Structural integrity and failure is an aspect of engineering which deals with the ability of a

structure to support a designed load (weight, force, etc...) without breaking, tearing apart, or
collapsing, and includes the study of breakage that has previously occurred in order to prevent
failures in future designs.
Structural integrity is a performance characteristic which is applied to a component, a single
structure, or a structure consisting of different components. Structural integrity is the quality of an
item to hold together under a load, including its own weight, resisting breakage or bending. It
assures that the construction will perform its designed function, during reasonable use, for as long
as the designed life of the structure. Items are constructed with structural integrity to ensure
that catastrophic failure does not occur, which can result in injuries, severe damage, death, or
monetary losses.
Structural failure refers to the loss of structural integrity, which is the loss of the load-carrying
capacity of a component or member within a structure, or of the structure itself. Structural failure is
initiated when the material is stressed to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or
excessive deformations. In a well-designed system, a localized failure should not cause immediate
or even progressive collapse of the entire structure. Ultimate failure strength is one of the limit
states that must be accounted for in structural engineering andstructural design.
Contents
[hide]
1 Introduction
2 History
3 Types of failure
4 Notable failures
o 4.1 Bridges
4.1.1 Dee bridge
4.1.2 First Tay Rail Bridge
4.1.3 First Tacoma Narrows Bridge
4.1.4 I-35W Bridge
o 4.2 Buildings
4.2.1 Thane building collapse
4.2.2 Savar building collapse
4.2.3 Sampoong Department Store collapse
4.2.4 Ronan Point
4.2.5 Oklahoma City bombing
4.2.6 Versailles wedding hall
4.2.7 World Trade Center Towers 1, 2, and 7
o 4.3 Aircraft
o 4.4 Other
4.4.1 Warsaw Radio Mast
4.4.2 Hyatt Regency walkway
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Introduction[edit]
Structural integrity is the ability of a structure or a component to withstand a designed service load,
resisting structural failure due to fracture, deformation, or fatigue. Structural integrity is a concept
often used in engineering, to produce items that will not only function adequately for their designed
purposes, but also to function for a desired service life.
To construct an item with structural integrity, an engineer must first consider the mechanical
properties of a material, such as toughness, strength, weight, hardness, and elasticity, and then
determine a suitable size, thickness, or shape that will withstand the desired load for a long life. A
material with high strength may resist bending, but, without adequate toughness, it may have to be
very large to support a load and prevent breaking. However, a material with low strength will likely
bend under a load even though its high toughness prevents fracture. A material with low elasticity
may be able to support a load with minimum deflection (flexing), but can be prone to fracture from
fatigue, while a material with high elasitcity may be more resistant to fatigue, but may produce too
much deflection unless the object is drastically oversized.
Structural integrity must always be considered in engineering when designing buildings, gears or
transmissions, support structures, mechanical components, or any other item that may bear a load.
The engineer must carefully balance the properties of a material with its size and the load it is
intended to support. Bridge supports, for instance, need good yield strength, whereas the bolts that
hold them need good shear and tensile strength. Springs need good elasticity, but lathe tooling
needs high rigidity and minimal deflection. When applied to a structure, the integrity of each
component must be carefully matched to its individual application, so that the entire structure can
support its load without failure due to weak links. When a weak link breaks, it can put more stress on
other parts of the structure, leading to cascading failures.
[1][2]

History[edit]
The need to build structure with integrity goes back as far as recorded history. Houses needed to be
able to support their own weight, plus the weight of the inhabitants. Castles needed to be fortified to
withstand assaults from invaders. Tools needed to be strong and tough enough to do their jobs.
However, it was not until the 1920s that the science offracture mechanics, namely the brittleness of
glass, was described by Alan Arnold Griffith. Even so, a real need for the science did not present
itself until World War II, when over 200 welded-steel ships broke in half due to brittle fracture,
caused by a combination of the stresses created from the welding process, temperature changes,
and the stress points created at the square corners of the bulkheads. The squared windows in
the De Havilland Comet aircraft of the 1950s caused stress points which allowed cracks to form,
causing the pressurized cabins to explode in mid-flight. Failures in pressurized boiler tanks were a
common problem during this era, causing severe damage. The growing sizes of bridges and
buildings began to lead to even greater catastrophes and loss of life. The need to build constructions
with structural integrity led to great advances in the fields of material sciences and fracture
mechanics.
[3][4]

