REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (February 11, 2016) -- Design engineers work preemptively to ensure every component of a machine is designed in order to prevent operational failures. Despite best efforts, components do fail and a comprehensive analysis of these failures can lead to design improvements to prevent future failures.

Dr. Kevin Minor, Redstone Test Center Materials Engineer, spends his days performing analysis on failed components, specifically components that fail on Army Aviation Systems. Minor uses very specialized equipment, such as scanning electron microscopes and optical, atomic, and infrared spectrometers, to analyze the failures. "Failures leave behind evidence and analysis of this evidence can give us precise information on how and why components fail. It's like a crime scene investigation for helicopters," said Minor, who works specifically in RTC's Environmental and Component Test Division.

"After the evidence is gathered, it is analyzed to try and determine how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together. We trace everything back to try and determine the event or events that initiated the failure, which is called the root cause. Once we determine the root cause or causes we make recommendations on how to prevent future failures. It's a team effort that involves personnel who are highly-skilled," said Minor.

"We take our work very seriously and want to make sure that our soldiers have the safest and most-reliable equipment available. At RTC, our job is to support the Warfighter. If we find something unsafe, it is our job to figure it out and correct it. We owe that to our men and women who put themselves in harm's way every day," said Minor.

Just about any component on any Army Aviation System can be analyzed at RTC. The failure-analysis capability is unique. There are only three Failure Analysis Engineers within RTC. As far as Army Aviation Failure Analysis performed by Army personnel, there is the RTC group and one other at the Corpus Christie Army Depot.

As long as man makes machines, failure analysis will be required. As for the future of failure analysis, it will grow and change to accommodate future components and materials. The group at RTC monitors advancements in the industry and ensures they are ready for the future.

"I love my job. It's definitely a niche, but it's a lot of fun. It's hands-on, and it's something different every day," said Minor.