Materials Solutions

Powertech’s Materials Solutions Lab offers engineering solutions for material-related problems to extend equipment life and ensure safe and reliable operation.

Areas of Focus

Department staff have experience with metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites to provide testing, analysis, inspection, and consulting to solve complex materials issues.

They serve a wide range of industries, including electric utilities, automotive equipment manufacturers, oil and gas suppliers, welding companies, and material suppliers, offering failure analysis, flaw tolerance and fitness-for-service (“run/repair/replace”) evaluation, coatings and corrosion inspections and testing, welding engineering, material selection, and a full suite of material characterization testing.

Other utility-related materials investigations include corrosion analysis of metallic structures and mitigation through cathodic protection, inspection and testing of paints and coatings on metallic towers and lattice structures, and review and qualification of welding procedures. With a deep knowledge of the industry and in-house non-destructive evaluation (NDE) lab services, the technical team can provide expert consultation to achieve best results.

Unlike some competitors, every analysis completed at Powertech includes recommendations and suggestions for corrective measures.

Capabilities

ANSI, ASTM, ISO, NACE, IEC, CEA, MIL, CSA, and other recognized standards ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation

Advanced technical testing

  • Variable-pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM) for high magnification imaging of metallic and non-metallic parts up to 100,000x
  • Energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) for elemental analysis
  • Metallographic sectioning, preparation, and examination equipment (lab and in-situ)
  • Hardness and microhardness testers for Rockwell, Brinell, Vickers, Leeb, and other scales
  • Accelerated aging equipment, including salt spray corrosion chamber and UV condensation weathering chamber
  • Various coatings inspection equipment for detecting thickness, pinholes, delamination, and adhesion
  • Specialized chamber for assessing material properties in up to 70 MPa (10,000 psi) hydrogen gas
Services
  • Failure analysis
  • Fatigue and fracture mechanics
  • Condition assessment and fitness-for-service studies
  • Welding procedures/engineering, qualification and consulting
  • Material selection and specification consulting
  • Coatings inspection, testing and specification
  • Corrosion testing and consultation
  • Microstructure assessment (lab or field)
  • Hydrogen embrittlement/compatibility testing
  • Metallurgical failure / fatigue analysis
  • Hardness and microhardness testing
  • Forensic failure mechanical analysis
  • Cavitation erosion testing
  • Cathodic protection
  • Accelerated aging testing
    • UV condensation chamber test
    • Salt spray (fog) testing

Brochures

Materials Solutions Lab Team