Metallography and Failure Analysis Laboratory

Our metallography lab is outfitted with a full range of equipment required for the destructive and non-destructive evaluation of components and samples, including sectioning and diamond saws, sample mounting equipment, automatic polishing systems, and digital optical microscopy.

Other capabilities include hardness testers, surface finish comparators, and heat treatment furnaces and ovens. By 2003, DEI had completed characterization of over 2000 samples ranging from corrosion product deposits from nuclear steam generators to waste canisters proposed for the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. Characterization of samples is not an end in itself for most projects—but rather provides important input for refining our understanding of the mechanisms involved in deposition processes, heat transfer fouling, and materials degradation.