Engineering Failure Analysis 112 (2020) 104503

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Engineering Failure Analysis

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Failure analysis in sugar cane cutter base blades

T
⁎ ⁎,1
J.S. Rodrígueza, , J.F. Duranb, Y. Aguilara, G.A. Pérez Alcázarb, O.A. Zambranoa,
a
Research Group of Tribology, Polymers, Powder Metallurgy and Processing of Solid Waste (TPMR), Materials Engineering School, Universidad del
Valle, Cali, Colombia
b
Research Group of Physical Metallurgy and Phase Transition Theory (GMTF), Physics School, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

A R T IC LE I N F O ABS TRA CT

Keywords: For the first time in the literature, the failure analysis of a sugar cane cutting blade is performed.
Failure analysis This mechanical component is of vital importance in the sugar cane industry. However, despite
Chromium steel low alloy this component failing frequently, very little is known about the causes of failure of these blades
Base sugar cane cutting blade and their relationship with the field conditions where they are used. In this work, we performed a
Fracture
detailed failure analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD),
Abrasion wear
Mössbauer 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.

1. Introduction

The tendency of developing countries to increase the production of the agricultural sector is directly related to the degree of
technology that they have, which is summarized in fixed technical assets that can replace the work done by humans and / or animals
with machinery. Although the context of technification is covered from this perspective, it must also be related to the context of
sustainable development, which implies a reduction of environmental risks by increasing productivity, reducing the loss of material
by service conditions, reductions in energy consumption and reductions in the failure rate of machinery and equipment [1]. To meet
these challenges, various steels have been implemented for the optimization of agricultural processes, such as chromium steel low
alloy being widely used in agricultural applications, among them as a material for sugar-cutter base knives due to their mechanical
properties that can be obtained through thermal treatments of quenching and tempering [2–4].
Studies related to cane cutting processes or cutting processes in an agricultural context have been carried out from a tribological
perspective in order to identify more accurately the problem. In this sense, Lau et al. [5] studied the effect of wear on thin-edge
cutting blades in a grass cutting operation using AISI 1045 and 1045 steels under cold and hot working conditions, indicating that the
wear process on the edge of these pieces occurs due to the phenomena of contact fatigue due to the cyclic effect between the edge and
the ground. León et al. [4] conducted a field study of the performance of base knives and cutters for cutting sugar cane made of AISI
15B30 and 5160 steels with quenching and tempering treatments; they concluded that the predominant failure mode is due to wear,
which leads to the accelerated loss of the edge. Additionally, they determined that the micro mechanisms of abrasive wear were

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: juan.rodriguez.sanchez@correounivalle.edu.co (J.S. Rodríguez), oscar.zambrano@correounivalle.edu.co (O.A. Zambrano).
1
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7714-2061.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2020.104503
Received 27 September 2019; Received in revised form 11 January 2020; Accepted 4 March 2020
Available online 07 March 2020
1350-6307/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J.S. Rodríguez, et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 112 (2020) 104503

microploughing and microfracture. On the other hand, there are studies related to operational parameters such as Mathanker et al.
[6], who evaluated the effect of cutting speed and blade oblique angle on cutting energy for sugar cane with a serrated cutting blade,
and Bianchini et al. [7], who carried out a study regarding the evaluation of coulters for cutting sugar cane residue in a soil bin with
the purpose of identifying which geometry (toothed, notched or smooth) is more efficient for this type of application. Several authors
have studied the effect of tempering temperature on the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of sweet and alloyed
steels from the metallurgical point of view. Reguly et al. [3] and Perez et al. [8] determined for the AISI 5160 steel that the
temperature of embrittlement of tempered martensite (TME) ranges between 330 and 350° C and that when the tempering tem-
perature increases, the hardness of the material decreases. Thomas [9] and Horn et al. [10] related the cause of the TME with the
transformation of retained austenite after tempering at the boundary grain in cementite during the tempering treatment, which
produces in the steels lower values of fracture toughness (KIC ) and energy of impact Charpy V-notches. In addition, they stated that
the KIC and Charpy V-notches increase proportionally with the tempering temperature.
According to the above, it is clear that there are some studies related to the understanding of geometric optimization for cane
cutting, while others aimed at understanding the effect of thermal treatments on chromium steel low alloy and a few on the tri-
bological aspect. However, to date, there is no study related to the failure analysis of cutting blades of the base type. Thus, the present
work gives the context of the failure of sugar cane cutting blades, and the hypothesis resulting from the failure was validated by
thermal treatments of quenching and tempering, in the same way they are carried out at an industrial level.

