Costs Associated with Part Failure

Part Failure:  A 2003 Stanford study estimated that costs to the aerospace industry from turbine engine foreign object damage failures is in the $4 billion range.  Other reports estimate the costs of fixing problems with land based gas turbine engines at more than $1 billion for each of the major OEMs.
“Often, FOD does not lead to sudden catastrophic failure, yet such damage can dramatically reduce the lifetime of components subjected to cyclic fatigue stresses.  Turbine blades, for example, are susceptible to debris strikes and also experience significant fatigue loading.  The current study seeks to develop insight into the driving forces and predictability of fatigue failures induced by foreign object damage.  Such insight can be used to improve existing design methodologies for turbine engine components and inspection regimes.”  (Click here for the full article)
This report estimates that “the costs of fixing problems with land based turbines is at more than $1 billion each or General Electric with their F-class Frame 7 and Frame 9 machines and for Alstom and Siemens with their versions of F-class machines.”
This paper from Lifetime Reliability Solutions better outlines the type and extent of component or equipment failures direct costs to a company.