EXAMINATION OF PUBLISHED CASES OF STRUCTURAL FAILURE

Examination of the conclusions which may be drawn from the study of cases of structural failure show these to be inconsistent between various investigators. It is suggested herein that to resolve these problems, detailed studies of the causes and underlying mechanisms for structural failure are required, even though this severely limits the data that can be employed. Starting from the development of a quite general model of the causes of structural failure, together with a set of plausible hypotheses, implications are derived for the type of information that can be obtained using limited data. It is suggested that the study of well- reported cases of failure can be useful in identifying error- causing- potentials in the conceptualization, detail design, documentation and execution of structural projects, but that only socially weighted relative values can be established from such a study. Particular attention is given to the relative importance of so- called uncertainty type (or gross) errors compared to errors arising from natural variability. Finally, it is suggested that the manipulation of control processes is likely to be an effective practical means of reducing structural failure. (Author/TRRL)