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Crane lowering a steel plate girder onto bridge bearings while ironworkers guide it.

CEGR 492 · Engineering Design Studio · Structural Engineering

Failure Investigation

Girder erection: constructability, lifting weight and bearing detail turn a design into a built span.

Phase VI · Engineering Design Studio · Week 9

Structural Failure Investigation Studio

Investigate failure mechanisms and apply forensic lessons as design constraints on your own project.

ASCE forensic practice
OSHA reports
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Failure cases designed

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Checks passing

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0 checks recorded

Open warnings

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No failure case yet

Add a failure case to record its inputs, capacity and governing check.

Learning objectives

  • Identify failure mechanisms
  • Trace root causes
  • Convert lessons into design checks

Engineering judgment

  • Most failures are detailing or review failures, not analysis failures.
  • Ask what redundancy existed.

FE Civil connection

Failure analysis

Handbook section: Materials

Practice this FE topic

Recommended next step

Progressive Collapse and Alternative Load Path Studio

Evaluate redundancy, tie forces and alternative load paths under notional member removal.

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