Accepted Manuscript

Failure analysis of lead-free brass valve bodies

Gan Chunlei, Zhou Nan, Kang Yuehua, Wang Shuncheng, Zheng

Kaihong

PII: S1350-6307(18)31693-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2019.03.001
Reference: EFA 3823
To appear in: Engineering Failure Analysis
Received date: 29 December 2018
Revised date: 27 February 2019
Accepted date: 7 March 2019

Please cite this article as: G. Chunlei, Z. Nan, K. Yuehua, et al., Failure analysis of
lead-free brass valve bodies, Engineering Failure Analysis, https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.engfailanal.2019.03.001

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Failure analysis of lead-free brass valve bodies

Gan Chunlei*, Zhou Nan, Kang Yuehua, Wang Shuncheng, Zheng Kaihong
Guangdong Institute of Materials and Processing, Guangzhou 510650, China

Abstract: This paper presents the failure analysis of the lead-free brass valve bodies that had been

installed in plumbing sanitary equipment. Leakage points were found adjacent to the brazing

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location. Visual inspection, stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscopy coupled with an

energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM/EDS) were used as the principal analytical methods for the

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present failure analysis. The analysis results implied that the combined action of excessive brazing

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residual stresses and bismuth boundary segregation was probably responsible for the failure of
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lead-free brass valve bodies. Finally, two important suggestions were proposed to minimize the

risk of recurrence of the present leakage failure in the future.

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Keywords: Lead-free brass valve body; Crack; Failure

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1. Introduction
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Valve bodies are one of the most critical components in plumbing systems. The main advantage
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of using valve bodies is to control the direction, pressure and flow of fluid. Brasses which contain
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over 0.5 wt pct lead (Pb) exhibit excellent machinability, high corrosion resistance to drinking and

industrial water, good strength and are easily worked [1-4]. Therefore, leaded brasses have been
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widely used as the materials of valve bodies in the piping and sanitary industry for several decades.

However, in recent years the lead-free brass with alternative free-machining additive such as

bismuth (Bi) has attracted special research interest and been frequently used to minimize the

negative impact of Pb on the environment, health and safety [5-9]. In their application, the

*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ganchunlei@163.com.
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lead-free brass components are often subject to various kinds of failures due to worse work

environment. These failure accidents can be usually caused by intergranular cracking,

mechanical-environmental induced failure and cold shut formation [10-12].

In this study, the failed bismuth brass valve bodies were examined visually and by

stereomicroscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS),

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respectively. Failure analysis of the typical lead-free brass valve body used in plumbing sanitary

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equipment was carried out. The aim of this study is to find out the exact root cause of the failure

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and improve the quality of the lead-free brass valve body.

2. Experimental
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For the purpose of the failure analysis, the leaking lead-free brass valve bodies were pressure
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tested once more. When the failed valve bodies pressurized with air at 0.5 MPa were immersed in

water, it was found that very small air bubbles rose continuously through the leakage points
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adjacent to the brazing location. These detected leakage points were then marked for sample
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preparation.
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The chemical compositions of the failed lead-free brass valve body were checked by wet
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chemistry. Low-magnification inspection of fracture surface was implemented using a Leica DFC
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295 stereomicroscope. To determine the mechanism of cracking, the failed lead-free brass valve

bodies were cut in the regions of the cracks to observe the cross section. The samples were

prepared by mounting, grinding on successively finer grits of emery papers, followed by

mirror-polishing using a diamond paste. Swab etching of the polished samples was performed in a

chemical solution (100 mL HNO3 + 100 mL C2H5OH + 50 mL H2O), and then ultrasonically

cleaned samples were examined using a JAX-8100 scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped

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with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) for elemental microanalysis and photomicrographs

were recorded.

3. Results

3.1. Chemical compositions

The actual chemical compositions of the lead-free brass valve body were determined by wet

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chemistry. These test results are illustrated in Table 1. In order to compare with the examined

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results, the referenced values of HPb61-1 specified by GB/T 5232-2001 are also listed in Table 1.

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It can be noted that the chemical compositions of the as-received brass valve body are close to the

referenced values, except for Bi as a nontoxic alternative to Pb for counterbalancing the adverse
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effects on machinability. As can be also shown by Table 1, the content of Zn is 40.12 wt.%, which
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suggests that the present lead-free brass can be a duplex alloy[13].

Table 1
Chemical compositions of the as-received brass valve body.
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Category Content of elements (wt.%)

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Cu Bi Pb Fe Zn

Testing value 58.83 0.87 - 0.18 40.12

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HPb61-1 58.00~62.00 - 0.60~1.20 0.15 balance

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3.2. Visual inspection

Fig. 1 shows a general view of the typical lead-free brass valve body assembly used in

plumbing sanitary equipment. This brass valve body plays a key role on pressure and flow of

water. In the application process, water in the lead-free brass valve body is not allowed to leak.

Whereas, the present lead-free brass valve body after brazing was found to be liable to leakage.

