Material Failure and Embodied Energy - Essay Example

TASK 1 The bending of an umbrella when wind blows or the breaking of a bags handle, even the collapsing of mega structures like bridges and buildings are some prime examples of structural failure. Structure failure in basic terms can be defined as the destruction or damage of a structure when it is unable to support its designated load any further. Once the structure looses it ability to carry load, it deforms, de-shapes or even destroys completely. There are many reasons a structure can fail its basic ability to hold load (NEL, 2007) Many reasons as states in previously include basic design flaws, construction flaws, overloading, foundation failure, corrosion and excessive use of a moving body.

The corrective/preventive measures that have to be taken are in accordance with the structural failure that has either prevailed or in the process of it. An example of it is the leaning tower of Pisa; the design flaw is the soft earth due to which one part of the building is sinking inside. To negate the leaning effect, large weights and wires have been attached to the tower to keep it from falling to the end it is leaning to. The first part of the report will identify structural failures in my daily routine as an insurance engineer for a local school, where metallurgy plays an important role while covering any damage or even while insuring it.

Example No 1: Fan Falling The first and foremost structural failure that was faced by the school administration was the falling of a ceiling fan in a classroom. Luckily the recess was in progress and the fall resulted in no injury to any person. The only damage was to the fan itself and the table which it had fallen on. As a sue action was threatened by the parents of children studying in the school, our firm was called in to analyze the failure, state the cause of it and remedy actions. On inspecting the fan closely it was found that there was huge amount of rust in the loop where the fan was hanging.

The loop had been disconnected due to this corrosion. Fan rotation causes certain vibration in the whole structure making it a viable threat if any sort of corrosion is present. This problem could have been detected easily but due to the upper portion of the fan concealed inside the fancy fall ceiling, this problem was not detected. After this incident, all the fans in the school were checked and it was a shocking fact that most of the fans had this similar problem. Therefore a complete overhauling of the fan holding loops was recommended for stopping any such future incident.

Also as the fall ceilings cannot be removed therefore a calendar inspection plan has been laid out by the insurance team to be done by the school administration. This inspection would also be checked by the insurance team as to ensure proper working of the school administration team. Also to add further security in the system, all hanging items like fans and ceiling lights and chandeliers will be checked for heir secure housing, where they are attached to the wall. Example No 2: Swing structure failure The second structure failure that was noticed in the same school was the falling off a children slide to one side while the children were on it taking turns for sliding down.

Some children were hurt and minor bruises were seen on children bodies. This incident