Failure Analysis of Materials

This textbook covers the important steps in conducting a failure analysis, without boring the student to death. A material failure is defined as a part breaking unexpectedly. The part can be metal, plastic, ceramic or glass, and by breaking we mean that there is a fracture face or a damaged surface to examine. Failure analysis is the science of determining how and why the part broke. An accurate failure analysis is key to making a better product. If one does not understand why a part failed, then it is only guesswork as to how to fix it. Failure analysis of materials is a multi-disciplinary field because is requires people skills in asking the right questions, engineering skills in calculating the stresses, and metallurgical skills in understanding the alloys and interpreting the micrographs. The final skill is writing a comprehensive report. These topics and more are covered in this book.