The first step in solving a wear or corrosion problem is to determine the actual mode of failure:
- abrasive wear
- corrosion
- mechanical failure
We do this through a process called failure analysis.
The analysis will identify the metallurgical and chemical properties of the material such as: binder material and content, grain size, hardness, fracture toughness, density, transverse rupture strength, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, thermal conductivity and the coefficients of thermal expansion.
The metallurgist will then identify process control (quality) issues such as porosity (A, B or C type), binder material, binder content, binder lakes, clusters, eta phase, contamination, largest grain size and pits. A test to determine if corrosion and other conditions such as mechanical fractures or green flaws are present will also be conducted.
Photomicrographs at 1500x are also included to show visual evidence of the findings.
A complete report along with a material recommendation will then be provided.
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