Failure Analysis - When you Need to Know
Why did my product
fail?
How do I get back on track?
Where do I begin?
You may
not be standing with a handful of broken pieces but
something has gone wrong. Failures contain powerful
data. Whether in process, product or design we help
you unlock it to address the root cause.
We work to isolate the cause of the failures and deal
with them directly, taking the issue back to first
principles and correct the problem from the
start.
Our Approach
Our
approach to failure analysis follows these general
guidelines:
1.) Summary of the problem including product description, material type, manufacturing method, failure characteristics
2.) Details of the failure including visual examination, optical microscopy, location of the failure on the product, timeline and reject rate
3.) Comparison with "good" samples including material, design, manufacturing, service life differences followed by definition of the boundary conditions for the problem.
4.) Consolidation of factors affecting failure
5.) Root cause hypotheses include the combination of gathered facts, physical observations and past experience with similar failures
6.) Probability assessment of failure hypotheses considered singularly and in combination
7.) Validation of highest probability failure factor(s) through testing (compositional, chemical, mechanical, thermal), failure reproduction or other methods
8.) Presentation of findings including suggestions and recommendations for improvement, methods to avoid future failures and minimize risk.
1.) Summary of the problem including product description, material type, manufacturing method, failure characteristics
2.) Details of the failure including visual examination, optical microscopy, location of the failure on the product, timeline and reject rate
3.) Comparison with "good" samples including material, design, manufacturing, service life differences followed by definition of the boundary conditions for the problem.
4.) Consolidation of factors affecting failure
5.) Root cause hypotheses include the combination of gathered facts, physical observations and past experience with similar failures
6.) Probability assessment of failure hypotheses considered singularly and in combination
7.) Validation of highest probability failure factor(s) through testing (compositional, chemical, mechanical, thermal), failure reproduction or other methods
8.) Presentation of findings including suggestions and recommendations for improvement, methods to avoid future failures and minimize risk.
Common Services
A
selection of our failure analysis services include:
• Root cause analysis of fractures, embrittlement and complex failures
• Processing issues and reductions in quality or output
• Contamination tracing and source elimination
• Raw material analysis
• Chemical exposure and compatibility
• Surface conditions and interactions including adhesion, coatings
• Root cause analysis of fractures, embrittlement and complex failures
• Processing issues and reductions in quality or output
• Contamination tracing and source elimination
• Raw material analysis
• Chemical exposure and compatibility
• Surface conditions and interactions including adhesion, coatings