2. Conditions of service and operation

Study areas where failure analysis of sugar cane cutter blades base was conducted are located in the Valle del Cauca (Colombia),
where basically 2 types of soils are present: soil 6H1 (soils with humidity deficit and high permeability) and soil 10H4 (high humidity
and permeability soils ranging from high to low) [11]. These soils mainly consist of molisol, incentisols and vertisols, which in turn
are composed of silicates (quartz and feldspar) and calcite, with hardness between 1120 HV and 110 HV [12]. In addition, these soils
have a wide granulometric range that oscillates from clay soils to sandy soils, as well as the presence of igneous rocks. Fig. 1(a) and
(b) show the types of soils in which sowing and harvesting of sugar cane in Valle del Cauca (Colombia) is conducted, ranging from
high to low content of igneous rocks. Fig. 1(c) shows the type of igneous rocks present in these lands, in which fractures and marks
that indicate previous impacts with the base cutters of sugar cane can be seen.
The sugar cane cutting blades studied were conventional chromium alloys with a nominal chemical composition of 0.6%C-

Fig. 1. Soil types of sowing and harvesting sugar cane in the Valle del Cauca. (a) Soil with a high content of igneous rocks. (b) Soil with a low
content of igneous rocks. (c) Morphology and approximate size of the igneous rocks present in the sowing and cane harvesting soils.

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Table 1
Service parameters of the cane cutting machines and soil types in which they
are used.
Parameter Cane cutting blade

Cutting blade material Chromium steel low alloy

Combine advance speed 2–7 km/h
Angular Speed - Tangential 636 RPM − 37,21 m/s
Type of soils From sandy to clayey
Climatic condition From rainy to dry
Power of machine 337 Hp
Dimensions 270x90x6 mm
Average abrasion life* 19–24 Hours

* The determination of average life of the cutting blades is high dispersion

data, which depends mainly on the type of soil.

0.81%Cr-0.8%Mn-0.25%Si-Fe determined using a spark spectrometer BRUKER Q4-TASMAN. Table 1 shows the operational para-
meters of the cutting blades, the average useful life, climatic conditions to which the floors and blades are exposed, as well as the
initial dimensions of these.
According to the conditions of service and in particular to the type of soil, the type of interaction of the cutting blades with the
terrain can be synthesized in two ways: impact fracture caused by the large rocks (30 ± 10 cm) present in the harvesting and sowing
grounds (Fig. 1(c)) and the abrasive wear phenomenon who is represented by the cyclic contact with the soil that generates the loss of
edge in the cutting blades, since the sowing and harvesting terrain of cane is not flat, rather irregular. This means that the cutting
blades did not cut directly into the cane, instead interacting with the ground, generating abrasive wear that accelerates the loss of the
edge and the integrity of the cutting blade.

3. Methodology

3.1. Fracture surface

The characterization of fracture surfaces was carried out using a Nikon SMZ1000 stereoscope and a JEOL JSM-6490LV scanning
electron microscope. For this, the surfaces under study were cleaned by ultrasonic cleaning on an Elma E30H equipment using
ethanol as a cleaning medium for 20 min at a temperature of 25 °C.

