6 Mechanical reliability

The well-reported failures, such as the Space Shuttle Challenger, the Three Mile
Island and Chemobyl nuclear accidents, and the Bhopal gas escape, emphasize
vividly the necessity for mechanical reliability.
Buildings, bridges, transit systems, railways, automotive systems, robots, off-
shore structures, oil pipe lines and tanks, steam turbine plates, roller bearings, etc.,
all have their particular modes of failure affecting their reliability.
While this book deals mainly with electronics, there are a number of common
modes of mechanical failures, which are worth listing, e.g. with structures:

(1) Corrosion failures

(2) Fatigue failures
(3) Wear failures
(4) Fretting failures
(5) Creep failures
(6) Impact failures

These may be considered the main failure modes, but there are of course many
others, such as ductile rupture, thermal shock, galling, brineUing, spalling, radia-
tion damage, etc., which are outside the scope of this book.

General mechanical failures

There are many causes of failure. Some have been listed by C. Lipson I as:
(1) Defective design
(2) Wrong application
(3) Manufacturing defect
(4) Wear-out
(5) Incorrect installation
ILipson, C. 'Analysis and Prevention of Mechanical Failures', Course Notes 8007, University of
Michigan,Ann Arbor, June 1980.
38 An Elementary Guide to Reliability
(6) Failure of other parts
(7) Gradual deterioration

Some interesting sources of product failure in the following areas are given by
Lipson 2 as:

(1) Steel industry. Manufacturing and metallurgy (34%), design (58%) and ser-
vice (8%).
(2) Engines. Manufacturing (20%), engineering (40%), misuse in field (30%) and
other causes (10%).
(3) Truck industry. Manufacturing (12%), design (55%) and materials (33%).
(4) Electrical industry. Manufacturing (37%), design (37%) and service (26%).

Guidelines for designers in order to achieve higher reliability are given in B. S.

DhiUon's book: Mechanical Reliability: Theory, Models and Applications)

(1) Make design as simple as possible.

2Lipson,C. Ibid.
3B. S. DhiUon.Mechanical Reliability: Theory, Models and Applications. AIAA Education Series.
370, L'EnfantPromenade,SW,Washington,DC 20024, UnitedStates of America.Published 1988.
 Mechanical reliability 39

(2) Avoid introducing cost-saving procedures at the expense of reliability.

(3) Make allowances for human error.
(4) Make use of well-tried parts and materials.
(5) Carefully test new designs.
(6) Perform analyses of data received from the field.
(7) Pay attention to data received from the field when making modifications and
improvements.
(8) In the case of critical parameters, consider using safety margins of three to
six standard deviations.
(9) Consider diagnosis of critical items.
(10) Include facilities for inspection in the design.
(11) Introduce redundancy whenever necessary.
(12) Pay attention to the maintenance aspect with respect to reliability (Active
Maintenance).
(13) Take into account the effects of transport, handling and storage.
(14) Make use of standard parts as much as possible.
(15) Pay attention to the manufacturing aspects with respect to reliability.

Some of these are touched upon in sections of this book, e.g. in Chapters 5, 6, 7
and 8.
Human reliability is often discussed and it is a fact that, apart from war, the
highest toll of human life is caused by car accidents. These, in turn, are mainly
caused by errors of judgement, making the main cause of failure - lack of human
reliability.