Failure analysis of a mammography unit
In this investigation the imaging head of a mammography unit suddenly dropped due to a failure of the steel cable lifting mechanism.
Investigation of the damaged steel cable and the spiral pulley showed that the cable condition has deteriorated over a long time period during which single wires tore due to fatigue, while the remaining wires tore due to overload. The cable rails inside the pulley were also damaged due to cable motion outside the rails.
These findings pointed us to believe that unit cables were improperly assembled on the pulley, leadng to fatigue and mechanical damages to the puley and cables, and resulting in failure of the system.