3.2. Thermal treatments

To validate the hypothesis about the cause of failure of the cane cutting blades (which is discussed in Section 5), thermal
treatments were performed on samples cut directly from the fracture cutting blade that failed by fracture, with the intention to relate
and compare the failure mode of these samples with those that have failed directly in the field. This allows for determining the effect
of the tempering temperature on the variation in hardness and microstructure, as well as with the structural parameters of the
material.
For this purpose, a muffle furnace was used with automatic programming using water as a quenching medium and air as a cooling
mode after the tempering treatment. Table 2 shows the conditions of the treatments carried out: temperatures and holding times,
heating condition and cooling medium. The heating conditions that were used to carry out the thermal treatments of tempering are
the following: slow heating (SH) consisting of bringing it from room temperature (25 °C) to the tempering temperature at a rate of
20 °C/min and the rapid heating condition (FH) consists of locating the sample inside the muffle at the tempering temperature
according to the case. These heating conditions are used for the purpose of determining differences in microstructural changes as a
function of the heating mode in the treatment of tempering, since at the industrial level, the most common way to perform this type of
treatment is to deposit the piece in a furnace with the tempering temperature previously established, thus generating a high rate of
heating and not in bringing them from the ambient temperature to the tempering temperature with a slow heating rate (as is
occurring under laboratory conditions).
Fig. 2 shows the thermal treatment curves where the parameters of Table 2 are taken into account.

Table 2
Parameters of thermal treatments.
Treatment Rate of heat (°C/min) Treatment temperature (°C) Holding time (min) Cooling Medium Type of Heating

Quenching 12 870 23 Water –

Tempering 12 350/400/450 65 Air SH
Tempering > 40 350/400/450 57 Air FH

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Fig. 2. Curves of thermal quenching and tempering treatments. (a) Tempering at 350, 400 and 450 °C under condition SH and (b) corresponds to
tempering at 350, 400 and 450 °C under condition FH.

3.3. Metallography

The metallography was performed according to the ASTM E3 standard [13], both for the part that failed under service conditions,
named as initial condition (IC), and for the thermally treated samples (see Section 3.2). To reveal the microstructure, 2% Nital was
used for 5 s. The optical analysis was carried out with an optical microscope (OM) Olympus GX41 and scanning electron microscope
(SEM) JEOL JSM-6490LV.

3.4. Hardness test

The hardness tests were performed on the Rockwell C scale in the cross section of the sugar cane cutting blade that failed under
service conditions (IC) and on the thermally treated samples described in Section 3.2, following the procedure of the ASTM E-18
standard [14]. This test was performed on a Rockwell C THR 150 durometer. For the cross section, a total of 30 measurements were
made, and for the thermally treated samples, there were between 5 and 8 repetitions for each sample. The 95% confidence intervals
(error bars) were calculated (α = 5%).

3.5. X-RAY diffraction (XRD) and Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy (MAS)

For the identification of structural phases and crystallographic parameters of IC and the thermally treated samples, X-ray dif-
fraction (XRD) was performed on a X'Pert PRO PANalytical diffractometer using Copper (Cu) as a radiation source. For refinement of
the diffractograms, GSAS software was used [15]. As a calibration sample, LaB6 powder was used; the samples were measured in a
solid block condition. The Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy assay was performed in high speed (from −12 mms−1 to 12 mms−1)
in transmission mode with a radioactive source of cobalt-57 (57Co). The refinement of these spectra was performed with the MOSFIT
software [16] using as a calibration sample a thin sheet of α-Fe. The assay was carried out with powder extracted from the IC and
thermal treated samples. For this, a low-speed abrasive process was carried out in order not to induce deformations or stresses;
moreover, this was carried out using a diamond file to avoid contamination of the sample. A comparative analysis by XRD of the IC
and those treated thermally allows us to determine which new phases appear and their role in the failure of the cutting sugar cane
base blades. By Mössbauer spectroscopy, one can also determine the present phases containing iron, the texture of the samples and
their magnetic character.

4. Analysis and results

4.1. Failure analysis

4.1.1. Failure surface

Failure analysis was performed on the sugar cane cutting blades when they are unable to continue in service, which occurs due to
the loss of edge or integrity caused by abrasive wear and fracture by the impact of the cutting blade with solid objects of large size as
shown in Fig. 1(c), these failure modes are schematized in Fig. 3.
In Figs. 4 and 5, the fracture and edge loss surfaces due to abrasive wear are observed, this is inferred from the service conditions
to which the cutting blades are exposed and from the visual inspection of the surface.
As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the effect of wear generates edge loss and accelerates the removal of material at the boundary of the
cutting blade as a consequence of the interaction between the cutting edge and the sugar cane, and the cutting edge and the soil.
According to the high speed of rotation, the granulometric and soil humidity conditions and high hardness of the cutting blade, as

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Fig. 3. (a) The schematization of the failure mode by a fracture in the sugar cane cutting process and (b) schematization of the failure mode by
abrasive wear due to the interaction with the ground.

