Catastrophic Failure
A Catastrophic Failure is an failure outcome that is a catastrophe.
- Context:
- It can (sometimes) be a Black Swan Event.
- …
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: System Failure, Risk Management, Cascading Failure, Structural Failures, GMO, Thermal Runaway.
References
2014
- (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/catastrophic_failure Retrieved:2014-11-17.
- A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead to cascading systems failure. The term is most commonly used for structural failures, but has often been extended to many other disciplines where total and irrecoverable loss occurs. Such failures are investigated using the methods of forensic engineering, which aims to isolate the cause or causes of failure.
Catastrophic failure is also observed in the steam turbine rotor occurring due to peak stress acting on the rotor and also the stress concentration increases which ultimately leads to the failure of the disc.
In firearms, catastrophic failure usually refers to a rupture or disintegration of the barrel or receiver of the gun when firing it. Some possible causes for this is the gun being out of battery, having improper headspace, using incorrect ammunition for the firearm, using ammunition with an incorrect propellant charge, an obstructed or partially obstructed barrel, or weakened metal in the barrel or receiver. A failure of this type, also known colloquially as a "kaboom", or "kB" failure, can pose a threat to the user and bystanders.
In chemical engineering, thermal runaway can cause catastrophic failure.
- A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead to cascading systems failure. The term is most commonly used for structural failures, but has often been extended to many other disciplines where total and irrecoverable loss occurs. Such failures are investigated using the methods of forensic engineering, which aims to isolate the cause or causes of failure.