Failure Analysis of Automotive Components 2004-01-0857

The automotive industry constantly faces new challenges as the demand for inexpensive and high quality components increases. Extreme diligence must be imparted to ensure that such components are designed and manufactured with sufficient quality to withstand a variety of service environments. In the event that such a component fails, it is imperative that the root cause of the failure be determined quickly and accurately, and that proper corrective measures be taken in order to prevent future failures. A systematic analysis is the key to finding the root cause of any failure. This article will describe the necessary steps for performing a proper failure investigation, and will illustrate the use of various techniques to identify the root cause of failure. Several automotive component examples are cited for illustration of these techniques.