Fig. 4. Comparison of the cutting blades before (upper) and after (lower) use under service conditions.

Fig. 5. Cutting blade after service, with loss of edge generated by abrasive wear.

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Fig. 6. Wear surface characterized by SEM. In (a), (b) and (c) there is evidence of micro cutting of different groove widths generated by different
sizes of abrasive particles. In (d), (e) and (f) there is abrasive wear due to brittle fracture, a mechanism known as microcracking.

well as visual characteristics of flakes due to fracture at the edge of the cutting blade and rounding at the edges, it is inferred that the
wear is due to two types of mechanisms: abrasion and brittle microfracture. As a consequence of the wear generated by solid soil
particles and the high stress on the edge due to the cutting process [17] generating in the component the condition of inappropriate
for service, since the loss of the cutting edge reduces the efficiency in cutting cane to the point of causing damage to the crop.
Through SEM, wear surface was analyzed with the purpose of identifying the micromechanisms wear under these service con-
ditions. In Fig. 6, micro cutting and micro cracking are observed as predominant micromechanisms. These are due to the high
hardness of the material, as well as the interaction with the abrasive particles, generating surfaces with grooves of different widths
(due to the wide granulometric spectrum) and little lateral plastic deformation. On the other hand, microcracking occurs by the
formation and growth of lateral vent cracks around the contact surface caused by the relaxation of the material after being indented
by the abrasive particles [18] managing to propagate to the surface, removing material and leaving characteristic surfaces as those
observed in Fig. 6(b), (e) and (f). It is important to mention that this type of damage is very similar in characteristics with the spalling,
where due to contact fatigue conditions, subsuperficial cracks are created, which finally end in detachment of material.
Fig. 7 shows the other type of failure of the sugar cane cutting blades. This is caused by a fracture of the component on impact

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Fig. 7. The overlap between the sugar cane cutting blade before (behind) and after (at the front) the fracture under service conditions.

with bodies of high hardness and size as those observed in Fig. 1(c).
In Fig. 8 the main characteristics of the brittle fracture are observed through the use of a stereoscope. We observed that the surface
is bright, with a Chevron pattern and no plastic deformation. Taking into account the Chevron pattern, it is possible to identify the
origin of the fault and the direction in which the cracks propagate, determining that the origin of the fault is located in the central
area of Fig. 8. In addition, the presence of shear lips near the Chevron pattern indicates the final area of the fracture [19] and the
direction of crack propagation who is parallel to shear lips [20], which for this case starts in the center and ends at the far right of the
piece where the Chevron pattern ends. Also, these shear lips indicate the presence of a mixed failure mode, which indicates that the
behavior at the edge of the piece is ductile compared to the core.
When performing SEM, the fracture surfaces were characterized in order to determine the microfracture mechanism. Fig. 9 shows
that the mechanism of brittle failure corresponds to the intergranular fracture due to the characteristic morphology exposed by the
surface. Additionally, spheroidal inclusions can be seen inside the grain and cracks in the fracture surface, defects that affect the
mechanical properties of the piece and facilitate fracture of the piece.

4.1.2. Metallography
Fig. 10 shows the metallography by OM and SEM of the sugar cane cutting blade (IC) that failed in service conditions. Through
this technique, it is possible to qualitatively identify the microstructural condition of the sample that corresponds to tempering
martensite at low temperatures. Additionally, Section 4.2 will corroborate the use of additional thermal treatments to the same steel,
that the tempering temperature is possibly close to the temperature of tempering martensite embrittlement of this steel.

