We analyse failures to determine the root cause.

Companies often dismiss their product failures as a one off or ignore them until they reach a critical situation or a loss of life occurs. Understanding the root cause of any failure is the first and most important step in the prevention of a reoccurence. Correct analysis of the failure will not only tell you how it failed but also why it failed. The analysis will start with the broken component but we will also ask questions about the service conditions, supporting test certificates and the situation directly prior to the incident.

Depending on the nature of the failure some more detailed analysis of the materials involved may be required.

Understanding the failure mode and origin will help identify corrective actions whether they are changes to the product design, alternative materials or changes to the operating envrionment.

A failure of any individual component should always be taken seriously as it is often a sign of a underlying weakness in the product design.

Some typical examples of failure analysis include;

• Broken bolts and screws
• Corrosion of pipes
• Cracking or rupturing of plastic components
• Sudden failures of components
• Failures of circuit board components

In summary, you can learn a lot from any type of failure. Have a look under our case studies tab to review other typical examples.

Faulty Varnish on Wood

High temperature creep

Light blub analysis