This is a practical guide for those who do the work of maintaining and improving the reliability of mechanical machinery. It is for engineers and skilled trades personnel who want to understand how failures happen and how the physical causes of the great majority can be readily diagnosed in the field. It explains the four major failure mechanisms, wear, corrosion, overload, and fatigue and, using easy-to-read charts, how they can be diagnosed at the site of the failure. Then, knowing the physical failure mechanics involved, the reader can accurately solve the human causes.

To improve the reader's understanding, all the diagrams and most of the tables have been redrawn. The number of actual failure examples has been increased, plus the last chapter on miscellaneous machine elements includes new material on couplings, universal joints, and plain bearings.

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