The failure or fracture of a product or component as a result of a single event is known as mechanical overload. It is a common
failure mode
Failure causes are defects in design, process, quality, or part application, which are the underlying cause of a failure or which initiate a process which leads to failure. Where failure depends on the user of the product or process, then human er ...
. The terms are used in
forensic engineering
Forensic engineering has been defined as "the investigation of failures—ranging from serviceability to catastrophic—which may lead to legal activity, including both civil and criminal". The forensic engineering field is very broad in terms o ...
and
structural engineering
Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and joints' that create the form and shape of human-made Structure#Load-bearing, structures. Structural engineers also ...
when analysing product failure. Failure may occur because either the product is weaker than expected owing to a
stress concentration
In solid mechanics, a stress concentration (also called a stress raiser or a stress riser or notch sensitivity) is a location in an object where the stress (mechanics), stress is significantly greater than the surrounding region. Stress concentra ...
, or the applied load is greater than expected and exceeds the normal
tensile strength
Ultimate tensile strength (also called UTS, tensile strength, TS, ultimate strength or F_\text in notation) is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials, the ultimate ...
,
shear strength
In engineering, shear strength is the strength of a material or component against the type of yield or structural failure when the material or component fails in shear. A shear load is a force that tends to produce a sliding failure on a mater ...
or
compressive strength
In mechanics, compressive strength (or compression strength) is the capacity of a material or Structural system, structure to withstand Structural load, loads tending to reduce size (Compression (physics), compression). It is opposed to ''tensil ...
of the product.
See also
*
Forensic engineering
Forensic engineering has been defined as "the investigation of failures—ranging from serviceability to catastrophic—which may lead to legal activity, including both civil and criminal". The forensic engineering field is very broad in terms o ...
*
Stress analysis
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology)
Stress, whether physiological, biological or psychological, is an organism's response to a stressor, such as an environmental condition or change in life circumstances. When s ...
*
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and joints' that create the form and shape of human-made Structure#Load-bearing, structures. Structural engineers also ...
References
* ''Strength of Materials'', 3rd edition, Krieger Publishing Company, 1976, by Timoshenko S.,
* ''Forensic Materials Engineering: Case Studies'' by Peter Rhys Lewis, Colin Gagg, Ken Reynolds, CRC Press (2004).
Engineering failures
Reliability engineering
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