, the exhaust streams from the two pairs of valves
on each cylinder do not mix until they exit the cylinder head.
Tel.: +1 9024272601.
E-mail address: Cameron.Munro@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
1350-6307/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2013.05.009
500
The particular generator model that failed after nine months in service consisted of 16 cylinders in a V conguration and
was equipped with four turbochargers. These turbochargers were separated, so that each was powered by the exhaust gases
from four cylinders. This generator was also tted with 16 pyrometers in order to monitor the temperatures of exhaust gases
emitted from each cylinder.
From installation the failed DD149 generator saw steady, though not continuous, use. Initially, operation of the generator
was uneventful, although there were intermittent problems with the pyrometers used to measure exhaust gas temperatures.
The connections of these pyrometers were prone to vibrating loose so that at times they did not give any readings at all.
Although attempts were made to address the problem, repairs were not entirely successful and some loose connections
persisted.
Six months into use of the generator operators began recording abnormal exhaust gas temperatures coming from cylinder
No. 1. The exhaust at this location was showing as 100 F hotter than usual. However, since the cylinder No. 1 pyrometer
was one that was prone to failure, operators did not trust these abnormal readings. So, although the temperature measurements continued to be recorded by the operators, they were not considered to be accurate and were disregarded.
Roughly three months later (or after nine months in total of generator operation) the temperature reading from cylinder
No. 1 changed again, this time abruptly dropping by almost 200 F so that it was running signicantly colder than normal.
Again, these readings were not trusted and so were ignored. Just a few days later operators noticed a grinding noise and
excessive white smoke and oil leakage coming from the turbocharger serving cylinder No. 1. The generator was then shut
down, and extensive damage to the turbocharger and cylinder No. 1 components was discovered.
3. Methods and results
3.1. Visual analysis
When the turbocharger serving cylinder No. 1 was disassembled, extensive damage to its exhaust turbine was found. The
turbine blades, which were fabricated from an aluminum alloy, were worn away due to what appeared to be impact. Several
large pieces of metallic debris were also recovered from the exhaust side of the turbocharger housing.
Tracing the exhaust pathway upstream from the failed turbocharger, technicians began nding exhaust valve heads. The
rst of which, Head A shown in Fig. 2, was found near the turbocharger housing, where the exhaust enters the turbocharger.
Further up the exhaust stream another valve head, Head B of Fig. 2, was found in the exhaust manifold. By comparing these
Head A
10 mm
Head B
New
Head
Fig. 2. Valve heads recovered from the exhaust pathway of DD149 generator. A new valve head is shown for comparison.
501
Fig. 3. Recovered valve Head B detail. A region of material loss is visible in the circled area.
valve heads to a new, unused component (Fig. 2) it was clear that the recovered valve heads had each experienced at least
two chordal fractures and signicant impact damage. Additionally, on Head B a distinct region of material loss was visible.
This region is shown circled in Fig. 3. It was clear that this material loss was not due to fracture, based on the areas curved
surfaces and well-dened edges. Furthermore, this region had a cracked, black surface, suggesting signicant oxidation occurred at this location.
Since the failed turbocharger served cylinders Nos. 14, all of these cylinders were disassembled and closely inspected for
damage. Cylinders Nos. 24 exhibited no noticeable damage. However, several components from cylinder No. 1 were severely damaged. The underside of the No. 1 cylinder head, pictured in Fig. 4, showed serious impact damage. Likewise there
was signicant impact damage to the top of the piston crown, to the point that there were three holes clearly punched
through it. The fuel injector (not shown in Fig. 4) was also destroyed, apparently by impact damage.
In Fig. 4, the No. 1 cylinder exhaust valves are shown still in their guides. In this image one can see that three of the exhaust valve heads (numbered 13 in the gure) were fractured from their stems. The remaining valve stem (valve 4) exhib-
1
3
25 mm
Fig. 4. Underside of No. 1 cylinder head. Fractured valve stems are numbered, still in their guides. The circled area highlights a region of distinct material
loss on the No. 2 valve seat insert.
Valves 1 and 2
Valves 3 and 4
Fig. 5. Side view of No. 1 cylinder head showing the state of its two exhaust pathways.
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ited a chordal fracture and was driven up into its seat. There was no damage to any of the valve springs that would otherwise
have affected proper valve closure.
Although three exhaust valves from the No. 1 cylinder were fractured, only two valve heads were found in the engine.
There were, though, a number of large pieces of debris recovered from the exhaust side of the failed turbocharger as well
as from the crankcase. Some of these large pieces were chemically identied as being from the exhaust valves. However,
these pieces were all heavily abraded and misshapen due to impact, such that their fracture surfaces retained no useable
features.
