Repair job caused the accident, says investigator with FEA

摘要

TV dramas about crime-scene investigations have brought greater awareness of forensic science. But what may not be widely known is that engineering tools including finite-element analysis (FEA) are being used to investigate forensic evidence. For instance, companies need to know if it was product design, user error, or some other cause that produced a failure. The cause of the accident often determines whether a manufacturer incurs the cost of damages, recalls, and replacements — not to mention potential legal liability for injuries. Forensic analysts at Herrera, Stafford and Associates LLC (HS&A) of El Paso are often called on to determine why products fail. For instance, after the failure of a compressor-head cover at a Texas oil well, HS&A used Algor FEA to evaluate why and how it happened.