Destructive testing

Destructive testing (also called exploratory testing and architectural archaeology in reference to buildings) is technique for analysis carried out to the specimen's failure in order to understand a specimen's structural performance or material behavior under different loads. These tests are generally much easier to carry out, yield more information, and are easier to interpret than nondestructive testing. However, because of the sensitive nature of cultural materials, destructive testing is seldom carried out on historical or culturally significant objects.

Destructive testing is most suitable, and economic, for objects which will be mass produced, as the cost of destroying a small number of specimens is negligible. It is usually not economic to do destructive testing where only one or very few items are to be produced (for example, in the case of a building). Buildings or large nonbuilding structures (such as dams and bridges) are rarely subjected to destructive testing due to the prohibitive cost of constructing a building, or a scale model of a building, just to destroy it.

Destructive testing in historic buildings
In the rare instance that the investigation may require a sub-surface examination and the removal of fabric, destructive testing should be carried out only after historical research and surface mapping have been fully accomplished and only after nondestructive testing has failed to produce the necessary information. Destructive testing is a form of demolition in which the physical record may be destroyed. Nondestructive testing techniques do not damage historic fabric. If non-destructive techniques are not sufficient to resolve important questions, however, small "windows" can be opened in surface fabric at predetermined locations to see beneath the surface. This type of subsurface testing and removal is sometimes called "architectural archeology" because of its similarity to the more well-known process of trenching in archeology. Both forms of investigation use destructive methods.

Sub-surface examination generally begins with the most accessible spaces, such as retrofitted service and mechanical chases; loose or previously altered trim, ceilings or floor boards; and pieces of trim or hardware which can be easily removed and replaced. Photographs, video and drawings should record the before, during and after evidence when the removal of historic fabric is necessary. The selection and sequence of material to be removed requires careful study so that original extant fabric remains in situ if possible. The National Park Service recommends that, if removed, original fabric should be carefully put back or labeled and stored and, that least one documentary patch of each historic finish should be retained in situ for future research.

Types of destructive testing
Some types of destructive testing:
 * Stress tests
 * Hardness tests