The four valve stems were removed from their guides and cleaned in a hot detergent solution. After cleaning, large regions
of corrosion damage were revealed on valve stems 1 and 2, near their respective fracture surfaces. By comparison, valve
stems 3 and 4 exhibited no such corrosion. Perhaps related to this observation, the exhaust port serving valves 1 and 2
was found to be much cleaner than that serving valves 3 and 4 (Fig. 5). As shown in the gure, the latter port was coated
with a thick layer of incomplete combustion product.
Like the underside of the cylinder head, the exhaust valve seat inserts from the No. 1 cylinder also exhibited considerable
impact damage. However, there was a region of distinct material loss on one of the valve seat inserts. This region is shown
circled in Fig. 4 on the valve seat corresponding to valve stem 2. The surface of this region was darker in colour than the rest
of the valve seat, and was covered in many ne cracks.
Table 1
Average concentration (wt.%) of impurity elements on guttered region of Head B, as detected by EDS.
Mg
Ca
Zn
0.8
0.8
0.5
6.9
1.7
Shear Lip
Smearing
2 mm
Fig. 6. Valve stem 1 fracture surface macrograph.
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Fig. 7. Electron micrograph of valve stem 1 fracture surface (450 original magnication).
granular, but some intergranular fracture was apparent. There was also some secondary cracking perpendicular to the fracture surface, and this cracking was mostly intergranular.
The fracture surface of valve stem 2, which shared an exhaust cavity with valve stem 1, was also largely undamaged after
fracture. It also showed a very brittle fracture on the macroscale with little in the way of plastic deformation, and therefore
resembled the surface shown in Fig. 6. Unlike stem 1, however, shear lips were absent from the fracture surface. A considerable amount of secondary cracking was visible even under relatively low magnication (Fig. 8). Under the SEM (Fig. 9), the
fracture had a strong intergranular character, and the secondary cracking appeared to be intergranular as well. Ductile tearing was also visible on this fracture surface, but to a lesser degree than the intergranular character. A cross-section of the
fracture surface (Fig. 10) provided corroborating evidence of a predominantly intergranular fracture. It also showed that
there was notable surface corrosion on the valve stem, and that there were many cracks beginning at areas of corrosion.
These cracks, however, did not always propagate in an intergranular manner and were relatively short (<200 lm). Examples
of this type of cracking beginning at an area of corrosion are labelled in Figs. 10 and 11.
The fracture surface of stem 3 did not resemble that of stem 1 or stem 2. This surface was severely damaged due to impact/abrasion after the fact, destroying any fractographic features on the macroscale. However there were small areas of the
surface that were undamaged and thus could be inspected using SEM. Upon inspection the fracture was almost entirely
transgranular, with regularly-spaced ridges on the surface lying roughly parallel to one another (Fig. 12). These ridges were
much more prominent than slip bands, and appeared to bend around inclusions. They were even present in recessed areas of
the fracture surface, where rubbing would not be expected. Furthermore, ridges were aligned in the same orientation at different locations on the fracture surface. For these reasons, it is likely that these lines were fatigue striations, indicating the
progression of a fatigue crack under cyclic loading. These striations were measured and found to be spaced roughly 1.5 lm
Fig. 8. Electron micrograph of valve stem 2 (100 original magnication). Arrows indicate shallow secondary cracking.
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Fig. 9. Electron micrograph of valve stem 2 fracture surface (300 original magnication).
Fracture Surface
Corrosion
Cracking
Cracking
Corrosion
Fig. 11. Cross-section of valve stem 2, showing cracking beginning in region of surface corrosion.
apart at the centre of the valve stem. Based on this striation spacing the stem must have been under high cyclic stress, as it is
estimated that fracture would have occurred in less than ten thousand cycles after initiation. At an engine speed of 1800 rpm
fracture would have therefore occurred in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately the fracture surface was otherwise too damaged to determine where and how the fatigue crack started, but the fractographic evidence shows that stem 3 fractured under cyclic loading at high stresses.
505
Fig. 12. Electron micrograph of valve stem 3 fracture surface (700 original magnication).
Fig. 13. Electron micrograph of Head B fracture surface (500 original magnication).
As visible in Fig. 2, the headstem fracture surface on Head A had suffered severe impact after fracture. There were no
regions of the original fracture surface that remained to be examined even by SEM. The headstem fracture surface of Head
B, as seen in Fig. 3, also experienced extensive damage, making it difcult to see any fractographic features on the macroscale. However, there were small regions of this fracture surface that were undamaged and could be inspected via SEM. This
revealed that the fracture had a strong intergranular character (Fig. 13), and was therefore similar to the fracture surface of
valve stem 2. Unfortunately, an exhaustive attempt to match fractographic features between Head B and stem 2 could not be
conducted, due to time constraints.
