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When a manufacturing process or repair method requires welding, it’s common practice to draft a WPS- Welding Procedure Specification. This document provides direction to welders on how to make quality welds to production standards, as well as to applicable code requirements.

IT'S MORE THAN JUST A SLOGAN....

While all materials testing labs will take your samples and provide test results, the opportunity for a high level of technical support before, during, and after testing is what IMR has delivered for over 20 years. Customers rely on us for the expertise that our large staff of engineers, chemists, scientists, technicians, and support personnel apply to every testing challenge we're presented with.

Failure analysis, at its most basic, is a systematic scientific process that is used to deduce why a product, component, or process failed. Failures can occur during manufacture, shipping and installation, and service. As a result of the data collected and its analysis, possible causes of failure are determined. Corrective actions can then be undertaken to prevent future failures.

Medical devices intended for permanent implantation, as well as surgical instruments, must meet stringent cleanliness standards to minimize the risk of post-surgery complications. To ensure the viability of such devices, their surface cleanliness must be determined before they can be used in practical applications.

IMR's Chemistry department utilizes various extraction and analytical techniques to characterize both particulate debris as well as machining and cleaning residues on implants and surgical devices.

We test for Medical Device Cleanliness to the ASTM F 2459 method, which covers extraction and gravimetry.

The basic process of tensile testing relies on a material sample attached to a fixture that applies a tension load until failure. The following five methods are primarily material-specific, and the ASTM methods noted are a basic guide for selection based on material classification.

Modern orthopedic and dental implant devices often incorporate porous coatings or structures that are designed to promote bone infiltration for biological fixation. These coatings are regularly subjected to shear stresses in normal use and the coating must not shear off under those stresses. These test methods have been established primarily for plasma-sprayed titanium and plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings.

Although the first 3D printer was invented in 1983, original models were so cost prohibitive and functionally limited that most manufacturers couldn’t realize a significant enough return on investment to make the purchase worthwhile. Today, however, 3D printers bring highly specialized, cost-effective designs to life using a comprehensive list of materials, including a wide variety of metals, plastics, epoxies, ceramics.

Thermal spray coatings can be applied using a range of different processes but essentially the application method for each procedure is very similar. The feedstock, in either powder or wire form, is reduced to a semi-molten or molten form by the use of controlled combustion energy (HVOF, HVAF, Combustion wire or Powder spraying) or electrical energy (Plasma or Arc Wire spraying). The heated material stream is then propelled onto the surface of the component using the kinetic energy formed from a gas stream. Upon impact with the surface, the molten or semi molten coating material forms a splat which then contracts as it cools forming an intimate bond with the substrate. Each process has its own specific characteristics and the most commonly utilized are HVOF and Plasma spray.

If you’re having trouble with responsiveness on your routine materials testing needs, an onsite lab, in or near your facility, could be the answer. IMR’s Custom Onsite Lab Solutions provides a “right-sized” and efficient way to equip and staff a materials testing lab tailored to your specific needs.

Destructive Testing (DT) methods for pipeline integrity are often needed to reveal more in-depth structural analysis than Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) can provide. The potential for dramatic and costly pipeline failures continues to be a top concern for regulatory agencies, pipeline operators and energy providers due to the risk to human life and the environment (something like that).  In 2017, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a Final Rule that mandates several preventative and documentation processes designed to standardize the measurement, testing and assessment of pipeline inspection procedures. 

One of the most critical reliability issues in aircraft engines and other subsystems is fatigue. The high stress and vibration in these systems can cause cracks that propagate once initiated. A primary contributor in crack initiation is the quality of the surfaces left behind from machining operations.

We conclude our recognition of International Women in Science Day by featuring IMR’s Senior Quality Manager, Deena Crossmore. Deena may have been destined for a career in science since she was born into a family of engineers, so science was always a topic of discussion. Her interest in the sciences was piqued when her father let her tag along when he would go to the research lab on weekends to check on his experiments.

Today’s featured IMR Woman In Science has taken a bit of a roundabout route to her current role as Quality Manager for our Portland lab. Alexis Puerta’s career in science began with a great experience as a chemistry major at St. Benedict in Minnesota. She found a love for teaching and set her sights on becoming a college professor. During her pursuit of a Ph. D in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, Alexis realized that academic research was not one of her strengths, so she opened her vision to other career possibilities in the sciences.

What better way to kick-off our recognition of the United Nations International Women in Science Day then to feature IMR Test Labs-Singapore Site Quality Manager Chew Suyin.

Today, we feature another amazing woman in science from one of our Asia labs. Ms. Weiwei Liu is the Senior Metallurgical Engineer in our Suzhou, China facility. She joined IMR in 2016, after earning Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Science and Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shaanxi, China.

Manufacturers have embraced the reuse of metal powders as a key economic advantage that additive manufacturing (AM) provides. Utilizing high value metal powders like titanium would be unfeasible unless the reused feedstock can provide an adequate number of build series.

Extreme temperatures in a product's operating environment affects the fatigue life of many materials. With the same cyclic or repeated stress or strain loading conditions, a material's characteristics could vary significantly at different temperatures. These conditions could be a low, moderate, or high temperatures. Cyclic loading may or may not be associated with cyclic temperature fluctuations.

Bond Pull testing accurately measures bond strength, as well as evaluates bond strength distributions. This helps define the reliability of bonds under stress conditions, like thermal cycles, vibration and shock.

One of the main goals in determining the root cause of product failures is preventing future recurrences. The problems are not always obvious, so having an open mind during the analytical process helps testing professionals utilize a multi-disciplinary approach.

When materials don’t perform to specifications, contaminants can sometimes be the culprit. Surface and sub-surface impurities in alloys, composites, paints and coatings are often difficult to spot with the naked eye, so having a reliable testing process can determine their source to ensure predictable product characteristics.

As with all aerospace materials, manufacturers must quality test their composites at every step of the process—from design to final product—to ensure that parts and components remain free of damage and compliant with a broad spectrum of industry standards. Composite testing also analyzes the composite’s structure to make sure that it has properly cured, as air bubbles or improper layering can cause cracks and catastrophic failures. Missing defects or design flaws in parts made from composites can severely damage your reputation and brand, not to mention potentially harm equipment, personnel, and passengers.

In few industries is reliability more emphasized. The risk associated with the failure of key components is beyond measure.  Verifying raw materials, analyzing failures and thoroughly testing new products are critical to maintaining a strong safety record.  Aerospace engineers are constantly striving to increase strength while lessening weight in structural materials, engines and systems.

Aerospace manufacturers have relied on the use of composites for more than 40 years to produce lightweight and durable components of airplanes and other vehicles. Historically, composites supplemented secondary aircraft structures, but recent technological advances enabled their use in primary aircraft structure components including fuselage, wings, doors, nacelles, tail structures, and more. For example, composite materials form nearly 50% of the Boeing 787’s construction by weight.