Elegant degradation is a term used in engineering to describe what occurs to machines which are subject to constant, repetitive stress.
Externally, such a machine maintains the same appearance to the user, appearing to function properly. Internally, the machine slowly weakens over time. Unable to withstand the stress, it eventually breaks down.
Compared to
graceful degradation
Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to maintain proper operation despite failures or faults in one or more of its components. This capability is essential for high-availability, mission-critical, or even life-critical systems.
Fault to ...
, the operational quality does not decrease at all, but the breakdown may be just as sudden.
This term's meaning varies depending on context and field, and may not be strictly considered exclusive to engineering. For instance, this is used as a mechanism in the food industry as applied in the degradation of
lignin
Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidit ...
,
cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...
,
pentosan, and
polymers
A polymer () is a substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, b ...
, among others. The concept is also used to extract chemicals such as the elegant degradation of ''
Paederus
''Paederus'' is a genus of small beetles of the Family (biology), family Staphylinidae ("rove beetles"). With 622 valid species assigned by 1987 to the subtribe Paederina (''Paederus'' and its close allies), and with all but 148 within ''Paederu ...
fuscipes'' to obtain
pederin and hemiacetal pseuodopederin. In this process degradation is induced by heat. A play with the same name also used it as a metaphor for the current state of the world.
See also
*
Fail safe
In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inheren ...
*
Fail soft
References
Fault tolerance
Mechanical engineering
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