An object oriented model of materials failures

The prediction of failures for the optimization of inspection and maintenance of engineering systems is often a complicated task. The complexity of lifetime prediction can be partly addressed by adopting a framework of the main factors controlling materials engineering situations and by adopting a flexible representation methodology such as offered by the object orientation paradigm. This paper presents such a dual approach to reduce the complexity of the information related to materials failures by using an object-oriented framework constructed on fundamental lifetime prediction principles.