Despite your best efforts at maintaining a quality manufacturing environment, or purchasing from high-quality suppliers, sometimes parts and products fail. You need answers quickly to resolve production problems, customer claims, or litigation cases.
Are parts/components not performing as expected?
Are parts/components wearing out more quickly than normal?
Are similar parts performing differently and you need a comparison analysis?
Are your customers reporting field failures?
Are you getting unexpected staining or corrosion?
Do you have unexplained debris causing failures of equipment?
Do you have a litigation case pending and need examinations or expert witness testimony?
If you have any of these issues, the failure analysis team at IMR can help. Our experts can tell you why parts fail, and offer recommendations to prevent recurrence.
Our client list encompasses a wide range of industries, from jet engine failures, to brittle dishware, requiring an extensive knowledge of failure analysis techniques. We have performed thousands of failure analyses requiring extensive knowledge of:
Corrosion Failure
Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC)
Environmentally Assisted Cracking (EAC)
Fractography
Fatigue
Ductile/Brittle Failures
Chemical Attack
Fracture Evaluation
We are fractography experts. Whether your cracking comes from fatigue, SCC/EAC, hydrogen embrittlement or some other mechanism, our forensic engineering team can analyze your materials and get you the answers you need.
Neil Burns (Mgr-Failure Analysis & Metallurgical Engineering in NY) Brett Miller (Technical Director in KY) Doris Yeo (General Manager in SPR) or Wendy Cai (Sales Manager in SUZ)
Nonmetallics Failure Analysis Mike Bimbo(Senior Chemist in NY) Hector Marini(Chief Analytical Chemist in KY)
Ed Brothers, Ph.D., Senior Research Specialist & Microanalysis Specialist on Ithaca's LEO SEM
SEM micrograph of a fracture surface on a surgical needle
An element map of an SEM sample, including C, O, Na, Al, Si, K, Ni, Cu, Zn & Sn
Metals
Coatings
Composites
Polymers
Plastics
Raw Materials
Finished Parts
Warranty Returns
Field Failures
Our reports are clear and concise. We provide high resolution images from each step of the investigation. Clearly marked images, spectra and photomicrographs tell the story of how your sample failed and what the contributing factors were, from improper material selection to contamination.
We have the experienced staff in-house, knowledgeable in:
Corrosion
Fatigue
Fracture Mechanics
Chemistry
Metallurgy
Mechanical Testing
Thermal Spray Coatings
Polymers
Composites
Metals
Welding
Transportation
Power Generation
Consumer Goods
Mandrel used for on-site fabrication of composite stacks. A 10" diameter shaft fractured causing the mandrel to fall and a significant delay to fabrication.
Intergranular Fracture, Brittle Failure - Secondary Electron Image 1500x
Hosted inspections can include many engineers, forensic investigators, claims adjusters and attorneys
