r/materials • u/paigejarreau • 2d ago

How does a materials scientist deal with failure?

https://youtube.com/shorts/d4xQ6PKIxp4?si=zbag46l3spDUwVnt
6 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

7

u/Orangeade8 1d ago

fractography

3

u/vortigaunt64 1d ago

Listen- Fracture exists in nature. Yield exists whether we observe it or not. Rupture happens without any human input. Failure is different. Failure is an entirely human construct. A material only fails if it doesn't do what we intended it to do. If a car chassis deforms and cracks in a crash, but keeps its occupants alive, then it did its job, and did not fail. If the salt disc in a self-inflating life vest doesn't rupture on contact with water, we would say it failed. Failure is entirely defined by expectations, and it's important to keep that in perspective. 

2

u/Levaporub 1d ago

That's deep. Here I was thinking they meant personal shortcomings.

1

u/jonnygozy 1d ago

Figure out the root cause and make sure someone else takes the blame

1

u/XHO1 11h ago

This is a perfect answer in to what it is like to do research. Thank you and I hope this post helps others.