Forensic Engineers and Consultants

Category Archive: Tips and Advice

Industrial Equipment Failures and Construction Disputes

At Warren, we frequently investigate losses involving industrial machinery.  Many of the losses involve workplace injuries, fires, or explosions; however, we also analyze industrial machinery and processes for other types of problems.  For example, we analyze failures of machinery or industrial processes to perform as expected or disputes that arise from the commercial supply and construction of such systems.  This can encompass a range of issues from failure to achieve required levels of product quality or production quantity, to matters concerning unclear specifications or contracts, Read More

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Heavy Machinery Fires Caused by Hydraulic Hose Failures

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Heavy machinery fires are often caused by hydraulic hose failures.  Pressurized hydraulic fluid escaping from a failed hose assembly can be atomized into a fine spray that can be ignited by heated engine surfaces such as the engine exhaust or turbocharger.

Hydraulic hoses near the engine compartment of an excavator that burned.

 

Hydraulic hoses often fail due to age and wear, requiring regular inspection and replacement of hydraulic hoses to prevent failures. Hoses may also fail if they are misrouted.  Misrouting can lead to the hose being pinched or causing it to chafe against a sharp metal surface. Read More

Installation of Structural Sheathing on Wood-Framed Structures

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The facts presented in this blog lead to an interesting story.  During the heyday of the residential construction boom in coastal South Carolina circa 2005, many General Contractors were forced to go out-of-state to find framers and other subcontractors due to the demand creating a local labor shortage.  It turned out that the state of Texas had excess capacity and availability of framers and carpenters. Many Texas framing crews came to South Carolina to satisfy the shortage.  It soon became apparent that the Texas crews, many of which were from inland locations, were accustomed to installing 4’x8’ exterior wall sheathing with the long dimension vertical, i.e., parallel to the studs.  It is especially important and required that the long dimension be oriented perpendicular to the studs.  Laboratory testing has shown that Read More

Types of and Techniques for Reinforced Concrete Masonry Block Construction

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Construction using concrete masonry blocks or units (CMU) is ubiquitous in the United States today, and in fact in the whole modern world.  CMU blockwork is a very versatile and relatively economical building material.  It is naturally strong in compression, but with reinforced, grout-filled cells, it can also withstand large shear, bending, and tensile loads imparted by lateral wind or seismic events.  In this article, I will discuss the various types of CMU designs, as well as terminology, construction techniques, and application uses.

The design of CMU is typically comprised of hollow concrete “face shells” with Read More

Uplift and Shear Restraint Techniques for Residential Structures in Hurricane Wind Zones

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Hurricane and Tropical Storm strength wind forces can wreak havoc on wood-framed residential structures.  One of the primary hazards is the negative pressures which can develop on the exterior building envelope when the structure is subjected to the high encircling winds.  These negative pressures act like the suction of a giant vacuum on a dwelling’s roof diaphragm, which produces enormous uplift forces throughout the entire structure.  The leeward walls are also subjected to negative pressures, while the windward walls take the brunt of the positive wind pressures.  The uplift on the roof is caused by what the author dubs “the airplane wing effect”.  In other words, Read More

Interpreting Industrial Incident Data – Lesson Learned

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This is a case study about an incident I investigated involving a major upset in a distillation column.  This blog builds on the previous blogs about the Distributed Control System, DCS – Data is the Key.

Distillation is a method of separating mixtures of compounds with differing boiling points.  Uncle Bill with his still on the hill separates ethanol, that boils at 173°F, from water that boils at 212°F.  If the mixture is heated to above 173°F, but below 212°F, the ethanol will boil, the vapor will travel up out of the unit and then can be condensed and served over ice with an olive…   Any mixture of two or more chemicals with different boiling points can be separated in this way.  The distillation Read More

TVSS or SPD … Can I Buy a Vowel? Understanding Surge Protection and the Changing Requirements

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Surge Protective Devices (SPD), formerly known as Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors (TVSS) have been around for a long time.   The most recognized version is integrated into outlet strips and used to protect sensitive electronics from surges, or higher than expected voltages on the power line.  Early versions of these surge strips were known to have problems where internal components could overheat and cause a fire.  Thermal protection was added to the designs to greatly reduce the potential for a fire hazard.  Such an implementation in an outlet strip is considered a Type 3 SPD. Read More

Experience the Ride, Ride for Experience

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A lot of people own motorcycle(s). Not a lot of people have experience riding motorcycles. More people have motorcycles stored in their garages, covered with all kinds of things, than ride motorcycles. In a similar neglect, there are those people who take their motorcycle out occasionally but never really put the miles or hours on the bike. This means that most of the people that have registered motorcycles do not get a lot of “seat time”. This issue leads to collisions involving motorcycles that should not have happened for more than one reason. When it comes to collision reconstruction and investigations, “ride to live” takes on a whole different meaning. Read More

Roadway Defect Scavenger Hunt for Collision Evidence

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Not too long back, I was on the scene of a collision case where a roadway defect was blamed for the loss of control that led to a single vehicle collision which resulted in major damages and serious injury.  The collision was several years old, and the roadway had not changed over the time passed.  My assignment was to inspect the roadway in the area of the crash, document it (by photographs and 3D scanning), and identify if there was a roadway issue that potentially led to the loss of control.  What happened next was the result of going to the collision location and looking for more than what was to be expected.  These things can help the case tremendously and make a huge difference in resolution. Read More

The Pavement Tells the Story: Reading Evidence from a Motorcycle Crash

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What can be determined from a motorcycle’s skid mark and the roadway evidence it left behind? The obvious, that the motorcycle crashed; but what more? From a recent case, starting with the pre-impact skid mark, a lot was determined about the driver’s (and passenger’s) input into the crash. A single skid mark started at the beginning of the collision location, a common piece of evidence at a motorcycle crash. Taking that mark and analyzing it, several things were determined. Read More

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