Types of failure[edit]
Failure of a structure can occur from many types of problems. Most of these problems are unique to
the type of structure or to the various industries. However, most can be traced to one of five main
causes.
The first, whether due to size, shape, or the choice of material, is that the structure is not strong
and tough enough to support the load. If the structure or component is not strong enough,
catastrophic failure can occur when the overstressed construction reaches a critical stress level.
The second is instability, whether due to geometry, design or material choice, causing the
structure to fail from fatigue or corrosion. These types of failure often occur at stress points, such
as squared corners or from bolt holes being too close to the material's edge, causing cracks to
slowly form and then progress through cyclic loading. Failure general occurs when the cracks
reach a critical length, causing breakage to happen suddenly under normal loading conditions.
The third type of failure is caused by manufacturing errors. This may be due to improper
selection of materials, incorrect sizing, improper heat treating, failing to adhere to the design, or
shoddy workmanship. These types of failure can occur at any time, and are usually
unpredictable.
The fourth is also unpredictable, from the use of defective materials. The material may have
been improperly manufactured, or may have been damaged from prior use.
The fifth cause of failure is from lack of consideration of unexpected problems. Vandalism,
sabotage, and natural disasters can all overstress a structure to the point of failure. Improper
training of those who use and maintain the construction can also overstress it, leading to
potential failures.
[5][6]

Notable failures[edit]
Further information: List of structural failures and collapses

It has been suggested that Catastrophic
failure#Examples be merged into this section. (Discuss) Proposed since
September 2013.
Bridges[edit]
See also: List of bridge disasters
Dee bridge[edit]
Main article: Dee bridge disaster


The Dee bridge after its collapse
On 24 May 1847 the new railway bridge over the river Dee collapsed as a train passed over it, with
the loss of 5 lives. It was designed byRobert Stephenson, using cast iron girders reinforced
with wrought iron struts. The bridge collapse was the subject of one of the first formal inquiries into a
structural failure. The result of the inquiry was that the design of the structure was fundamentally
flawed, as the wrought iron did not reinforce the cast iron at all, and that, owing to repeated flexing,
the casting had suffered a brittle failure due to fatigue.
[7]

First Tay Rail Bridge[edit]
Main article: Tay Bridge disaster
The Dee bridge disaster was followed by a number of cast iron bridge collapses, including the
collapse of the first Tay Rail Bridge on 28 December 1879. Like the Dee bridge, the Tay collapsed
when a train passed over it causing 75 people to lose their lives. The bridge failed because of poorly
made cast iron, and the failure of the designer Thomas Bouch to consider wind loading on the
bridge. The collapse resulted in cast iron largely being replaced by steel construction, and a
complete redesign in 1890 of the Forth Railway Bridge. As a result, the Forth Bridge was the first
entirely steel bridge in the world.
[8]

First Tacoma Narrows Bridge[edit]
Main article: Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)
The 1940 collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge is sometimes characterized in physics
textbooks as a classical example of resonance; although, this description is misleading. The
catastrophic vibrations that destroyed the bridge were not due to simple mechanical resonance, but
to a more complicated oscillation between the bridge and winds passing through it, known
as aeroelastic flutter. Robert H. Scanlan, father of the field of bridge aerodynamics, wrote an article
about this misunderstanding.
[9]
This collapse, and the research that followed, led to an increased
understanding of wind/structure interactions. Several bridges were altered following the collapse to
prevent a similar event occurring again. The only fatality was 'Tubby' the dog.
[8]

I-35W Bridge[edit]
Main article: I-35W Mississippi River bridge


Security camera images show the I-35W collapse in animation, looking north.
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge (officially known simply as Bridge 9340) was an eight-lane
steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, United States. The bridge was completed in 1967, and its maintenance was performed
by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The bridge was Minnesota's fifth
busiest,
[10][11]
carrying 140,000 vehicles daily.
[12]
The bridge catastrophically failed during the
evening rush hour on 1 August 2007, collapsing to the river and riverbanks beneath. Thirteen people
were killed and 145 were injured. Following the collapse, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) advised states to inspect the 700 U.S. bridges of similar construction
[13]
after
a possible design flaw in the bridge was discovered, related to large steel sheets called gusset
plates which were used to connect girders together in the truss structure.
[14][15]
Officials expressed
concern about many other bridges in the United States sharing the same design and raised
questions as to why such a flaw would not have been discovered in over 40 years of inspections.
[15]

