we are failure analysis experts

When a piece of equipment fails during service, the consequences can be serious, sometimes involving the loss of a valued customer and financial liability.  To make  matters worse, the cause of the failure is often unknown, making prevention of similar incidents  difficult.  In such situations, expert assistance is needed.

We specialize in taking the mystery out of failures.  The first step is to carefully document the part in the “as-received” condition.  We recommend that you don’t try to clean the part or section it, as valuable information can be lost.  Just send the part to us and we will do the rest.  Once the part has been received and photographed, various methods are used to determine the cause of failure including:

• Non-destructive Examination – Methods such as liquid penetrant, magnetic particle, and ultrasonic are used to locate any cracks or other defects.  The NDE results can provide guidance on where to section the part.
• Fractography – The fracture surface is a physical record of the failure.  To the trained    interpreter, the clues found here provide vital   information about the nature and progression of the failure. 
• Metallography – Microstructural examination is used to determine if the failure was influenced by  improper heat treatment, chemical segregation, inclusions, porosity, or other material defects.
• Mechanical Testing — Tensile, hardness, impact toughness, and other tests are employed to check if the material properties meet design requirements.

Our consulting metallurgists have decades of experience in failure analysis.  Let us help you with your next failure.    Click below to contact us today.