Metallurgical Condition Assessment
Determining the metallurgical condition of a damaged component can provide information on whether it needs repair or replacement, or if it is suitable for continued service in its current condition.
Preventing Forced Outages & Extending Asset Life
Metallurgical assessment determines whether repair, replacement, or continued service is appropriate. Combined with failure analysis, it establishes remaining useful life and enables planned maintenance.
Degradation from creep, oxidation, corrosion, or metallurgical changes requires systematic assessment. Testing defines condition and allows planned repair or replacement to avoid forced outages.
Our services help prevent component loss by guiding inspection teams. We partner with NDE vendors for cohesive inspections and offer complete testing.
Make Informed Repair or Replacement Decisions
Understand Current Conditions of Equipment
Provide Guided/Informed Instructions for NDE Inspection
- Microstructural Analysis via In-Place Metallography
- Scale and Deposit Analysis
- Chemical Analysis
- Portable Hardness Testing
- Independent Third-Party Laboratory Services
Microstructure examination reveals equipment deterioration from corrosion, cracking, thermal aging, and mechanical deformation. In-place metallography enables rapid, non-destructive analysis of large components without sample removal, using optical microscopes and comparison to technical standards and internal databases. This technique detects microstructural damage that conventional nondestructive evaluation cannot identify.
Three portable metallography laboratories can be deployed within hours for onsite evaluation. For example, turbine blade replicas are analyzed for gamma prime coarsening to determine if blades require replacement or remain suitable for continued operation.
Scaling and deposit buildup can reduce efficiency by acting as barriers to heat transfer, promote corrosion by acting as concentration sites for corrosive species, or can result from corrosive attack. Samples are collected during on-site inspections and taken back to our laboratory for analysis.
We employ energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction to identify constituents in a sample. Scale and deposit analysis can determine the nature, sources, and effects of deposits. We then suggest steps you can take to mitigate their formation.
Equipment operates best when all of the parts are made of the correct materials. Using an XRF gun, we quantitatively analyze alloying and trace elements in the component and compare the test results with the appropriate alloy specification. We then bring any discrepancies to your attention. These results are also compared to the results of in-place metallography for consistency.
Hardness and dimensional measurements add to our assessment of the component's condition. Acuren can measure the hardness of components in the field using a Microdur™ or an Equotip™ tester. Hardness data is used to estimate the tensile strength of steels or to determine if a component has experienced thermal softening.
Portable hardness testing is often used in conjunction with in-place metallography/replication to provide a thorough assessment of the metallurgical condition of components in the field.
As an independent third-party laboratory, Acuren has performed tens of thousands of formal multi-party investigations, accident investigations, and failure analyses. We provide litigation support to insurance and legal industries by way of documentation reviews, material evaluations, laboratory testing, technical reporting, and expert witness testimonies.