4. Discussion
4.1. Sequence of failure
The failure of the turbocharger serving cylinders Nos. 14 was the event that alerted operators of the DD149 generator to
the wider damage. However, the metal particles recovered from the failed turbocharger were of the same alloy as the exhaust valves, and severely damaged exhaust valve heads were found upstream in the exhaust pathway leading to the turbocharger. These observations suggest that the failure of the turbocharger was merely a secondary consequence of
fracture of the three cylinder No. 1 valve stems. Therefore, in order to understand the wider failure it is necessary to examine
what caused the fracture of the exhaust valve stems in the rst place.
506
5 mm
Fig. 14. Example of a guttered valve taken from a DD149 engine.
507
Although the fractographic evidence indicates that valve 2 was subjected to intergranular attack, the question still remains as to what caused the valve head to nally fracture from its stem. The fracture surface was not entirely intergranular
so some loading must have been present to cause fracture. The most plausible explanation is that the normal valve closing
forces, which can be signicant both in magnitude and in loading rate, caused a fracture in the weakened and unbalanced
Head B. It is likely, given the degree of guttering and the necessary associated material loss, that the rst fracture to occur
was a chordal fracture of this valve head. This having occurred, one or more large chunks of material would have subsequently fallen into the combustion chamber, to be pulverized between the piston crown and cylinder head and to cause further fracture of the exhaust valves.
4.4. Causes of valve guttering
Given the degree of damage to the cylinder No. 2 valves and seat inserts it was impossible to detect any evidence as to
what initiated the guttering. However, there are a few recognized causes of exhaust valve erosioncorrosion that may be
applicable in this situation.
Valve guttering is, in simplest terms, caused by the incomplete closing of a valve against its seat. This creates a radial leakage path through which exhaust gases can begin to ow and, in some instances, erode/corrode the surrounding material. The
contact surfaces between valves and seats are fabricated with precise tolerances, and so anything that interferes with these
mating surfaces can lead to leakage. Gross valve distortion, either permanent or thermally-induced during operation, can
understandably disrupt valve sealing, but more commonly the initial cause of leakage is more subtle.
Studies into the characteristics of ash deposits, or scales, on the sealing faces of valves and seats have shown that these
play an important role in the guttering process [3]. Such scales are ubiquitous, consisting of, for example, sulphates, phosphates and oxides of inorganic fuel and oil constituents. Not only do these scales interfere with the tight geometric t of
valves and seats, but they also restrict heat ow out of the valves. Around 7580% of the heat absorbed by exhaust valves
exits through the contact between valve and valve seat [4]. Valves can therefore be insulated by excessive scale, raising their
temperature and making them more susceptible to distortion or damage. Finally, uneven aking or spalling of the scale itself
under the closing action of valves can create sufcient localized leakage paths to initiate valve guttering.
5. Conclusions and recommendations
Based on evidence found on one of the recovered valve heads and a valve seat insert from the No. 1 cylinder, extensive
guttering of a diesel exhaust valve from a failed DD149 generator had occurred. The initial cause of guttering could not be
determined, due to the resulting damage to the valve head and seat. However, records of engine temperatures support the
existence of guttering as they showed elevated exhaust temperatures at the affected cylinder beginning roughly six months
into operation of the generator. After three more months of operation the guttered valve was so weakened due to the erosivecorrosive action of the exhaust gas that it fractured, likely under normal valve opening and closing forces. Debris from
this fracture travelled to different areas within the engine causing signicant secondary damage.
Two recommendations can be drawn from this failure. First, pyrometer readings should not be ignored by operators and
technicians. It should not be assumed that a pyrometer is malfunctioning when it gives an abnormal reading. Elevated exhaust temperatures should instead be investigated as soon as possible, as they may help to avoid catastrophic failure. Second, it may be worthwhile to avoid using calcium-containing oil detergents in this type of engine, as these have shown to
promote guttering of Pyromet 31 valves. Magnesium-based detergents may be a better option, as these have led to fewer
instances of guttering in controlled engine tests [3].
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Detroit Diesel series 149 service manual, Detroit Diesel Corporation, Detroit, 1993.
Woldman NE, Frick JP. Woldmans engineering alloys. 9th ed. Materials Park: ASM International; 2001.
Scott CG, Riga AT, Hong H. The erosioncorrosion of nickel-base diesel engine exhaust valves. Wear 1995;181183:48594.
Lewis R, Dwyer-Joyce RS. Automotive engine valve recession. London: Professional Engineering Publishing Limited; 2002.