Details
 

Researcher:	Jeremy Layzell
Funded:	EPSRC 50%, industry 50%
Total value:	£87,000
Lead partner:	CWCT
Partners:	Ove Arup BAA Bovis Crittall Pilkington Schuco Sheppard Robson Taywood
Status:	Completed

Justification:

The design, manufacture, fabrication and installation of cladding involves the use of a large number of materials and components. However, the interactions between these materials and components are difficult to assess without a suitable framework within which design decisions may be properly made and communicated. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) identifies the decisions that need to be made to properly select components and highlights the risks and consequences of incorrect decisions.
 

Objectives:

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was developed in the aerospace and defence industries and later adopted by the automotive industry. The technique assesses the effects of particular failure modes of components on the functioning and performance of the system. FMEA guides and justifies expense on those components that have the greatest likelihood and potential to cause costly technical failure or safety problems.

The project examines the present design and communication framework and FMEA to redefine the framework so that decisions can be made at the appropriate stage of the cladding process. The research concludes that an elementary form of FMEA is now feasible: the failure and statistical data enable priorities for quality planning by corrective action to be set to reduce the risk of failure.
 

Outputs:

CWCT (1997) Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in the cladding industry - Final Report, Centre for Window and Cladding Technology, University of Bath.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in the cladding industry, Jeremy Layzell, International Conference on Building Envelope Systems and Technology, 1997.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in the cladding industry, Jeremy Layzell, Research Focus, No. 25, April 1996.

Cladding failures under test, Jeremy Layzell, Research Focus, No. 29, May 1997.