Posted on May 30, 2012
Most often the ultimate failure of a component or device is because of the physical failure of its material. The material (or materials) represents the most fundamental aspect of a product and thus several causative factors may have been involved in the failure. In general, physical failures occur because of four broad categories of reasons: […]
Posted on April 25, 2012
Microbiological influenced corrosion (MIC) has gotten much attention as one of the unique forms of corrosion. It occurs as a result of the life processes of several types of microorganisms or it can occur due to the simple formation and growth of colonies of these organisms on wetted metal surfaces. Different microorganisms can produce a […]
Posted on March 16, 2012
SCC has been one of – if not the – most widely studied forms of corrosion. This is because it is can occur in so many different applications and it is an insidious type of attack that often leads to metal failure before the process of cracking is detected. The mechanism of SCC combines corrosion […]
Posted on January 29, 2012
There are several forms of metallic wear. In each case the process can be defined generally as the unwanted removal of material from a surface due to mechanical action. This is in contrast to desirable manufacturing processes that occur by similar mechanisms such as machining, grinding or shot blasting. The most common harmful forms of […]
Posted on December 28, 2011
The most current (2002) study of the cost of corrosion in the United States found the associated loss was $276 billion in 1998 – 3.1% of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product that year. The National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE International) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) jointly coordinated that study. In 2008 a […]
Posted on November 10, 2011
Typically an engineering root-cause failure analysis (RCFA) is performed for one of two purposes. These are for use in litigation or for internal use in various industrial and related organizations. In the legal arena RCFA’s are part of the input that an engineering expert witness contributes to define the physical circumstances that caused the accident, injury […]
Posted on October 5, 2011
Many negative consequences can result from failures of a range of different products that often lead to property & casualty insurance disputes or product liability legal actions. The products may include consumer or industrial goods. Typically the private user or worker is injured or a business incurs significant financial loss. The injured individual, insurance carrier, […]
Posted on September 15, 2011
A variety of low-voltage electronic devices may fail to operate properly because of exposure to certain corrosive, gaseous environments. Susceptible items include consumer products such as microwave ovens, audio equipment, TV’s and personal computers as well as many types of industrial sensors and automatic control devices. Failure generally occurs because of specific application factors. These […]
Posted on August 23, 2011
Most technical persons in various industries are aware of the importance of the several forms of corrosion and their effects on the reliability of products or processes and thus the bottom line. Generally most people think about some of the well-known forms such as general corrosion, pitting or stress-corrosion cracking (SCC). However, crevice corrosion is […]
Posted on July 1, 2011
As engineers we are obviously conscious of the vital need to define and then design for the largest applied stresses that a product is liable to encounter in service. The product’s long-term reliability and safety for the user demands this acknowledgement. However, many of us may overlook residual stresses that can be created inside metallic […]
