Research and document types of failure as well as failure analysis methods in civil engineering. 

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Failure Analysis Paper

Contents
Failure Analysis Paper ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1

Writing and Submission Requirements ………………………………………………………………………………………. 1

Assignment Prompt and Context ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1

Instructions …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

Other Requirements ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2

Writing and Submission Requirements

Length: 600 words, minimum

Format: IEEE manuscript form (columns not necessary); double spaced, pg #s in upper left, title,
headings, both labeled and numbered

Submission: Turn text in to E-Learning as an attached document in Word format ( x). Name the
file using your full name and the name of the assignment (e.g.: Emory Smith FA x).

Assignment Prompt and Context

Failure Analysis (FA) is both a preventative process and forensic tool in engineering. FA is used during
the design and development phase of a product, process, or service to systematically anticipate
potential points of failure and correct them before the product is released to the consumer. As a
forensic process, FA is used to diagnose actual failures and recommend solutions. For both kinds of FA,
“standards” may be employed to guide decisions.

Failure analysis methods are discipline specific, but ALL fields of engineering have methods for
preventing and diagnosing failures. Logically, “failure analysis” begins with the assumption that failures
happen: computer engineers look for bugs, glitches, failed batching, security holes, invalid naming,
input/output errors, etc., while those in more physically-oriented fields look for mechanical, chemical,
environmental, and use-related stresses (among other possibilities). All fields of engineering have codes
and standards to rely on. All fields of engineering have methods for testing during the development
phase and as a forensic activity should a failure occur.

In this report, you will explain the failure analysis methods in your field of engineering. Failure testing is
a critical aspect of engineering, so much so that it has career tracks devoted solely to its practice. Thus,
we don’t expect your report to be an exhaustive account of all methods! Instead, this report is an
opportunity for you to learn about FA.

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Instructions

You will research and document types of failure as well as failure analysis methods in your field of
engineering. Your report will include the following major subheadings:

1. Common types of failure in [your field of engineering]
o Type of failure
o Cause of failure

2. Failure Analysis Methods
o Preventative methods

 Non-destructive
 Destructive

o Forensic Methods
 Non-destructive
 Destructive

Other Requirements

 At least two images or figures must be used in the paper. You may use more than two figures. Make
sure to label and cite figures properly.
o Use the Word “References” menu to insert captions.

 A minimum of 6 high quality sources: academic, trade, and reference texts are acceptable.
o Using low-quality sources will result in a 25% reduction in grade.

 The final paper must have a title, Table of Contents, and references page.
o If you do not use a title page, then include your name in the header with the page number.
o Use the Word Style menu to create headings. This will allow you automatically generate a TOC

using the References tool.
o Failure to use the Style and References menu will result in a 10% reduction in grade.

Failure Paper #1

FA Types and Methods in your Field of

Engineering

What is failure?

Nature does not respond to what the designer intends.

Nature responds to what exists. If there is a way for

leakage to occur, it will occur. If there is a way for rubbing

or erosion to occur, it will occur. If there is a way for a

corrosion cell to form, it will form. Failure Modes and Mechanisms

Engineers and other scientists loathe failure. But all designs fail
at some point in time and under certain conditions. The distinction
between a successful and unsuccessful design is a function of
time. If what is designed performs as intended during its
acceptable life span, it is a success. If not, it is a failure. A
disastrous design is one that not only does not perform as
intended, but also causes substantial harm when it fails. Engineering Risks and Failures:
Lessons Learned from Environmental Disasters

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https://www.cedengineering.com/userfiles/Failure Modes and Failure Mechanisms

https://ascelibrary.org/doi/full/10.10

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1/(ASCE)LM.1

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43-5630.0000199

3 Critical Concepts in FA
Failure mode –
• manner in which failure happened

• “What happened?”

• Physical: corrosion, cracking

• Software: BSOD, non-functioning link

Failure mechanism –
• cause of the failure mode

• “Why did this happen?”

