In
destructive testing, tests are carried out to the specimen's failure, in order to understand a specimen's structural performance or material behaviour under different loads. These tests are generally much easier to carry out, yield more information, and are easier to interpret than
nondestructive testingNondestructive testing is a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. Because NDT does not permanently alter the article being inspected, it is a highly-valuable technique that can save both...
.
Destructive testing is most suitable, and economic, for objects which will be mass produced, as the cost of destroying a small number of specimens is negligible.
In
destructive testing, tests are carried out to the specimen's failure, in order to understand a specimen's structural performance or material behaviour under different loads. These tests are generally much easier to carry out, yield more information, and are easier to interpret than
nondestructive testingNondestructive testing is a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. Because NDT does not permanently alter the article being inspected, it is a highly-valuable technique that can save both...
.
Destructive testing is most suitable, and economic, for objects which will be mass produced, as the cost of destroying a small number of specimens is negligible. It is usually not economic to do destructive testing where only one or very few items are to be produced (for example, in the case of a building).
Some types of destructive testing:
- Stress test
Stress test may refer to:*Stress Test , an episode of Brandy and Mr Whiskers*Stress testing, a form of testing that is used to determine the stability of a given system or entity*Stress testing , determines the robustness of software...
s
- Crash test
A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for automobiles or related components.- Types :...
s
- Hardness tests
- Metallographic tests
Testing of large structures
Building structuresIn architecture, construction, engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following:# Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or...
or large nonbuilding structures (such as dams and bridges) are rarely subjected to destructive testing due to the prohibitive cost of constructing a building, or a scale model of a building, just to destroy it.
Earthquake engineeringEarthquake engineering is the study of the behavior of buildings and structures subject to seismic loading. It is a subset of both structural and civil engineering. Eminent authority on seismic risk mitigation, Caltech professor George W. Housner is widely considered as the 'father' of the modern...
requires a good understanding of how structures will perform at
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph...
s. Destructive tests are more frequently carried out for structures which are to be constructed in earthquake zones. Such tests are sometimes referred to as
crash tests, and they are carried out to verify the designed seismic performance of a new building, or the actual performance of an existing building. The tests are, mostly, carried out on a platform called a
shake-tableThere are several different experimental techniques that can be used to test the response of structures to verify their seismic performance, one of which is the use of an earthquake shaking table...
which is designed to shake in the same manner as an earthquake. Results of those tests often include the corresponding shake-table videos.
As structural performance at earthquakes is better understood, testing of structures in earthquakes is increasingly done by modelling the structure using specialist finite element software.
Destructive software testing
Destructive software testing is a type of
software testingSoftware Testing is an empirical investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test, with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. Software Testing also provides an objective, independent view of the software to...
which attempts to cause a piece of software to fail in an uncontrolled manner, in order to test its robustness.