Product Failures

A series of complaints indicated that a building siding product was changing colour after application. Investigations into the problem by civil engineering staff could find no general pattern to the changes or commonality linking the variations together. The apparent randomness of the problem lead to suggestions that the composition of the product may be at fault. A chemical analysis method was developed, validated and used to measure the composition of the active ingredients of several batches of the product. The agent, which was designed to absorb the ultra-violet component of the sunlight, was either missing entirely in some batches or so low as to be ineffective in others.

In a series of very expensive, high temperature furnace failures, an exotic high temperature stainless steel alloy had corroded to failure in a small fraction of its expected service life. Literature citations described research and development done by North American manufacturers that described the failure mode and cause in exact detail. Certain impurities in the alloy components were shown to create the conditions for the accelerated corrosions.

Chemical analysis of the failed components demonstrated the presence of the detrimental impurities. On further investigation it was found that "senior" management had purchased a quantity of the alloy in question from third world manufacturers at an "excellent price".