Thin adhesive pads used to attach objects to each other often fail catastrophically. Here we consider the nature of failure of such a pad under loading parallel to the adhesive substrate. To determine the modes of failure of the pad and to understand what limits its load bearing capacity, we conduct experiments with finite pads composed of a soft adhesive layer with a stiff backing and load the...

Managers are constantly being told that the quality of data is insufficient for producing reliable results from business models. Reliability analysis is no exception. In this paper, the authors show that it is possible to retrospectively improve the quality of failure histories stored in computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS). A tool was developed to help reliability professionals a...

A destruction test based on the bridge safety appraisal is one way to verify the failure law of an actual bridge. In this paper, a stone arch bridge in a 1:10 scale model and with a span of 60 m (namely, an arch bar of the same length as the object of test) has been tested, methods of its whole test and loading process introduced, and ultimate bearing capacity, deflection and development rules ...

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is one of the well-known techniques of quality management that is used for continuous improvement in product or process design. One important issue of FMEA is the determination of the risk priorities of failure modes. The purpose of this paper is to compare three different methods for prioritizing failure modes in a process FMEA study. These methods are t...

We present a relational technique to write formal specifications which not only say what the system is intended to do but also in which ways it might misbehave because of damage or other failure. For this kind of specifications we use the term failure-sensitive. Specifications are given by sets of rules out of which a complete list of failure modes for the system can be constructed. Most classi...

GaAs devices exhibit some general failure modes that can be attributed to a defined failure mechanism. The most common failure modes are observed via degradation of the MMIC parameters such as IDSS, gain, POUT, and others. The degradation observed in MMIC devices is normally a function of the material interactions and the environmental conditions during test or operation. The importance of a pa...

In this paper we focus on electromechanical modeling of high-tuning range MEMS varactors with a focus on failures caused by residual compressive stress. In particular, we quantitatively evaluate for the first time a high-tuning range parallel-plate MEMS varactor in the presence of residual compressive stress. A 3D model generated in ANSYS agrees very favorably with the measured data and explain...

When designing aerospace systems, it is essential to provide crucial failure information for failure prevention. Failure Modes and Effects types of analyses and prior engineering knowledge and experience are commonly used to to determine the potential modes of failures a product might encounter during its lifetime. When new products are being considered and designed, this knowledge and informat...

HYPOTHESIS Health care failure mode and effect analysis identifies critical processes prone to information transfer and communication failures and suggests interventions to improve these failures. DESIGN Failure mode and effect analysis. SETTING Academic research. PARTICIPANTS A multidisciplinary team consisting of surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, and a psychologist involved in various pha...