What Is a Failure Analysis? Purpose, Process, and Methods
Definition of Failure Analysis
Failure analysis is the systematic, scientific investigation of why a component, material, structure, or system failed to perform its intended function. It combines visual examination, non-destructive evaluation, mechanical testing, metallographic examination, chemical analysis, and fractographic investigation to identify the failure mechanism (how it failed) and root cause (why it failed) — providing the information needed to prevent recurrence and improve product and process reliability.
Failure analysis is applied reactively (investigating failures that have already occurred) and proactively (investigating potential failure modes before they occur in service — failure mode and effects analysis, FMEA).
Why Failure Analysis Is Conducted
Organisations commission failure analysis investigations for several purposes:
- Corrective action: Identifying the root cause of a product or component failure to implement changes that prevent recurrence
- Legal and insurance: Providing technical evidence for product liability litigation, warranty claims, and insurance disputes
- Quality improvement: Understanding systematic manufacturing or design deficiencies that affect multiple products
- Regulatory compliance: Satisfying regulatory requirements for incident reporting and corrective action documentation in regulated industries
- Customer confidence: Demonstrating rigorous quality assurance by investigating and resolving failures promptly
The Failure Analysis Process
Step 1: Preserve and Document the Evidence
As soon as a failure is identified, the failed component and surrounding assembly should be preserved intact — not cleaned, disassembled, or modified before the investigator has documented its as-received condition. Evidence destruction is the most common mistake that compromises failure investigations. Photography of the failure in context, documentation of operating conditions at failure, and preservation of all debris and fragments are essential first steps.
Step 2: Define the Problem and Objectives
Before any testing, the investigator must clearly define: What failed? When and how was the failure discovered? What were the operating conditions? What is the applicable specification? What questions must the investigation answer? This scoping conversation with the customer prevents misdirected investigation and ensures that the analysis addresses the actual concern.
Step 3: Non-Destructive Examination
As detailed in Blog 2 of this series, NDE methods (visual inspection, radiography, UT, SAM, DPT, MPI) characterise the full damage extent and guide subsequent destructive sampling — without destroying evidence prematurely.
Step 4: Mechanical Testing
Hardness testing, tensile testing, and impact testing of the failed material verify conformance to mechanical property specifications. Deviations from specification indicate material non-conformance as a potential contributing factor.
Step 5: Chemical and Compositional Analysis
OES, XRF, ICP-OES, or ICP-MS verifies that the material chemistry conforms to the specified alloy or polymer grade. Corrosion product composition (EDS, XRD, IC) identifies the chemical species responsible for corrosion. Contamination analysis (FTIR, GC-MS) identifies organic or inorganic contaminants at failure sites.
Step 6: Metallographic / Microstructural Examination
Cross-sections through the failure origin reveal the failure mechanism at microstructural scale — distinguishing fatigue striations, SCC branching, creep cavitation, hydrogen embrittlement facets, or overload ductile dimples. Heat treatment condition, grain structure, inclusion content, and weld microstructure are assessed and compared to specification.
Step 7: Fractographic Analysis
SEM examination of fracture surfaces provides definitive identification of the failure mechanism from fracture morphology — as described in Blog 45 of this series.
Step 8: Root Cause Determination and Reporting
Integrating all evidence, the root cause is identified and documented in a formal failure analysis report — providing conclusions, corrective action recommendations, and all supporting data in a format suitable for engineering, legal, or regulatory use.
Industries Where Failure Analysis Is Applied
Aerospace (airworthiness investigations, service difficulty reports), automotive (warranty and product liability), power generation (pressure vessel and rotating equipment failures), civil infrastructure (bridge and building failures), electronics (reliability and field return analysis), and oil and gas (pipeline integrity management) all rely on professional failure analysis services.
Why Choose Infinita Lab for Failure Analysis Services?
Infinita Lab provides complete failure analysis investigations — from NDE through root cause reporting — through our nationwide network of 2,000+ accredited failure analysis laboratories, with Single Point of Contact management and confidential handling of sensitive failure evidence.
Looking for a trusted partner to achieve your research goals? Schedule a meeting with us, send us a request, or call us at (888) 878-3090 to learn more about our services and how we can support you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the most important first step in any failure analysis? Preserving and documenting evidence before any disassembly, cleaning, or preparation. Premature cleaning removes corrosion products needed for environment identification; cutting before NDE destroys the spatial context of defects; disassembly obscures assembly-related damage. Full photographic documentation and NDE before any destructive preparation is the most critical first step.
How long does a typical failure analysis investigation take? Simple fracture analysis with limited testing: 1–2 weeks. Complex multi-mechanism investigations with extensive testing: 6–12 weeks. The timeline depends on the complexity of the failure, the number of analytical methods required, and the availability of reference material for comparison testing.
What is the difference between a failure mode and a root cause? Failure mode describes what physically happened — fatigue fracture, corrosion perforation, overload fracture, electrical short circuit. Root cause explains why the failure mode occurred — insufficient fatigue strength due to a design stress miscalculation, corrosion from an environment not anticipated in design, overload from misuse, or contamination from a manufacturing process. Effective corrective actions address root causes, not failure modes alone.
Can failure analysis be performed on polymers and plastics as well as metals? Yes. Polymer failure analysis uses the same systematic approach but different analytical methods — DSC, TGA, and DMA for thermal and mechanical property characterisation; FTIR-ATR for polymer identification and degradation product identification; SEM for fracture surface morphology; and molecular weight measurement (GPC) for degradation quantification.
Is failure analysis always destructive? The investigation process typically progresses from non-destructive to destructive methods. NDE, hardness testing, and SEM fractography may complete root cause determination without sectioning in some cases. In most investigations, metallographic cross-sectioning, tensile testing of coupons, and chemical analysis require destructive preparation of portions of the failed component — planned carefully to preserve primary evidence.
