Fracture Analysis of High Strength Steel Fastener Used in Separation System of a Satellite Launch Vehicle

Abstract High strength 3.5Ni-1.5Cr-0.5Mo (AFNOR 35NCD16) steel fasteners are widely used for various space applications. In one such application, failure was observed in one of the M4X8L fasteners used in the band clip assembly of a separation system. The band assembly was preloaded to the specified value of load as per the assembly procedure and the fastener was torqued to the specified value of 2.3Nm with loctite. The fastener was found to be separated into two pieces at head-shank junction under assembly load conditions. Detailed analysis of the cracked fastener indicated the failure to be due to the hydrogen induced stress corrosion cracking (HI-SCC). This paper presents the details of the failure of the fastener.