ABSTRACT
Many examples of failure analysis are commonplace; whether it is a minor maintenance failure or a major failure of natural disasters, one can always learn from the analysis. Some components, for example, brake shoes, belts, and chains, slowly fail from wear for several years. Other parts such as bolts, shafts, and machine frames should never fail. Understanding how the parts fail shows what has to be done to prevent a recurrence. Every failure leaves clues as to why it happened. In more than 90% of industrial cases, a trained person can use the basic techniques of failure analysis to diagnose the mechanical causes behind a failure, without having to enlist outside sources and expensive analytical tools like an electron microscope. Then knowing how a failure happened, the investigation can pursue the human roots of why it happened. There are times, however, when 90% accuracy is not good enough. When personal injury or a large loss is possible, a professional should guide the analysis.
