The role of materials science in the investigation of electrical and electronic failures

Abstract

A poultry barn, housing a quarter million chickens, burns to the groun. An apartment complex burns and human lives are lost. A utility company installs cables for a new plant but when construction is halfway completed, the insulation on the cables is discovered to be faulty. These examples are typical of the failures that a forensic engineer may be asked to investigate. The term “forensic” is often thought to imply a criminal investigation but in many, if not most, cases the investigations are for civil, rather than crminal, purposes. The term “forensic” merely implies that some type of litigation is either ongoing or contemplated.