4.1.3. Hardness test

Fig. 11 shows the cross-section of the sugar cane cutting blade on which the macro hardness measurements were made, this with
the purpose of observing the variation of hardness along the cross-section and inferring about the homogeneity of the thermal
treatment of the blades.
Fig. 12 shows the hardness profile obtained from the cross-section of the sugar cane cutting blade (Fig. 11). The hardness results in
the cross section expose heterogeneity of values throughout this, exposing a hardness gradient where the highest hardness value

Fig. 8. Fracture surface under observation in the stereoscope, where the main characteristics of brittle fracture are observed: flat surface, no plastic
deformation and a Chevron pattern.

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Fig. 9. Fracture surface characterized by SEM from which it is seen that the fracture is of intergranular type, as well as defects such as cracks and
inclusions that can be observed.

corresponds to the central area of the blade and the lower hardness values at the ends.
According to the thermal treatments in the condition IC (first quenching and then tempering), it is noted that along the cross-
section the tempering treatment is not homogeneous as observed in Fig. 12. When quenching, the external part of the cross-section is
cooled at a higher rate compared to the central zone, generating a differentiated martensitic transformation, that is, more martensite
transformed at the edges compared to the core. After the heat treatment of tempering, the external part will be under a greater degree
of transformation of the martensite compared to the core because of the heat transfer along the piece and the hardenability of the
material, which will be presented along the cross-section as a different response to the hardness [21]. Additionally, these thermal
treatments generate residual stresses in the piece. According to Table 3, it is observed that the heating rate and the tempering
temperature affect the lattice parameter. Given the high heating rates in the tempering treatment of the piece in the IC condition at
the surface level, in comparison to the core of this, which will be lower in its heating rate. Differences in the lattice parameter are
generated for various heating rates, in which the hardness gradient along the cross-section is a consequence of the generation of
residual stresses due to the heating rate, having on the surface a larger lattice parameter in comparison to the core, that is, tension
residual stresses on the surface and compression residual stresses in the core, generating hardness values of the ends correspond to the
lowest (43 ± 2 HRC) and the core values of the material to the largest (47 ± 2 HRC).

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Fig. 10. Metallography of the sugar cane cutting blade that failed due to brittle fracture (IC). (a) Optical microscopy and (b) scanning electron
microscope. In both micrographs, a predominant microstructure of tempered martensite is observed.

Fig. 11. Dimensions cross section of a sugar cane cutting blade.

Fig. 12. Hardness profile of sugar cane cutting blade in the sample that failed by fracture (IC).

Table 3
Calculated parameters from the refinements of Fig. 15.
Sample Lattice parameters Medium size perpendicular crystallite Medium size parallel crystallite Texture index Microtension (%) Fit parameters
(Å) (Å) (Å)
X2 F2

IC 2.878 329.12 109.65 37.19 1.76 0.76 0.58

350 SH 2.873 468.09 143.62 1.91 1.07 0.77 0.07
350 FH 2.877 345.56 148.16 3.07 1.33 0.88 0.27
400 SH 2.873 694.40 168.68 1.01 0.59 0.85 0.05
400 FH 2.876 317.65 138.68 2.87 0.87 0.81 0.55
450 SH 2.872 499.58 182.67 1.11 0.29 0.84 0.06
450 FH 2.875 410.61 141.44 2.31 0.36 0.86 0.02

4.2. Thermal treatments

4.2.1. Metallography
Fig. 13 shows the metallographies performed on samples tempered at 350, 400 and 450 °C. In Fig. 13(a)–(c), the characteristic
microstructure of the tempered martensite is observed. SEM makes it possible to obtain a greater microstructural detail, as seen in
Fig. 13(d)–(f), where the concentration of martensite needles gradually decreases as a consequence of the increase in tempering
temperature.

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Fig. 13. Microstructure by OM and SEM. (a), (b), (c) OM of the samples tempered at 350, 400 and 450 °C, respectively. (d), (e), (f) SEM in retro-
scattered electron mode of the samples tempered at 350, 400, and 450 °C, respectively.

