Failure Investigations
Materiex has conducted a large number of technical failure investigations during the last 35 years. We are assisting clients from a wide range of business areas including e.g. insurance companies, manufacturing industry, medical industry and power generation.
Typical Procedure
Failure investigations and root cause analyses are in many respects similar to a detective’s work and generally start with an on-site inspection followed up by a technical investigation in our materials laboratory. During the inspection, photo documentation plays an important role. Samples of interest are also collected and brought back to our laboratory. If an inspection is not considered necessary, samples are sometimes being sent directly to us at Materiex. Our well-equipped materials laboratory has excellent resources to solve a wide variety of materials-related problems. A laboratory investigation typically involves examination of the fracture surface using SEM, verification of mechanical properties using different mechanical testing methods and chemical analysis to ensure that the material properties are in accordance with the specifications.
A case is typically solved by collecting sufficient information and evidence to explain the failure and identify the root cause. The results are always being presented in a technical report and sent to our client. Many times, we are also assisting with preventive actions where we suggest how similar problems can be avoided in the future.
Insurance Related Failure Investigations
Materiex provides solid technical documentation that is a valuable help for the loss adjuster to make the decision on whether a loss is covered or not. The aim for us is always to reach a consensus regarding the cause of the failure among all involved parties. Of course, this goal is not always attainable sometimes leading to a legal dispute. Furthermore, we have been commissioned as expert witnesses in some twenty cases of insurance-related litigation. Read more about our insurance-related projects here.
