Category Archives: metallography

On-site Testing and Analysis of Steel Tanks

posted August 2020

Sample preparation of steel tanks.

 

Sometimes projects involve samples or artifacts too large or too valuable to remove or cut for evaluation in MEE’s laboratories. In these cases, in situ evaluation is required.

For this project, MEE was asked to evaluate the functional integrity of large steel tanks that had been exposed to elevated temperatures from a fire. Associate Engineer, Henry Ahrenholtz, is seen here preparing a field metallographic specimen. The tank surface was prepared by grinding, polishing and chemical etching to reveal the microstructure of the tank material. A replica of the prepared surface was made and then examined using a portable microscope. A Materials Engineer’s specialized knowledge of the material properties and behavior under certain environmental conditions combined with metallographic expertise in the field provided valuable information for the client to aid in assessing any damage to the tanks caused by fire.

 

 

Filed under: Light Microscope, Materials Science Engineers, Materials testing laboratory, metallography, Sample Preparation,

Metallography Webinar

posted June 2020

Join MEE Senior Scientist Dieter Scholz and Principal Engineer Larry Hanke for a webinar titled “Advanced Specimen Preparation for Metallography” on July 7th at 1:00 PM CDT. The webinar, hosted by , will cover tripod polishers, target sectioning tools, and broad beam ion milling.

For more details and to register for the webinar: https://lnkd.in/eceSZX2 

Materials Evaluation and Engineering Inc.

Larry Hanke, P.E.

Materials Evaluation and Engineering, Inc.

Dieter Scholz

Filed under: Materials testing laboratory, metallography,

ASM Board Appointment

posted June 2020

Larry Hanke, P.E. CEO, Materials Evaluation and Engineering, Inc

 

MEE’s CEO/Senior Engineer, Larry Hanke, was just appointed to the Board of the ASM International Metallographic Society (IMS).

The Metallographic Society is a professional organization serving those involved in the examination, analysis, characterization, structure and evaluation of materials.  Service on the IMS Board of Directors involves planning and driving the future strategy of the society.

Congratulations Larry!

Filed under: Materials Characterization, Materials Science Engineers, metallography, semi-conductor devices,

Metallurgical Engineering Intern

posted March 2020

Welcome to MEE’s new intern, Kelsy Holtgrewe.  Kelsy received her Bachelor’s in Metallurgical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology in December. She’ll be starting work toward a Master’s at Colorado School of Mines this fall. She has previous work experience in the materials labs of two large industrial companies so she is familiar with many of the processes and procedures in our metallographic and SEM labs.

MEE understands that internship programs are beneficial to both the student and the company.  Our busy materials science laboratories will provide Kelsy with a valuable real-world engineering experience this summer and our technical staff appreciates the opportunity to mentor new professionals in the field of metallurgical engineering.

Kelsy in the one of SEM labs at MEE.

Filed under: About MEE, Materials Science Engineers, Materials testing laboratory, metallography, scanning electron microscope,

Microscope Monday

posted January 2020
SEM image of snowflake

Snowflake

Corrosion Pit

Copper corrosion pit

Twenty years ago, MEE Lab Manager, Kurt Schenk, figured out a way to capture the beauty of a freshly fallen snowflake with an SEM. Those images and hundreds of others taken over the years in our laboratory have been saved in a file on our network simply called “cool images”.

Five years ago, we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite cool images on social media and the MEE Facebook page was created. We have since posted over 180 images. Some are just-for-fun, like snowflakes, insects and even the grooves in an LP, but most of the images are the kind of things we observe in our daily work. We have posted images that highlight fracture mechanisms, unique microstructures and particular imaging techniques used to gather critical data needed in a failure analysis investigation.

Filed under: Light Microscope, Materials testing laboratory, metallography, scanning electron microscope,

Paper Published in Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention

posted January 2018

Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention

Alkaline Carbonate SCC Failures at a Refinery, co-written by MEE staff engineers, Ryan Haase and Larry Hanke was recently published in the Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention ( First Online: January 16, 2018)

A metallurgical evaluation was performed to investigate two failures from carbonate-containing sour water service at a refinery. The paper details the visual, SEM/EDS, metallographic, and microhardness evaluations used to determine the failure mechanism for each refinery component.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Failure Analysis, metallography, Microhardness Testing, scanning electron microscope,

Graphitic Corrosion Case Study

posted January 2017

We were asked to determine the mechanism and possible causes of corrosion of a cast iron sanitary sewer pipe. Metallurgical testing and EDS analysis pointed to graphitic corrosion. With graphitic corrosion there is no reduction in the size or shape of the pipe but the strength of the material is severely reduced.

Cross section of vent pipe.

Cross section of vent pipe.

The Vent Pipe case study explains in more detail how this type of corrosion mechanism is identified, causes and our recommendations to the client.

All of the case studies on our website come from our files. They have been edited to present a more casual writing style than our formal reports, but generally they follow the structure of our reports and give an overview of the findings and conclusions from an investigation.

Filed under: About MEE, Case Studies, Corrosion studies, Materials Characterization, metallography,

The Intern Experience at MEE

posted August 2016

Interns, Reid Schur and Josh Polzin, were a welcome addition to our team this summer.

Reid completed a project comparing the chemical vs mechanical test methods used in ASTM  D3483, Standard Test Methods for Accumulated Deposition in a Steam Generator Tube. We will use the information from his work to help our customers decide on the best test method to use with their specific projects. Josh spent a lot of his time in the metallographic laboratory doing sample preparation and testing material removal rates for the automatic polisher.

Both can also add welding and engineering design to their resume after creating this bike rack for our staff who commute to work by bike. Thank you Reid and Josh and good luck in your engineering careers.

DSC_4231

 

 

Filed under: About MEE, ASTM Standards, Materials testing laboratory, metallography,

MEE Hires Second Intern

posted June 2016

Welcome to summer intern, Josh Polzin. Josh will be a freshman in the college of engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor this fall. We met Josh last summer when he was a high school senior attending the Minnesota ASM materials science camp. Students spend one day of the camp in the MEE laboratory learning about and using scanning electron microscopes, Rockwell hardness testers, microhardness testers and a variety of light microscopes.  Apparently, Josh liked we he saw here at MEE and talked with principal engineer, Larry Hanke,  about a possible internship.   We were pleased to have the opportunity and resources to hire a second intern for the summer. Working under the direction of a materials engineer, Josh will be testing alternative procedures for cold mounting metallographic specimens among other projects in the MEE metallographic laboratory.

 

 

Filed under: About MEE, ASM, Materials Science Engineers, Materials testing laboratory, metallography,

Update to MEE website

posted April 2016

A fire inside a three story stainless steel chamber is the subject of the latest case study added to our webpage.  The goal of the evaluation was to determine what material required replacement or repair, and what material could remain in service. Thus, the evaluation could only be nondestructive. This required an on-site investigation and in situ metallographic examination.

With materials engineering expertise in the behavior of stainless steel under certain conditions ( in this case, elevated temperatures in a carbon-rich environment) and in the analysis of metallographic images, we were able to provide the client with the information he needed to make informed decisions on the future use of this equipment.

Filed under: Case Studies, Materials Science Engineers, metallography,