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.