Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.
Albert Einstein

When the troubleshooter concludes his or her work, the Failure Mode will be known, but not the Failure Mechanism or the cause. There are a myriad of Failure Modes, but there are just a few Failure Mechanisms.

If it is a mechanical component, the only possible Failure Mechanisms are:

• Corrosion

• Erosion

• Fatigue

• Overload

Several kinds of corrosion are possible and frequently the presence or absence of corrosion can be determined by several elements:

• The presence of a cathode (more noble metal)

• The presence of an anode (less noble metal)

• The presence of an electrolyte (liquid completing a circuit between the cathode and the anode)

• The presence of corrosion product (rust or other metal oxide)

Erosion or abrasion will typically leave wear marks and products of wear.

Fatigue is the process of going from tension to compression in a repeated manner over an extended period of time. The severity of bending needs to be sufficient to result in stress levels above that required to cause damage. The number of cycles needed to cause failure is dependent upon the stress level. Given enough time, even fairly small stress levels can result in failure.

In many situations, vibration resulting from inadequate support will result in fatigue failures over time. In other examples, misalignment or imbalance of rotating components can cause fatigue and ultimate failure.

Overload is the result of a component being designed for a smaller load than it...