The main sections of the museum are listed below;

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

Glossary
of materials engineering terms

Polymer failures

Stress corrosion cracking of nylon 6,6

Taken from a paper presented by Dr. P.R. Lewis at ANTEC 2002 (Society of Plastics Engineers), Failure Analysis and Prevention Group, San Francisco (Paper 687)

Following a head-on car accident in which one driver was seriously injured, the cause was established by police as a diesel spillage on the road surface. It was traced to a leaking diesel return pipe on a recovery vehicle (image above). Examination showed that the fuel return pipe had been cleaved across radially, and the Forensic Science Service attributed the failure to a knife-wielding vandal.

Under the bonnet >

ed: PRL 21/6/02