Failure Analysis PhD program? 4

[eshimek]

I've been working in failure analysis for a few years now, and I'm thinking it's something I would like to pursue a career in.

Does anyone know of any good PhD programs where I could focus on failure analysis/fracture mechanics?

Is this something I could possibly be doing as a university professor?

Thank you in advance!

 

[unclesyd]

I would contact someone like Dr Darrell Socie to discuss you ambitions. If not direct information is forthcoming Look at the resumes of different people in the business. In all my career I've not encounter anyone with a degree Per se. As fatigue is a major component in a good percentage of metal failures it should provide an information highway to get the requirements you need.

https://efatigue.com/staff.html

 

[TVP]

Can you do failure analysis as a university professor? I will equivocate a little, and say maybe. Certainly there are a lot of university professors that teach courses on failure analysis, and some are actively involved in research that involves failure analysis of mechanical components (fatigue, fracture, high temperature behavior, etc.). I think most Mechanical or Materials engineering departments have at least one class devoted to failure analysis in some manner, often seeking out contributions from industry for teaching and/or research purposes.

There is a wide range of programs and their focus, so it will depend a lot on how "academic" you would want the research to be. At one end of the spectrum (very academic), take a look at The Fracture Control Program headed by Prof. Sehitoglu at the University of Illinois:

Mechanical Science & Engineering - University of Illinois

http://mechse.illinois.edu/content/directory/faculty/profile.php?user_id=56

Prof. Socie's work at UofI on fatigue, especially multiaxial fatigue, is another example of the type of work that is performed at a large academic research institution. On the other end of the spectrum, there are smaller universities that may offer a better fit. One example would be North Dakota State University, where Wayne Reitz is a faculty member, and also runs his own business conducting failure analysis:

Mechanical Engineering - North Dakota State University

http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/me/faculty.php

Other universities with significant activities in this area include UT-Knoxville (lots of work with ORNL), Purdue University, Michigan Technological University, and really any of the other Big Ten Universities. Also, take a look at the ASM International and TMS websites, and look at the conference presentations in the areas of fatigue, fracture, etc. to get a feel for some of the current work being done.

 

[UconnMaterials]

Try the Colorado School of Mines or Ohio State. Those are the two biggest universities that still have a major metallurgical/ceramic component in their Materials Engineering curriculum. The sad thing is that most fatigue/fracture guys at universities tend to be near the age of retirement. In reality, most of fundamental research in this area has been done 30+ years ago. However, you will see fatigue/fracture used as an "instrument" in testing new materials.

As a failure analysis guy myself, I can tell you that there is no way to get a PhD (an MS is possible) solely by doing fatigue/fracture or tribology studies on conventional materials. The other part of your research will involve materials or process development, and that will be the major thrust of your research.

I would recommend that you think of failure analysis as a tool rather than a career. Sure the bigger companies tend to have their own failure analysis groups because they can afford to, but smaller companies tend to have most of their engineers do failure analysis themselves.

 

[tbuelna]

UconnMaterials,

"Failure Analysis" is a very broad term. It is normally associated with Quality Assurance functions, and can involve FMEA, statistical reliability, or fracture control as eshimek seems to be interested in.

I work in aerospace, and specialists in all fields of failure analysis are desperately needed. Reliability of aircraft structures is being emphasized more than ever. Detailed fracture control plans and analyses are commonly required. And this field of research is wide open with the advent of composite airframe structures and high fidelity modeling capabilities.

I work for a small aircraft engineering company that does lots of cutting edge composite structure design. We actively seek out young, top notch PhD level guys to do the basic material research, analysis, and testing we need to support our advanced composite structures work. Much of this research, analysis and test work involves evaluating the failure modes and establishing the damage tolerance of the composite materials we are developing.

With regards to fatigue/fracture control of metallic structures, I agree that the basic material properties and analytical techniques are well established. But where there is currently lots of new research being done in this area is with real-time detection techniques of fractures, both in airframes and rotating machinery. The ability to detect structural failures in airframes or engines would eliminate much of the scheduled maintenance downtime. And this is something that both the military and commercial aircraft industries would pay handsomely for.

