structural failure

English

Etymology

From structure and failure.

Noun

structural failure (countable and uncountable, plural structural failures)

1. Loss of the load-carrying capacity of a component or member within a structure or of the structure itself. Structural failure is initiated when the material in a structure is stressed to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or excessive deformations.

   Three buildings in the World Trade Center Complex collapsed due to structural failure on the day of the attack.

   Structural failure will occur in three minutes, 30 seconds.