MAE 465

Maintenance Engineering
Failures
Book 2: Chapter 3
Assistant Professor Altay Zhakatayev
Spring 2024
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Engineered Object
• Engineered Object – any object designed by engineers to fulfill a
certain task.
• Engineered object often is a multilevel system of interconnected and
interdependent elements (components).
 System-Subsystem-Assembly-Subassembly-Module-Submodule-Component
 Air traffic system-Airplane-Wing-Flap-Skeleton-Ribs-Bolts

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Functions of an Object
• Function – actions that an engineered object was designed to do.
• Essential (primary) functions – intended or primary functions.
• Auxiliary (secondary) functions – functions that are needed to
support the primary functions or not related to it. Usually they are
less clear.
• Protective functions – functions to protect people and environment.
• Example: car lights
 Essential function: make environment visible at night
 Auxiliary function: increase safety during the daytime

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Failures
• Failure – the termination of the ability of an engineered object to
carry out its intended function for which it was designed and built. A
failure is an event that occurs at a specific moment in time.
• Failures can be classified according to their causes, effects, and
detectability.
• Primary failure – failure due to aging and inherent weakness. Failure
in ideal condition.
• Secondary failure – failure due to improper use or external influence.
Failure due to intentional or unintentional breaking.
• Command failure – failure due to incorrect control signals or noise.

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Failure Modes
• Operational state – functional condition of an object. It is the state of an
object before failure.
• Failed state or fault – dysfunctional condition of an object. Fault is the
state of an object after failure.
• Failure mode is the description of the fault.
• Intermittent failure – failure for a short time.
• Extended failure – failure for a long time and until it is rectified.
 Complete failure – total loss of essential functions. Operational state Failure
 Partial failure – partial loss of essential functions.
 Sudden failure – unanticipated failures. Failed state
 Gradual failure – failures that can be anticipated.
time

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Failure Causes
• Failure causes are the circumstances that lead to failure.
 Design failure – due to inadequate design
 Weakness failure – due to weak part of a system (might be due to design or
degradation)
 Manufacturing failure – due to incorrect manufacturing
 Aging failure – due to accumulation of time and usage
 Misuse failure – utilization in environment for which it was not designed
 Mishandling failure – due to lack of care or maintenance
• Knowing failure causes is essential for its prevention!

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Failure Effects
• Failure effect is the impact after the failure.
 Catastrophic – result in death or total system loss
 Critical – result in severe injury or major system damage
 Marginal - result in minor injury or minor system damage
 Negligible – less than marginal
• Knowing or anticipating failure effect is essential for planning
response for failure and the necessity for its prevention!

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Failure Mechanism
• Failure mechanism is a physical process that leads to or causes failure.
 Corrosion – oxidization of metals
 Erosion – gradual reduction of material volume
 Fatigue – propagation of cracks in material
 Fretting – wear out of material under small oscillatory motion.
• Understanding failure mechanism is essential for:
 Design reliable products
 Estimate remaining useful life in operation
 Forecast failure
 Design efficient maintenance procedures
 Efficient decision making

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Failure Mechanism
• Failure mechanisms can be classified into two main groups:
overstress mechanisms and wear-out mechanisms.
• Both the strength of a material and the applied stress can be
described as random variables with certain PDFs.
• When strength is much higher than stress, then the material is
reliable. When these two PDFs overlap or strength is less than stress,
then the material is
Wear-out Overstress
not reliable.
• These two PDFs depend
on age, environment, etc.
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Failure Mechanism
• Overstress failure mechanisms include brittle fracture, ductile
fracture, buckling, and interfacial de-adhesion.
• Wear-out failure mechanisms include wear, corrosion, erosion,
fatigue, and creep.
• The stress or the input that triggers the failure mechanism can be
mechanical, electrical, thermal, chemical, and radiation-based.
• The stresses are not mutually exclusive, they can act simultaneously.

Stress Failure Mechanism Failure

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Failure Mechanism: Fracture

• Fracture is the failure of materials due to disintegration or breaking.
• Depending on the nature of fracture, the materials can be classified
as ductile and brittle.
• Yield strength and ultimate tensile strength characterize materials.
For austenitic stainless steel: yield s: 250 MPa, ultimate tensile s: 600 MPa

What the area under stress-strain curve represents? 11

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Failure Mechanism: Buckling

• Buckling is the structural failure of long bodies under compressive
loads. During buckling, deformation occurs perpendicular to the
direction of the compressive loading.
• Buckling strength is often less than the yield
strength of a material.
• There are different forms of buckling:
column buckling, cylinder buckling,
plate buckling, lateral-torsional buckling, etc.

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Failure Mechanism: Corrosion

• Corrosion is oxidization of metals, where metal atoms
chemically react with oxidant (oxygen O2, hydrogen
peroxide H2O2, fluorine F2, chlorine Cl2) and form a
more stable metal oxide. It is a complex
electrochemical process.
• Corrosion leads to reduced strength and
deterioration of other properties of metals.
• Rusting is the corrosion of iron.
• Corrosion depends on the environment,
moisture, utilization, etc.
• Methods to protect from corrosion include
painting, galvanization, cathodic protection.

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Failure Mechanism: Erosion and Wear

• Erosion is gradual reduction of volume of material.
It is a process of transport of material atoms and
molecules from one place into another.
• Erosion leads to reduced strength.
• Erosion depends on the environment,
utilization, etc.
• Methods to protect from erosion include
painting, covering with other material,
correct maintenance.
• Tribology studies wear.

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Failure Mechanism: Fatigue

• Fatigue is initialization and growth of cracks in
a material due to cyclic loading.
• Fatigue leads to reduced strength. Fatigue strength
is much less than yield strength.
• Fatigue depends on the environment and utilization.
• Methods to protect from fatigue include
heat treatment, surface treatment,
and correct maintenance.
• Fatigue is the leading cause of failures.
For austenitic stainless steel: yield s: 250 MPa, ultimate tensile s: 600 MPa, fatigue s: 147 MPa
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Failure Mechanism: Fretting

• Fretting is the wear of a material when two materials are in contact
and under cyclic motion (vibration).
• The amplitude of oscillatory motion in fretting is tiny, at the order of
micro or even nanometers.
• Fretting depends on materials, environment,
load, and motion.
• Methods to protect from fretting include
application of coating and lubricants,
surface treatment, avoid or minimize
vibration during design stage.
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Failure Mechanism: Creep

• Creep is the slow plastic deformation of materials under higher
temperatures and constant stress. Creep happens for stresses much
less than yield strength.
• Creep depends on materials, environment,
temperature, and load.
• There are different stages of creep.
• Methods to protect from creep include
constant monitoring and maintenance.
What are the main differences between fatigue and creep?

For austenitic stainless steel: yield s: 250 MPa, ultimate tensile s: 600 MPa, creep s at room T: 200 MPa
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Failure Mechanism
• Failure mechanism depends on type of component (electrical, mechanical,
chemical), material (wood, plastic, metal, ceramics), manufacturing process
(annealing, casting, machining), operating environment, etc.
• There are other failure mechanisms: electrical (electromigration,
dielectric breakdown), chemical, radiation, flutter, divergence, buffeting,
etc.
• Failure mechanisms are not
mutually exclusive, they can
happen simultaneously. Often
they enhance each other.
• Failure mechanisms are complex
phenomena!
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Questions?

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