Buildings[edit]
See also Category:Collapsed buildings.
Thane building collapse[edit]
Main article: 2013 Thane building collapse
On 4 April 2013, a building collapsed on tribal land in Mumbra, a suburb of Thane in Maharashtra,
India.
[16][17]
It has been called the worst building collapse in the area.
[18][nb 1]
74 people died, including
18 children, 23 women, and 33 men, while more than 100 people survived. The search for additional
survivors ended on 6 April 2013.
[21][22][23][24]

The building was under construction and did not have an occupancy certificate for its 100 to 150 low-
to middle-income residents.
[25][26]
Living in the building were the site construction workers and
families. It was reported that the building was illegally constructed because standard practices were
not followed for safe, lawful construction; land acquisition and resident occupancy.
By 11 April, a total of 15 suspects were arrested including builders, engineers, municipal officials and
other responsible parties. Governmental records indicate that there were two orders to manage the
number of illegal buildings in the area: a 2005 Maharashtra state order to use remote sensing and a
2010 Bombay High Court order. There were also complaints made to state and municipal officials.
On 9 April, a campaign began by the Thane Municipal Corporation to demolish area illegal buildings,
focusing first on "dangerous" buildings. The forest department said that it will address encroachment
of forest land in the Thane district. A call centre was established by the Thane Municipal Corporation
to accept and track resolution of caller complaints about illegal buildings.
Savar building collapse[edit]
Main article: 2013 Savar building collapse
On 24 April 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building, collapsed in Savar, a sub-
district in the Greater Dhaka Area, the capital of Bangladesh. The search for the dead ended on 13
May with the death toll of 1,129.
[27]
Approximately 2,515 injured people were rescued from the
building alive.
[28][29]

It is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest
accidental structural failure in modern human history.
[26][30]

The building contained clothing factories, a bank, apartments, and several other shops. The shops
and the bank on the lower floors immediately closed after cracks were discovered in the
building.
[31][32][33]
Warnings to avoid using the building after cracks appeared the day before had been
ignored. Garment workers were ordered to return the following day and the building collapsed during
the morning rush-hour.
[34]

Sampoong Department Store collapse[edit]
Main article: Sampoong Department Store collapse
On 29 June 1995, the 5-story Sampoong Department Store in the Seocho District of Seoul, South
Korea collapsed resulting in the deaths of 502 people. In April 1995, cracks began to appear in the
ceiling of the fifth floor of the store's south wing due to the presence of an air-conditioning unit on the
weakened roof of the poorly built structure. On the morning of 29 June, as the number of cracks in
the ceiling increased dramatically, the top floor was closed and managers shut the air conditioning
off. The store management failed to shut the building down or issue formal evacuation orders;
however, the executives themselves left the premises as a precaution. Five hours before the
collapse, the first of several loud bangs was heard emanating from the top floors, as the vibration of
the air conditioning caused the cracks in the slabs to widen further. Amid customer reports of
vibration, the air conditioning was turned off, but the cracks in the floors had already grown to 10 cm.
At about 5:00 p.m. local time, the fifth floor ceiling began to sink; by 5:57 p.m., the roof gave way,
and the air conditioning unit crashed through into the already-overloaded fifth floor, trapping more
than 1,500 people and killing 502.
Ronan Point[edit]
Main article: Ronan Point
On 16 May 1968, the 22-storey residential tower Ronan Point in the London Borough of
Newham collapsed when a relatively small gas explosion on the 18th floor caused a structural wall
panel to be blown away from the building. The tower was constructed of precast concrete, and the
failure of the single panel caused one entire corner of the building to collapse. The panel was able to
be blown out because there was insufficient reinforcement steel passing between the panels. This
also meant that the loads carried by the panel could not be redistributed to other adjacent panels,
because there was no route for the forces to follow. As a result of the collapse, building regulations
were overhauled to prevent disproportionate collapse and the understanding of precast concrete
detailing was greatly advanced. Many similar buildings were altered or demolished as a result of the
collapse.
[35]

