Recent Lessons Learned from Space Structural Anomalies

Structural anomalies in the development, qualification, and acceptance testing of spaceflight hardware are common. Identification of the root cause(s) for the anomalies can be challenging to address due to the wide range of possible contributing factors such as design shortcomings, modeling errors, manufacturing variability, process control escapes, manufacturing escapes, and damage due to handling. To add further complexity, structures can fail due to a variety of mechanisms that influence strength, stability, fatigue, fracture, creep, and other failure modes. The structural incidents described in this paper resulted in significant financial losses, unplanned costs, and schedule delays. By sharing insight from these recent structural failures using nine (9) case studies, the authors hope that a wider audience will benefit from the lessons learned and be better positioned to prevent their repeat in ongoing and future programs.