Fracture of high carbon high strength anchor rods

During a heavy windstorm, there was failure of anchors supporting transmission towers. We were given the mandate to examine the reasons for the failure of the anchor rods and suggest measures to prevent such failures from occurring. The study involved the in-depth examination of the chemical composition, microstructures, mechanical properties and fracture morphologies of specimens from failed anchors. Results indicated that the chemical composition, yield and tensile strengths of the anchor rods are within the norm of ASTM standard A722. The chemical composition corresponds to that of AISI 1070 with slightly higher manganese and silicon levels. Microstructure is ferrite–pearlite with dominance of pearlite due to the relatively high carbon content. Fracture surfaces of failed anchor rods exhibited pronounced cleavage facets (cleavage steps and river pattern) indicating that failure mode is brittle and the mechanism of fracture is cleavage. There were no signs for the occurrence of fatigue – any beach mark or striations. Final area of fracture showed traces of ductility (small shallow dimples). To prevent brittle failure of anchor rods, their toughness has to be improved. To achieve this, the potentiality of applying HSLA steel technology of micro alloying and TMCP (thermo mechanical control process) has been suggested.