• Physical: incorrect sealant

• Software: misspellings

Root Cause –
• The origin of the failure mechanism

• Human error – end-user or designer

• Random, extraordinary event

• Natural lifespan of product/process 3

Failure Modes and Mechanisms

Failure Modes and Mechanisms

http://www.fdot.gov/structures/DesignConf2006/Presentations/session29/Final-29GosselinMarkSheppardMax

Part 1:What are “types” of failure

in your field of engineering?

• Modes / Mechanisms

– Manner of failure

– Causes of failure

• Search:

– “your field” + failure

modes

– “your field” + failure

mechanisms 4

http://www.bernstein-plus-sons.com/.dowling/CSC175/SE_Failures.html

Narrow options to write the paper.

• Failures that are:

– Common, Expensive, Preventable,

etc.

– Specific parts, e.g. engine, blade, router, trusses,

circuit board, etc.

– Specific materials, e.g., concrete, iron, silicon, etc.

– Specific sites, e.g. solder joints, coastal pilings,

etc.

– Specific processes, e.g., assembly, input-output,

• Choose 3-5 types of failure

– Explain mode and mechanism of each
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Part 2: What are the failure

methods in your field?

• How does your field prevent failure?

– Overall question: will product/process accomplish

what it was designed for?

– Non-destructive (predictive, known properties of

materials, standards/codes very important, big part

of design process)

• Procedures: FMEA

• Simulations

• Testing

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Can you break it?

• Destructive (most often from the USE point of

view)

– How much does it take to break it? (important for

warranties, guarantees, etc)

– Expensive, not always done — cannot build the

bridge, then break it! Must test components, follow

specs/standards

– In software design, this is a significant step,

especially with the end-user in mind
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To be successful, a number of types of

software testing must be done. More

importantly, they must be

integrated into every stage of the

software development process. Too

many software development

teams have waited until the week

before product release to do significant

testing, just to find that the

software had fundamental flaws that

would delay that product release by

months.

Software Testing Overview (PDF Download Available). Available

from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273319104_Software_Testin

g_Overview [accessed May 15 201

8

].

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273319104_Software_Testing_Overview

How does your field

diagnose/investigate a failure event?

• After failure or during use (maintenance)

– Non-Destructive — ways of measuring failure that

don’t cause

further damage

• Visual + sonic with materials

• question/answer or screensharing in software

– Destructive — ways of measuring failure that cause

further damage

• Chemical analyses of materials

• Analog in software?

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How to write the paper

• Introduction –

– Definition of field of

engineering

• X is a type of Y that Z

– Ex: “Linguistics is a branch

of the social sciences that

studies what language is and

what language does.”

– Purpose of FA in field

– Roadmap

– NOTE: you may use what

you wrote in the professional

bio memo, but do not use 1st

person prose.

• Body of paper

– 1. Types of Failure

• 1.1 Type 1

• 1. 2 Type 2, etc

– 2. Methods of Failure

Analysis

• 2.1 Preventative

– 2.1.1 NDT

– 2.1.1 DT

• 2.2 Forensic

– 2.2.1 NDT

– 2.2.2 DT

• You do not need a

conclusion!
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Failure Analysis Paper

Electrical engineering sample

Table of Contents

Introduction

2
Common Types of Failure in Electrical Engineering 3
Failure Analysis Method 4
Preventative Methods 4
Forensic Methods 5
References 6

Introduction

Product failure is inevitable when it comes to product development. But as engineers, our job is to reduce the probability of the product failing while also allowing a product to work efficiently. I am an electrical engineer focusing on the field of microcontrollers and microprocessors, and I have worked with building electrical devices.

Common Types of Failure in Electrical Engineering

One of the most common parts we, as electrical engineers, deal with are resistors. Each of these resistors have a supposed resistance, but depending on the tolerance of the resistor, the said resistance will very. Resistors with less tolerance, meaning that the resistance values will range more closely to the listed resistance, are generally more expensive. Figure 1 illustrates a Monte Carlo analysis of off-the-shelf parts purchased by Dr. Shover and his team [6].

