Data Driven Failure Analysis for Aerospace and Defense
In minutes, not days
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Identify factors contributing to hardware faults by correlating manufacturing and test data down to specific features across parts, assemblies, and systems.
Reduce scrap & rework costs, minimize engineering effort, improve quality & reliability.
How it Works
Data Integration
A custom data pipeline is configured to seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, extracting granular data from work orders, CMM inspections, material certifications, test results, design documents, and more.
Old Way
Engineers spend hours manually stitching data together across scattered sources.
New Way
Connect all your data sources once, and keep everything in sync for the future.
Advanced Analysis
Proprietary algorithms determine contributing factors shared by failed hardware down to specific features. Related issues are clustered, and the impact of process variables, design tolerances, and build deviations is quantified.
Old Way
Engineers spend hours building custom scripts and spreadsheets to analyze patterns from aggregated data.
New Way
Highlight and rank potential failure drivers in minutes, down to feature-level deviations.
Actionable Insights
Failure modes are analyzed by combining design context with patterns correlated to failed hardware. Findings are compiled in a report along with recommended corrective actions to drive quality improvements.
Old Way
Engineers spend valuable time manually reasoning through complex failure modes to determine corrective actions.
New Way
Detailed failure analysis report is autogenerated and delivers clear, prioritized insights in minutes.
Case Study
The following is a representative example based on typical challenges faced by aerospace manufacturers. Names and data are fictional for customer confidentiality, but the analysis reflects real-world scenarios Entraced is designed to solve.
How Entraced Reduced Valve Failures by 90%
Before Entraced
- 50+ hours of manual engineering analysis
- Unclear root causes, subtle patterns missed
- Recurring valve failures, high scrap and rework costs
After Entraced
- $100K+ saved, 50+ hours of manual work eliminated
- Probable causes surfaced in minutes by correlating all relevant data
- Actionable insights for immediate and long-term corrective action
Falcon Fluid Corp, a manufacturer of aerospace check valves, noticed a series of failed leak tests on serial numbers 17–20. Using Entraced, their team rapidly surfaced probable causes by correlating manufacturing, inspection, and design data, eliminating 50 hours of manual engineering analysis. This helped Falcon Fluid Corp reduce valve failures by 90%, avoiding an estimated $100K in scrap, rework, and engineering costs annually if the issue had persisted (based on Falcon Fluid Corp's production volume).
It was determined that reverse leakage failures were driven by a unique and subtle stackup condition: leakage only occurred when all four critical features—high groove width, high pilot inner diameter (I.D.), low seat outer diameter (O.D.), and low pilot O.D. were simultaneously out of family (but still within tolerance) on each affected part. This rare combination resulted in an unfavorable assembly stackup, leading to a loss of circumferential seat compression, poppet tilting, and ultimately continuous leakage under pressure. Entraced produced the following analysis report summarizing the key findings and providing a strong starting point for further engineering investigation.
Entraced Analysis Report Excerpts
Failure Mode Summary
Test Result
Part Number: 00001-501
Affected Serial Numbers: 17, 18, 19, 20
Date: 4/28/2025, 9:22:51 PM
Issue
Reverse Leakage Failures at 900 psi
Failure Chain
Dimensional Feature Correlation
Query—Failure Correlation to Feature Variation
90%+ failure rates found when "Out of Family" (O.F.) for:
Network Analysis
All highly influential nodes are CMM inspections of seat/poppet critical features
Community clusters of all failing serials share identical patterns: O.F. high groove width, O.F. low seat O.D., O.F. high pilot I.D., O.F. low pilot O.D.
Operator effect
Operator effect (John Smith) present on CMM for select features, but dimensional excursions predominate.
Design Map—Dimensional Excursions to Function
- High groove width (seat housing) + low seat O.D. → loose seat, reduced squeeze, possible extrusion, loss of compression.
- High pilot I.D. (poppet housing) + low pilot O.D. (poppet) → poppet tilt, misalignment, non-uniform seat engagement.
- Resultant stack: Increased radial/axial clearance → reduced line load at PTFE seat → gas leakage at test pressure.
Design Intent vs. Observed Failure
Physical Mechanisms
| Dimension | Direction | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Seat Housing Groove Width | High | Loose seat fit, reduced radial seal pressure |
| Seat O.D. | Low | Loose seat fit, reduced radial seal pressure |
| Poppet Housing I.D. | High | Poppet free to tilt, lateral movement possible |
| Poppet O.D. | Low | Further increases tilt potential |
Design Intent vs. Failure
PTFE seat is designed to be compressed into groove and form a tight, static seal under all conditions; excess groove/seat clearance breaks this assumption.
Poppet must be laterally constrained to maintain full-circle contact; any tilt opens a microgap, initiating continuous leakage at moderate differential pressures.
Contributing Process and Inspection Factors
- Machining Drift: SPC shows mean drift in boring bar (seat housing groove width) and lathe tool setter for poppet O.D. beyond mid-tolerance.
- CMM Process: John Smith had repeated "O.F." calls; Gage R&R cross-checks confirm his data, but probe recertification is due.
- Inspection Gatekeeping: O.F. parts still made it to assembly, indicating inspection-to-assembly feedback loop is non-critical or being bypassed.
- No material, technician, or assembly error linkage found; all issues correlate with out-of-family geometry.
Corrective Actions
Immediate Containment
- Quarantine all "Out of Family" parts on critical features: Seat Housing Char 2, Poppet Housing Char 2, Seat Char 3, Poppet Char 2
- Perform 100% CMM re-inspection; remove serials 17–20 from inventory
- During assembly, enforce strict fit selection (≤0.0005" total radial clearance)
Process & Measurement Upgrades
- Reset tooling offsets with checkpoints every 100–150 parts; implement real-time SPC with control charts
- Recalibrate CMM probes; requalify operators (esp. John Smith); institute weekly Gage R&R validation
- Add go/no-go gage and require "dry fit" leak check prior to final assembly
Design/Specification Enhancements
- Conduct tolerance stack-up study and tighten clearances (≤0.0015" total radial play)
- Update drawings with explicit fit requirements and PFMEA with leakage failure mode
- Consider anti-rotation features and improve chamfers for better pilot alignment
Quality and Supplier Management
- Require documented correction plans for supplier components showing SPC shift
- Mandate intermediate leak checks for all units with dimensions near critical limits
Built with Privacy in Mind
On-Premise Deployment
Deploy Entraced within your existing infrastructure to maintain complete control over your data while leveraging our advanced AI capabilities.
Secure Cloud Hosting
Let Entraced handle the hosting for you. Our secure, fully managed cloud solution gives your team instant access while ensuring your data is protected with enterprise-grade security and privacy controls.
About
We're an engineering team with firsthand experience solving the most complex hardware anomalies at SpaceX. We've designed, built, and debugged mission-critical systems where precision isn't optional—it's the difference between success and multimillion-dollar setbacks.
Now, we've built a solution that combines advanced algorithms, LLM powered data extraction, and deep domain expertise to deliver root-cause insights and quality control capabilities unavailable anywhere else.