There are often many possible reasons why engineering components fail in service, meaning that the cause and mechanisms of failure can only be determined with the right combination of analytical equipment and experienced engineers.
Failure analysis is when an investigation takes place to determine the cause of failure, usually with the aim of taking corrective action to fix the problem and mitigate against further failures. Failure analysis is undertaken across all branches of manufacturing industry to prevent future asset and product fails as well as protecting against potentially dangerous risks to people and the environment. Failure analysis covers a range of industrial assets, such as pressure vessels, for example, and investigates different failure modes, such as fracture surfaces or manufacturing-based issues.
Reasons to Perform Failure Analysis Testing
The failure analysis process provides a number of benefits including financial, legal and safety related outcomes:
Understand Root Cause of Failure
Understanding the root cause is often the fundamental part of an accident investigation or failure analysis process. This root cause analysis involves data collection to ascertain whether failure occurred due to manufacturing or material defect or misuse.
Prevent Asset or Product Failures
Once the cause of failure has been determined corrective actions can be taken to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
Improve Future Products and Processes
Manufacturing processes and product designs can be improved due to an understanding of the failure mode, not only to prevent the problem from happening again but also to prevent costly legal action or replacements as well as protecting a company's reputation.
Prevent Financial Losses and Penalties from Failed Components
Failure can be costly, whether due to expensive outages, a stopping of production, or even legal action as a result. Undertaking failure analysis can prevent these problems from growing or potential failures from happening in the future as a result of the same failure mechanisms.
Meet Standards for Products and Assets
Failure mode and effects analysis can help to meet standards for manufacturing processes, failed components, products, or assets going forward.
A failure analysis will not only determine the root cause leading to failure, but may also assign liability for the failure. This can be used in legal proceedings to not only apportion blame but also protect yourself from litigation. This may require the use of additional case studies, forensic engineering or expert witness testimony.
Whatever the nature of the failure, and however small or large the part, TWI has the capability and the experience to respond quickly and carry out a conclusive investigation into what went wrong.
There are often many possible reasons why engineering components fail in service, meaning that the cause and mechanisms of failure can only be determined with the right combination of analytical equipment and experienced engineers. As such, we can assemble a team of engineers tailored precisely to the nature of the material, application and service conditions, to identify the cause and recommend appropriate steps to minimise the risk of a reoccurrence.
For more information on how TWI can help, please email:
contactus@twi.co.uk