The brazing location is on both sides of the lead-free brass valve body, as indicated by the red

arrows in Fig.1. Therefore, the urgent task is to resolve the leakage of the lead-free brass valve

body. In order to enhance the rate of finished products and avoid the leakage, the failure analysis
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was carried out to determine the primary damage root source of the lead-free brass valve body.

Valve body

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Brazing location
location

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Fig. 1. The typical lead-free brass valve body assembly in the as received condition.
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In the present case, the sample of the lead-free brass valve body received for investigation was

placed on the support stand to determine the leakage area. Magnified view of the lead-free brass
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valve body containing crack is shown in Fig.2. It can be seen that flaw is discovered adjacent to

the brazing location on the flat location indicated by yellow arrows. Water leaked exactly from the

crack. Arrows also illustrate the extent of cracking on the part of the lead-free brass valve body.
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1mm

Fig. 2. Appearance of the part received for investigation (the leaked position as indicated by

yellow arrows near the brazing joint).

3.3. Stereomicroscopic examination

The fracture of the failed lead-free brass valve body was forcibly opened to reveal this

appearance of the fracture. Fig. 3 displays the fracture surface near the failed region of the

lead-free brass valve body as examined by the stereomicroscope. The preliminary

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stereo-microscopic observation affirmed that crack ran through the lead-free brass valve body wall

showing a rather sizeable streak. Both sides of the fracture are depicted on this slide. Yellow

arrows point to suspected material defects.

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Suspected
defects

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Fig. 3. Stereomicroscopic micrograph showing the fracture surface of the failed lead-free brass
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valve body.

3.3Microstructural investigation
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Metallurgical sample was cut from the lead-free brass valve body to reveal microstructural
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characteristics in the present study. The metallurgical structure was observed by SEM after the

metallurgical sample was ground, polished and etched by a corrosive agent. Fig. 4 shows clearly
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the metallurgical structure of the lead-free brass valve body. It can be found that the metallurgical
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structure is a heterogeneously dual α+β phase structure with coarse particles of different sizes. The

mean size of these particles was about 1.2 μm. The presence of these phases is typical for duplex

brasses manufactured by extrusion and drawing showing a relatively uniform Bi-particle

distribution. In addition, it's worth noting that the precipitates seem to partly aggregate along

phase boundaries, which may exert a negative effect on the property of the lead-free brass.

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α β

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Fig. 4. SEM micrograph showing a typical α+β microstructure.
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3.4 Crack observation

To better expose the crack surface, metallographic sampling of the failed lead-free brass valve
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body was carefully made along the direction of crack propagation. Fig. 5 displays a

low-magnification image of the shape of the typical main crack which propagates from the
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internal to the external wall. The part between the two yellow arrows 1 and 2 is the cracking path.
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The crack was found to have extended through the wall of the failed lead-free brass valve body

resulting evidently in an approximately 1.2 mm long ragged crack near the brazing location.
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In order to further reveal crack mode, higher magnification scanning electron microscopy was
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also undertaken over the entire crack propagation, with representative locations given in Fig. 6 and

7, respectively. It can be observed that there are some small dents on the inner wall surface, which

can be caused by the manufacturing tool. The main crack was initiated from the big dent, as

shown in Fig.6, which is just at the corner of the valve body wall. The path of the main crack can

be observed and it passes along phase or grain boundaries. Close observations revealed that the

main crack front seemed to present principally a ragged intergranular propagation mode, and

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many secondary cracks which looked like branches were emanated from the main crack and

propagated intergranularly (where the red arrows point to in Fig. 6 and 7). These characteristics

exhibited importantly the operation of fatigue mechanism.

External side

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Internal side
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Fig. 5. Image of the propagation of crack through the lead-free brass valve body wall.
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Intergranular
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secondary cracking
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Crack initiation site

Fig. 6. Partial enlarged images close to the internal side in Fig. 5.

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Intergranular

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secondary cracking

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Fig. 7. Partial enlarged images close to the external side in Fig. 5.

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For the in-depth examination of the failed region, a SEM micrograph of a partially magnified
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crack zone and corresponding EDS results are shown in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. In terms of the
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EDS results, the chemical composition of these particles is determined to be Bi, as a typical
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chemical composition of the present lead-free brass valve bodies. It is seen that coarse Bi particles

with an irregular size are rather segregated between cracks in the microstructure, as can be also
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demonstrated in Fig. 4. The existence of Bi segregation along grain or phase boundaries can be

also evidenced by considering similar observations in relevant references [14-16].

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Excess Bi on
crack faces
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Fig. 8. Local enlarged SEM micrograph of a typical crack zone showing coarse particles along the

fracture surface and within the cracks.

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Elements Wt.% At.%

Bi 91.6 77.1
Cu 4.6 12.8
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Zn 3.8 10.1
Counts

Total content 100.0 100.0

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Energy (keV)

Fig. 9. Corresponding EDS results of particles in Fig. 8 (Yellow arrow A).

