ABSTRACT
Failure analysis plays an important role in improving the safety and reliability of an engineering structure. This chapter discusses some of the topics related to structural failure analysis. It introduces the concepts of static, fatigue, and buckling failures along with examples using Static Structural (ANSYS)® Workbench. The chapter reviews the static material failure theories, the fatigue failure theories for structures under low and cyclic loading, and the buckling failure theory. Under static loading conditions, material failure can occur when a structure is stressed beyond the elastic limit. There are two types of material failures from static loading, namely, ductile failure and brittle failure. The chapter also reviews two common theories on ductile failure, that is, the maximum shear stress theory and the distortion energy theory. The maximum normal stress theory states that brittle failure occurs when the maximum principal stress exceeds the ultimate tensile strength of the material.