I can't point eshimek to a good university for doing PhD work in failure analysis. But I would recommend that he focus on a research topic that is of value to the aerospace industry. Gaining such knowledge would make him far more valuable in private industry than being a university professor.

Regards,
Terry

 

[UconnMaterials]

tbuelna,

I think of failure analysis as a tool that a materials engineer has in their tool-kit. Sure people can be specialized in it, but that's because industry requires it. It's similar to how materials engineers can be full-time microscopists in industry.

My original point was that failure analysis is a tool used to support materials development, but pure fatigue/fracture type research has already been done. Detection methods as you described are important to mechanical testing and quality testing in general. I would say research in those areas would qualify for PhD level research; especially if the detection techniques are novel.

Tbuelna does your company hire PhDs right out of college or does your company require several years of experience in the area of composites?

 

[tbuelna]

UconnMaterials,

Yes, the company does hire top notch grads with no experience. In fact, they make up at least half of our new hires.

The owner of the company is a totally engineering-focused entrepreneur. He actually prefers to hire young, motivated recent grads rather than guys with lots of experience. He wants them to get experience working for him, and hopefully keep them long term. It may sound kind of old-fashioned, but his approach is to create from scratch the best team of engineers he can, rather than just hire them. Even if it takes 10 or 20 years.

Having lots of experience is not a big issue for some of what the company does. We are constantly looking at novel approaches to composite aircraft structures, and having young smart guys with no preconceived notions can be helpful.

Regards,
Terry

 

[UconnMaterials]

Terry,

May I ask the name of your company? I would like to send them my CV. I have another 6-12 months till I finish my PhD. However, I wouldn't characterize myself as "young" since I had several years of experience in industry before going back to graduate school. Thanks.

uconnmaterials

 

[Guest102023]

UConnMaterials "I think of failure analysis as a tool that a materials engineer has in their tool-kit. Sure people can be specialized in it, but that's because industry requires it. It's similar to how materials engineers can be full-time microscopists in industry."
_________________________________________________________

I wouldn't quite agree with that, I think it diminishes the field of FA. In the same way I disagreed with all of the metallurgists at my last company who marketed themselves as 'welding engineers'. I could write a long thesis, but I will attempt to keep it brief:

FA is a very practical field, and has a number of specialty areas within it (e.g., microelectronics, petrochemical, refinery, reciprocating equipment, structural, transportation, etc.). As far as academic environments go, you would probably be doing it in the context of fracture research, corrosion research, or some other such field.

I think few people could practise FA without a few years of experience on top of suitable academic training. In my case I could not have done it straight out of school (master's in welding engineering with lots of physical metallurgy), even though FA was already my ambition.

I only started in mid-career, and I was very fortunate to have a brilliant mentor. There are three main technical areas that the (metallurgical) FA touches on in most investigations. The first two he/she should already know: all the alloy groups and product forms, and the various failure mechanisms. Because failures happen in the context of a process or equipment, he/she also needs to be a quick study in that department. Further, the person's communication skills, especially written, need to be top-notch. Most of the engineering grads I meet as well as some older failure analysts I know cannot write their way out of a wet paper bag. After 12 years of writing reports, I find it is a skill that needs discipline and constant honing.

In the end I feel like FA is more of a calling than a career. It definitely is something a person has to want to do (I have seen too many people fail just because they wanted a job or because management 'assigned' them to it). You don't learn it at a 5-day ASM training course (I'm not knocking the ASM's excellent programmes).

On the other hand I avoid the use of the $10 term 'forensic engineering'. I reserve that for system failures (e.g., accident reconstruction, fire investigations, etc.) that usually involve multiple disciplines. I usually deal with simple component failures (although simple does not necessarily imply easy!)

Hope this is useful.

 

[tbuelna]

UconnMaterials,

Sorry for the tardy response. I work at Karem Aircraft.

Most of the failure analysis work that I see involves fracture control of aircraft structures and propulsion system components. This normally involves detailed FEA work and preparation of fracture control plans.

I am involved specifically in drive system design, and any component that is determined to be flight critical must have a detailed fracture control plan/analysis plus FMEA/CIL. This is very serious work and the few guys that are good at it are worth their weight in gold, in my opinion. The fact that aircraft components must be ultra-reliable and are very weight sensitive makes it even more of a challenge.

Regards,
Terry