4.2.2. Hardness test results for thermally treated samples

The hardness of the thermally treated samples under the conditions of FH and SH at tempering temperatures of 350, 400 and
450 °C are shown in Fig. 14.
In Fig. 14 it is possible to appreciate a difference between hardness values related to the heating condition, achieving higher
hardness for the FH condition compared to the SH condition. High heating rates decrease the carbon diffusion capacity of the
quenching structure prior to heat treatment of tempering, achieving greater tension/compression effects in the crystalline lattice due
to the substitution effect of the carbon within this, generating a greater hardening in the material compared to the SH condition,
which, due to its heating condition, favors in greater proportion the diffusion of the carbon within the crystalline lattice, generating
less tension/compression hardening effects in the crystalline lattice. This tendency of a decrease in hardness is observed as the
temperature of the tempering heat treatment increases, since the thermal diffusion increases. In conclusion, it is evident that the use
of an FH, as it occurs in the industry, causes a greater hardness in the material, but with the negative consequence that in pieces with
a large size, this increase in hardness is not homogeneous at all. In contrast, there are adjacent zones with high hardness differences
that ultimately leads to low mechanical properties due to high anisotropy.

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Fig. 14. Hardness of the samples thermally treated in SH and FH cooling conditions at tempering temperatures of 350, 400 and 450 °C.

4.2.3. X-RAY diffraction (XRD) and Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy (MAS)

Fig. 15 shows the results of the X-ray diffraction of the IC sample and the samples thermally treated under the conditions
mentioned in Section 3.2. According to the thermal treatments, XRD spectra, the Mössbauer spectra, and the metallographs, it is
determined that the samples correspond to a single alpha iron phase with a crystalline structure b.c.c, corresponding to tempered
martensite.
According to Fig. 15, it is observed that the increase in the tempering temperature favors the increase in the intensity of the
directions (1 1 0), (2 0 0), (2 1 1) and (2 1 1), and this increase can be associated with the ordering of the b.c.c lattice by atomic
diffusion. The lattice parameters of the b.c.c structure, parallel and perpendicular crystallite size, the texture index and calculated
microtension of the refinements are shown in Table 3.
When analyzing the lattice parameter calculated in Table 3, it can be seen that the IC sample and the FH samples have the highest
values of lattice parameters. According to the discussion in Section 4.2.2, the increase in this parameter in these microstructured
samples of tempering martensite are related to the amount of substitutional carbon within the crystal structure. This finding indicates
that the larger this parameter is, the less the effect of distortion by tension/compression in the crystalline structure by the carbon, as
observed in the calculated parameter related to microtension, which takes higher values for the samples of condition FH and IC
compared to the SH samples. Moreover, an increase of the tempering temperature generates an effect in the decrease of the lattice
parameter and in the micro tensions, since higher temperatures will generate a greater diffusive effect of the carbon and the order of
the crystalline structure.
The diffractograms shown in Fig. 15 present a strong preferential orientation based on the parameters related to the medium

Fig. 15. X-ray diffraction for the sample that failed due to brittle fracture (initial condition, IC) and samples thermally treated at 350,400 and 450 °C
under SH and FH conditions.

