Locomotive Tyre Failure Analysis

This assignment delves into a failure analysis of tyres used in locomotives. It examines the process of analyzing tyre failures to determine their root causes, outlining potential corrective actions and liabilities. The report discusses the social impact of tyre failures on road safety, highlighting the risk of accidents and fatalities. Legal implications for tyre manufacturing companies are also addressed, emphasizing their responsibility for producing safe and reliable tyres.

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Report paper on the Failure Analysis of Tyres
A Report Paper on Failure Analysis By
Student’s Name
Name of the Professor
Institutional Affiliation
City/State
Year/Month/Day

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Introduction
This report paper is about the failure analysis in automation engineering with a major
focus being directed car tyre failures. Some of the subtopics discussed in this report paper
while discussing the failure analysis include the modes of failure, the cause of failure, and
implication of the failure. Failure analysis of the car tyres can be described as the process of
analysing and collecting data to determine the cause of tyre failure with an aim of finding out
the correction actions and liability. It is important to analyse the failure mode of the car tyre
since the information acquired from the analysis of the tyres can be used by the tyre
manufacturing industry in developing new products as well as improving the existing
product.
The reasons why failure analysis is performed on a particular failure mode include
prevention of environmental hazards and customer dissatisfaction, achieving process
reliability, ensuring product safety, and prevention of product malfunction. The process of
failure analysis of the car tyres depends on the collection of the tyre components that have
just failed through puncturing and then followed by an inspection of the causes of the failure
by the use of numerous failure analysis methods [1].
Background Information
The failure mode and effects analysis procedures were described in 1949 in the
procedure document of US Armed Forces Military MIL-P-1629 and were later revised as
MIL-STD-1629A in 1980. In the year 1970, the use of failure mode and effect analysis as
well as other techniques spread to numerous industries. The industry of automation first
began the use of failure mode and effect analysis 1970s as a consideration of regulatory and
safety after the affair of Pinto. The Ford Company applied the similar approach to processes

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of failure mode and effect analysis when considering the potential method induced failure
before production is launched [2].
After 1993, the failure analysis methodology started being used extensively in
numerous industries such as healthcare, software, plastics, food service, and semiconductor
processing. The procedures of effects and criticality and failure mode and effect analysis
identify the mechanism of the product failure, however, these procedures may not model the
product in question without software that is specific. This limitation can be minimized to give
meaningful input to procedures that are critical like accelerated test programs, root cause
analysis, and virtual qualification [3].
Failure
Failure is a term that can be defined as the loss of a function under conditions that are
stated. The failure under consideration in this analysis is the tyre failure. A tyre of a vehicle
or any moving locomotive can fail under its stated conditions through busting or flat tyre as a
result of overloading. A failure is a term used to refer to a specific manner through which
collapsing of the tyre occurs in a part of the tyre or the whole tyre being investigated. The
failure mode also describes the process through which the tyre failure occurs [4].
The failure mode of the tyre begins with the formation of lines of weaknesses at a
particular spot of the tyre or through a sharp object causing a hole in the tyre. This will lead
to the air inside the tyre to start coming out slowly until the tyre becomes completely flat
making the locomotive to be impossible to drive. Some of the causes of flat tyre include
potholes on roads, alloy wheel leaks, over-pumped tyres, vandalism, tyre beat leaks, ripped
tyre, damage of valve stem, and punctured by a sharp object [5]. The table below shows a
tabulation of the failure mode together with the associated safeguards, consequences, and
single point failure modes:

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Componen
t
Function Mode of failure Impacts Safeguards Action
Car tire  Smooth ride
 Cornering
 Traction
 Supports weight
Flat tire
Puncture
Loose control
Stranded
Spare tyre Acceptable as it is
Table 1: Failure mode
The table below shows the failure analysis of the car tire:
Componen
t
Failur
e mode
Cause
of
failure
Effect of
the
failure
Potentia
l
severity
Occurrenc
e
probability
Probabilit
y of not
detecting
Risk
priorit
y
numbe
r
Prevention
action
Car tyre Flat
tyre
Puncture
by sharp
object
Accident 8 3 5 120 Installation of
pressure relief
valve
Table 2: Failure mode analysis [6]
Detection, occurrence and severity ratings are based on a 10 = high scale to 1 = low.
Discussion
This section discusses the implication of the tyre failure analysis which may include
legal implication, cultural, and social implication. The major consequence of the tyre failure
in terms of the social implication is high accidents occurrence rates in the roads. The failures
of tyres can cause the driver to lose control on the road leading to loss of lives and hence
decrease in population. However, accidents that are caused by the tyre failures are less but
very significant and it is worth being prevented by taking necessary corrective actions
acquired from the failure analysis of the tyres [7].
The failure of the tyres of locomotives also have some legal implications for the
companies that are responsible for the manufacturing of these tyres. There are numerous tire
manufacturing companies that are licensed to manufacture tyres. Any company whose tyres

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are being used in the market has a responsibility to ensure that the quality and efficiency of
the tyres are met. In case the chances of occurrence of the tyre failure are high, then the tyre
company is likely to face some legal implications since the owners of the locomotives or car
manufacturing companies have a right to sue the tyre company so that they can improve the
quality of their production [8].
Conclusion
This report paper is about the failure analysis of tyres used in locomotives. Failure
analysis of the car tyres can be defined as the process of analysing and collecting data to
determine the cause of tyre failure so as to come up with the corrective actions and liabilities.
The failure analysis of the car tyre is critical since the information acquired from the analysis
will be utilized by the tyre manufacturing industry in improving the existing product.

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Bibliography
[1] M. Bazu, Failure Analysis: A Practical Guide for Manufacturers of Electronic Components and
Systems, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Vol 2. P[157-187]
[2] W. Becker, Failure analysis and prevention, Perth: ASM International, 2014. Vol 4. P[214-241]
[3] J. Berk, Systems Failure Analysis, Melbourne: ASM International, 2014. Vol 1. P[120-132]
[4] E. D. F. A. S. D. R. Committee, Microelectronics Failure Analysis, Michigan: ASM International,
2012. Vol 3. P[358-381]
[5] D. Jones, Failure Analysis Case Studies II, California: Elsevier, 2015. Vol 5. P[158-189]
[6] S. Lampman, Characterization and Failure Analysis of Plastics, Paris: ASM International, 2016. Vol
3. P[169-174]
[7] B. Strauss, Fractography in Failure Analysis, Colorado: ASTM International, 2011. Vol 1. P[217-
224]
[8] G. Totten, Hydraulic Failure Analysis: Fluids, Components, and System Effects, Michiagan: ASTM
International, 2010. Vol 2. P[219-235]