		Engineering the Future
MATERIALS ENGINEERING		MCT Faculty
COMPONENT FAILURE MUSEUM

The main sections of the museum are listed below;

Metal Fatigue
Manufacturing Faults
Bicycle Components
Corrosion
Polymers
Composite Materials

Tools of the trade, some ways to investigate problems;
Photoelasticity
Dye penetrant testing

Glossary
of materials engineering terms

Metal Fatigue Section

Metal Fatigue

A phenomenon which results in the sudden fracture of a component after a period of cyclic loading in the elastic regime. Failure is the end result of a process involving the initiation and growth of a crack, usually at the site of a stress concentration on the surface.

For further information on the phenomena of metal fatigue follow this link to an explanation of metal fatigue, or select links below for stories of specific failures.

	Lorry steering arm failure A batch of 12 forged steel lorry steering arms showed fatigue cracking about 140mm from one end.		Lorry spring failure Springs suffer a combination of bending, torsion and fatigue.
	Road vehicle stub axle This is the classic reverse bending fatigue of a steel stub axle from a road vehicle.		Steel bolt This high tensile steel bolt failed under low stress high cycle conditions.
	Helical gear failure This helical gear failed by fatigue cracking and fast fracture.		Secondary damage to car engine A sporty saloon car engine failed and caused this damage to one combustion chamber.
	Torsional Fatigue This splined shaft failed from reversed torsional fatigue.		Reversed bending fatigue Shaft failure from bending fatigue, starting from keyway.
	Bicycle hub failure This road bike hub failure caused the rear wheel to collapse as 4 spokes pulled out.		Thermal fatigue in Cast iron clutch plate.
	Pedal crank failure A fatigue crack caused one crank to fail and unseat the rider.		Bicycle brake bolt failure This front brake assembly broke off under braking and severely injured the cyclist.
	Pedal crank failure II Another fatigue failure.		Fatigue cracks in cycle frame.

Engineering the Future

Metal Fatigue Section