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perpendicular and parallel crystallite size, together with the calculated texture index parameter. In all samples, it is observed that the
medium perpendicular crystallite size is greater than the medium parallel crystallite size, regardless of the heating condition and the
tempering temperature. Additionally, for the same tempering temperature, the condition FH generates much smaller crystallite
medium sizes compared to the SH condition. The texture index, which is defined as the ratio obtained by XRD between the intensity
of the experimental line and the corresponding theoretical intensity in a certain plane, is used to perform the following analysis. It is
observed that the texture index related to the IC sample has a much larger value in comparison to the other samples or conditions,
which corroborates the hypothesis of preferential orientation of the material that generates anisotropy. However, the effect of the
tempering temperature and the heating condition affects the parameter related to the texture, indicating that, at the same tempering
temperature, the SH condition favors the reduction of the texture compared to the FH condition.
The values of the crystallite sizes and microtensions are calculated by the GSAS program, taking into account that the width of the
diffraction peaks contributes the following enlargements: instrumental, by crystallite size and by microtensions. The instrumentation
is a consequence of the nonparallelism of the X-rays that arrive at the samples and the detector and is calculated with the standard of
the calibration sample, averaging over all of the lines of this pattern. The broadening by crystallite size appears when these medium
sizes are less than 100 nm and is calculated as a weighted average on each line of the pattern using the Scherrer formula. The
microtensions broadening is obtained by subtracting the average total width of the lines, the average instrumental broadening and
the width per crystallite size.
To complement the characterization by XRD, to determine with greater precision the phases present in the thermally treated
samples as well as the strong preferential orientation of the sample, Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy (MAS) was performed on the
samples under study. The spectra are presented in Fig. 16.
For the refinement of these spectra, a hyperfine magnetic field distribution (HMFD) of line width at an average height of
0.30 mm/s was used. According to these spectra, the structural condition of the samples IC, SH and FH correspond to magnetic alpha
iron that coincides with the characterization by XRD. Additionally, the relationship between intensities of peaks 1–2 and 5–6 (right to
left) give us a signal of the strong preferential orientation of the material. The percentages of probability based on the hyperfine field
of the spectra of Fig. 16 are presented in Fig. 17.
According to the HMFD, it is identified that the predominant phase, that is, the phase with the highest probability present in the
samples under study, has a magnetic field value of approximately 33 Tesla, which corresponds to alpha iron. The high amplitude of
the Gaussian probability distribution corresponds to the degree of order-disorder of the samples under study, which for our case
correspond to a disorder of the present phases.
The results of the hyperfine parameters obtained in the Mössbauer refinement and the fit parameters of the samples under study
are consigned in Table 4, which shows the number of sextets used in the HMFD; this number is associated with the disorder of the
crystal structure. Given that the structure corresponding to the samples under study corresponds to tempered martensite, it is ex-
pected that the degree of disorder of this metastable structure is high, since it is a structure out of balance. Additionally, the isomeric
deviation (IS) reported for each one of the sites of the HMFD is the same, similarly for the quadrupole deviation (2ε), and the values of
the hyperfine field (HFhigher) that contribute the most to the HMFD and its percentage of area (%A), as well as the value of the field
hyperfine for which the probability percentage acquires the maximum value (HFmáx.), that is, the Gaussian peak that fits the per-
centage curve of probability based on the hyperfine field (Fig. 17). Due to the preferential orientation observed in the results of the
XRD refinement and the equality of intensities between peaks 1–2 and 5–6 (Fig. 16), the angle (α) is presented, which forms the
gamma radiation with respect to the sample, that is, this angle is an indication of texture and/or preferential orientation in the
sample. Finally, the chi-squared adjustment parameter (χ2) is assigned, which is less than two, thus indicating a good match between
the experimental data and the theoretical adjustment.
In the results reported in Table 4 for the samples subjected to thermal treatment (including the IC sample), all of the samples have
magnetic behavior. Due to the values of HFhigher and HFmáx, it can be said that the samples are from a disordered alpha iron phase
(the disorder is associated with the need to use the HMFD for the refinement) and that they also have a strong preferential orientation
and texture. This finding is consistent with the XRD results, where a ferritic phase was used for the refinement of the diffractograms.
The DXR spectra were fitted correctly with iron b.c.c structure. It is clear that the martensite is observed directly in Figs. 10 and 13
through metallography and SEM images, and it is also known that conventionally the martensite in quenched steels has a b.c.t crystal
structure but in this case, it seem that the carbon escaped from the b.c.t crystal to produce only a ferrite structure as was corroborated
through Mössbauer and XRD. However, it is important to note that the HMFD (Fig. 17) in all of the samples showed a certain
probability that corresponds to the martensite (34 Teslas), and this last is in agreement with the martensite values reported by [22].

5. Discussion

In Section 4.1.1 it was determined that sugar cane cutting blades fail for two reasons: abrasive wear and brittle fracture. The wear
is a process that occurs by the interaction of the material with the soil, generating abrasion to two bodies. Wear is a process that
depends on the hardness of the material, granulometry of the abrasive particle, soil composition, and service conditions. On the other
hand, the failure that occurs due to fracture of the component is due to the impact with large rocks present in the sugar cane harvest
areas. This condition can generate a failure in the component prematurely, considerably affecting the useful life for which it was
designed.
The cause of the brittle fracture of this component was studied from the perspective of the processing of the material. According to
Fig. 12 and as mentioned in Section 4.1.3, the material in its IC condition has a hardness gradient along the cross-section, which is
related to the heating conditions and holding times in which thermal treatments are carried out. The results obtained by XRD and

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J.S. Rodríguez, et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 112 (2020) 104503

Fig. 16. Mössbauer spectra for the sample that failed due to brittle fracture (initial condition, CI) and samples thermally treated at 350,400 and
450 °C under SH and FH cooling conditions.

