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Failure Analysis
Our materials expertise, cross-industry and process knowledge, and wide array of imaging and analytical capabilities are applied to investigate failures at all stages of the product life cycle.
We will find the root cause of failures, whether they be material or process related and suggest remedial action so they can be avoided in future.
Examples of our work include:
- Failure analysis of ceramics processing to advance R&D
- Root cause of glass seal failures
- Identification of contamination
- Lack of bonding at material interfaces
- Deposition process variation investigation
- Coating integrity failures
- Effect of variability of powder morphology
- Optimization of ceramic sintering processes.
Research & Development / Quality Control
Analyzing failures during the research and development stage, or during quality control testing, provides fundamental understanding of the material properties required for your specific application and environment, expediting the design phase and supplier quality validations.
Manufacturing – Optimization & Troubleshooting
Determining the root causes for variations in production can be utilized to determine processing windows, create stricter material specifications, and reduce creation of faulty parts.
Failures in Service
Lucideon provides independent failure investigation services that include materials testing governed by the rigorous quality management system requirements of UKAS, ISO 17025, 10CFR50 Appendix B (nuclear), Nadcap (aerospace & defense), and GE S-400. Find out more about our accreditations here.
We can conduct site visits to examine the failure in its environment and provide advice on appropriate sample collection techniques and photographic documentation of evidence.
Examples of Analytical Capabilities
Analytical techniques ranging from visual inspection and photo documentation through microstructural and micro-chemical analysis are applied to investigate failures of all types.
- Specimen extraction through sectioning & wire EDM
- In-house CNC machine shop
- Chemical analysis
- Contamination and debris identification
- Fractography
- Metallographic preparation
- Metallurgical evaluation
- Image analysis / microscopy
- SEM-EDS / electron microprobe
- Advanced surface analysis
- Mechanical testing
- Thermal analysis
- Electrical testing
- Expert witness services.
Past Webinars
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Failure Analysis - What Engineers Need to Know
This webinar, presented by Sara Randall, Senior Materials Engineer, describes the general processes applied to a typical failure analysis of a metal component.
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Your Metal Component Has Failed in Fatigue - What do you do next?
This webinar, presented by Julius Bonini, Principal Consultant, Metallurgy, provides a blueprint for the typical procedures which should be applied when a component fails in fatigue.