Failure Analysis – TEC Eurolab’s Approach
Interview with Luca Giulietti – Contact person for the Metallurgical Laboratory
What a Failure Analysis consists of, how it is conducted, and how it can support the customer in identifying the causes of failure of the component under consideration.
What is failure analysis and in what contexts is it commonly used?
Failure Analysis is a true technical investigation, conducted with scientific method, a research aimed at identifying the reasons that led to the occurrence of a certain undesirable phenomenon. This phenomenon may relate to mechanical failure or, more generally, to issues concerning phenomena of degradation, damage, and failure of a component. The causes that lead to the failure of a component or assembly can be a wide variety:
- design errors
- non-compliance of materials used
- Use in unsuitable environmental conditions, and so on.
Considering TEC Eurolab’s know-how, the majority of investigations addressed focus on theanalysis of mechanical failure, effect of corrosive phenomena, and nonconformity of materials used, whether metallic or polymeric.
Can you explain the basic process of a failure analysis? What are the main steps involved?
The initial phase of a Failure Analysis is first togain the most thorough knowledge possible of the context in which the “failure” event occurred. It is essential to understand the context in which the failure occurred and to obtain all information about the objects that experienced the malfunction or failure.
This information must be shared with the person commissioning the survey. Setting up an open and sharing dialogue with the commissioner from the outset is vital to the success of the survey activity.
The steps
- This first stage of knowledge acquisition provides a general idea of the situation. The investigation then proceeds through several stages, including description, visual characterization, and scanning electron and optical microscope analysis. It also includes metallurgical characterization, which involves chemical analysis of the material and mechanical characterization tests, along with characterization of any treatments to which the component may have been subjected.
- The analysis continues and concludes with a thorough examination of the results, which are compared with the applicable requirements.
- Next,interpretation of the results in light of the defect found takes place.
- The entire process concludes with the preparation of a comprehensive report, which includes discussion of the results and considerations of possible causes that might have led to the occurrence of the defect.
What skills are needed and what is TEC Eurolab’s approach to conducting a failure analysis?
The skills needed to successfully deal with aninvestigation of the causes of mechanical failure or corrosion basically consist of having athorough knowledge of metallurgy. This knowledge is essential, especially with regard to most of the alloys used industrially.
It is also important to understand the supply states, forming, manufacturing and processing techniques of metal products.
In addition to these technical skills, it is essential to have an inquisitive mind and to be willing to research and investigate. This allows one to handle and deal with situations that may arise and that, in most cases, are not easy to interpret or resolve.
What information is documented in a failure analysis report? And how can companies use the results of a failure analysis to improve their processes and prevent future problems?
In the course of an investigation, all results of analyses and examinations conducted are reported. These results may be numerical or image-based in nature, and should be interpreted in the light of metallurgical and chemical-physical knowledge. The results of an investigation and related analyses can be used to correct and improve production processes. Most significantly, however, new features and conditions emerge in most cases that can affect operation. These details, which may have been overlooked or given relative weight in the past, often provide valuable information that was not previously available. These new insights can then help change the overall vision of the project.
Do you have any advice for experts or companies considering conducting a failure analysis for the first time?
The main advice is to preserve as much as possible the object that suffered the breakage or manifested the defect and to try to protect all surfaces from deterioration, which can be caused even if only by the presence of moisture in the air, leading to the formation of corrosive phenomena. This is especially important for those who will be doing the investigation, as in the case of our laboratory.
It is essential to rely not only on technical information regarding the drawing and state of supply of the object, but also on images and photographs. These tools give us an immediate picture of the nature of the phenomena we will have to deal with and help us define the most appropriate type of analysis to fully understand the phenomenon and subsequently identify its possible causes.
What kind of cases does the TEC Eurolab team performing failure analysis face? And how does the dialogue with the client take place before, during and after the analytical activity?
Over time, we have been faced with a wide range of cases involving components used in various manufacturing sectors, ranging from the food industry to hydraulics, automotive, and heavy industry.
In general, our main activity is to support the client in investigations related to the phenomena of mechanical failure and corrosion, as well as in evaluating the effectiveness of the protective methods used, especially with regard to corrosion.
Regarding the relationship with the client, the preliminary stage of defining the path is of paramount importance.
During the first cognitive meeting, we exchange crucial information related to the survey. This allows us to outline the path that will lead to the conclusion of the activity. Normally, at the end of this first meeting, we formulate an offer that includes the proposed analysis. It is common for unexpected issues to emerge during the investigation process, for which it is necessary to contact the client again. This may be necessary to update information or, in some cases, redefine the path. In addition, sometimes issues that were previously considered secondary emerge but gain central importance. We often schedule meetings following the conclusion of the survey to elaborate on certain aspects, better explain unclear points, and conduct targeted investigations of more critical issues.
What future trends do you see in the area of failure analysis? Are there any new technologies or approaches that are emerging?
From a certain point of view, our approach is very classical and scientific in nature.
We rely on theresults obtained from analyses for which we are equipped, and for those in which we are not, we reconsider the results in light of our scientific expertise. We formulate scientific interpretations that are then supplemented or enriched with our application-specific knowledge. Undoubtedly, over the years our laboratory has been equipped with many new technologies that can help increase the amount of information available to the failure analyst to conduct his or her investigation.
For example, theuse of industrial tomography to analyze the state of the component, in a completely non-destructive way, even before it is altered and destroyed for later analysis, we could say to “freeze the crime scene.”
Or the possibility of studying custom tests that reproduce as closely as possible the operating conditions of the component, attempting to reproduce the conditions that may have led to damage.
Undoubtedly, close cooperation between client, engineering-minded technical figures and laboratory analysts makes for a very effective team building that can easily bring in different ideas and points of view.
Tending, in some areas, we see an increasing “virtualization” of the production process, which by integrating increasing amounts of data, aids in the formulation of more hypotheses for the drafting of even subsequent corrective actions.