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302 Stainless Steel springs are breaking

We are an electric motor manufacturer and we are having failures in the field due the our springs breaking. We sent the springs to an independent lab and found that our .027--302 stainless steel springs had/have Chlorine on them. Is there an acceptable amount of Chlorine allowed on stainless steel that will not cause stress corrosion cracking? Is Chlorine used in the manufacturing process of stainless steel wire? Is passivation a "cure all" to get rid of Chlorine? Your help is appreciated!

Ryan,

Have you looked into process after spring manufacturing? Some cleaning operations (Halogenated solvents, Caustic, etc can have residual Chloride). Another alternative to cleaning with the benefit of improving fatigue life, is to shot peen with a Conditioned Stainless Steel cut wire shot. This change alone may solve your spring failure.

IF the chloride is present in the field application, it can be addressed after you provide more info on spring processing after coiling & Field application (corrodant, temperature, stress levels, etc.)

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