Oklahoma City bombing[edit]
Main article: Oklahoma City bombing
On 19 April 1995, the nine-story concrete framed Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma was struck by a huge car bomb causing partial collapse, resulting in the
deaths of 168 people. The bomb, though large, caused a significantly disproportionate collapse of
the structure. The bomb blew all the glass off the front of the building and completely shattered a
ground floor reinforced concrete column (see brisance). At second story level a wider column
spacing existed, and loads from upper story columns were transferred into fewer columns below by
girders at second floor level. The removal of one of the lower story columns caused neighbouring
columns to fail due to the extra load, eventually leading to the complete collapse of the central
portion of the building. The bombing was one of the first to highlight the extreme forces that blast
loading from terrorism can exert on buildings, and led to increased consideration of terrorism in
structural design of buildings.
[36]

Versailles wedding hall[edit]
Main article: Versailles wedding hall disaster
The Versailles wedding hall (Hebrew: ), located in Talpiot, Jerusalem, is the site of the
worst civil disaster in Israel's history. At 22:43 on Thursday night, May 24, 2001 during the wedding
of Keren and Asaf Dror, a large portion of the third floor of the four-story building collapsed.
World Trade Center Towers 1, 2, and 7[edit]
Main article: Collapse of the World Trade Center
In the September 11 attacks, two commercial airliners were deliberately crashed into the Twin
Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact and resulting fires caused both
towers to collapse within two hours. After the impacts had severed exterior columns and damaged
core columns, the loads on these columns were redistributed. The hat trusses at the top of each
building played a significant role in this redistribution of the loads in the structure.
[37]
The impacts
dislodged some of the fireproofing from the steel, increasing its exposure to the heat of the fires.
Temperatures became high enough to weaken the core columns to the point of creep and plastic
deformation under the weight of higher floors. Perimeter columns and floors were also weakened by
the heat of the fires, causing the floors to sag and exerting an inward force on exterior walls of the
building. WTC Building 7 also collapsed later that day. According the official report, the 47 story
skyscraper collapsed within seconds due to a combination of a large fire inside the building and
heavy structural damage from the collapse of the north tower.
[38][39]

Aircraft[edit]
Main article: Loss of structural integrity on an aircraft
See also: Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure


A 1964 B-52 Stratofortress test demonstrated the same failure that caused the 1963 Elephant Mountain &1964
Savage Mountain crashes.
Repeated structural failures of aircraft types occurred in 1954, when 2 de Havilland Comet C1 jet
airliners crashed due to decompression caused by metal fatigue, and in 1963-4, when the vertical
stabilizer on 4 Boeing B-52 bombers broke off in mid-air.
Other[edit]
Warsaw Radio Mast[edit]
Main article: Warsaw radio mast
On 8 August 1991 at 16:00 UTC Warsaw radio mast, the tallest man-made object ever built before
the erection of Burj Khalifa collapsed as consequence of an error in exchanging the guy-wires on the
highest stock. The mast first bent and then snapped at roughly half its height. It destroyed at its
collapse a small mobile crane of Mostostal Zabrze. As all workers left the mast before the exchange
procedures, there were no fatalities, in contrast to the similar collapse of WLBT Tower in 1997.
Hyatt Regency walkway[edit]
Main article: Hyatt Regency walkway collapse


Design change on the Hyatt Regency walkways.
On 17 July 1981, two suspended walkways through the lobby of the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City,
Missouri, collapsed, killing 114 and injuring more than 200 people
[40]
at a tea dance. The collapse
was due to a late change in design, altering the method in which the rods supporting the walkways
were connected to them, and inadvertently doubling the forces on the connection. The failure
highlighted the need for good communication between design engineers and contractors, and
rigorous checks on designs and especially on contractor-proposed design changes. The failure is a
standard case study on engineering courses around the world, and is used to teach the importance
of ethics in engineering.
[41][42]

See also[edit]