Catastrophic failure

The term is most commonly used for structural failures, but has often been extended to many other disciplines in which total and irrecoverable loss occurs, such as a head crash occurrence on a hard disk drive.

In firearms, catastrophic failure usually refers to a rupture or disintegration of the barrel or receiver of the gun when firing it.

Some possible causes of this are an out-of-battery gun, an inadequate headspace, the use of incorrect ammunition, the use of ammunition with an incorrect propellant charge,[1] a partially or fully obstructed barrel,[2] or weakened metal in the barrel or receiver.

In chemical engineering, a reaction which undergoes thermal runaway can cause catastrophic failure.

Examples of catastrophic failure of engineered structures include: