Category Archives: HAMM

Thermal Fatigue Case Study

posted August 2020

A MEE case study on Thermal Fatigue has been added to our website. Our intent for these case studies is to provide you with a better understanding of what we do and how we approach typical projects at MEE. Each case study is taken from our files and has been edited to present a more casual writing style than our formal reports, but generally follows the structure of our reports and gives an overview of the findings and conclusions from an investigation.

Fracture features

Fracture surface of interior cracks (top) and exterior cracks (bottom)

While on our website, check out our Handbook of Analytical Methods for Materials (HAMM).  Topics in the handbook include the analytical methods available in our laboratory, as well as, other common materials characterization techniques we use to find solutions to our customers’ materials-related problems.

 

Filed under: Case Studies, Fatigue Failure, HAMM,

Electrochemical Corrosion Testing

posted March 2018

MEE just added a new potentiostat/galvanostat instrument to our busy corrosion laboratory. The VersaSTAT 4 is an advanced and versatile instrument expanding on our electrochemical corrosion testing capabilities.

Electrochemical corrosion experiments can provide a variety of data related to the pitting, crevice corrosion, and passivation behavior for specific sample/solution combinations. These data are useful in selecting materials and/or determining how manufacturing processes affect corrosion properties.

Corrosion Testing

Corrosion Testing Lab Set-up

Read more about corrosion testing on our website and in our online Handbook of Analytical Methods for Materials.  Or you may call and talk to one of our technical staff for typical applications and sample requirements.

Filed under: About MEE, Corrosion studies, HAMM, Materials testing laboratory,

Sample Handling and Fracture Analysis

posted December 2015

Drop a ceramic vase at home and what is the first thing you do with the pieces? You try to put them back together.

In the world of fracture analysis, do not try to fit the two fracture halves together as this will damage critical surface features, even fractures of hard or high strength metals. Simply touching mating fracture surfaces together after a failure will destroy microscopic fracture features that may be key to a conclusive determination of the fracture mode.

Don’t Touch is the first of MEE’s ten commandments of sample preservation and handling. The other nine commandments and  specific guidelines for the handling of fractures is in the last chapter of our online Handbook of Analytical Methods for Materials.

Contact our analytical laboratory if you have more specific questions about sample handling and preservation, and for shipping recommendations.

Fracture surface of a logging chain that broke. This is a giant chain: each chain link was about 1 1/4" in diameter.

Fracture surface of a logging chain that broke. This is a giant chain: each chain link was about 1 1/4″ in diameter.

Filed under: About MEE, Failure Analysis, Fracture Analysis, HAMM,