Failure of a metal component can be caused by a single catastrophic event, or by loading the component to near its breaking stress over and over many times. The fracture surface and failure environment hold clues to the cause of the failure, and the highly trained engineers at BEC Consulting can interpret and analyze these clues to determine the failure mode. Other types of materials such as glass and plastics have unique failure characteristics and the failed component can help the engineer determine the cause of the failure.