Failure Analysis Lab Examines a Failed Plastic Chair

California failure analysis laboratory performed a failure analysis on a failed plastic chair. A 190 pound man sat in it and the right leg broke under him. This was a brittle plastic failure that went along a molding weld line. The fracture surface shows brittle failure in bending.

Glass Expert Discusses Bend Test Fracture Surface

 California Failure Analysis lab performed a compound bend test to determine if the failure surface can be at an angle to the surface. One curious result was a curved fracture surface. This occurs when the clamp on the topside (i.e. tensile side) was behind the support underneath. If the two clamped sides are aligned, the crack is perpendicular to the sample face This information is useful when analyzing failures of other brittle materials such as ceramics (i.e. ceramic failure analysis).

Glass Expert Performs Glass Bottle Failure Analysis

Read Consulting failure analysis lab was asked to determine the cause of failure of a small glass cosmetic bottle that had failed in on the filling line as the cap was being tightened. A glass failure analysis was performed using a low power microscope. The root cause of the failure was a chill check on the bottle neck. This damage  occurred during bottle manufacturing. The bottling company will work with the bottle manufacturer to eliminate this manufacturing defect.