Home » Failure Investigations

Failure Investigations

Cross Section - Corroded Pipeline Surface

A pipeline cross section with a heavily corroded surface

Metallurgical Consulting Services with Respect to Failure Investigations and Materials Selection

Pipe and Tank Africa offers comprehensive metallurgical consulting services both with respect to material selection and failure investigations.

What we do:

Infrastructure and plant failures can have catastrophic consequences on both the environment and the safety of company personnel and the general public.

Cross Section - Prepped Pipeline Surface

Pipeline cross section with a prepped surface

Correct materials selection at design stage may significantly reduce risk of such failures and can help to ensure that your infrastructure or plant meets its required service life.

Scanning Electron Microscopy of Corroded Surface

Scanning electron microscopy of a corroded surface.

In the event of a failure having occurred it is imperative that the mechanism and root cause of the failure is properly understood. This allows for the correct mitigation measures and monitoring procedures to be implemented to make sure that similar events do not reoccur.

We use a comprehensive suite of metallurgical tools for conducting tests and investigations, including:

Scanning Electron Microscopy of Corroded Surface

Another sample of scanning electron microscopy of a corroded surface.

  • Visual Inspection
  • Microscopy
  • Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
  • Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS)
  • Hardness Tests
  • Accelerated Life Testing for Anode Materials
  • Polarisation and Stability Testing for Permanent Reference Electrodes