Physics of Failure
All failures are caused by failure mechanisms. Understanding failure mechanisms permits reliability and maintainability analysis. This course will provide an understanding of the physics of failure (PoF) and degradation mechanisms that include crack propagation, diffusion, creep, yield, charge creation and migration, electromigration, defects and wear. These mechanisms will then inform the activities such as deterministic PoF modeling, diagnostics and prognostics, Failure Mode, Effect and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). This course will also deal with quality as it relates to manufacturing, and the necessary mathematics and statistics. Further, this course will provide the theoretical underpinnings for the successful undertaking of failure analysis or Root Cause Analysis (RCA) more broadly.