McColskey, J.
, McCowan, C.
and Santoyo, R.
(2002),
Failure Analysis of the WWVB Tower, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
(Accessed October 9, 2025)
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Failure Analysis of the WWVB Tower
Published
Author(s)
, ,
Abstract
A failure analysis was conducted on the collapse of the NIST WWVB tower. The analysis included mechanical testing, chemical analysis, and metallographic examination of the failed part. We ascertained that the underlying reason for the collapse was fatigue failure due to poor engineering design and improper specifications on the insulator pin. Based on our findings, we recommend new pins be fabricated using recommended engineering practices with particular attention paid to details such as tolerances, radii, material choice, and heat treatment procedures.Citation
NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 6619
Report Number
6619
NIST Pub Series
Pub Type
NIST Pubs
Keywords
antenna, fatigue, fracture, insulator pin, support pin, tower
Citation
Issues
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Created August 1, 2002, Updated October 16, 2008