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This paper presents the results of a failure analysis of a suspension spring from a passenger vehicle, with a focus on the impact of long-term operation under real road conditions. The investigated spring, originating from a 2008 Peugeot vehicle, failed after 14 years of service and approximately 225,000 km of mileage. The objective of the study was to evaluate the durability of the spring material in the context of fatigue and corrosion-related degradation mechanisms. A comprehensive set of analyses was performed, including spectroscopic chemical composition analysis, hardness testing, microstructural observations, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and fractographic examination using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the spring was made of high-carbon steel with a composition close to 60SiCr7, exhibiting a tempered martensitic structure. The presence of manganese sulphide inclusions, localized corrosion products, and areas of brittle fracture morphology indicated the co-occurrence of fatigue and stress corrosion mechanisms. The findings highlight the role of both microstructural features and environmental exposure—particularly to chlorides from de-icing salts—in the progressive degradation of suspension components. This case study underscores the importance of considering combined mechanical and environmental stressors in durability assessments of automotive springs.
Keywords: Keywords: Suspension spring, fatigue failure, stress corrosion, Vickers hardness, microstructure© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.