To support our consulting practice and in response to customer demand for highly-confident rapid turnaround testing results, Quest Reliability maintains comprehensive materials testing facilities. In addition, our laboratories support ongoing research into materials properties (e.g., new alloys) and damage mechanisms (e.g., creep and creep fatigue) that are of interest to a broad spectrum of our clients.
Our laboratories have been in operation for decades, and our laboratory supervisors and staff are expert in the development of testing programs. Our services in test program planning and management include:
- Specialist advice in program design and protocol development
- Test rig design
- Development of testing procedures
- Design, development, fabrication, validation and installation of unique testing techniques
- A knowledge of regulatory requirements and the standards to which they refer
- Experience in writing standards, or preparing documentation in conformance to standards
Comprehensive Materials Testing
The laboratory infrastructure includes setups and equipment for standard destructive tests, and for replication of aggressive operating conditions and environments. A complete machine shop provides support in sample/specimen preparation and setup fabrication needs. The specific testing capabilities include:
- Tensile testing, <1gram to 100 metric tons
- Elevated temperature tensile testing to 1000C
- Compression and bend testing, 1g to 100 metric tons
- Impact (Izod and Charpy)
- Hardness, micro and macro (Vickers, Rockwell, Brinell)
- Compression and bend testing
- Fatigue and fracture toughness (da/dN, KIC, CTOD, J Integral)
- Creep strain and stress rupture testing
- Metallurgical testing
- High temperature Low Cycle Fatigue testing
- Stress analysis & strain gauge measurements
- Corrosion testing (various environments and temperatures)
- Stress corrosion cracking e.g. slow strainrate and da/dN
- Pressure testing, Cyclic and proof, burst tests up to 1000 MPa.
- Erosion, cavitation testing to ASTM G 32.
- Product testing
Induction Thermography Testing
Quest Reliability has developed a method for inducing an RF current in the surface of a material, while imaging the induced heat flux to reveal anomalies in the near surface. This is particularly useful for detecting localized disbonding of laminates (as in aircraft wings) and coatings, defects in composites, and surficial or near surface cracks.
Hot Gas Corrosion Testing
The Quest Reliability laboratories are equipped to conduct a range of hot corrosion-related tests, using thermogravimetric analysis, laboratory furnaces and autoclaves to simulate process conditions (high temperature and pressures up to 50 bar) where we can evaluate a number of hot corrosion mechanisms, including:
- Sulfidation
- Chlorination
- Nitridation
- Carburization/metal dusting/green rot
- Oxidation.
Quest laboratories have developed a non-invasive specialty NDT technique for detection of carburization in hydrocracking tubes that relies on interpretation of magnetic response with a set of laboratory-based measurements of materials properties for the specimen in question.
For further information about our Materials Testing Laboratories, please contact us.