A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure of some system from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead to cascading systems failure.
The term is most commonly used for structural failures, but has often been extended to many other disciplines where total and irrecoverable loss occurs. Such failures are investigated using the methods of forensic engineering, which aims to isolate the cause or causes of failure.
Read more about Catastrophic Failure: Structural Failure, Catastrophic Failure in Centrifugal Pumps, Computer Failure
Famous quotes containing the words catastrophic and/or failure:
“Cities are ... distinguished by the catastrophic forms they presuppose and which are a vital part of their essential charm. New York is King Kong, or the blackout, or vertical bombardment: Towering Inferno. Los Angeles is the horizontal fault, California breaking off and sliding into the Pacific: Earthquake.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)