Failure investigation considering the material aspects, was conducted on butt welded conveyor belt used in copper billet casting processes, that suffered from cracking. The belt is made of AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel. The results of the investigation indicate that the butt welded joint is in sound condition, without any evidence on the lack of weld penetration, and no void or porosity is found. Thus, the welding procedures are not suspected to be the cause of the failure. The cracking of the welded joint initiated at the grain boundaries in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and propagated along the weld line and across the welded joint. The failure mode is concluded to be the intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC), and accelerated by the presence of high temperature and humid environment.

考虑到材料方面的故障调查是在铜坯铸造工艺中使用的对接焊接输送带上进行的，该输送带容易开裂。皮带由AISI 430铁素体不锈钢制成。调查结果表明，对接焊缝状况良好，没有任何证据表明缺乏焊缝熔深，没有发现空隙或孔隙。因此，不认为焊接过程是故障的原因。焊接接头的裂纹始于热影响区（HAZ）的晶界，并沿焊接线传播并贯穿焊接接头。失效模式被认为是晶间应力腐蚀开裂（IGSCC），并且由于存在高温和潮湿环境而加速。