LESSONS FROM FAILURE

Performing failure analysis involves determining the root cause or causes of the failure of a product and involves a careful examination of potential contributing factors and their interdependence. To a large extent, the process of failure analysis depends on the experience of the analyst and needs to be tailored to each project. Here are 10 most common root causes for failures: 1. design error, 2. mechanical failure, 3. compound, 4. polymer type, 5. polymer grade, 6. additives, 7. compounding/mixing, 8. processing variables, 9. environmental damage, and 10. combination of several factors. Failure analysis is a process that frequently takes time and thought to reach the right conclusions. In this article, three case studies are presented. The first case study led to a redesign of the part. The second case led to a change in the vendors. And the third was determined to he an isolated failure.