The phrase "a tendency to damage" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a habitual inclination or likelihood of causing harm or destruction to something.
Example: "The old machinery showed a tendency to damage the products during the manufacturing process."
Alternatives: "a propensity for harm" or "an inclination to cause damage."
It may be hard to remember now, but when the whole notion of a "gaffe" was first introduced into the political lexicon, it arrived as a high-minded concept, intended to describe politicians' not-infrequent tendency to damage themselves when they accidentally told the truth about something.
It is useful to correlate the tendency to damage each joint to the specific failure mode.
It was difficult to move, the tripod had the tendency to damage itself if it was dropped, and its discharge pressure has been described as "feeble".
I want to know if she'll fit the description Professor Loftus gave of the therapists she's come across in legal cases who have involved false memory – that of a highly credulous believer in satanic abuse who has a tendency to believe ritual damage in patients.
Further problems occurred; ejected cannon ammunition links had a tendency to strike and damage the underside of the fuselage, and diverting the gas emitted by the cannon during firing was another necessary modification.
Such cells are resistant to apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic agents and γ-irradiation, despite exhibiting a tendency to accumulate more DNA damage.
This inhibition appears to be correlated with the well characterized gastrointestinal toxicity, with those agents with more COX-1 selectivity having a tendency to cause more gastrointestinal damage [ 21].
On the contrary, these mice exhibit a delayed resolution of the inflammatory process, with increased circulating levels of IL-6 and serum amyloid A, and a tendency to develop more severe joint damage.
Although it was cheap and easy to manufacture, it did have several problems; it was difficult to move and the No. 76 Special Incendiary Grenades it used as one type of ammunition had a tendency to break inside the breech, damaging the weapon and injuring the crew.
In both cases, the damage has a tendency to spread.
