Course description
Elements of this Module will be undertaken at Cranfield University at Shrivenham located on the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. Security clearance will be required if this module is selected. Please refer to our entry requirements section for more details, or see further about security clearance for Cranfield at Shrivenham.
This module can be taken as a Short Course for Credit or a Standalone Short Course.
This module can only be taken as part of the following MSc courses
- Forensic Ballistics
- Forensic Explosive and Explosion Investigation
- Forensic Investigation
Electives may not run if there is limited student uptake. However, alternatives will be offered.
This module will cover the mechanisms and characteristics of different failure modes, to enable the deduction of the cause(s) of failure from the examination of failed engineered components. The steps and common tools involved in failure analysis will be detailed, as will the importance of defining the objective(s) and planning the investigation
Upcoming start dates
Outcome / Qualification etc.
What you will learn
On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:
- Critically evaluate potential failure modes of an engineered component and the means of evaluating the loading types, material, environmental and structural properties, which govern the onset of failure
- Assess the indicative characteristics of a failed component from which can be inferred the source of failure
- Appraise the principles of both linear elastic fracture mechanics and their application to cracks in brittle materials, and fracture mechanics to crack growth under cyclic loads
- Explain the steps involved in failure investigations and the importance of determining the root cause
- Construction of a systematic approach to problem solving
- Evaluate the tools used in failure analysis and their limitations
Training Course Content
Core content
- Discuss and evaluate failures in engineering components
- Modes of loading and stress distributions
- Failure mechanisms including ductile/brittle overload, fatigue, corrosion
- Fractography and the interpretation of fracture surfaces
- Crack tip stress fields and linear elastic fracture mechanics
- Importance of defining the goal(s) and planning a failure investigation
- Requirements for leading a failure investigation and the importance of determining the root cause
- Steps and common tools involved in failure analysis
Course delivery details
Course structure
Lectures, tutorials and laboratory exercises
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Cranfield University
Cranfield is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management. We have many world-class, large-scale facilities, including our own global research airport, which offers a unique environment for transformational education...