Originally Posted by
furballi
Perhaps you can educate me about the physics of failure mode on the brass nipple. Show your work with concrete data or there will be no point assigned to your hard work. While it is true that the wall thickness of the brass nipple is thinner than most nuts, I have never seen nipple failure on steel wheels that have crossed my path. And yes, a few wheels had short spokes (about 3-4mm from the end of the nipple). .
The fact that you've never seen failed brass nipples isn't evidence that they don't fail. It's only evidence of your lack of experience.
As I pointed out in an earlier post, nipple failure when spokes end short of the rim is a well documented phenomenon. No new research is needed since it was researched extensively and exhaustively. May I suggest searching for the supporting research that the CPSC used in creating their first bicycle standards over 40 years ago. That would be a place to start if you care to learn, or you can base your conclusions entirely on your personal experience.