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.

 

 

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.