Innovative approaches, capabilities and solutions to material testing and failure analysis.

POLYMERIC MATERIALSAND 21ST CENTURY MANUFACTURINGA Sector Poised for Explosive Growth

Advances in polymeric materials, high performance thermoplastics, addi-tives and resins are fueling growth in the use of plastics in manufacturing. In fact, according to a 2015 study by Grand Research, Inc., the global plastics market is expected to reach $654.38 billion by 2020. Much of this growth will be driven by major end-use industries, such as packaging, construction, automotive and other engineered parts.

Assuring Polymers and Polymeric Materials Meet Your Exact Manufacturing Specifications

These manufacturing processes, including injection molding, extrusion, and solution casting, demand that polymeric raw materials used have

the properties required for the pre-cise product or end-use application. Specific polymeric properties include heat resistance, chemical resistance, flexibility, durability, and weight. At ATRONA Test Labs, we are accredited to perform polymer and plastic testing in accordance with ASTM, ISO and other recognized testing standards to assure that your materials meet your exact manufacturing specifications. CONT. PAGE 2

NewsletterATRONA

MIDWEST HQ/LAB FACILITIES

5271 Zenith ParkwayLoves Park, IL 61111 USA

Office: (815) 229-8620Fax: (815) 229-8610E-mail: sales@atrona.com

FLORIDA (EAST COAST) OFFICE

17000 Gulf Blvd - Unit 6NNorth Redington Beach, FL 33708

Office: (727) 873-6667

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IN THIS ISSUE

POLYMERIC MATERIALS ....................................1

THE “5 WHYS” AND ROOT CAUSE .....................2

SEM AND METAL FAILURE ANALYSIS ...............3

CHARPY V-NOTCH TEST .....................................4

VOL. 1 | NO. 1

POLYMERIC MATERIALS FROM PAGE 1

We can also deformulate polymers for reverse engineering, perform materi-al ID, thermal property analysis, and conduct failure analysis investigations.

We perform analysis on many differ-ent types of polymers including ther-moplastics, thermosets, adhesives, elastomers, rubbers, etc.

ATRONA offers a full range of polymer testing capabilities, including:

• Fourier Transform Infrared

Spectroscopy (FT-IR)

• Attenuated Total Reflectance

Accessory (ATR)

• Scanning Electron Microscopy

• Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy

• Thermo-mechanical Analysis (TMA)

• Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

• Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)

• Melt Flow Indexer (MFI)

• Filler Content and ID

• Viscosity

• Hardness Testing

• Real Time X-Ray

• Density

• Specific Gravity

• Tensile Testing

• Compression Testing

• Flexural Modulus

• Rheology

Polymer Testing Capabilities

As an independent, accredited polymer test lab, ATRONA offers you expertise and resources few can match. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have, investi-gate any issues and develop solutions, consult with you regarding polymer and plastic products and material requirements, and can even perform custom polymer testing to simulate the application and environment a product will be exposed to.

ATRONA is also a leading lab in the science of deformulation for reverse engineering activities. We can reverse engineer full products or materials. If you simply need material analysis to determine what to put on the engi-neering print or if you need a full engi-neering print from a part or assembly of parts we can help. Our experienced chemists have performed this type of analysis on many different products and have the skills and laboratory instruments and tools to accomplish this.

Finally, with our depth of experience in polymer testing and research, we can help you improve your product by improving wear, strength, toughness, etc.

When a product, machine or component fails; it’s important to ask the right questions beyond what the immediate evidence of that failure or problem may indicate. One of the best approaches to this process was developed by Taiichi

Ohno (pictured), the engineer and former Executive Vice President who pioneered Toyota Motor Company’s production line in the 1950s. Ohno called his method The “5-Whys” and used the example of a welding robot stopping in the middle of its opera-tion to demonstrate the usefulness of his “persistent enquiry” method to finally arrive at the root cause of the problem.

ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION?WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS!

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CALIBRATION AT ATRONAMAZTEK Calibration has officially joined ATRONA Test Labs as our Calibration department. Same loca-tion. Same unmatched capabilities. Our full range of services includes:

• Calibration of Hand Tools, Hard

Gages, Hardness Testers, Optical

Comparators, Granite Plates, Torque

and Pressure Gages, Profilometers,

Magnaflux, Tensile Testers & Load

Cells, and More

• Dimensional Inspection and

Measurement

• New, Used & Retrofit Equipment

Sales and Repair

• Field Services

• Lab Management and Calibration

Laboratory Set Up

ACCURATE INSPECTION TO ONE MILLIONTH OF AN INCH

With our state-of-the-art universal

measuring machine that can accurately

inspect to one millionth of an inch. We

can also custom calibrate and inspect

various gages and instruments.

ROOT CAUSE FROM PAGE 2

Taiichi Ohno’s series of questions were as follows:

1. “Why did the robot stop?”The circuit has overloaded, causing a fuse to blow.

2. “Why is the circuit overloaded?”There was insufficient lubrication on the bearings, so they locked up.

3. “Why was there insufficient lubrica-tion on the bearings?”The oil pump on the robot is not circulating sufficient oil.

4. “Why is the pump not circulating sufficient oil?”The pump intake is clogged with metal shavings.

5. “Why is the intake clogged with met-al shavings?”Because there is no filter on the pump.

So while the preliminary evidence in the example pointed to an over-loaded circuit as the problem; after asking the right questions, it could be determined that the actual root cause was no filter on the oil pump. And while there is no single “fits all” approach for Root Cause Analysis and Investigations; Taiichi Ohno helped advance the thinking of the genera-tions of engineers, quality assurance and material testing professionals who have followed by putting the concept of “persistent enquiry” into an easy-to-understand methodology.