4. Discussion

According to all the aspects mentioned in the above results, it was manifested that brazing

residual stresses and bismuth segregation between boundaries existed in this case by macro and

micro morphology observations and EDS analysis. The failure of lead-free brass valve bodies was

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thereby considered to be caused by the combined effects of brazing residual stresses and bismuth

boundary segregation. In the following sections, we will discuss in particular the effects of brazing

residual stresses and bismuth segregation.

4.1 Effect of the brazing residual stress

Brazing is a precision forming method, which has been extensively used in joining complex

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shape parts and thin wall accessories in plumbing sanitary industry. However, it can frequently

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lead to the formation of residual stresses in the vicinity of the joining zone. In the present

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investigation, lead-free brass valve bodies were found cracked when thermal processing such as

brazing was performed. More than10% of a certain batch of lead-free brass valve bodies was
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found to fail. From the above fact, it is easy to understand that brazing can generate residual
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stresses contributing to the formation of these cracks.

The brazing residual stress plays an important role in the formation of crack. As shown in Fig.5
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and 6, surface flaws such as dents which result from the manufacturing defects can act as stress
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raiser. In this case study, it was apparent that the dent at the corner of the valve body wall would
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lead to the initiation of the crack due to local stress concentration. Moreover, the inclined form of
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the initiation site hints further that prior presence of surface flaw can assist in the crack forming.
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On the other hand, the residual stresses imposed during brazing, added to the working stresses, can

boost stress amplitude probably triggering fatigue crack growth under the gradual water pressure

applied. So, the cracks that were developed from the turning of the internal wall started to

continually spread.

4.2 Effect of bismuth segregation

It is possible that brazing residual stresses of the lead-free brass valve body have contributed to

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the formation of these cracks, but it is noteworthy also to mention that the failure occurred

probably as a result of bismuth grain or phase boundary segregation. As is well known, the

diffusion coefficient of Bi is smaller than Pb in copper at the same process conditions [17], which

can result in a higher concentration of bismuth during solute distribution in the liquid interface. On

the other hand, the melting temperature (271.3 ℃) of bismuth is much lower than copper-zinc,

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and the solubility of bismuth in copper-zinc is very small. So bismuth segregates to the

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solid/liquid interface. As a result, bismuth tends to form a bismuth film along phase or grain

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boundaries with cooling of the casting [15, 16].

Furthermore, the metallurgical observation demonstrates also discernible bismuth precipitates

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on the phase boundaries, as can be displayed in Fig. 4. Bismuth rich phase between grain or phase
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boundaries can enhance the machining and engraving qualities of the lead-free brass valve body.

Nevertheless, once overheating incidents occurred in metal working processes, bismuth particle
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melting and coalescence could cause hot-shortness. Even at temperature below its melting
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temperature, bismuth can still conduce to intergranular brittle fracture [18]. Consequently, the
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existence of coarse bismuth particles on the crack face during brazing could become an additional
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weakness supplying conditions for crack initiation and crack growth.

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4.3 Effect of the synergy

Further analysis shows that the occurrence of the leakage failure of lead-free brass valve bodies

can be possibly interpreted, taking into consideration a plausible result of the combination of

brazing residual stresses and bismuth boundary segregation. As described above, the failure of

lead-free brass valve bodies during the usual working conditions can be considered to undergo

three processes: i) Some surface flaws proximal to the brazing location were formed by

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mechanical damage and became the stress concentration sources; ii) Under the coactions of the

excessive brazing residual stress and bismuth segregation on grain or phase boundaries in the

failed lead-free brass valve body, cracks tended to initiate from these small dents; iii) Once this

kind of fatigue cracks propagated along the boundaries of bismuth segregation and penetrated the

wall of the lead-free brass valve body, leak event would inevitably occur. Therefore, the

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synergistic effect of the excessive brazing residual stress and bismuth boundary segregation may

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induce cracks in conjunction with secondary crack branches that give rise to phase or grain

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boundary decohesion and splitting resulting in the final leakage failure.

5. Conclusion
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According to the SEM observations and the detailed analysis above, it can be reasonably
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concluded that the root cause of the failure of lead-free brass valve bodies is probably attributed to

the combined action of excessive brazing residual stresses and bismuth boundary segregation.
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6. Suggestions
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In order to prevent the similar failure in the future, the following actions are recommended: i)
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An appropriate heat treatment may be carried out in order to anneal out excessive residual stresses
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which can be caused during brazing; ii) The casting process of the lead-free brass valve body must
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be well monitored and controlled to avoid bismuth boundary segregation.

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Guangdong academy of sciences plan project (Grant

No. 2018GDASCX-0117), Guangdong province science and technology plan projects (Grant

Nos.2017A050503004 and 2014B010105009) and Guangzhou science and technology plan

project (Grant No. 201607010211). The authors wish to express special thanks to Guangdong

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hengbao precision technology Co., Ltd. for valuable contribution to sample preparation.

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Prime Novelty Statement:

1. Investigation on the leakage failure of the lead-free brass valve body

is performed.

2. Macro and micro morphology observations and EDS analysis were

carried out.

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3. The leakage failure of lead-free brass valve bodies was probably

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attributed to the combined action of excessive brazing residual stresses

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and bismuth boundary segregation.
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