Crashing aircraft, sinking ships — fractographic and SEM support for unusual failure hypotheses

Abstract

Many failures that cross the path of the forensic engineering practitioner are rather mundane, involving bolts, shafts, gears and the like. Occasionally, however, a more unusual and interesting example of the use of fractography may turn up. These often revolve around the use of fractographic evidence in correctly identifying a likely sequence of events in a failure, and in proving, beyond reasonable doubt, a particular scenario to be the most feasible. This applies equally to many cases involving polymers or ceramics, as well as to metallic failures. This paper will outline the details of two such cases, and indicate how fractographic and other scanning electron microscopy evidence assisted in obtaining out-of-court settlements, on terms favourable to the client, in both cases.