Dr Jurgen Dartmann, Senior Manager/Lab Head – Material Testing, TUV Rheinland, on the ‘Failure and Damage Analysis Services’ now offered in India.

What exactly are ‘Failure and Damage Analysis’ services launched by TUV Rheinland in India?

In any type of industry – manufacturing shopfloor, chemical works or maintenance workshops – using a lot of machinery and equipment, there occur incidents of system or component failure, machinery breakdown, leakage of a pipeline or a case of fire, etc., causing stoppage of work, secondary damage and personal injuries in some cases. Now this has to be investigated properly and methodically and it is here that we come in with our services. We investigate to find out the exact reason, the underlying cause; examine the damaged parts in the laboratory, conduct various types of tests and understand the exact cause of the occurrence as to what it happened, what went wrong. So failure and damage analysis is a process which consists in collecting and analysing data and impaired materials or components to determine the root cause of the failure.

What is the importance of ‘Failure and Damage Analysis’? How does this help the industry?

It is essential to determine the root cause of such events both in order to implement corrective actions, and also to prevent further failure and improve overall safety. Not only does failure analysis help to determine what and how a breakage or malfunction has occurred, but it also helps to determine why it happened. Now this is very important as the information can then be used to help implement remedial measures and minimise the probabilities of future occurrences of such incidents through preventive measures. Through a forensic engineering investigation of components that failed or did not function as intended, we can help ensure the safety of systems in any industry or sector.

What exactly are the services offered by TUV Rheinland in this area?

To conduct failure and damage analysis on components and systems, TÜV Rheinland has experts and equipment to conduct a wide range of non-destructive and/or destructive tests on damaged components in order to determine the type and identify the root cause (or causes) of the damage, and provide recommendations to prevent future occurrences.

Our newest scanning electron microscope (SEM) with integrated EDS-analysis supports the damage analysis by fracture and deposit analysis. Also particle analysis can be done by our new SEM and EDS-system. In addition to on-site inspection and sampling, and documentation of the appearance and extent of the damage, our experts have know-how and experience in a wide range of testing methods for failure analysis, including:

>> Non-destructive tests such as ultrasonic or radiographic testing to determine damage position

>> Visual inspection and photographic documentation of the samples

>> Impact or tensile testing to determine the mechanical properties of the materials, and

>> Hardness tests (Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell) of materials and components.

Upon completion of the relevant failure and damage analysis, we will provide clients with a summarised evaluation of our investigation results and give individual recommendations.

Speaking about India, what are the industries that would benefit from these services? Where are the opportunities?

As mentioned earlier, our services could be used by any type of industry with plant and machinery where the management is keen to follow global safety norms. After all, downtimes caused by such incidents are costly with potential to cause huge losses and nobody would like that. But there are critical industries like oil & gas, thermal and nuclear power, defence establishments and construction industries that are seeking these services.

How and what would be the kind of services that user industries can expect from TUV Rheinland in India?  

TÜV Rheinland is present in India since 1996 and has established a presence in over 100 locations with materials testing and inspection facilities at key centres. These include a full range of destructive and nondestructive methods and the equipment we use elsewhere in the world. So what we offer in India is the same level of expertise and service that we offer in Europe with similar equipment and facilities already in place in our laboratories in India, where we are offering a host of other services and testing and certification, etc., in accordance with both domestic and international requirements and codes.

What are the benefits of these services to the user industries?

There are several benefits for the users with our damage and failure analysis services, and these can be summed up as:

>> Improved overall safety and increased plant lifetime through prevention of further similar damage
>> Reduced plant downtimes and maintenance costs
>> Advantage of TÜV Rheinland’s worldwide network of accredited testing laboratories
>> Tailored and comprehensive execution of destructive and non-destructive testing methods, and
>> An objective evaluation and systematic recommendations from our experts.