Analyzing Field Environments to Understand Product Failure Causes 2019-01-1477

Product failures often require expensive repairs or replacements. Over-engineering adds to recurring costs and its success is uncertain if the failure’s cause is not understood. Engineers need in-depth knowledge before attempting a re-design. This case study focuses on bus seat failures not predicted by industry standard tests. The goal was to collect comprehensive field vibration data and analyze that data to understand the failure’s cause. The study used accelerometers placed at various points in multiple seating configurations and across multiple field environments. Analysis identified transmissibility issues between axes of motion, as well as higher reliability seat configurations.