ABSTRACT
In addition to design deficiencies, manufacturing defects, overloading, and inadequate maintenance, a poor selection of materials is known to be a major source of failure of engineering components in service. Generally, most widely used engineering materials have established ranges of applications and service conditions that match their capabilities. Exceeding such capabilities could lead to a failure in service. However, erring on the conservative side by underutilizing the material capabilities will usually result in uneconomic products.
