Failure analysis has grown enormously in it scope and utility in recent years. Developments in materials characterization techniques have made the job of a failure analyst easier and more precise, but it still requires not only a strong background in materials science and engineering, but also practical experience--or at least a strong understandin
Human error is implicated in nearly all aviation accidents, yet most investigation and prevention programs are not designed around any theoretical framework of human error. Appropriate for all levels of expertise, the book provides the knowledge and tools required to conduct a human error analysis of accidents, regardless of operational setting (i.e. military, commercial, or general aviation). The book contains a complete description of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), which incorporates James Reason's model of latent and active failures as a foundation. Widely disseminated among military and civilian organizations, HFACS encompasses all aspects of human error, including the conditions of operators and elements of supervisory and organizational failure. It attracts a very broad readership. Specifically, the book serves as the main textbook for a course in aviation accident investigation taught by one of the authors at the University of Illinois. This book will also be used in courses designed for military safety officers and flight surgeons in the U.S. Navy, Army and the Canadian Defense Force, who currently utilize the HFACS system during aviation accident investigations. Additionally, the book has been incorporated into the popular workshop on accident analysis and prevention provided by the authors at several professional conferences world-wide. The book is also targeted for students attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University which has satellite campuses throughout the world and offers a course in human factors accident investigation for many of its majors. In addition, the book will be incorporated into courses offered by Transportation Safety International and the Southern California Safety Institute. Finally, this book serves as an excellent reference guide for many safety professionals and investigators already in the field.
A former aircraft engineer exposes the dangerous breakdown in airline safety due to lapses in maintenance and quality control. This book chronicles maintenance-related accidents –including the recent Boeing 737 MAX accidents –caused by individual, corporate, or governmental negligence and brings the industry's current state of affairs into sharp focus.The author, a former aviation engineer specializing in aircraft fault diagnosis and maintenance planning, examines how failures of the smallest of parts have brought down airliners, explaining sometimes esoteric mechanical issues for readers with no technical background. Vividly describing the terror of accidents and close calls, the author then follows the painstaking investigations to determine causes. He focuses on maintenance errors, which rank as one of the top three causes of airline accidents, and points to the factors that have led to an alarming situation-- continued reduction of licensed mechanics, the shutting down of maintenance bases in the United States, and the outsourcing of maintenance to lowballing contractors. Outsourcing has forced thousands of licensed mechanics into retirement or different careers. For those mechanics still employed in the United States, the ever-present threat to their jobs does nothing to cultivate loyalty to an employer and devotion to a task. The Federal Aviation Administration, which should be overseeing quality control, is caught in a conflicted dual role--charged with regulating safety on the one hand and assuring the fiscal stability of airlines on the other. This disturbing wakeup call for improved airline safety standards highlights the critical importance of attention to detail. Porter recommends that the numbers and job security of airline mechanics be increased and that they be vested with an authority level akin to medical professionals.
Handbook of Materials Failure Analysis: With Case Studies from the Aerospace and Automotive Industries provides a thorough understanding of the reasons materials fail in certain situations, covering important scenarios, including material defects, mechanical failure as a result of improper design, corrosion, surface fracture, and other environmental causes. The book begins with a general overview of materials failure analysis and its importance, and then logically proceeds from a discussion of the failure analysis process, types of failure analysis, and specific tools and techniques, to chapters on analysis of materials failure from various causes. Later chapters feature a selection of newer examples of failure analysis cases in such strategic industrial sectors as aerospace, oil & gas, and chemicals. Covers the most common types of materials failure, analysis, and possible solutions Provides the most up-to-date and balanced coverage of failure analysis, combining foundational knowledge, current research on the latest developments, and innovations in the field Ideal accompaniment for those interested in materials forensic investigation, failure of materials, static failure analysis, dynamic failure analysis, fatigue life prediction, rotorcraft, failure prediction, fatigue crack propagation, bevel pinion failure, gasketless flange, thermal barrier coatings Presents compelling new case studies from key industries to demonstrate concepts Highlights the role of site conditions, operating conditions at the time of failure, history of equipment and its operation, corrosion product sampling, metallurgical and electrochemical factors, and morphology of failure
The failure analysis methods utilized in this program were based on the fracture mechanics approach, which takes into consideration the existence of a flawed or damaged structure with localixed stress concentrations. The principles of fracture mechanics, its application criteria and structural failure behavior patterns are presented. These analysis methods and procedures are intended to provide guidance and direction in the analysis of various types of structural components. The necessary data for adequate fracture mechanics analysis for failure investigation is presented, and analysis limitations or proper utilization are defined. As a means of demonstrating this analysis method, detailed failure analyses were performed on actual failed structural components in which information was obtained during the failure data gathering phase of the program. Conclusions and recommendations in the utilization of this analysis method are summarized.
The failure analysis methods utilized in this program were based on the fracture mechanics approach, which takes into consideration the existence of a flawed or damaged structure with localixed stress concentrations. The principles of fracture mechanics, its application criteria and structural failure behavior patterns are presented. These analysis methods and procedures are intended to provide guidance and direction in the analysis of various types of structural components. The necessary data for adequate fracture mechanics analysis for failure investigation is presented, and analysis limitations or proper utilization are defined. As a means of demonstrating this analysis method, detailed failure analyses were performed on actual failed structural components in which information was obtained during the failure data gathering phase of the program. Conclusions and recommendations in the utilization of this analysis method are summarized.
This book concentrates on the subject of health monitoring technology of Liquid Rocket Engine (LRE), including its failure analysis, fault diagnosis and fault prediction. Since no similar issue has been published, the failure pattern and mechanism analysis of the LRE from the system stage are of particular interest to the readers. Furthermore, application cases used to validate the efficacy of the fault diagnosis and prediction methods of the LRE are different from the others. The readers can learn the system stage modeling, analyzing and testing methods of the LRE system as well as corresponding fault diagnosis and prediction methods. This book will benefit researchers and students who are pursuing aerospace technology, fault detection, diagnostics and corresponding applications.
This book deals with structural failure (induced by mechanical, aerodynamic, acoustic and aero-thermal, loads, etc.) of modern aerospace vehicles, in particular high-speed aircraft, solid propellant rocket systems and hypersonic flight vehicles, where structural integrity, failure prediction and service life assessment are particularly challenging, due to the increasingly more demanding mission requirements and the use of non-traditional materials, such as non-metallic composites, in their construction. Prediction of the complex loading environment seen in high-speed operation and constitutive / fracture models which can adequately describe the non-linear behaviour exhibited by advanced alloys and composite materials are critical in analyzing the non-linear structural response of modern aerospace vehicles and structures. The state-of-the-art of the different structural integrity assessment and prediction methodologies (including non-destructive structural health monitoring techniques) used for the structural design, service life assessment and failure analysis of the different types of aerospace vehicles are presented. The chapters are written by experts from aerospace / defence research organizations and academia in the fields of solid mechanics, and structural mechanics and dynamics of aircraft, rocket and hypersonic systems. The book will serve as a useful reference document containing specialist knowledge on appropriate prediction methodologies for a given circumstance and experimental data acquired from multi-national collaborative programs.
