Laboratory damage analysis

Characterization of materials Problem solving R&D support
More than 140 people
More than 140 people at your service
5200 m² laboratory
5200 m² laboratory + 99% of services are provided in-house
Accredited laboratory
Accredited laboratory COFRAC ISO 17025

In the event of a breakdown, breakage or malfunction, damage analysis helps to identify the source of the damage and secure your equipment. The FILAB laboratory puts its expertise in materials and chemical analysis at the service of your investigation needs on metal, plastic, composite or electronic parts.

As an industrial you want to analyse damage to a part or material

What is part or material damage?

damage

Damage refers to deterioration or damage to equipment, components or materials, usually sudden or unexpected. It may be the result of :

a manufacturing defect,

excessive or inappropriate stress,

mechanical or thermal shock,

corrosion or premature ageing,

or faulty assembly or maintenance.

Visible or measurable signs of damage

The signs of damage vary according to the nature of the part and the type of stress. They may be :

  • Clear or progressive cracks or breaks
  • Abnormal plastic or elastic deformation
  • Premature wear (abrasion, erosion, friction)
  • Traces of corrosion, oxidation or pitting
  • Change in appearance (colour, shine, roughness)
  • Seizure or mechanical blockage
  • Presence of surface residues or deposits
  • Loss of adhesion or cohesion (delamination, disassembly)

These visual or analytical clues are all entry points for an in-depth laboratory examination to understand the origin of the problem and prevent any recurrence.

What is the purpose of damage analysis?

Damage analysis makes it possible to understand the mechanisms of deterioration, to qualify the nature of the damage (crack, break, abrasion, contamination, deformation, etc.) and to validate or question a material, a treatment or a manufacturing process.

Damage analysis provides invaluable technical support to your quality, maintenance, production, R&D or purchasing departments, providing factual information to guide your decisions.

The FILAB laboratory uses the expertise of its teams to analyse the nature and origin of the damage

With its dual expertise in chemistry and materials, the FILAB laboratory offers you failure assessment or damage analysis services to accurately assess the potential cause(s) of your production faults.

Through tailor-made support and a progressive analytical approach, the FILAB laboratory can assist you with the following services.

Damage analysis: technical expertise at the service of industry

Expertise and analysis of failure or damage to metal parts: corrosion mechanisms, wear and tear and premature ageing phenomena, cracks, breaks, etc.

Characterization of failures or damage and surface treatment defects

Weld control

Study of defects and fracture surfaces on metal parts

Study of morphological failures (porosity, roughness, etc.)

Surface analysis to check the cleanliness of a part

Methodology for analysing damage in the laboratory

Our approach combines several techniques for investigating breakdowns or breakages:.

Visual and macroscopic examination
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDS)
Metallographic analysis
Mechanical or physico-chemical tests
Surface analysis (XPS, ToF-SIMS)
Identification of pollutants or residues

What types of materials can be analysed?

We carry out damage analysis on a wide range of materials, from electronic components to medical devices.

Metals

Alloys

Plastics

Composites materials

Ceramics

Multi-material assemblies

Electronic components

Medical components

What sectors are covered by damage analysis?

Our services apply to a wide range of industrial sectors:

  • Automotive and transport: breakage of parts, seizure, corrosion of connectors, etc.
  • Aeronautics and space: cracks in alloys, oxidation of components, etc.
  • Energy and nuclear: damage to pumps, seals, hydraulic circuits, etc.
  • Medical devices: deformation of implants, brittleness of engineering plastics, etc.
  • Cosmetics, luxury goods, food industry: alteration of packaging, particle pollution, etc.

Our technical resources for damage surveys

FAQ

How is damage to a material or component detected?

Visual examination, microscopic observations (SEM, optical), chemical analyses (FTIR, XPS, ICP, etc.) and mechanical tests (hardness, tensile strength, resilience) are used to precisely characterise the damage observed. These techniques are combined to provide a reliable and usable diagnosis.

What is the link with failure analysis?

Damage analysis focuses on the study of visible physical deterioration. It complements failure analysis, which explores more broadly the loss of functional performance, whether of hardware, software or system origin. By combining the two approaches, FILAB offers comprehensive expertise to make your products and processes more reliable.

What types of failure can be covered by a damage analysis?

Sudden or progressive fractures due to mechanical fatigue, stress corrosion, shearing or point overloading are the most frequent cases. The analysis identifies the fracture mechanisms (brittle, ductile, transgranular, intergranular, etc.) based on fractographic and metallographic observations.

How do you detect pollution or inclusions causing damage?

Internal contaminants or surface residues can cause local embrittlement, poor adhesion or galvanic corrosion. They are detected by techniques such as SEM-EDS, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), or surface microanalysis (XPS, ToF-SIMS).

What can damage analysis do in the event of abnormal deformation?

A part showing buckling, localised plastic deformation or asymmetrical shrinkage may reveal a heat treatment problem, a poor choice of material, or a stress outside the specification. The analysis enables the altered geometry to be correlated with the mechanical properties measured (hardness, tensile strength, resilience).

Can damage be linked to a manufacturing defect that is not visible?

Yes, internal defects such as blowholes, shrinkage, hardening or weld cracks, often invisible to the naked eye, can be revealed by metallographic sections, optical/MEB imaging or cross-sectional analysis. These defects can locally affect mechanical strength or corrosion resistance.

The filab advantages
A highly qualified team
A highly qualified team
Responsiveness in responding to and processing requests
Responsiveness in responding to and processing requests
A COFRAC ISO 17025 accredited laboratory
A COFRAC ISO 17025 accredited laboratory
(Staves available on www.cofrac.com - Accreditation number: 1-1793)
A complete analytical park of 5,200m²
A complete analytical park of 5,200m²
Tailor-made support
Tailor-made support
Emmanuel BUIRET Technical Sales Representative
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