Hyland Consulting Engineering offer expert fatigue, fracture and forensic engineering services
Structural fatigue and fracture vulnerabilities can quietly undermine your building’s performance. Small cracks may seem insignificant—but over time, they can grow into costly, dangerous failures that put people, property, and projects at risk. These issues often emerge slowly, which is why early detection and expert investigation are critical.
At Hyland Consulting Engineering, we specialise in fatigue, fracture, and forensic structural engineering. Whether it’s a compliance concern, a suspected defect, or a full-blown structural failure, we help you understand what’s going wrong and how to fix it—clearly, thoroughly, and with practical steps.
- Fatigue: Identify early-stage cracking, predict service life, and strengthen high-risk structures
- Fracture: Investigate material failures and develop targeted, practical repair strategies
- Forensic: Resolve disputes with detailed modelling, expert reports, and court-ready evidence
Based in Central Auckland, available NZ wide and Australia
Fatigue investigations backed by real-world testing
Fatigue damage in structures is subtle but potentially catastrophic if left unchecked. As structural failure engineers, we help clients assess, manage, and extend the life of structures by identifying how cracks are forming and how fatigue is affecting performance over time.
Our fatigue engineering services include:
- Investigating fatigue behaviour in buildings, roofs (especially large ones like stadiums), poles / masts and more
- Monitoring crack development and predicting remaining service life
- Evaluating welds for fatigue cracking and compliance with standards
- Providing practical strengthening or redesign solutions for fatigued structures
- Performing full-scale structural testing for manufacturers—e.g. lighting poles under wind loading
- Supporting insurance and contractual claims through clear, validated fatigue assessments
We don’t just detect fatigue—we determine how long a structure is likely to last, and recommend solutions to strengthen it where possible. And when the situation involves unclear compliance with a standard, we can often provide the analysis to show whether performance requirements have still been met.
Forensic structural engineering for complex disputes
We regularly support lawyers, insurers, contractors, and fabricators involved in large-scale construction and compliance disputes. Whether we’re investigating a defect, explaining engineering decisions, or giving expert evidence, our role is to bring clarity, insight, and credibility to technically and financially significant issues.
We use ABAQUS CAE, a powerful finite element analysis (FEA) software, to simulate how structures behave under stress, vibration, or impact.
ABAQUS excels in:
- Non-linear simulations
- Complex geometries and real-world loading conditions
- Time-dependent effects like fatigue or earthquake loading
This level of modelling allows us to perform deeper analysis than most firms—giving our clients the confidence and clarity they need to resolve complex matters.
Our forensic work includes:
- Investigating failures and determining true root causes
- Providing evidence for tribunals, mediations, and court proceedings
- Explaining technical matters in plain English for lawyers and non-engineers
- Supporting construction dispute resolution around defects, delays, and non-compliance
- Preparing expert witness reports and briefs of evidence
"A significant number of customers are large insurance companies and lawyers engaged by them who seek us to assist them as an engineering expert dealing with large complex defective building and construction disputes. Sometimes we get called in by steel fabricators to assist them with a dispute over welding or bolting matters where there is a dispute within a builder or an engineer over compliance. The dispute aspect means we are not always liked by some and loved by others depending on how our work affected them."
Remedial engineering focused on extending structural life
As remedial building engineers, we go beyond the assessment. Once we’ve diagnosed the issue, we work with you to implement practical, long-term solutions that improve performance and reduce the likelihood of future failures.
We can:
- Conduct site investigations and collect structural evidence
- Use modelling and stress analysis to simulate failure scenarios
- Recommend cost-effective, compliant remediation strategies
- Propose solutions that strengthen resistance to fracture and fatigue
- Help extend the safe service life of existing structures
Every structure has unique performance requirements. We tailor our approach to match, ensuring each recommendation is fit for purpose and well-supported by data.
Clarity and credibility in complex building failures
Hyland Consulting Engineering have been trusted with some of the most high-profile assignments in New Zealand and Australia, including work related to the CTV and Forsyth Barr building collapses.
Our strength lies not only in our technical capability, but in our ability to explain what we find - clearly and constructively. We bridge the gap between engineering language and legal expectations, and we are known for being insightful, reasonable, and highly confidential in sensitive environments.
For expert answers on a complex fatigue, fracture or forensic structural issue, talk to Hyland Consulting Engineering.
Fracture mechanics and collapse investigations
Understanding why structural elements fracture—and how to stop it from happening again—is core to what we do. We perform fracture assessments on a wide range of materials and connection types to determine what went wrong, and what needs to change.
This includes:
- Analysis of bolts, welds, or components that failed unexpectedly
- Testing of materials to understand fracture behaviour and mechanical properties
- Development of strengthening or repair solutions based on fracture behaviour
- Recommendations to improve future design practices
- Oversight of remediation strategies to ensure safety and compliance
- Full-scale collapse investigations
Our approach is practical and evidence-driven, aimed at reducing risk and ensuring performance—especially under demanding conditions like seismic loads.