Figure 1: Bimodal distribution of a critical parameter

Here, we see how the user was seeking a parameter of at least 90 and at most 120. When purchasing 10,000 parts, the user received a variety of different parameters which demonstrates that when purchasing a product, its stated value- whether it is resistance, capacitance, voltage, etc.- may vary. So, in order to decrease cost of fabrication, engineers must work with tolerance levels and find the cheapest resistors that will guarantee the functionality of the product. Although engineers do multiple simulations to calculate efficient tolerance levels for resistors, errors still occur in real life. One of the most common types of failure in my field is software “software system failure” [1]. Because software and hardware are directly dependent on each other, if a system (hardware) isn’t built to perform particular tasks, there is no way someone can code (software), or command, the system to perform the task- which is a big reason why software issues occur [1]. There are other technical issues that occur very often like: “slow response from application server, pages don’t download properly, applications are not compatible with browser, etc.” [1]. These issues occur because of the different operating systems that are present, and the compatibility of the software to the operating system. Technical issues are minor setbacks that can be resolved rather easily, but they do take time out of an engineer’s schedule. Other issues are more difficult to resolve, and engineers must do their best to prevent these issues. Because electrical systems are composed of many functioning parts, they can be considered systems of systems (SoS). SoS are more difficult to diagnose because you need to find a failure of a particular system inside of a more complex system [2].

Failure Analysis Method

Preventative Methods

Due to the complexity electrical systems, engineers must do their best in order to minimize product failure. There are 2 ways in which engineers can prevent predicted product failure: using non-destructive or destructive preventative methods. Usually, engineers would prefer non-destructive preventative methods because they allow for larger firms to save money. Many engineers, and engineering firms, use simulation software to design products make it likely that it will function properly in the real world [3]. These software are non-destructive, and allow engineers to predict how a product will operate. The downside to using simulation software to prevent product failure is that they can be time consuming. Some computer architectures are very complex and require many operations. Because of this, simulations can be very tedious and time consuming in performing all the functionalities of a CPU, or other complex systems [4]. Destructive preventative methods are not very common in the field of microprocessors, because they would cause way too much money loss for large corporations. Before simulation technology, engineers would use destructive preventative methods. They would build a product, and simply test it. If it did not work, then they would waste the parts, which costs money, and would lose the time they spent on building the device. Due the popularity and efficiency of simulation software, many people and corporations do not use destructive preventative methods.

Forensic Methods

Like preventative methods, forensic methods consist of destructive and non-destructive forensic methods. They are used to diagnose a product and look deeper into the functionalities of a system. An example of a forensic method is the “Mobile Device Tool Classification System,” shown in Figure 2[5].

Figure 2: Mobile Device Tool Classification System [5]

As shown by the figure, one of the steps in the Mobile Device Tool Classification System is manual extraction. This is would be considered a destructive forensic method because it requires for engineers to open up the product and see the parts of the electrical device. This procedure can become complicated because “if there is a large amount of data to be captured, a manual extraction can be very time consuming and the data on the device may be inadvertently modified, deleted or overwritten as a result of the examination” [5]. There are also non-destructive preventative methods as part of this forensic procedure. In the logical extraction portion, a device would be connected to another electrical system, usually via wire. Here, a computer would send commands to the device and engineers would see how it responds. Seeing the response of the system can allow engineers to pinpoint a failure, without having to tamper with the device.

References

[1] S. Dalal and R. Singh Chhillar, “Case Studies of Most Common and Severe Types of Software System Failure,” International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering, vol. 2, no. 8, pp. 341-342, Aug. 2012.

[2] R. Alexander, M. Hall-May and T. Kelly, “Characterization of Systems of Systems Failures,” PROCEEDINGS of the 22nd INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM SAFETY CONFERENCE – 2004, York, England, 2004, pp. 499-508.

[3] S. Eslami, S. Sajadi and A. Kashan, “Selecting a preventive maintenance scheduling method by using simulation and multi criteria decision making,” International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 250-269, Jan 2014.

[4] B. Schroeder and G. Gibson, “A large-scale study of failures in high-performance computing systems,” Proceedings of the International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, Philadelphia, PA, 2006.

[5] R. Ayers, S. Brothers and W. Jansen, “Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics,” NIST Special Publication, pp. 1-75, May 2014.

[6] M. Shover, “Design for Reliability Techniques- Worst Case Circuits Stress Analysis,” Advanced Energy, pp. 1-9, 2018.