Failure Analysis
Definition
The forensic engineering discipline of determining the mechanism and cause of a structural, mechanical, or material failure, and assessing whether it resulted from design deficiency, manufacturing fault, material flaw, maintenance failure, or misuse.
- Discipline
- Forensic engineering
- Object of study
- Structural, mechanical, or material failure
- Candidate causes assessed
- Design deficiency, manufacturing fault, material flaw, maintenance failure, misuse
- Goal
- Determine failure mechanism and cause
Common questions
Why does a failure analyst need to rule out multiple candidate causes rather than just identify what broke?+
Identifying that a part broke does not establish why, and legal responsibility often turns on which of several possible causes (a design flaw the manufacturer should have caught versus user misuse, for example) actually produced the failure, so a rigorous analysis systematically tests and eliminates alternative explanations.
What physical evidence does a failure analysis typically rely on?+
Analysts examine fracture surfaces, material microstructure, maintenance and inspection records, load and usage history, and sometimes reconstruct the failure through testing or simulation, combining metallurgical or materials examination with the documented history of the component.
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