Diagramming Potential Factors

The “5-Whys” give us a simple way to determine the relationship between different root causes of a problem without statistical analysis. A Fishbone or Ishikawa Diagram can be used in conjunction with the “5-Whys” Method

to identify and group potential factors causing an overall effect into various categories. See below for an example of an Ishikawa Diagram, named for its creator, Kaoru Ishikawa.

At ATRONA Test Labs, we’re compre-hensive root cause investigation and formal failure analysis specialists with over 2,000 completed assignments. We always strive to determine the ex-act root cause of the failure no matter how big or small.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has emerged as an essential tool in metallurgical failure analysis. Using a beam of highly energetic electrons, SEM allows us to acquire live, high-resolution, micro scale, three-dimensional images of the sur-face of a failed metal part or compo-nent. Using these digital images with a magnification of up to 500,000x, we are able to study the fracture topography and morphological char-acteristics of the failed metal part or component to determine the failure mode and root cause.

SEM is excellent for determining the root cause of metal failures, such as:

• Ductility or Brittleness• Stress Corrosion Cracking• Fatigue (high and low cycle)• Fretting Corrosion and other forms• Erosion• Creep• Cavitation• Galling and Spalling• Hydrogen Embrittlement• Quench Cracking• Porosity• Liquid Metal Embrittlement• And Other Types of Metal Failures

WHAT CAN “SEM” REVEAL ABOUT METAL FAILURE?SEM with EDS

At ATRONA, our SEM capability is further enhanced through the use of Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS or EDX). Using SEM in conjunction with EDS allows us to determine the chem-ical composition of constituents in the microstructure, identify plating types, as well as find and chemically analyze contamination, etc. This dual capability is essential where such factors may have been responsible for, or contributed to, the overall metal part or component failure.

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The impact-pendulum test method and associated equipment in nearly its current form was first developed more than a century ago. And while the basic concept behind this test-ing method is generally credited to two different engineers, S. B. Russell (1898) and G. Charpy in (1901); the test is now known by only the latter’s name. The reason for this is due in large part to Georges Augustin Albert Charpy’s technical contributions in the first half of the 20th century. These efforts included writing testing pro-cedures in the use of a pendulum to apply an impact force to a specimen and measure the amount of energy absorbed during its fracture.

Preventing Catastrophic Metal Failures

As a young engineer in France, Charpy’s own interest in measuring the impact resistance of steel was fueled by his desire to uncover the issues behind premature failures in marine artillery and other arma-ments, his area of special expertise, as well as steam boiler and steam engine mishaps. The early develop-ment of material testing methods, like Charpy’s, was also driven by the rapid expansion of the global railway net-work between about 1830 and 1900, and the large number of failures of axles and rails. Many of these failures caused catastrophic accidents without any warning because they were brittle failures and the fractures were not preceded by any discernible visible deformation to serve as a warning of incipient fracture. Preventing these incidents required characterization of brittle and ductile behavior of mate-rials, as well as the clarification of the ductile-brittle transition behavior of metals (DBTT).

In the early 20th century, the role of ductile to brittle transition was not well understood and it is believed that Charpy’s original tests were conduct-ed at room temperature or above. If it were, the steel plates manufactured in 1910 for the RMS Titanic could have been tested at sub-zero tempera-tures. This may have revealed the brit-tle behavior caused when the Titanic’s hull was subjected to a temperature of -2ºC in the North Atlantic, before encountering an enormous iceberg. This issue came to the forefront again during WWII when the Liberty ships’ steel welds fractured at extreme tem-peratures; causing catastrophic crack propagation. In some cases, this even occurred while the ships were in port.

The situation became even more serious when it was discovered that machine components could also fail at stress levels well below their critical fracture stress. All that was necessary for this type of failure to occur was the presence of cyclic load fluctuations, either random or periodic. It was ob-served (although the reason was not understood until later) that a fracture would originate and initiate at certain locations and slowly, then more rap-idly, propagate into the material and

finally rupture the component, most often in a brittle fashion. Thus, a new type of failure, fatigue, was identified.

The Charpy V-notch Configuration

Once it was understood that fatigue damage propagated by the growth of a sharp crack through a component, a variety of notch configurations were added to specimens to evaluate how their performance was degraded by such damage. With the Charpy V-notch Test (CVN) specimens are usually cut from the actual part or weldments using an abrasive cut-off saw or a band saw with low heat input. Base metal specimen is 55 mm (about 2.25" inches) in length, 10 mm thick and 10 mm wide. Centerline of the Charpy specimen is notched according to standard with a special broach to create the required V-Notch with the appropriate dimensions and surface finish. Threaded fasteners and pipe have special considerations. The specimens are tested either at room temperature or at a series of specified temperatures, such as -20ºC, -10ºC, 0ºC, +10ºC, +20ºC.

Today, The Charpy Impact Test is used for large, outdoor engineering struc-tures, including bridges, ships, hi-rise buildings and towers. It is also used to test pressure vessels, valves and fit-tings used in the oil and gas industry, related piping, pipelines, off-highway mining, farming vehicles, and indus-trial equipment, as well as to validate welds, and more.

Charpy Impact Testing is conducted at ATRONA on a daily basis per ASTM A370/E23. ATRONA has two high capacity pendulum impact testers and employs state-of-the-art sample preparation and testing methods.

THE EVOLUTION OF THECHARPY V-NOTCH TEST

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