{"id":3141,"date":"2026-06-24T16:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/wiki\/failure-investigation-2\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T16:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:13:02","slug":"failure-investigation-2","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/en\/glossary\/failure-investigation-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Failure Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Definition:<\/strong> Failure investigation refers to the systematic examination of a technical failure case to determine the primary and secondary causes of failure. It combines materials analysis, fractography, load analysis and document review. The aim is the traceable reconstruction of the failure mechanism.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Practical relevance:<\/strong> The analysis covers fracture surfaces (e.g. by means of SEM), microstructural conditions, material composition (EDX\/OES), mechanical properties and operating conditions. Typical mechanisms are fatigue fracture, stress <a class=\"tc-inlink\" href=\"\/en\/corrosion-consulting-and-testing\/\">corrosion<\/a> cracking, overload or material mix-up (PMI). A structured approach in accordance with recognised standards increases the reliability of evidence and reproducibility.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Decision-making perspectives:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Technical decision-makers:<\/strong> Derivation of technical corrective measures and prevention strategies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Purchasing\/project management:<\/strong> Assessment of supplier responsibility and quality deviations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Science:<\/strong> Analysis of crack initiation, <a class=\"tc-inlink\" href=\"\/en\/corrosion-consulting-and-testing\/crack-initiation-crack-growth-corrosive-influences\/\">crack growth<\/a> and microstructural influencing factors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Insurance\/law:<\/strong> Court-proof documentation of the cause of failure and allocation of liability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Typical testing or verification methods:<\/strong> Fractography in the SEM, <a class=\"tc-inlink\" href=\"\/en\/materials-testing-analysis\/metallography-microstructure-analysis\/\">metallography<\/a>, hardness testing, tensile test, chemical analysis (EDX, OES), NDT.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FAQ:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the aim of a failure investigation?<\/li>\n<li>The clear and traceable determination of the technical cause of failure as a basis for prevention or liability assessment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[],"class_list":["post-3141","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/3141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technical-center.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=3141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}