Failure Analysis

It is almost unheard of for any manufactured part or device to maintain true 100% reliability. Eventually, everything is going to break, fail, or fall short of desired functionality. Understanding the reason behind these failures can make the difference between learning and improving a product to stand out amongst competitors, or potentially missing important clues that could indicate larger potential problems lurking below the surface. With the support and expertise of EMSL Analytical at your disposal, you can be assured that you can extract every scrap of valuable information from failures, and put that information to good use.

 

EMSL has a broad scientific staff operating throughout our materials science division to assist in diverse failure analysis investigations. We have a comprehensive suite of mechanical testing capabilities that allow us to simulate strains and stresses on materials and compare forced failure to field failure units. These tests can also usually be performed under a variety of adverse environmental conditions such as elevated temperatures, humidity or caustic salt spray. We can perform traditional fractography inspection, using many microscopy techniques. Non-destructive testing can be used to image interior faults and fractures, with high resolution X-ray CT, CSAM and similar techniques. Using both precision sectioning, and more advanced nano-scale techniques, the interior features of devices and parts can be revealed for further examination of both the morphology of any failures, and also the chemical and electrical properties of the material.

 

EMSL has the experience, breadth of services and understanding of the manufacturing and product development community to serve as a trusted partner in providing engineering staff with the information necessary to determine the root cause of failures. We provide detailed analysis, detailed data, and clear, concise summary conclusions about that data, putting the information at your fingertips, placing the details in the proper context for your problems to be solved. No matter what your needs, from construction, metals, electronics, composite materials, or complex devices – EMSL is at your service.