Acatastrophic failure is a sudden and totalfailure from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead tocascading systems failure. The term is most commonly used forstructural failures, but has often been extended to many other disciplines in which total and irrecoverable loss occurs, such as ahead crash occurrence on ahard disk drive.
For example, catastrophic failure can be observed insteam turbine rotor failure, which can occur due to peak stress on the rotor; stress concentration increases up to a point at which it is excessive, leading ultimately to the failure of the disc.
In firearms, catastrophic failure usually refers to a rupture or disintegration of the barrel or receiver of the gun when firing it. Some possible causes of this are anout-of-battery gun, an inadequateheadspace, the use of incorrect ammunition, the use of ammunition with an incorrectpropellant charge,[1] a partially or fully obstructed barrel,[2] or weakened metal in the barrel or receiver. A failure of this type, known colloquially as a "kaboom", or "kB" failure, can pose a threat not only to the user(s) but even many bystanders.
In chemical engineering, a reaction which undergoesthermal runaway can cause catastrophic failure.
It can be difficult to isolate the cause or causes of a catastrophic failure from other damage that occurred during the failure.Forensic engineering andfailure analysis deal with finding and analysing these causes.
Original Tay Bridge from the northFallen Tay Bridge from the north
Examples of catastrophic failure of engineered structures include:
TheTay Rail Bridge disaster of 1879, where the center 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of the bridge was completely destroyed while a train was crossing in a storm. The bridge was inadequately designed and its replacement was built as a separate structure upstream of the old.
The failure of theSouth Fork Dam in 1889 released 4.8 billion US gallons (18 billion litres) of water and killed over 2,200 people (popularly known as theJohnstown Flood).
The collapse of theSt. Francis Dam in 1928 released 12.4 billion US gallons (47 billion litres) of water, resulting in a death toll of nearly 600 people.
The collapse of the firstTacoma Narrows Bridge of 1940, where the main deck of the road bridge was totally destroyed by dynamic oscillations in a 40 mph (64 km/h) wind.
Thefailure of the Banqiao Dam and 61 others in China in 1975, due toTyphoon Nina. Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding and another 145,000 died from subsequent diseases, a total of 231,000 deaths.
TheSpace ShuttleChallenger disaster of 1986, in which an O-ring of a rocket booster failed, causing the external fuel tank to break up and making the shuttle veer off course, subjecting it to aerodynamic forces beyond design tolerances; the entire crew of 7 and vehicle were lost.
^Hal W. Hendrick; Paul Paradis; Richard J. Hornick (2010).Human Factors Issues in Handgun Safety and Forensics. CRC Press. p. 132.ISBN978-1420062977. Retrieved2014-02-24.Many firearms are destroyed and injuries sustained by home reloaders who make a mistake in estimating the correct powder charge.
^Gregg Lee Carter, ed. (2012).Guns in American Society.ABC-CLIO. p. 255.ISBN978-0-313-38670-1. Retrieved2014-02-24.... and left the copper jacket lodged in the barrel, leading to a catastrophic failuer of the rifle when the next bullet fired hit the jacket remnants.