MAS indicate a strong orientation of the grains in the material and high texture in the sugar cane cutting blade the failed by fracture.
These processing characteristics added to the hardness gradient observed, mainly affect the fracture toughness (KIC ), thus generating
a poor response to the propagation of cracks in the cross-section, which facilitates the brittle fracture of these components [19,23,24].
Additionally, the results of thermal treatments of tempering in SH and FH conditions allowed us to establish a hypothesis about
the failure of this component. Thomas [9] and Horn et al. [10] agree that the phenomenon of tempered martensite embrittlement
(TME) is due to the transformation of the retained austenite from the edges of the grain into cementite (Fe3C) in a range between
temperatures of 330–350 °C. Thus, we conclude that the failed condition of the sugar cane cutting blades has structural characteristics
and a hardness similar to the condition of FH at a tempering temperature of 350 °C [3], which allows us to infer that the temperature
and the conditions to which it is subjected brings the heat treatment of tempering in the sugar cane cutting blade very close to the
TME temperature, thus generating a poor response to fracture toughness (KIC ) and low impact resistance.
Finally, and according to the previous results, it is possible to identify that an increase in the temperature of tempering will favor a
decrease of micro tensions in the texture, lattice parameter, and hardness of the material, generating an increase in the fracture
toughness (KIC ) and in the impact energy Charpy V-notch [3,4,9,10].

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J.S. Rodríguez, et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 112 (2020) 104503

Fig. 17. The Gaussian fit of the probability of the HMFD as a function of the hyperfine field for the CI samples and samples thermally treated at
350,400 and 450 °C under SH and FH cooling conditions.

Table 4
Mössbauer parameters. Isomeric deviation (IS), quadrupolar deviation (2ε), hyperfine field of the HMFD site with the highest percentage of area
(HFhigher), value of the area percentage of the HMFD with the highest contribution, maximum hyperfine field obtained in the Gaussian fit (HFmáx.),
angle (α) that forms the gamma radiation and the sample and chi-square (χ2).
Sample N° sextets IS 2ε (mm/s) HFhigher %A HFmax α Fit parameters
(mm/s) ± 0.05 ± 0.05 (T) (T) (degrees)
± 0.1 ± 0.1 ±5 Χ2

IC 12 0.04 0.00 33.0 43.25 32.9 79 0.635

350 SH 12 0.04 −0.01 33.0 44.63 33.0 82 0.848
350 FH 12 0.04 0.00 33.0 44.44 33.0 78 0.672
400 SH 12 0.03 −0.01 33.0 44.57 33.1 90 0.845
400 FH 11 0.04 −0.02 33.0 50.19 33.0 90 0.931
450 SH 12 0.04 −0.01 33.0 40.34 32.9 74 0.816
450 FH 14 0.04 −0.01 33.0 48.46 32.9 79 1.055

6. Conclusions

This study analyzed the failure of sugar cane blades in the Colombian context. The following conclusions can be drawn.

• The sugar cane cutting blades failure is due two main conditions: pure wear and impact (fracture).
• The sugar cane cutting blades in a normal service condition present high hardness differences between the surface and the
nucleus, a high degree of texture, and a high difference of aspect ratio of the grains. All of these conditions lead to a poor abrasion-
impact performance.
• The type of wear that the sugar cane blades are subjected to was classified as abrasion wear at two bodies with components of

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three bodies. The wear micro mechanisms reveal microcutting and microcracking as preponderant ones.
• The fracture of the sugar cane cutting blades was determined to occur in a brittle manner, particularly in an intergranular form
due to the high hardness and poor toughness of the material.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to Colciencias (Colombian Agency), Organización Hercules and Universidad del Valle for financial support
under the project No. 1106-715-51419.

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